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assistance of two probationers and some paupers. The

sheets about the deceased were changed three or fourtimes a day. The jury found that the cause of death was asDr. Stewart had stated and that Savage had received dueand proper care whilst in the workhouse. They also con-sidered that qualified nurses should take the place of pauperattendants. We are glad to be able to think that this patientdid not in any way have his life shortened by want of care,but it is nothing less than a scandal that in any institu-tion for the care of the poor one unfortunate woman shouldhave to look after 105 patients even with the assistance oftwo probationers and pauper attendants in addition. Wehave referred to this question again and again and shallcontinue to do so until the scandal of pauper attendantson the sick poor is done away with. Our English work-houses are not above reproach, nor are those in Scotland;but we cannot call to mind any modern instance of oneunfortunate woman being responsible for the care and

nursing of 105 patients. The Belfast authorities should seethat such an abomination is done away with as soon as

possible. While on the subject of Irish workhouses we

may mention that at the meeting of the Kilrush Board ofGuardians held on Dec. 3rd it was found that the school

master, the clerk, the master of the local workhouse, and allthe heads of the institution had gone off to Cork Assizes.

No responsible person was lef in charge of the inmates whoroamed about as they pleased and one inmate of weak

intellect" ran amuck." Besides this there were other irregu-larities. The guardians described this state of things asscandalous and directed an official to take charge of the

establishment. We may well ask, ycis C1lStodiet custodes?and should be glad to know what course the guardians willtake with their officials. The whole story sounds like a taleby Lever of the days at the beginning of the century,

ROAD-MAKING.

WE have received a letter from a town councillor whichshows how the doctrine of contagium vivum is permeatingthe minds of our local governors. Our correspondent objectsto have any of the old material previously scraped off theroads used for "grout" " when the road is metalled. His

objection is on the ground that this material contains

putrescible organic matter and he asks us whether his" theory " is correct. But road-making is a practicalmatter, and whether or not the material used for makingthe road is foul and offensive can only be answered byan appeal to facts. A heap of road scrapings very soonsweetens and the organic matter is not long in mineralising.Even if the sweepings when used for road-making shouldcontain a small quantity of humus it would be found thatit would dry less quickly than pure mineral matter and wouldhave less tendency to fly about in the form of dust. If our

correspondent’s council are really going to mend their roadswith dung, as he seems to suggest, then they are, of course,wrong. But we hesitate to answer his question categoricallybecause it is of great importance that sanitary authoritiesshould study economy and try as much as possible to utilisethe materials which it is their duty to collect. It is unfor-

tunately not common to find thriftiness in our municipalmanagement and we hesitate to check it without hearingboth sides of the question. It seems to us that road-

making is often carried out in too wholesale a fashionand even country places are not content without a steam-roller. This machine, we must suppose, is capable of

making good roads under certain conditions but those

conditions appear to be rarely met with near London.

The pressure per square inch of a steam-roller is lessthan the pressure of the wheels of a heavily laden

waggon and the result is that the steam-roller-made roadis very liable to

11 pocket." For a few weeks, of course, the

road is smooth enough, but very soon it "gives" for thereason stated and then the cyclist who traverses it goesalong bumping and grunting and perhaps swearing. We

inspected a by-road not long ago which after a neglect ofabout two years had been made up with a steam-roller. Themetal was huge and had been merely chucked " upon thesurface of the road. Then came the steam-roller, jerkingand roaring over it, with the result that it broke two gas-pipes and made a huge depression at one end. This was

filled up and then came, after a lapse of a dayor so, the steam-roller on a second visit. This timeit broke two water-pipes and we only wonder whetherit broke any drain-pipes. Would it not be better to

copy the French and place our by-roads, at least, underthe care of individuals who should work perpetually uponthem-sweeping, watering, and mending. A " stitch in

time " is a good old proverb and it is very doubtful economy

to allow a road to get into a maximum state of disrepair.The man who had charge of a mile or two of by-readflanked by villas would, if he did his work well, be sure ofa Christmas-box, and the work is of a kind which would

keep many an elderly man out of "the house."

DEATH UNDER CHLOROFORM.

A DEATH under chloroform occurred recently in St. Bar-tholomew’s Hospital. The patient, a butcher, aged forty-two years and weighing between 21 st. and 22 st., wasadmitted suffering from an old injury to his thigh. Therewas a large abscess pointing in the upper part of Scarpa’striangle and the thigh was in an erysipelatous condition. Thetemperature was 101’2°F., the heart-sounds were normal, butthe lungs were emphysematous. There was some orthopncea,partly due to the obesity of the patient and partly no doubtto the emphysema. Four hours after admission the anaes-thetic was administered by a house physician. Nitrous oxide

gas followed by ether was given in order to stimulatethe circulation as fatty change in the myocardium wassuspected and the heart’s action was weak. The patient,however, breathed badly and became cyanosed. The induc-tion of anaesthesia being complete the anaesthetic was changedfor chloroform, which was given from lint. To relieve the

diaphragm frcm the pressure of the abdominal viscera theman was turned upon his side and the head lowered. The

breathing became less laboured, being regular and somewhatshallow, but the face remained congested. The patient waskept only lightly under the anaesthetic, slight movementsof the arms and legs being made during the semi-ansesthesia.The operation was completed, a shallow inspiration was thentaken, and subsequently respiration ceased. The tonguewas drawn forwards, a ligature being passed throughit, and ether was injected into the tissues of the cardiacarea. One feeble inspiration was made, but no more.

Artificial respiration was ineffectual in restoring vitality.The pulse stopped and the respiration ceased. The necropsyrevealed advanced fatty degeneration of the heart and otherorgans. Death in this case appears to be due to failure of thediseased heart, possibly owing to shock, as it appears that thepatient was but very slightly under the anaesthetic, and nodoubt it was accelerated by the diseased condition of theman’s lungs, his posture, and the fulness of the venous

system as evidenced by the congested face and labouredbreathing. The case was clearly one of extreme difficultyand even had the operation been performed under a localanaesthetic it is by no means certain that the mentalshock might not have brought about the very resultthat occurred during the administration of the anms-

thetic. The carefully prepared notes (for which we areindebted to Mr. Jameson) do not mention to which sidethe man was turned. Whether the diaphragm is helpedby the lateral decubitus in such cases is, we believe,