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duties of coroner as well as he has done those of deputycoroner. Moreover, it is distinctly undesirable that a coronershould himself act in the double capacity of coroner and

interpreter. A coroner makes a declaration to do his duties

as coroner, not as interpreter, the latter being sworn tointerpret between him and the witnesses. Dr. Davies maybe congratulated on having made a good fight and on havingbeen supported by the most infiuential of the CountyCouncillors.

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THE LONDON CAB HORSE.

A CONFERENCE is to be held at St. James’s Hall on Mondaynext with the object of improving the condition of the Londoncab horse in respect of stabling and housing. Medical prac-titioners have frequent occasion to make use of the servicesof that willing slave the cab horse, and may be glad to assistso praiseworthy an undertaking.

MEDICAL REGISTRATION.

WE would urge on our readers the importance of takingcareful note of the intimation issued, according to annualcustom, by the Medical Registrar, which will be found inour advertisement columns this week. Inattention to the

requirement to forward to any of the respective branchregistrars a change of address, or to answer at once any letterof inquiry that may be sent in respect thereof, will subject aregistered practitioner to the loss and inconvenience attendingthe removal of his name from the Medical Register.

DIPHTHERIA AND BOARD SCHOOLS.

WE understand there is still some difference of opinion Ibetween the Vestry of Islington and the School Board as tothe prevalence of diphtheria in the Yerbury Schools and thecauses of such prevalence. It is not unlikely that this

difference may have to be (liscussed in a court of law. It wouldhave been much more satisfactory if the medical officers ofthe respective authorities could have come to some mutualagreement with regard to measures for placing the schoolsabove suspicion, which at present is certainly not their case,even if they be not thefons et origo of the diphtheria of thepupils. -

HAIR SPLITTING.

IT is universally admitted that ’’ hair splitting," in its Imetaphorical sense, is a waste of time and pains, but it maynot be altogether superfluous to discuss briefly the causesand treatment, so far as is known, of the actual splitting ofthe hair, of the scalp and face. It is simply one of severalsigns which may be exhibited by hair whose nutrition is

damaged by either local or general causes. Healthy hair hasa gloss upon it due to its lubricating gland, a definite "set,"

"

and a remarkable elasticity, so that, if bent at ever so acutean angle, it straightens itself at once when relieved from

pressure. But let any interference with its nutrition occur,

whether from general constitutional condition suchas syphilis,diabetes, phthisis, fevers &c., or from local causes injuringthe hair papilla, as may be seen in alopecia areata,or from the invasion of an organism, as in ringworm,or if the function of the sebaceous gland is interferedwith,as in seborrhoga and many infiammatory diseases of the scalp-then some or all of the qualities which we unconsciouslyvalue in our hair are lost. It no longer preserves its naturaldirection or " set" and becomes difficult to keep in order,the hair shaft is dry and lustreless, becomes finer and splitsand breaks in ways which vary with the individual as well asfrom the cause being various. In some people, the hairbecomes so dry and brittle that it breaks with the ordinarymanipulations of the toilet, a condition known as "fragilitascrinium" ; in others the shaft is a little ’tougher and a green-stick fracture results, the liair not breaking quite across,but the component fibres splitting away, and an appearance

is produced which has been compared to two besoms stucktogether and io technically known as "trichorrhexis nodosa."Far more common than this splitting of the shaft, whetherat its surface or in its substance, is ’’ end splitting, "in which the hair divides at its extremity into three orfour segments, which extend from about a quarter of aninch to an inch down the shaft. This often occurs in verylong hair, as in that of women on the head or in men withlong, untrimmed beards, and is then explained by the hairbeing insufficiently nourished owing to its great distance fromthe roots. This at most only accounts for a moderate

proportion of cases, and clipping is the obvious cure.

In many cases, however, the cause is situated at the root end,where there may be folliculitis, or some one of the causes, localor general, of which examples have been given. In some

persons whose hair is by no means long, especially as regardsthe hairy portion of the face, the splitting may extend com-pletely down to the root and sometimes apparently startsfrom there, so that unless closely examined it would appearas if several hairs came from one root. Careful investigationinto the cause of the defective nutrition is obviouslynecessary before rational treatment can be prescribed.

