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months out of eighteen was the guest of Mr. Tucker, whotill he went there to oppose the decision of Sir John Gorriehad scarcely known him by sight. It will here be as well to

point out that Mr. Anderson took extreme precautions tosecure evidence and support in regard to the general oppres-sion of himself and his fellow colonists. He obtained statu-tory declarations from clergymen and magistrates which heread with telling effect both in Barbadoes and at St. James’sHall. He had the concurrence of many fellow petitioners inthe petitions sent to the Queen in Council. As to his pro-fessional conduct he had the written testimony of the onlythree other medical men in the island of Tobago. He alsoobtained unanimous votes in support of his professional con-duct and rights from the Barbadoes Branch of the BritishMedical Association, and subsequently, on its formation,from the Trinidad and Tobago branch, so both as to hisstatements of the injuries done to himself and his fellowcolonists and as to his own conduct he occupies a practicallyimpregnable position, and of this these facts, coupled withthe report of Sir W. Markby and Sir F. Pollock, shouldconvince the most sceptical.

(To be continued.)

THE NILE EXPEDITION.

THE latest intelligence from this expedition shows thatthere is great activity at Wady Halfa and that preparationis general for the advance of the force. There are two

points on which the authorities may, we think, be fairlycongratulated. The first is that the feeling with whichthe expedition is regarded by some of the tribes in the

Soudan appears to have undergone a great change in ourfavour. Some of those who fought against us at El Teband Tamai have now become friendly and have not

only proffered help to the expedition, but have been

making a series of attacks upon 0-sman Digna’s forces,and others have been doing useful work as scoutsoutside the limit of our own military operations. Theother encouraging factor is that the report of the Anglo-Egyptian movement on the Nile has had the effect of

drawing off a portion of Osman Digna’s troops from Kassalain other directions, thereby enabling the Italian garrison ofKassala to make a successful sortie and defeat the forcebesieging that place. Official telegrams from Massowahstate that the Dervishes threatening Kassala have beenrouted and driven across the River Atbara, and that thestores of the garrison have been recently replenished. Thelatest news, moreover, is to the effect that Italian troopswill continue to hold Kassala and that the Government donot intend to evacuate the position.The work of the Transport Department of the Nile Expedi-

tion is being energetically pushed forward, and Wady Halfahas been for some time, and still remains, as we have said,a scene of great activity. The railway has now beencompleted some miles beyond Sarras, and will soon beextended to Akasheh. Rations for the whole force for thenext four or five months are being landed and stored atWady Halfa, and, in short, all arrangements are being madefor a serious campaign in the autumn, up to which time thetroops will most probably not advance beyond Akasheh,between which place and Wady Halfa railway and telegra-phic communication will have, in the meantime, beenestablished.

In addition to the gathering of the Dervishes in and aboutDongola a considerable portion of Osman Digna’s force seemsto have gone in the direction of Suakim, the garrison ofwhich place will no doubt require to be strengthened, but itis hoped and believed that the Egyptian force at Suakim andTokar-with the aid of the neighbouring tribes friendly to usand strongly opposed to Osman Digna’s rule-will be quitesufficient for the present to cope successfully with any troopswhich Osman Digna can bring against them.The medical arrangements on the Nile will be a hospital

for the Egyptian troops of 340 beds at Wady Halfa, whichwill act as the provisional base of the expedition, inaddition to a portion of the barracks converted into a

hospital, a section of a field hospital at Sarras, a

hospital at Ambagol, and a field hospital of 100 beds atAkasheh. Hunter Bey, the senior medical officer of theEgyptian army, is making the arrangements, aided by Surgeon-

Captain Trask and Surgeon-Captain Penton. It is hopedthat river transport by native boats, which is far the mostcomfortable and best for sick and wounded, will be arrangedfor the conveyance of sick and disabled men from the stationsin front to the base hospital at Wady Halfa. Until thisis done their removal must be effected by cacolets oncamels-an inferior, and indeed unsuitable, method for anysick or badly wounded men. Additional hospital provisionand arrangements will have to be made for the Britishportion of the force. The heat is great-it reaches 107°F.-but it is commonly tempered by a cool breeze from the northat some period of the day. There are considerable diurnalvariations of temperature-a difference of as much as 30° F.sometimes taking place between the temperatures of the dayand night. The climatic heat is, however, very differentto that of India. It is a matter of great importance, ofcourse, that there should be no overcrowding of the troops,that any available means of free ventilation should be turnedto account, that the soldiers-especially the Europeansoldiers—should have good cover from the direct effects ofthe sun, that the camps and camping grounds should bekept scrupulously clean, and that there should be amplesupplies of ice. The men of the British battalion arestated to be in fairly good health and in excellentfettle, but there has, as might have been anticipated,already been some inefficiency from sickness among them.As the result of all our previous knowledge and experiencewe may fairly expect that the principal diseases that willhave to be encountered will be fevers-especially heatfevers and typhoid fever-diarrhoea and dysentery, withcases of sunstroke and heat-exhaustion. It is understoodthat British troops will not be sent to Egypt to take part inthe campaign until the hot weather is over, and thatSir Redvers Buller will assume command of the expeditionaryforce when the advance on Dongola ii made. As we havealready said, the army generally has the greatest confidencein the proved capacity and soldier-like qualities of SirRedvers Buller, who has already made a reputation for him-self in the fields of South and North Africa. It seems to be

generally agreed that great improvement has taken place inthe military bearing, discipline, and general appearance ofthe Egyptian troops.

