1646 DEAFNESS TREATED BY THE COMPRESSED AIR BATH.

experience of the hospitals, and yet their malady is to manyof those an insuperable obstacle to remunerative employment.This is the class especially that the National Society hopes toreach and hold out a helping hand to, not in the way ofmere purposeless kind-hearted charity, but in such a way asto enable them to become self-supporting and useful membersof a community. We congratulate the society on its

progress so far, and we cordially wish it success in its effortsto alleviate the lot of a most afflicted class. The buildingof suitable cottages on the farm is to be proceeded with atonce. Unfortunately the funds in hand are small, and onlya commencement can be made. The committee have issued an

appeal and we trust that the response to it may be such as toencourage them in their work, and to enable them at an earlydate to inaugurate the colony. Contributions may be sent to

the Secretary, at 20, Hanover-square, or to the bankers,Messrs. Hoare and Co., 37, Fleet-street, E C , and chequesand post office orders should ’be made payable to the hon.treasurer, Mr. H. N. Hamilton Hoare, and crossed "Messrs.Hoare and Co. "

DEAFNESS TREATED BY THE COMPRESSEDAIR BATH.

DR. HOVEXT, of Brussels, has communicated to us an

account of the case of a girl aged thirteen and a half

years whom he had recently under his care. She had been

gradually getting deaf since birth. The child was healthyin appearance, but suffered from sore-throats, which occurred,according to the mother’s statement, every fortnight. The

deafness had partially cleared up under the energetic treat-ment of Dr. Bayer, of Brussels, who removed the tonsils andsome post-nasal adenomata and frequently passed the

Eustachian catheter upon the child, but the improvement wasnot maintained. Under the influence, however, of a regularcourse of compressed air-baths the hearing improved to amarked degree, as Dr. Hovent’s figures show. On Jan. 8tb,1892, the ticking of a watch could be heard 7 centimetresaway on each side, and on the 20th the ticking, presumablyof the same watch, was audible at a distance of no less than46 centimetres from either ear. The improvement in the

left ear eventually equalled that in the light ; but the dailynotes show that at first the light ear improved more rapidly.As the child had been practically deaf from birth, she hadreceived no auditory education, and her reports upon objectivesounds were vitiated by her remembrance of subjectivesounds. We agree with Dr. Hovent in considering that so ’,,remarkable and fortunate a circumstance as the cure of what i

may be termed almost congenital deafness by a course of treat-ment lasting under a fortnight ought to be put upon record,although experience would lead us to believe that theissue was exceptional. -

THE NEW WINDOW IN ELY CATHEDRAL INMEMORY OF THE LATE PROFESSOR

JOHN MARSHALL, F.R.C.S., ETC.1

Tms window has been presented by Mrs. Marshall, thewidow of the late Professor Marshall, who entrusted thedesign and execution of the glass to Mr. Henry Holiday.The subject dealt with is Christ healing the sick. Amongthe groups of people in the two side lights are representedvarious typical varieties of bodily infirmity-physical defectsand diseases. In the group on the right the most pro-minent figures are those of a father bringing a youngsick daughter and a mother with an ailing child ; behindthem is a lame man on crutches. In the other light aparalysed patient ia seated in the fore-ground in the leftcoiner, with his hands extended, begging for relief ; on

the right a girl helps a blind man down the steps which

1 The titles are in full on the window itself.

lead to the place where Christ is seated ; behind them is aman who may be taken to be deaf. Deafness is not, likeblindness, conspicuously evident in the live face, and is

therefore more difficult to represent pictorially ; but by thepuzzled expression in the eyes it is suggested that the manis uncertain what is going on, while possession of eyesightgives the presumption of deafness. In the heads of the

principal lights are three angels, accompanied by texts bearingon the subject below ; the one in the centre refers imme-diately to Christ’s healing work, 11 I will take away sickness

from the midst of thee." The words on the left point tothe spiritual aspect of the subject, "With Thee is thefountain of life" ; those on the right are, "Yet hast Thoubrought up my life from corruption." In the quatrefoil atthe apex of the tracery is an armed figure of Righteousnessovercoming Death. Below are the arms of the Royal College ofSurgeons of England and the General Medical Council, ofboth of which Professor Marshall had been President. The

inscription at the base of the window is surrounded by aborder consisting of the Alpine flower, the edelweiss, whichwas a favourite with Professor Marshall. The flowers were

designed from drawings by Miss Marshall.

OPEN SPACES.

