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DR. JOHN DUDGEON, whose interesting account of theepidemics that have visited Peking we lately noticed, hasjust received from the Czar a splendid diamond ring, as anacknowledgment of his work on the "Relations betweenRussia and China."

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WE understand that the Holborn guardians have adoptedthe suggestion of Dr. Lankester, that glass lids should beplaced on the coffins of bodies in the mortuary. This will

greatly simplify the process of "viewing" by a jury.

THE Visiting Committee of the City of London Unionhave drawn the attention of the justices to the defectiveventilation of the Lunatic Asylum at Stone, where thereare 250 patients chargeable to the City of London.

WE were sorry to observe the extremely ungracious re-fusal of the Bethnal-green Board of Guardians to acceptthe offer of the Marchioness of Salisbury to furnish a

Turkish bath for the use of the inmates of the workhouse.

TEE health of Dr. Nélaton continues the same. There isstill great restlessness at nights, but the patient is calmerduring the day, and is able to take a little food.

IN the parish of All Saints, Poplar (the bee-hive of themetropolis), with a population of 60,000, only 11 deathswere registered for the week ending Saturday last.

SCARLATINA has broken out in the Forestgate Schools,.and the guardians have been informed that the admissionof children is stopped for the present.

THE medical officer at the schools of the St. Pancras Work-house reports that a few cases of ophthalmia have appearedamong the children. ____

IN the Poor-law schools at Mitcham, belonging to theHolborn Union, twenty-eight of the children are sufferingfrom ophthalmia.

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THE Liverpool Daily Courier ventilates the subject of

-provident dispensaries, taking Dr. Anderson’s views as atext.

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DR. FBANXLAND, F.R.S., reports that all the metropolitanwaters were clear and transparent during the past month.

THE British Medical Benevolent Fund has received £100 in donations from Miss Caroline Brown, for 1873.

FREDERICK JAEGER’S OBITUARY BYWECKER.

DR. DE WECKER has recently published a highly inter-esting pamphlet-°°Notice Necrologique sur Frederick

Jaeger :’ We gather from it the following history of thisgreat master of ophthalmology.Born September 4th, 1784, at Kirchberg, a little town on

the Taxt, he was the son of a surgeon who came as a fugi-tive to Kirchberg, where the vacancy of special surgeon toPrince Hohenlohe had just been announced. He obtainedthe appointment, espoused his predecessor’s widow, whobrought him a dowry of five children, and subsequentlysupplemented the family by five more, of whom Frederickwas the youngest. As a child he was so intelligent that hisfather obtained assistance from him in dissecting, entrustedcertain dressings to him, and instructed him in the opera- I,tions of minor surgery. It would be difficult to find a second

example of so long a medical career. Scarcely nine years

old he practised venesection, and when eighty operated forcataract. When fourteen he lost his father, who diedwithout having decided what course Frederick Jaeger shouldpursue.

Charles Jaeger was an established oculist at Vienna, andsoon appreciating the aptitude of his younger brotherFrederick, encouraged him to follow the medical profession.The youngest Jaeger commenced his studies at Wurzburg.After some years he moved to Vienna, then to Landstrut,where he graduated as doctor under the auspices of Wal-ther. Then he returned to Vienna, where he prosecutedthe special studies for the title of Master of Ophthalmology,and prepared to practise his art. But war brought theseschemes to an abrupt close, for in 1809 all strangers wereordered to quit Vienna. To escape this expulsion F.Jaeger entered the military medical service, but havingfailed to rejoin his regiment, found himself a prisoner ofwar. The peace signed, Jaeger rejoined his regiment, andcontinued to serve in the Hungarian hospitals. After thesehospitals had been evacuated, Jaeger made his way back toVienna, and recommenced study under the guidance ofBeer. Beer soon became greatly attached to this pupil,paid frequent homage to the promptitude with which he,more than any other, would appropriate his master’s methodand ideas, and did not hesitate to testify his confidence bymaking him operate before the University dignitaries.In 1811 Jaeger qualified as Master in Ophthalmology,