This is sometimes easy, as when the patient has recently,

passed through a severe illness, trouble or anxiety, or hassome discernible local affection of the skin ; or it may be verydifficult, such comparatively scantily nourished struc-

tures as the hair and nails even at their best, being often more’ subtle detectors of some departure from health than our

coarser physical methods of investigation can possibly be.Still other corroborative indications of defective health maybe discoverable either in the patient or his surroundings, and

1 while these must be met according to circumstances, some0help from local treatment may be afforded in many casps.frequent clipping for long hair has been already alluded to,s but does not afford much encouragement when the hair isdalready short. Nor can good be anticipated from the hair-If dresser’s usual recommendation of "singeing " after cutting,II to seal up the tubes, " as he usually phrases it, thus display-ls ing not only his ignorance of the solid structure of the’- hair, but also of the physical law which, even if it were ale tube, would not allow fluid to escape from it. Such local

remedies are calculated to be of service as will increase the

blood-supply to the skin, and therefore to the insufficientlynourished papilla, shaving being one such means. We need

not, however, now discuss details, but would merely pointes out the rutionade of these conditions of hair-splitting and theprinciples of the treatment which are required to obviate

a 1 them. -

EXECUTION OF NEILL, THE SOUTH LONDONMURDERER.

THE execution of the poisoner Neill on the morning ofTuesday last brought with it an almost demonstrable feelingof relief to the mind of the community. His dispositionappears early to have manifested a strongly criminal bias,which his after career bore out with a hideous and diabolical

completeness in action. The whole history is too familiarto newspaper readers to warrant repetition in our pages. The

sentence of death was passed upon him by Mr. Justice Hawkinsafter trial at the Central Criminal Court. In response to

representations made by his solicitors to the efEect that

evidence tending to prove the culprit’s insanity was on itsway from America, a respite was granted for a week. Itwould appear, however, that sufficiently strong evidenceto warrant any alteration in the original sentence was

not forthcoming. The responsibility thrown upon theHome Secretary in this matter by the provisions of theCriminal Lunatics Act of 1884 is assuredly no light one. Weare confident that the public are satisfied with Mr. Asquith’sultimate decision that there were no real grounds for

interfering with the death penalty in Neill’s case. There

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are, no doubt, psychological points and difficulties inthe case which only Neill himself could explain or give dataupon which an explanation could be based. But, on the far-

reaching platform where sanity stretches away into insanity,and in the analysis of human conduct in individual cases, theinstitutes of law and the institutes of medicine, where theyare thus closely brought into relation, cannot afford and cannotdare to be too curious as to the enigmas of psychology in cir-cumstances where the obligations of social life and the per-sonal safety of the members of the community are underconsideration.

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MEASLES AND SCHOOL CLOSURE.

MEASLES is rife just now in many parts of the country, asat Motherwell in Scotland and Tipton in Staffordshire. The

absentees from school at the former place number 27 percent. of the scholars, at the latter about 50 per cent. In

face of this, the question of closing the schools at Dalzielhas been adjourned for a week by the Motherwell authorities ;whilst at Tipton nothing has been done beyond characteris-ing the report of the school attendance officer as "exag-gerated." School authorities seem to be still slow to learnthat it is the wisest plan to allow their schools to be closedin the early beginnings of an epidemic, before widespreadprevalence has rendered their tardy acquiescence in closurea futile and nugatory step.

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BACTERIOLOGY OF TROPICAL FEVERS.

A PAPER treating on the above subject by Dr. DomingosFreire appears in the (}a::;ette l3fedicale de Paris of

Oct. 15th. He states that clinicians have long sinceestablished the main differences between the symptoms ofthe so-called bilious fever and of yellow fever. The objectof the paper is to show that bacteriology supports the

theory which has been arrived at clinically, and that thecausal agent of bilious fever is quite different from thatof yellow fever. Observations were made on the blood, bile,urine &c. of living patients and on the viscera after death.Cultivations were prepared on yelatine and agar-agar.Colonies were observed to form within twenty-four hours.