Public Health and Poor Law.LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

SANITARY ADMINISTRATION IN THE PORT OF LONDON.

THE current half-yearly report of Dr. Wm. Collingridge,the medical officer of health of the Port of London, is veryinteresting reading, and it contains, moreover, suggestions ofmuch value. The Cholera Surveys of recent years whichhave been undertaken by the Medical Department of theLocal Government Board have done excellent work in

serving to stimulate port sanitary authorities throughout thecountry to a better comprehension and execution of dutiesimposed upon them by the Legislature; and the energeticand praiseworthy action of the Corporation of London hasprovided a fitting example which other port sanitaiy authori-ties may well follow. It is surely in keeping with the

spirit of the times that the port of the greatest city inthe world should administer its affairs with no niggardlyhand-it can, indeed, well afford to set an example both inadministration as well as in liberality. During the half yearreferred to by Dr. Collingridge’s report 14,054 sanitary in-spections of vessels were made, and it was discovered that in3’8 per cent. of these cleansing orders were necessary. Inconnexion with these inspections it is stated that the propor-tion of dirty forecastles has steadily decreased sincesystematic inspections have been carried out. Of the totalnumber of vessels inspected, 82 4 per cent. were British. 9 05were Swedish and Norwegian, 3 29 were German, and theremaining nations were represented in smaller percentages.Many of the improvements carried out during the yearwere in regard to lighting and heating, and Dr. Colling-ridge very properly insists strongly on the importancefrom a sanitary standpoint of affording as much lightas possible. In connexion with the question of struc-tural requirements Dr. Collingridge refers to the necessityof the port sanitary authorities inspecting the plans of all

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- vessels prior to their construction, as, although the officers }of these authorities would have little to say to the design ofa vessel, they would be able to suggest improvements as

regards fittings, ventilation, lighting, &c., and thus spareInfinite subsequent trouble to all concerned. The importantmodifications which have been recently introduced into theinstructions of the Board of Trade as to the survey of crews’spaces, &o., are referred to with much satisfaction byDr. Collingridge, and he especially mentions the preventionof condensation in the berths and the provision of properlighting and ventilation. In the instructions referredto it is for the first time laid down that the minimumsize of bunks in vessels built or measured after theissue of the instructions shall not be less than six feet

long and two feet wide. Medical inspection on the part ofLondon has, Dr. Collingridge observes, worked without ahitch and with but the least delay to shipping ; he contem-plates that the Quarantine Act when in force will by theremoval of needless restrictions still further facilitatematters. The enormous amount of inspectorial work whichis necessitated in the Port of London may be gathered fromthe fact that the limits of the district extend fromTeddington to the Nore. It has been found, in fact, thatwith the two steam launches hitherto at the disposalof the sanitary authority it is impossible to carry outthe inspection thoroughly over the whole area, and Dr.

Collingridge has asked the authority to provide a thirdlaunch. He points out that under the Public Health(London) Act, 1891, it is as much the duty of the portsanitary authority to cause inspection to be made of the shipsin their district as it is for an inland sanitary authorityto inspect the houses in theirs, and he shows that with thepresent fleet such inspection is impossible. The port sanitarycommittee has had Dr. Collingridge’s request under theirconsideration, and we are glad to see that before decidingupon the matter they adopted the very sensible course ofthemselves making trips down the river and thereby ascer-taining the impossibility of complete inspectorial supervisionwith but two steam launches. A considerable portion ofDr. Collingridge’s report is devoted to the important subjectof food inspection, a matter which engages a large portion ofthe inspectors’ time. For instance, during the six monthsunder review there were destroyed 451 carcases of muttonand lamb and 1546 quarters of beef, besides numerous casesof eggs, fruit, and fish. A very large number of frozenrabbits and hares are imported during certain monthsof the year from New Zealand and Australia, andthese are all inspected on their being unloaded from thevessels. Much care has to be exercised in dealing with theserabbits in transit from the docks, as they are extremely sus-ceptible to changes of temperature and decomposition readilyensues. The importance of this supervision of our food-supplies entering by sea which is exercised by the officers ofthe London Port Sanitary Authority cannot be overrated,and Dr. Collingridge draws attention to the possibility ofthe introduction of infection by meat and milk, insisting thatinasmuch as there is no information as to the conditionduring life of the animals which furnish the meat and milkit is necessary to be the more particular in subsequentexamination. In the appendix to the report the sanitarycommittee have published the whole of Dr. Theodore Thom-son’s very thorough report to the Local Government Boardupon his survey of the London Port Sanitary District. Inconclusion, we commend Dr. Collingridge’s report to portmedical officers of health, and we trust it will find its wayinto their hands.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN thirty-three of the largest English towns 6451 birthsand 4164 deaths were registered during the week endingApril llth. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had declined in the five preceding weeks from20.7 to 18-3 per 1000, rose again last week to 20-0. InLondon the rate was 20-3 per 1000, while it averaged 19-8in the thirty-two provincial towns. The lowest rates inthese towns were 13.0 in Brighton, 13.3 in Croydon and inDerby, 14 2 in West Ham, and 14 5 in Huddersfield ; thehighest rates were 22-0 in Salford, 24-7 in Oldham and inBolton, 25-1 in Manchester, and 27 5 in Leeds. The 4164 deathsincluded 666 which were referred to the principal zymotic