and in the following year was called to the chair of Oph-thalmology at Pesth, but preferred to continue chief ofBeer’s clinique, whose daughter he married in 1815. Theensuing year Prince Metternich came under Beer’s carewith severe ophthalmia. The illustrious patient, when stillconvalescent from the attack, had to start for Italy, soBeer charged his own son-in-law to accompany the prince,and from this moment Jaeger became his special medicalattendant and intimate friend. Thus he grew acquaintedwith all the highest dignitaries in Europe, and at Limburgattended General Kutschera through a dangerous typhoidfever, for which service he received, in 1825, the doubletitle of Professor of Ophthalmology to the Military Academyof Josephenum, and Chief Physician to the Army. Jaegershould have succeeded to the chair left vacant in 1821 by hisfather-in-law, the duties of which he had fulfilled for twoyears, but as Jaeger had not pandered to the whims of theMinister and of the Emperor’s special physician, their in-fluence was sufficient to secure the appointment of Rosas, aman of doubtful scientific merit.The most brilliant epoch for Jaeger, both as a teacher

and practitioner, was between 1825 and 1839. During theseyears he was rightly accredited the most remarkable oph-thalmologist and most able operator in Vienna, and enjoyeda world-wide reputation. He was engaged at Klagenfurthto investigate an epidemic of granular ophthalmia whichwas rife in the army. Honours literally showered uponhim. In 1831 he a second time refused the chair at Bonn.The Sultan applied for two of his pupils to found a schoolof medicine, and attached one of them to his suite. MahometAli committed to Jaeger’s care his little son, the Viceroy ofEgypt, who was attacked with granular ophthalmia. The

Egyptian Government sent to him all the young men whowould consent to devote themselves to the study of oph-thalmology.

In 1839 he was called to Hanover to attend the ex-king.Father Graefe had been secured for the same object. Atthe instance of the king an operative attempt was made,though both Jaeger and father Graefe had insisted, verballyand in writing, upon the uselessness of such a step. Acuteinflammation with complete failure ensued, which, addedto other misfortunes, was a fresh source of vexation for theoperator. In 1842 a further rebuff befel Jaeger, for, havingto attend General Radetzki, he committed a famous errorof diagnosis upon him. Similarity in the symptoms ledJaeger to mistake a simple abscess for a malignant tumourin the orbit; and the celebrated general rapidly recovered,despite the despairing prognosis-a mishap not withoutfurther interest, for Hartung, the general’s appointed phy-sician, a homoeopathic doctor, who had associated himselfwith the false diagnosis, when he discovered the error

turned it into capital for his own doctrine. He impudentlydeclared that by the remedies of his school he had obtainedthe resolution of the cancerous growth. This started those

struggles against homoeopathy which brought Jaeger so

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many. enemies. From this date Jaeger’s star seemed towane, for he saw himself deceived in his most cherishedhopes. Although a whole lifetime of labour and merito-rious works had justified those hopes, notwithstanding allthe degrees which he had won, he could neither obtain theDirectorship of the Academy of Military Surgery at Josephnum, nor the Chief Surgeoncy to the Army. Hewas unable to cede to his son the chair of professor atJosephnum, the disestablishment of which returned Fredk.Jaeger to private life. He then founded with Edward

Jaeger a special clinique, which he directed for ten years;there he gave his last lessons, and had A. Graefe as a pupil.At the age of eighty-two he still took a lively interest in theprogress of ophthalmology; but in 1866 an attack of pneu-monia forbad him all further activity.The jubilee of his promotion to the rank of Master of

Ophthalmology was the occasion of his elevation to theknighthood of Austria, when he affixed to his title the nameof Taxthal.In 1865 he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his mar-

riage ; this was the last bright page of his life. December26th, 1871, F. Jaeger died, no longer to be afflicted with thesad recollections of the unprosperous days of his old age.What a contrast with the end of Graefe! That Jaegershould be condemned to survive not only his reputation andgood fortune, but almost, so to say, himself. This outlineof Frederick Jaeger’s life cannot be supplemented by a longlist of his books, for he published only an essay on onyx ofthe cornea and a monograph on Egyptian ophthalmia,though probably he inspired his son’s first great work onthe treatment of cataract.

Frederick Jaeger always shrank from appearing in print;he shows through his teaching, and it is no mean title torenown to have conducted the scientific education of anEdward Jaeger. His name was attached to an operationwhich he designated as partial section, and which his soncalled linear extraction.The ophthalmic surgeon is indebted to this lamented

master for more than one other advance. His operation fortrichiasis, his extraction by a superior flap without fixationof the eye, and the inoculation of purulent ophthalmia incases of pannus may be cited to his memory.

Correspondence.

THE OUTBREAK OF ENTERIC FEVER ATBRIGHOUSE.

"Audi alteram partem."

