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disease, but not suspecting that he suffered from phlebitis,he had occasion to rise. Immediately on returning tobed he had symptoms of embolism from which he for-

tunately recovered. One of his friends, after having for30 days suffered from phlebitis of the saphena vein, wassimilarly affected. He had been told that he might getup but he had scarcely left his bed when he fell quitehelpless. M. Reynier considered that in all cases of phlebitisthe patient ought to be forbidden to make the least move-ment as long as the veins were painful and the clot was notorganised. A distinction must be made between varicoseveins otherwise normal and thrombosed veins. In a patientsuffering from varix and old phlebitis massage might excitelatent microbism. Massage often did more harm than goodand medical observation has shown that it might cause

further phlebitis which might kill the patient. In cases of

phlebitis walking ought not to be permitted beyond a verylimited extent; much walking produced tension of thenervous system and very painful cramps. Massage ought notto be permitted until after complete recovery from phlebitis.

Mosquitoes and Malaria in Madagascar.At the same meeting of the Academy of Medicine M.

Laveran presented a very important communication on thissubject, with special reference to various particulars. Hehas observed among the natives the frequency of malaria invery young children, whose blood very often containedmalaria parasites and who were therefore a frequent sourceof the disease. This prevalence of malaria in children wasdue partly to the circumstance that the symptoms of malariawere usually not well marked in them and partly to thedifficulty of giving them quinine. A variety of causes

favoured the dissemination of malaria. In the cultivationof rice, when the harvest was over the stalks were

allowed to decay in stagnant water which therebybecame a fertiliser for the next crop, but in the mean-time acted as a focus of malaria by providing a

breeding place for the anopheles. This system has beenadopted by the Betsileo since the conquest, as it was moreeconomical than the old method by which rice was grown inrunning water. The consequence was that malaria nowmade great havoc among the natives, although it used to berare. Formerly also the people inhabited the high table-lands, but on account of the general security establishedsince the conquest they have now come to live in the plainsnear their rice fields. There was therefore obviously anurgent necessity for enforcing in Madagascar special by-lawsrelative to rice cultivation, these by-laws being superaddedto the general regulations for the prophylaxis of malaria.For instance, the rice fields ought to be allowed to becomedry immediately after the harvest. All rice ought to be

grown in running water and not in stagnant water. Dwellinghouses ought to be at least two kilometres (a mile and aquarter) from the rice fields. The ordinary means of protec-tion against anopheles bites, such as wire gauze, veils, andgloves, ought to be used at night by the work-people whoought also to take quinine as a preventive. General Gallienihas done a great deal in this respect. Quinine is freely dis-tributed to the natives. with instructions to the effect thatit ought to be taken not only for the treatment of patientsbut as a prophylactic. These measures, supplemented byothers, would serve to check this terrible scourge which wasravaging Madagascar.

International Congress of the Gouttes de Lait."The first International Congress of the " Gouttes de Lait "

(institutions for supplying milk to young infants) will beheld at Fecamp from Oct. 28th to 30th. The subjects ofdiscussion given in the programme are : (1) Barlow’s disease(infantile scurvy); (2) gastro-enteritis and sterilised milk ;and (3) legislation relative to the sale of -milk. A meetingwill be devoted to the reading and discussion of communica-tions submitted by individual members.

Murderous Assault on a Medical Man.Dr. Vallon, medical officer of the Saint Anne Lunatic

Asylum, whilst making his usual visit on Oct. 4th wasstabbed in the back of the neck by a lunatic. The weaponwas a small knife, having a blade about one and a quarterinches long and very sharp, firmly fixed in a handle. Theassailant was a dangerous man who had been twice con-victed but had not been punished as Dr. Vallon had certifiedhim to be of unsound mind. It fortunately seems probablethat Dr. Vallon’s wound will have no serious consequences.

Oct. llth.

Obituary.EDWARD WILLIAM ORTON, M.R.C.S. ENG.,

L.R.C.P. EDIN.THE death took place on Oct. 7th, after a long period of

failing health, of Mr. Edward William Orton of Bedworth,where he was in practice for many years and held severalappointments. Mr. Orton was educated at Queen’s College,Birmingham, and obtained the L.R.C.P. Edin. and L.M. andM.R.C.S.Eng. in 1870. He was a member of the BritishMedical Association, an honorary member of the St. JohnAmbulance Association, a certifying factory surgeon, medicalofficer and public vaccinator of the Bedworth districtof Foleshill Union, physician to the Bedworth almshouses,and acted as surgeon to several collieries in the district. Hewas at one time assistant physician at the Droitwich LunaticAsylum and resident surgeon of the Birmingham Lying-inHospital. Mr. Orton leaves a widow, a son (Mr. Lionel E.Orton who has been practising with his father), and threedaughters. The deceased took an active part in the affairsof his locality and was for many years a follower of theAtherstone pack of foxhounds. His brother, Mr. John Orton,M.R.C.S. Eng., of Foleshill, died within the last two years.

UMBERTO FLORA.ONE of our Italian correspondents writes : The Tuscan

school has lost one of its ablest representatives in Dr.Umberto Flora, professor of medical pathology in the Istitutodi Studi Superiori of Florence. He was but 39 years old whenhe died but his record as student, as professor, and as con-sultar.t was fraught with achievement which would haveredounded to the credit of years far more prolonged. Havinggraduated as Doctor of Medicine at Pisa in 1898 he was atonce appointed to a lectureship in the local hospital ofSanta Chiara, a post in which he acquitted himselfso well that his promotion to others was immediateand uncontested. In 1900 Pisa was ravaged bytyphoid fever and Dr. Flora, in conjunction with Pro-fessor Silvestrini, directed the local lazzaretto with energyand skill, working many cures and from time to time puttingon record the results of his experience, which proved equallyopportune and serviceable to his colleagues. In 1901 hebecame assistant to Professor Studiati in the Pisan chair ofphysiology, at the same time taking duty in the clinicalwards, where he attracted the favourable notice of ProfessorGrocco, long the recognised head of the Tuscan school.Professor Grocco employed him in disciplining the studentsin diagnosis and therapeutics and found him so apt andsuccessful a teacher that when called to the clinical chairin Florence he took Dr. Flora with him and in 1902recommended .him to the professorship of "PatologiaSpeciale Medica," a post he filled with signal acceptancetill he died. The semeiology of the nervous system wasa branch of research in which he achieved valuable

results, embodied in more than one monograph, whilehis previous publication on "Myasthenic Reaction" con-tinues to be profitable reading to many a worker in thatfield. A long and brilliant career seemed in store forhim when, early last month, he was called to Treviso toattend his uncle, the Cavaliere Bellio, then dangerouslyill. His assiduous devotion to the patient proved un-

availing and he saw him carried to the grave, only himselfto fall a victim to typhoid fever contracted during hisservice in the sick room. Every care was expended on thepromotion of his recovery, his friends and colleagues, Dr.Federici and Dr. Stradiotti, reinforced by his beloved chief,Professor Grocco, taking daily and nightly turns by hisbedside. But all in vain. His life of all too enthusiasticand unsparing effort had deteriorated a constitution neververy robust and in the evening of Oct. 2nd he passed over"to the majority," lamented by a wide circle of compatriotsand scarcely less by British and American colleagues whofrequently met him in consultation and never without anenhanced appreciation of his gifts as a physician and as aman.

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DEATHS OF EMINENT FOREIGN MEDICAL MEN.-Thedeaths of the following eminent foreign medical menare announced :-Dr. Ivan Neiding, professor of forensicmedicine in the University of Moscow.-Dr. Pauchon, aprofessor in the Marseilles School of Medicine.