EVERYONE now appreciates the value of open spaces andseeks to preserve against the inroads of the builder thoseplots of common land now the playgrounds of countrychildren, but which may in the future be required to servethe purpose of purifying the air which will be breathed bythe denizens of towns. Unfortunately common rights aretoo easily extinguished, and England is every year losingthe opportunity of preserving for ever the open spaceswhich are increasingly needed with the growth of popula-tion. The Government has whetted the public appetite byintroducing into the Local Government Bill a provisionwhich empowers district councils to preserve the strips ofland along the road sides ; but for some unknown reason nosimilar power is given to these councils to protect thecommons. Formerly it was held that the only persons in-terested in common land were the lords of the manor andthose who enjoyed common rights, but now the lords ofthe manor cannot enclose these lands without the sanctionof the Board of Agriculture, which must be satisfied thatsuch enclosure is in the public interest. There is thereforemuch reason for conferring on district councils the rightof representing the public interests and thus enablingthem to intervene in cases where the lord of the manor

has been able to satisfy those actually having common right?.An excellent article on this subject in ’the ’times shows that

there is precedent for such a course. In urban sanitary districtshaving not less than 5000 inhabitants the local authority isentitled to receive notice of every application to the Board ofAgriculture for leave to enclose la common within six miles ofthe centre of the town and is authorised to be representedat any local inquiry held by the Board of Agriculture inreference to the enclosure of a common. We sincerely trust thatthis suggestion may be acted on, and we think more hopefullythat this opportunity will not be lost, seeing that the Parlia-mentary secretary of the Local Government Board is a memberof a profession which, of all others, knows the value of

open spaces. ------

WE understand that Professor von Pettenkofer, who earlythis month celebrated the advent of his seventy-fifth birth-day, has intimated his desire to be relieved of the more press-ing of his professorial duties in consequence of his advancedage. The Bavarian Regent, in complying with the requestof the distinguished epidemiologist, took occasion to expresshis sense of the great value of his researches, not only tohis country, but to the world.

1647THE ARDLAMONT CASE.

THE death is announced of Mr. Robert Bentley, M. R. C. S.,Emeritus Professor of Botany, King’s College, and EmeritusProfessor of Materia Medica and Botany of the Pharma-ceutical Society of Great Britain. It will be rememberedthat Mr. Bentley, conjointly with Professors Redwood andAttfield, edited the British Pharmacopoeia of 1885. We hopeto give an account of his life and work in an early issue ofTHE LANCET.

_____

PROFESSOR RUDOLF ViRCHOW, Rector Magnificus ofBerlin University, and Professor Karl Posner, of the same

school, have, in the name of the Medical Association of thatcity, sent a congratulatory telegram to Dr. Guido Baccelli on Ihis Excellency’s appointment to a seat in the new Italian

I

Cabinet with the portfolio of Public Instruction.

THE executive of the next International Congress of

Hygiene and Demography, to be held at Budapest, have

appointed an English committee to carry out the necessaryarrangements for the United Kingdom. Professor W. H.Corfield is president and Dr. Paul F. Moline secretary ofthis committee.

AFTER Jan. 1st, 1894, the offices of the Committee of

Management of the Conjoint Examinations held by the RoyalCollege of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons inIreland will be transferred to the Royal College of Physicians,Kildare-street, Dublin.

THE ARDLAMONT CASE.

AFTER a trial lasting from Dec. 12th to Dec. 22nd a verdictof " Not Proven " was returned. According to the criminallaw of Scotland three alternative decisions are left to the

jury-the one above mentioned, and those of " Guilty " andI I Not Guilty." In our next issue we propose to comparethe English and Scotch methods of procedure in cases ofalleged murder. The prisoner at the bar, Alfred John Monson,aged thirty-six, was indicted for (1) having attemptedto cause by drowning the death of Windsor Cecil DudleyHfimbrough, and (2) with having murdered him on Aug. 10thlast by shooting him in a wood at Ardlamont. Scott, thesecond man concerned, was charged with having shared inboth designs, and also with having fled from justice becausehe was conscious of his guilt. The trial was presided overby the Lord Justice Clerk, the Right Hon. John HayMacdonald. The Solicitor-General, Mr. Asher, Q.C., M.P.,conducted the prosecution, whilst Mr. Comrie Thomson wasleading counsel for the defence.The deceased, who was twenty years of age, had been

living with Monson and his wife for some time, the formeracting as army tutor to young Hambrough. It appears that