They first appeared as a whitish streak along the course of theneedle. Large gaseous bulls then formed on the surface ofthe nutrient medium. The colonies were scattered in smallwhite patches all over the surface of the agar-agar. Suc-cessful cultures were obtained from all the organs, the urine,blood taken from the heart one hour after death, and alsofrom the arm of a patient who had been dead for six

days. Similar observations made on yellow fever gavevery different results. Colonies developed in the formof a nail, the head of which was on the surface of the cul-tivating medium, whilst the point penetrated its substance.Gaseous bullse never formed along the track of the needle.The part forming the head of the nail was perfectly whiteand was never seen surrounded by smaller colonies. Micro-

scopic examination also revealed radical differences in themicrobes of the two diseases. In the case of bilious fever abacillus was found measuring about nine micro-millimetresin length and three in width. The bacillus was immobile, butwas frequently accompanied by numerous mobile spores ; itstained well with methyl violet. Each bacillus was dividedinto segments of different lengths ; the segmentation was veryrapid. Spores were found at the termination of each

segment. In yellow fever, on the other hand, the microbewas a micrococcus and not a bacillus ; it was circularin shape, highly refracting, and stained readily with fuchsine

I

and methyl blue. When inoculated into animals in a virulentcondition all the symptoms of yellow fever were produced.Inoculation of the bacillus of bilious fever produced in guinea-pigs afever remittent in type. Post-mortem examinations madeon the animals experimented on sh wed a considerable enlarge-

ment of the spleen, and the gall-bladder was distended withbile. In the stomach a large quantity of dark-green bile wasfound. The kidneys and lungs were hyperasmic, the heart wasarrested in diastole and the auricles were full of dark blood.

Blood taken from the heart of the animal and placed on agar-agar produced characteristic colonies. Four tubes inoculated

with the bile gave positive results in three cases, the coloniesand bacilli presenting the appearances already described.Microscopical examination of sections of the liver and kidneyalso showed the micro-organisms. In conclusion, Dr. Freiremaintains that the bilious fever of hot countries and yellowfever, although closely resembling each other, are perfectlydistinct diseases, and that this may be demonstrated both bythe clinical features and by their bacteriological characters.

DIPHTHERIA PREVALENCE.

I IT is reported that diphtheria is prevalent in the Lizarddistrict of Cornwall, where it is ascribed to milk and connectedwith the consumption by cows of sewage-polluted material.This raises an interesting etiological question which shouldbe followed up. In the meantime some 400 cases of diphtheriaare being reported each week throughout England and Wales.London contributes about one-half of them ; whilst Oxford,Birmingham and Cardiff are other places in which the diseasehas shown itself to be abnormally prevalent.

ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY CLUB DINNER.

THE biennial dinner of this London club was held on

Wednesday evening at the Holborn Restaurant, under thepresidency of Dr. Ferrier, F.R.S., who was supported by alarge muster of the members. The guests included Sir James

Sivewright, K.C.M.G., a distinguished alumnus of the Uni.versity ; Surgeon-General Cunningham, Dr. Lauder Brunton,and others well known in official and social circles. A plea-sant evening was passed and a hearty response was givento the toast of the evening, which was proposed in an

excellent speech by the chairman, who referred to the

approaching completion of the fourth century since thefoundation of King’s College, Aberdeen, and to the greatextension of the University buildings that is now attractingthe attention as well as the money of all who are interestedin the welfare of the "Granite City." Several Scotch songswere sung with excellent effect during the evening by Mr.Sinclair Dunn.

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THE INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF OZONE INTHE TREATMENT OF PHTHISIS.

DR. HENRY S. NOBRIS, in the New lork Medical

Journal, calls attention to the use of ozone in cases of

pulmonary phthisis. The preparation of ozone he has

used with successful results is called ., aquozone," which is H,2t volume per cent. solution of ozone in water, the stabilityof which is maintained by the presence of a certain amountof hypophosphites. The remedy was always given in the

same way-viz., twelve ounces of aquozone daily in four doses,one before each meal, and the fourth at bedtime, and anounce and a half of ozonised oil, being half an ounce aftereach meal. The cases in which it has proved most successfulhave been in persons under thirty-five years of age withcatarrhal phthisis, or where the disease has not passed farinto the second stage, has not been too active, and has beenlimited to a single lobe, or, if in both lungs, has beenconfincd to comparatively small areas. In every case

where these conditions existed the improvement has beenimmediate and progressive. In seven of the fifteen cases

reported marked improvement took place : increase in weight,diminution and even cessation of cough and expectoration,termination of night sweats, and, finally, notable and favour-able modifications of the physical signs, amounting in twocases to their entire disappearance. Of this last group all