687NOTES FROM INDIA.

of its management, but it is undoubtedly contrary tothe laws of the hospital applying to the medical staff andin that sense illegal. Law 40 provides "that no medical I

officer shall be removeable except by the vote of a generalor special court on the report of the committee of manage-ment " ; but the committee made no report that I have heardof or seen, hence a serious step has been taken against meand I have suffered injury unheard and without sufficient orany cause being assigned. As this is a matter which affectsthe position of the medical and surgical staffs of all hospitalsit is one which, I venture to think, will attract the attentionof medical journals and through them of the profession atlarge. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,Grosvenor-street, W., March 2nd, 1903. H. A. REEVES.

[COPY OF LETTER FROM SECRETARY.]ROYAL ORTHOPAEDIC HOSPITAL, Feb. 27th, 1903.

DEAR SIR,-I have to inform you that at the annual court ofgovernors held yesterday you were not re-elected upon the committeeof management, from which you some time ago gave notice of yourintention to retire.The governors did not re-elect you either as one of the honorary

surgeons, but thinking you would prefer to finish the treatment ofcertain of your patients no immediate steps have been taken regardingthe appointment of a successor. . - -

I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,H. A. Reeves, Esqre. TATE S. MANSFORD.

THE VALUE OF CHLORETONE INSEA-SICKNESS.

To tAe Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,-I can confirm the good opinion expressed by Dr.L. Wheeler in THE LANCET of Feb. 28th, p. 615, as to thevalue of chloretone in sea-sickness. Last June, when aboutto cross the North Sea, I was, by the courtesy of Messrs.Parke, Davis, and Co., furnished with a supply of the drugin five-grain capsules. I may say that I am a very badsailor and that, rough or smooth, a sea voyage has for manyyears meant at least 48 hours of abject misery, the NorthSea having especial terrors. On this occasion before leavingthe Humber I took one capsule and on retiring to myberth I took two capsules more. During the night and allnext day it blew hard, with a nasty cross sea, yet I was

perfectly comfortable and did not miss a meal. Earlyin the morning of the first day at sea I met the stewardess ;she was looking very ill, and she told me that all the

lady passengers were sea-sick and that she herself was in thesame plight and was hardly able to attend to her duties. Iadministered two capsules to her at once and put my stockat her disposal for the ladies. On inquiring the result thestewardess told me that she got speedy relief and could takefood and go about her work comfortably and that every ladywho had taken a dose said that she felt very much better.On the return journey, sailing from Christiania, we had alovely run down the fiord and I went to bed while the shiplay by the quay side at Christiansand and quite forgotboth sea-sickness and my remedy. The night was a veryrough one and next morning no breakfast could beserved in the saloon, the few who could eat beingsupplied in their cabins. I was very bad and could takeneither food nor stimulant. Somehow I managed to dress-or rather put on my clothes-and make my way to a saloon’where, lying on my back athwart ship, I slid backwards andforwards for an hour or two. Then I bethought me ofchloretone and sending a steward for my bottle I took twocapsules. For an hour afterwards I rested comfortably andat luncheon time took my place at table and ate a goodmeal. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

-,.

Broughton-in-Furness, J. W. FAWCITT, L.R.C.P. &S. Edin.March 2nd, 1903.

THE "FRICTION" " TONGUE.To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,-The above term may very fitly be applied, I think,to an appearance of the tongue which is very commonlyseen in people who have worn an upper teeth-plate for sometime. In extreme cases the whole upper surface shows asmooth, dry, polished, and bright red surface, the raphebecoming shallow and indistinct and in some cases entirelyobliterated.

Dr. W. A. Wills in writing of chronic glossitis in Allbutt’sSystem of Medicine" says that "if general it is oftencalled glossy tongue and is usually the result of chronicdyspepsia or alcoholism.

" In the "friction tongue-a true

glossy tongue-we have neither of the two above causesat work. People who use an upper teeth-plate may bethe subjects of dyspepsia or alcoholism and in them,the friction effect may be seen in its most typicalform. But neither chronic dyspepsia nor alcoholism,or both combined, produce such a well-marked condition ofglossy tongue as that found from the use of an upper teeth-plate. There is no pain or tenderness or any inconvenienceaccompanying this appearance of the tongue ; indeed, thepossessors of such never make any complaujt of it or know-that there is anything unusual in the appearance of it. Initself, therefore, it is a matter of no importance and itsonly claim to be recorded is simply to have attached to it.its proper causation and nothing more. It is thus that I.have termed it a friction tongue-a mechanical result.

I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, --

Boyson-road, S.E., March 2nd. WM. ECKLIN, M.B. Glasg.

NOTES FROM INDIA.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

A Crematorium for Calcutta.-The Census of Calcutta.-TkePlague Epidemic.-A Magnificent Donation to India.THE movement which was started at the end of last

year with the object of establishing a crematorium forCalcutta has rapidly progressed. The Cremation Societyof Bengal is to be enrolled as a company and has succeededin getting the corporation of the city to purchase two bighasof land (about two-thirds of an acre) adjoining the largeChristian cemetery and to allot in the coming year’s Budget.Rs. 15,000 (.61000) for the erection of a crematorium. This,I understand, is everything that was asked for and it now-

merely remains for the society to obtain funds in order to builda chapel. In a year’s time the crematorium should be builtand in working order.The Resolution of the Government on the census of

Calcutta has just been issued. This city, with itssuburbs, has a population of 949,144, and if Howrah, on

the opposite side of the river (the position of which corre-sponds with that of Southwark in London), were includedthe combined aggregation of people numbers nearly1,107,000. The municipality of Calcutta, however, controlsan area having but 847,796 persons, as the suburbs havetheir own little governing bodies. The population hasincreased during the past decade 24 per cent.-chieflyby immigration, especially from Behar and the UnitedProvinces. One curious feature exists in the largepredominance of males-the proportion of the sexes

being as 19 to 10. Of the total, 65 per cent. are Hindus,about 30 per cent. are Mahomedans, and about 4 per cent.are Christians, the small remainder being constituted ofmembers of various nationalities. There are no less than59 languages spoken in Calcutta, of which the chief two areBengali and Hindustani, Uriya and English following a longdistance after. It will hardly surprise anyone to learn thatthree-fourths of the population are illiterate.The mortality from plague throughout India mounts up

higher and higher. There were no less than 24,500 deathsfrom this disease alone during the past week. These figurescompare with 23,632 deaths during the previous seven daysand 12,192 during the corresponding week of last year. Thedetails published are : Bombay Presidency, 11,708 deaths ;the Punjab, 2882 ; Bengal Presidency, 2757; the UnitedProvinces, 2510 ; the Madras Presidency, 793 ; the CentralProvinces, 1173 ; the Mysore State, 829 ; Hyderabad State,622 ; Berar, 595 ; Calcutta, 97 ; Bombay City, 498 ; andKarachi, 20. Poona is not mentioned, but the daily recordsshow over 100 deaths a day from plague alone, which with apopulation of only about 100,000 indicates the frightfulravages which the disease is making once more in that city.

Mr. Henty Phipps has placed at the disposal of the Viceroythe munificent donation of £20, 000 to be devoted by theGovernment of India to some object of practical benefit byscientific or industrial research which will promise enduringgood to India. Mr. Phipps is a partner of Mr. AndrewCarnegie. He has also given L2000 to the Victoria MemorialScholarship Fund which has for its chief object the trainingof native women as midwives and nurses. This fund hasalready reached something like six and a half lakhs of rupeesand is presided over by Lady Curzon.:

Feb. 5th.