Monson, as a prospective purchaser of the Ardlamont estate,took the mansion and shooting for the season. At the time ofthe alleged murder he, his wife and family, together withHambrough, had taken up their residence at Ardlamont. Theman Scott, whose real name appears to have been Sweeney,was, according to Monson’s statement, engaged to act as

engineer to a small yacht which Hambrough had chartered.We may state at once that Monson was in an im-

pecunious condition, that he had obtained, or assisted in

obtaining, insurance policies on the life of Hambrough, andthat these had been assigned by the latter to Monson’s wife.There can be no doubt that in order to raise money Monsonhad from time to time to resort to subterfuge, to invent

explanations of circumstances, and to suppress others. Sofar this might be considered a possible motive for the allegedcrime, but, as Lord Kingsburgh said, it is a long wayfrom dishonesty to murder, and unless it could be shown

that Monson would be benefited, or believed he would be

benefited, by Hambrough’s death the question of such motivewas disposed of. But even if a motive were proved to existit did not follow that the prisoner acted on it. Nor againwas it necessary to prove a motive where the circumstancesin themselves pointed directly to a crime having been com-mitted. Now, as Hambrough was under age, Mrs. Monsoncould have no legal claim on the insurance company in

respect of the life policies, assuming, as we think it

reasonable to do, that if Monson was cognisant of this the facttended rather to establish his innocence than his guilt. Thiswas no doubt one of the weakest points covered by theindictment, although it was relied upon with emphasis bythe Crown Prosecutor. On the night of Aug. 9th Monsonand Hambrough went out fishing in Ardlamont Bay in ahired boat. From whatever circumstances, it is a fact

that the boat capsized and that Monson and Hambroughwere thrown into the water. According to Monson theboat was upset through striking a rock, and weight islent to this explanation inasmuch as Hambrough, whocould not swim, climbed on to the rock whilst Monsonswam ashore and secured another boat by means ofwhich he rescued Hambrough from his perilous position.Scott was ashore at the time. It would be thought thathad Monson wished to compass Hambrough’s death nothingwould have been easier than to have left him unaided, as thenight was dark and the tide rising. On examination a plug-hole was found in the boat, and it was alleged by the prose-cution that this hole had been intentionally bored in the boatand that the plug had been intentionally left out. Theowner of the boat deposed to his belief that there was no plug-hole when he let the boat. This may have been so, sinceMonson stated that Hambrough himself had made the hole inorder the more easily to drain the craft. On the same day-for it was early morning when the boating incident closed-Monson, Scott, and Hambrough went out shooting. Scottcarried no gun, and Monson and Hambrough had a 20-boregun with ordinary cartridges and a 1’-bore gun withamberite cartridges. The prosecution contended-partlyfrom the fact that the 20-bore gun belonged to Ham-brough and partly from one of Monson’s statements-

that since it was proved that the fatal shot was fired withamberite charge the presumption was that it was Monsonwho did it. The evidence adduced at the trial was purely

circumstantial, since no one but the deceased and the accusedwere cognisant of what happened. Monson averred that heheard a shot fired and called out ’ 6 What have you got?"

1

but, receiving no reply, he went in the direction of

the shot and found Hambrough lying dead. It appears3that Hambrough was walking on a dyke (a turf wall).

Retainers at Ardlamont who returned with Monson to removethe body found it on the dyke, and the prosecution main-ctained that it fell there (1) because there were no signs of; disturbance in the adjacent ditch, (2) because there were no

marks of blood in the ditch, (3) because afterwards piecesof bone were picked up on the dyke which fitted Hambrough’s1skull, and (4) because shot marks in adjacent trees corre-: sponded with this position. Monson said he removed the

, body from the ditch. The evidence relied on by the prosecutioncould not be implicitly accepted, for no suspicion of foul play. was aroused at the time, and it was not until nearly two monthsafter the event that the Crown Engineer made his survey, and1 his observations were based largely upon the statements of1 others. Three trees in a line from the body were distant. from the head as follows : (1) to the rowan tree, 6ft. 6in. ;i (2) to the beech tree, 20 ft. 3 in. ; and (3) to the lime tree,t 22 ft. 9 in. Shot marks on the rowan tree varied from3 3ft. 8 in. to 6 ft. 2 in. from the ground ; on the beech they1 were 8ft. 8in.; and on the lime, 6ft. Sin. to 7ft. 8in. If these

ypellet marks were made by shot from the charge whichnkilled Hambrough whilst standing on the dyke it is clear