diseases, against 631 and 615 in the two precedingweeks; of these, 276 resulted from measles, 206 fromwhooping-cough, 76 from diphtheria, 42 from diarrhoea,40 from ’scarlet fever, 24 from " fever (principallyenteric), and 2 from small-pox. No fatal case of anyof these diseases occurred last week in Hudder&field; inthe other towns they caused the lowest death-rates inBrighton, Cardiff, Bradford, Preston, and Hull, and thehighest rates in Wolverhampton, Birkenhead, Bolton, Old-ham, and Sunderland. The greatest mortality from measlesoccurred in London, Bristol, Oldham, Birkenhead, andSunderland ; from scarlet fever in Salford and in Bolton ;from whooping-cough in Bolton, London, Salford, Leeds,and Derby; and from "fever" in Wolverhampton. The76 deaths from diphtheria included 45 in London, 4 in

Birmingham, 3 in West Ham, and 3 in Bolton. Two fatal

cases of small-pox was registered in Bristol, but not onein London or in any other of the thirty-three large towns.There were 21 cases of small-pox under treatment in theMetropolitan Asylum Hospitals and in the Highgate Small-pox Hospital on Saturday last, the llth inst., against 43,33, and 23 at the end of the three preceding weeks ; 5new cases were admitted during the week, against 9,2, and 2 in the three preceding weeks. The number ofscarlet fever patients in the Metropolitan Asylum Hos-pitals and in the London Fever Hospital at the end ofthe week was 2587, against 2773, 2744, and 2676 on thethree preceding Saturdays; 226 new cases were admittedduring the week, against 277, 224, and 186 in the three

preceding weeks. The deaths referred to diseases of the

respiratory organs in London, which had declined in thesix preceding weeks from 404 to 270, rose again to 301 lastweek, but were 102 below the corrected ’average. Thecauses of 73, or 1’8 per cent., of the deaths in the

thirty-three towns were not certified either by a registeredmedical practitioner or by a coroner. All the causes ofdeath were duly certified in Bristol, Salford, Oldham,Leeds, and in nine other smaller towns ; the largest pro-portions of uncertified deaths were registered in Birmingham,Liverpool, Blackburn, and Sheffield.

HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns.which had declined in the three preceding weeks from 19’6to 18 7 per 1000, rose again to 19-7 during the weekending April llth, but was slightly below the mean rateduring the same period in the thirty-three large Englishtowns. The rates in the eight Scotch towns ranged from12-1 in Paisley and 13 0 in Aberdeen, to 21-8 in Leith and27’4 in Perth. The 576 deaths in these towns included29 which were referred to whooping-cough, 20 to measles,17 to diarrhoea, 12 to 6’ fever," 7 to diphtheria, 6 to scarletfever, and not one to small-pox. In all, 91 deaths resultedfrom these principal zymotic diseases, against 52 and 61in the two preceding weeks. These 91 deaths were

equal to an annual rate of 31 per 1000, which almost

corresponded with the mean rate last week from the samediseases in the thirty-three large English towns. Thefatal cases of whooping-cough, which had been 21 in eachof the two preceding weeks, rose to 29 last week, of which 18occurred in Glasgow, 4 in Edinburgh, 3 in Aberdeen, and3 in Paisley. The deaths from measles, which had been 6 and 8in the two preceding weeks, further increased to 20 lastweek, and included 9 in Glasgow and 5 in Dundee. Thedeaths referred to different forms of "fever," which hadbeen 4 and 6 in the two preceding weeks, further rose to12 last week, of which 7 occurred in Glasgow and 2 inEdinburgh. The 7 fatal cases of diphtheria also showed afurther increase upon recent weekly numbers, and included3 in Glasgow. The deaths from scarlet fever, which hadbeen 6 and 5 in the two preceding week?, were 6 last week,of which 3 occurred in Edinburgh and 2 in Glasgow. Thedeaths referred to diseases of the respiratory organs in thesetowns, which had been 107 and 87 in the two precedingweeks, rose again to 110 last week, but were 51 below thenumber in the corresponding week of last year. The causesof 40, or nearly 7 per cent., of the deaths in these eighttowns last week were not certified.

HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The death-rate in Dublin, which had been 24-8 and 25-5per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, declined to 25 4