506

intern patients were treated in the wards during the pastyear, 237 being medical, 406 surgical, and 23 eye or ear;while in the out-patient department there were 12,069.attendances. It was intimated that the question of the com-pulsory attendance of students at children’s hospitals wouldbe brought officially under the notice of the Belfast Uni-versity Commission. The number of students voluntarily.attending the clinical classes at the children’s hospital wasmuch larger than in previous years. Financially there wasa slight decrease in the subscription list, but the hospital had16,000 funds invested and the interest on the accumulatedcapital had increased by £100 during last year.

Forster Green Hospital, Belfast.At the annual meeting of the supporters of this hos-

pital held on Jan. 29th it was reported that there hadtbeen 425 new extern patients. At the beginning of the

year there were 30 patients in hospital and 137 wereadmitted during the year, making 167 in all treated

during the 12 months. During the past year the hospitalhas been overhauled and enlarged and there is now accom-modation for 73 patients, an arrangement having beenmade to provide 35 beds for the city corporation health

- department. Dr. R. J. Purdon has retired from the active-and has been placed on the consulting staff and by theelection of Dr. Thomas Houston, Dr. J. E. MacIlwaine, andDr. J. C. Rankin additions have been made to the visiting staff.Dr. Foster Coates has been elected to attend to the externwork, the dispensary being open on four days of the week,-and a trained nurse visits the homes of applicants and looks- after patients when discharged from the hospital.

Health of Belfast.At the usual monthly meeting of the city corporation held

,on Feb. 1st it was reported that between Dec. 20th, 1908,and Jan. 16th, 1909, there had been notified 80 cases ofinfectious disease, which included 9 cases of enteric fever,22 of scarlet fever, 4 of "simple continued fever," 1 of

puerperal fever, 18 of diphtheria, 1 of croup, 24 of erysipelas,and one of cerebro-spinal fever. There is a marked decrease

in notifiable diseases, especially of enteric fever. The averageannual death-rate per 1000 from all causes was 20’ 2, as

.compared with 27. 1 in the corresponding period of lastyear. The rate from chest affections and zymotic diseases islower than in 1908, being 8’ 9 and 0 - 5 as compared with10.5 and 3.8 8 respectively. The comparative absence of-disease during the present winter in Belfast and the,surrounding neighbourhood is remarkable.

Feb. 9th. __________________

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Prophylactic Hæmostasis in Operations on the Pelvis andLomer Limbs.

AT the Surgical Society on Jan. 13th M. Willems- described a method recently proposed in Germany to insureha-mostasis in operations upon the pelvis and the base of thethighs. It consists in diminishing the circulation by con--stricting the body round the waist with a thick rubber tube.M. Willems has used this method in four cases. In three of,them hasmostasis was obtained very easily, all of the patientsbeing thin. The fourth was a woman with marked scoliosiswhich prevented the tube being passed between the ribs andthe iliac crest. The desired result was, however, obtainedby the use of a compress. At the beginning perfect hasmo-- stasis is obtained, but if the operation lasts longer than tenminutes general oozing takes place, probably becausenumerous small collateral vessels escape from compression.The pressure increases the volume of the radial pulseperceptibly. When the tourniquet is removed the pulseincreases in frequency. There are no noteworthy secondary-effects and the patients do not complain of any discomfort.

The Bad Effect of Ventilators in Cronded Rooms.At the Biological Society on Jan. 16th M. Sartory and M.

Filassier communicated the results of experiments relating tothe use of ventilators, whether communicating with the out-side air or not, experiments which went to prove that not onlyare ventilators useless except those of certain makes whichhave been installed on scientific lines, but they actually create.an intense draught capable of disseminating very dangerous

dust. They caused a rapid increase in the number ofmicrobes contained in the air of the room. In one instancethere were 18,000 per cubic metre before the ventilator wasput in action ; whilst an hour after this was done the numberrose to 42,000 and at the end of two hours it was 65,000.

Complete Excision of the Claviele for a Congenital Tumour.M. Legueu communicated a case reported by M. Guibe to

the Surgical Society on Jan. 27th. A woman, 50 years of

age, had a pulsating tumour of one year’s growth on theouter part of her clavicle. The bone was completely removedwith no other mishap than a slight wound to the sub-clavicular vein. The patient recovered and the functionalresult is excellent ; all movements are possible and arenearly as perfect as if the clavicle were still in its place.Histological examination of the tumour shows it to be of athyroid nature, due probably to an inclusion of embryonictissue at the time of the formation of the clavicle. Tumoursof this kind are extremely rare.The Disinfectaon of Cancerous Ulcers Previously to Excision.One of the greatest drawbacks to the surgical treatment

of cancer has been the fact that ulcerated surfaces, ifpresent, nearly always contaminate the field of operation.These foul surfaces are also extremely septic and areresponsible for a large number of operative failures. M.Qnénu has called attention on several occasions to this

danger and has advocated a preliminary curettage of theuterus and the closing of the rectum before the excision ofthose organs for cancer. Unfortunately, these measures arenot always sufficient. M. Quenu now uses a much moreradical method, which he described to the Surgical Societyon Jan. 27th. He directs a jet of air heated to 300° or 400° C.on to the ulcerated surface of the cancer. To prove theefficiency of this method M. Quenu has had the tissuesexamined after their removal and has found that they giverise to no growth either in an aerobic or a non-aerobicmedium.

Tlie Influence of Cicrrercts of Air upon the Organism.On Jan. 31st M. Maurel read a paper before the Biological

Society on the Influence of Currents of Air on Guinea-

pigs. He found that in guinea-pigs exposed to air moving atabout 12 kilometres per hour their tissue change (depenses)was increased by about a sixth. At the same time their

appetite increased, so that the extra output was more thancompensated for by the additional amount of nourishmentabsorbed. Their growth was not only not hindered butincreased. These results, said M. Maurel, may help to

explain the benefits received by children living an open-airlife where the air is ia fairly rapid motion.Feb. 9th.

_________________

ITALY.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The University o,f Messina.THE collapsed city had a university and a court of appeal,

and these it is proposed to resuscitate in the " New Messina."But other proposals, responding to other ambitions, are heardin the national counsels, and these are urging the transferenceof the extinct court of appeal to Milazzo and the extinctuniversity to Bari. As to the former institution I have no

opinion to give, but as to the second I am inclined to agreewith thse who would acquiesce in the permanent effacementof the university from the academic rôle, not replacing iteven temporarily by another university elsewhere. The factis, as all the best educational authorities admit, Italy suffersfrom a plethora of seats of learning, all of them poorly endowedand equipped and keeping up a rivalry by no means conduciveto healthy academic life or to the value of the degrees whichqualify for the professions. Indeed, so sagacious andaccomplished a teacher as Francesco Saverio Nitti, whoholds the chair of political economy in the University ofNaples, goes so far as to say that every new °ScuolaSuperiore" (qualifying body) created is a " delitto" (acrime) committed-intensifying a disease which is devouringall that is most vital in academic Italy. A former Ministerof Public Instruction and one of the most enlightened,Dr. Guido Baccelli, to wit, professor of clinical medicine in