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-Now that the controversy regarding the pollution

of milk by sewage is going on, a detailed account of theoutbreak.of typhoid fever in Brighouse may be interestingto some of your readers.On August 12th I received notice of the outbreak I

having taken place in a certain district of the town.On visiting the district, my first attention was naturallydrawn to the water-supply, but that I found was of excellent Iquality, as it was supplied by the Halifax Corporation, and,running through pipes, could not become contaminated with Isewage. That source being cut off, I next turned my atten-tion to the drainage, but this I found good; the street

I

drains, however, were not trapped. I could only get evi-dence of the drains having been offensive in two streets, andin them I also found offensive ashpits. In these twostreets the fever was of a more malignant character, andthere were several deaths. This did not, however, accountfor the prevalence of fever in other streets, so I next turnedmy attention to the supply of milk. In twenty-nine out ofthirty cases I found that this came from the same farm. Itherefore visited the farm. The cows were very fineanimals, and healthy in appearance. The field was notirrigated with sewage, and therefore the grass was notsewage grass. The supply of water, however, was short, andthe cows had evidently been drinking out of a pond in thefield which contained the liquid sewage from the fold-yard,as it was much marked on the edges by the feet of the cattle.

I also saw one cow go up to the pond and drink. Thus thecows were not drinking water contaminated by sewage, butliquid sewage itself.There was no typhoid fever on the farm, nor any means of

contamination, so far as I could ascertain.I thought that I had got at the source of the fever, so I

returned to Brighouse, and went again into the infecteddistrict. I found that the milk-drinkers of a family werethose most generally attacked; also, that the milk wouldnot keep a reasonable time, and instead of becoming sourit stank.Very energetic measures were adopted by the Local Board.

The drains and ashpits were thoroughly disinfected dailyby the inspector of nuisances, who also supplied the familiesof the sick with disinfectants gratuitously. The farmerwas ordered not to bring any milk into the place for sevendays, and in the meantime to supply his cows with purewater. This was on the morning of the 16th inst.On visiting other parts of the town I found thirty-two

more cases, making a total of sixty-two old cases, of whichfifty-nine had milk from the suspected source. In one streetof about forty houses there were two cases, and they werein the only two houses supplied with this milk. In anotherstreet a row of twelve houses with one case, and this theonly one supplied with this milk. The same again in a rowof four houses. In a court containing eight houses therewere two cases in the only two houses supplied. One mansaid he was perfectly well until he began to drink milk, andthen he soon took the fever. Another man was well untilhis cat had kittens, and he bought daily one pennyworth ofthis milk for the cat, but as the cat did not require it all, hetook the remainder to his supper, the result being that hesoon was laid up with fever. Several people had been illafter taking the milk, and some had vomited.As I stated before, the supply of milk was stopped on the

16th inst. From that day to the 21st there were six freshcases, making a total of sixty-eight; and from the 21st upto this day-the 30th-there have been no fresh cases.

Thus you see that the fever abated from the day of thestoppage of the supply of the suspected milk. From thesevarious circumstances I conclude that the milk was thesource of the infection, and that, such being the case, it isnot advisable for cows to feed off grass upon which sewageis running at the time they are feeding. That the propertime for sewage irrigation of grass land is winter, when thecattle are not in the fields, so that before spring the sewagemay become absorbed and the fields then fit to receivecattle.

I am, Sir, yours truly,THOS. BRITTON, M.D.Halifax, August 30th, 1873.

PROFESSOR LISTER ON ANTISEPTICSURGERY.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-Mr. Wood’s address at the recent meeting of theBritish Medical Association, and your editorial remarksupon itt, if left unnoticed by myself, might lead yourreaders to suppose that I had relaxed in my efforts to promoteantiseptic surgery. I therefore beg leave to state throughyour columns that, during the two years which have elapsedsince the delivery of my address at Plymouth, I have beensteadily endeavouring to lay more broadly and deeply thefoundation upon which the antiseptic system is based, toimprove our methods, and to cheapen our materials.For some fruits of my labours in pursuit of the first of

these objects I may refer to Nature of the 10th and l7th oflast month, which contained an abstract of a communica-tion which I made in April to the Royal Society of thiscity, and which I am now engaged in preparing for publica-tion in extenso in their Transactions.The results of my endeavours to promote the other two

scarcely less important objects I hope to lay in due timebefore my professional brethren, together with evidence oftheir value in practice. Meanwhile I must content myselfwith the general statement that we are attaining withgreater constancy than ever before, the entire exclusion of

* THE LANCET, August 9th, 1873. t Ib., August 23rd, 1873.On the Germ Theory of Putrefaction and other Fermentative

Changes."