396

himself and his wares by societies and at exhibitions. In this

way he contrived to extract considerable sums of money from

ignorant and credulous people, whose eyes remained unopened,until at last they were compelled to acknowledge that thetreatment they underwent did them more harm than good.The Marseilles tribunal found G- guilty on the first count,acquitted him on the second, and condemned him to threemonths’ imprisonment, with a fine of 500 francs. Againstthis decision he appealed, and the Minister of Justice seemsalso to have demanded a fresh investigation. The appealwas heard in the Supreme Court at Aix, and, to say the leastof it, this, the final judgment, was peculiar. In addition tothe irregular practice of medicine G- was now pro-nounced guilty of fraud, the sentence of imprisonmentaccorded by the judges at Marseilles was confirmed, but thefine of 500 francs was remitted. As may be supposed, this

ruling has excited a great deal of dissatisfaction in Frenchmedical circles. "With the greatest possible respect forthe law as administered in France," says a Parisian

critic, "we cannot help saying that reasonableness is

not always one of its chief virtues. A correctionaltribunal finds an impostor guilty on one of two counts

only and inflicts a certain penalty. A court of appealfinds him guilty on both the counts and takes away half thepenalty. This may be good law, but assuredly it is not goodlogic. Why, at this rate, if the fellow had poisoned a fewof the boobies who swallowed his drugs and the primarytribunal had failed to convict him of it the court at Aixwould have let him off scot-free, or perhaps even rewardedhim 1 "

____

DERMATITIS CAUSED BY THE ROENTGEN RAYS.

DR. E. WAYMOUTH REID, Professor of Physiology in

University College, Dundee, writing in the current numberof the Scottish Medical and Surgical J01fJrnal, describes aremarkable personal experience of dermatitis caused by theRoentgen rays. Having to deliver a popular lecture on

Roentgen’s discovery he desired to obtain a photograph of hisown chest or abdomen through the clothing to exhibitthe contents of the pockets in addition to the skeletal

structures. The exposures to which he was subjectedwere as follows :-Abdomen, Nov. 2nd, 1896, twentyminutes, followed by forty minutes. Chest, Nov. 3rd, fiftyminutes, followed on Nov. 5th by ninety minutes. The coilwas of ten-inch spark, fed by ten amperes, and the Crookes’stube ("focus" pattern) was some three inches from hiswaistcoat as he lay supine upon the table. On the eveningof each exposure marked erythema of the skin of theabdomen and chest was noticed immediately beneath theposition of the vacuum tube, and in addition slight rednessof the skin of the back over an area corresponding to theexit of the rays from the body. In seventeen days thecuticle began to peel off, leaving a surface which was" raw "

and "weeping," but not very painful. The discharge nextbecame sero-purulent, and in the result some thirty squarenches of cuticle were lost, but in thirty-three days healingwas complete. Dr. Reid says that the apparent immunity ofstructures deeper than the skin is a matter of special interest.He had a sore on his chest and pimples on his back, buthis lungs, so far as he knows, are unaffected.

MUNIFICENT GIFT TO THE UNIVERSITY OFST. ANDREWS.

THE present Lord Rector of the University of St. Andrews-the Marquis of Bate,-who has for several years takena keen interest in the development of the medical schoolat this ancient seat of learning, has undertaken to

erect at his own cost under certain conditions fournew laboratories, lecture-rooms, museums, work-rooms, &c.or the departments of anatomy, physiology, materia

medica, and botany. These laboratories will be pro-vided with all modern appliances for teaching and

research purposes. The object in view is to enable studentsattending the medical classes at the University to spendtwo residential years at St. Andrews, these being re-

quired for medical graduation at all the Scottishuniversities. Owing to additions made last autumn to themedical teaching staff two complete anni medici can

now be obtained at St. Andrews, qualifying courses beinggiven in: (1) physics; (2) botany; (3) natural history;(4) chemistry ; (5) anatomy; (6) physiology; and (7)materia medica. St. Andrews University aims at providingthe seven fundamental subjects of the medical curriculum,and the four new laboratories, &c., will give greatly increasedfacilities and opportunities both to teachers and students.

The new laboratories, &c., will form a most importantaddition to the existing natural philosophy, natural history,and chemical departments. They will inaugurate a new erain medicine at St. Andrews and, as they are to be builtapart from the existing colleges on ground of their own,they will, of necessity, form the headquarters of theextended medical school there, which school will henceforthbe known as the " Bute School of Medicine " in commemora.tion of the generous donor.

OPTIC NEURITIS AND ACUTE MYELITIS.

IN the Arehiv fiir Opktkal1Jwlogie Dr. Katz relates the caseof a woman aged fifty-six years who in 1894, after anxiety anda chill, began to have impairment of vision. The left discwas found to be red, the edges blurred, and the veins

enlarged and tortuous. There was no swelling. The rightshowed similar changes, but in a milder degree. The sight,however, became worse, distinct papillitis became evident,and there were superadded symptoms of paralysis in thelower limbs and sensory impairment as high as the chestThe sphincters were also affected, and in spite of treatmentthe paralysis persisted and the patient died a year later.At the necropsy disseminated myelitis was found to

be present, there was atrophy of both optic nerves andof the chiasma, fatty heart, and interstitial nephritis,The writer refers to the coincidence of myelitis and

optic neuritis-an inflammatory affection of two separatepajts of the nervous system-and he adduces twentycases of the same combination of morbid conditions. The

most noteworthy point in these probably is the rapid loss ofvision associated with swelling of both discs. In most casesboth eyes are affected, the pupils are dilated and theirreaction is lost or much impaired. Partial restoration or per-manent loss of vision followed, and the myelitis was eitherin the dorsal or lumbar region. Dr. Katz suggests thatthe explanation of this curious combination is to be lookedfor in an affection of the sympathetic, leading to paralysisof the vaso-motor nerves with consequent hyperasmia andlater atrophy of the optic nerves. The theory of an ascend-ing meningitis he considers improbable-at least, in mostcases. But probably a common cause for the two aSecMonsexists as a rule, and it is interesting to note that in fifteenout of twenty-one cases the neuritis preceded the myelitis.The identity of the histological changes in the two partsaffected would also indicate a common cause, but it is impos-sible to give any definite opinion as to the nature of this.

LUXATION OF A SESAMOID BONE OF THEGREAT TOE.

THE value of the new photography is again exemplified bythis case. The lesion appears not to have been described

before, and the diagnosis was certainly impossible otherwise.The case is recorded by Thorburn.1 A healthy labourer, agedsixty-one years, was injured on Sept. 3rd, 1895, by a weight

1 Medical Chronicle, Nov., 1896.