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idea of tips. One brand was stated to be curativebecause of the large vitamin content, but it had

only a trace of one vitamin-namely, E. In manycases a representation to the firms of the error inthe claims made resulted in modification of the

wording on the packets.Mr. A. L. BACHARACH, M.A.; F.I.C., asked whether

caffeine could be regarded as a cumulative poison,and if so, was it cumulative because it was storedand then gradually used by the body, or because itsadverse effect on certain organs continued for a

considerable time Mr. H. H. MANN, D.Sc., F.I.C., assistant director

of the Woburn Experimental Station, remarkingthat he had been connected with the tea industryfor 36 years, said there was no relationship betweenthe price paid for tea and its caffeine content. Other

things being equal, teas of high tannin-content weregenerally superior. Taste was an important factorin the choice of teas, and he thought an investigationshould be made into the different forms of tanninwhich tea contained before dogmatic statementscould be made about its effect on quality.

Mr. L. H. LAMPITT, D.Sc., F.I.C., agreed withDr. Mann about the importance of taste. In makingclaims that their teas were tannin-free the proprietorsof some packet teas were no doubt playing up to thepublic imagination of tanning the stomach. Dr. RocheLynch, he recalled, could find no post-mortemevidence of stomach tanning.

Dr. ROCHE LYNCH, in a brief reply, said that anycumulative effect of caffeine might have was notfrom storage, as it was quickly broken down in thebody.

VIENNA

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

DEATHS IN THE PROFESSION

THE University of Vienna has had a serious lossin the deaths of Prof. Maresch and Prof. BrunoBusson. The former, who died of bronchial cancerat the age of 68, first worked at the institutes of

anatomy and pathology in Prague. When he cameto Vienna he began to study surgery and gynecologybut he soon forsook them for morbid anatomy.He was chief pathologist at the Rudolfs-spital andalso in the Municipal Hospital. He was appointeda lecturer by the university in 1910 and in 1923succeeded Paltauf in the chair of morbid anatomy,which he held till his death. His early work was onthe epithelial bodies and the histology of the kidney,and his staining methods were unique ; he devotedhis later researches to the problems of the internalsecretions. His institute contains a splendid museumwhich is chiefly the result of his own work. He wasan excellent teacher, and as an authority on morbidanatomy his reputation was international. Bussonwas director of the federal Serotherapeutic Institute,which controls all the vaccines and sera used inAustria. He graduated here and studied hygieneand bacteriology in Graz and Paris. During the latewar he was in charge of the Health Commission andwas responsible for the comparative freedom fromwar epidemics at the front and in the hinterland.His work was mainly concerned with immunity andexperimental medicine especially with tetanus anddiphtheria.

THE FIRST AID SOCIETY IN 1935

The ambulance corps here, which served as a

model for the others in Europe, has dealt in the past

year with 26,134 emergencies, an average of 72 daily.The proportion of injuries to sudden illness, three totwo, has remained constant for about eight years.There were 3112 traffic accidents; 1775 of thesewere due to motor-cars, 757 to pedal cycles, 419 totramcars, III to horse-driven vehicles, and 50 to

railway accidents. Sport and athletics were respon-sible for 725 casualties, 414 persons were bitten byanimals, and 1685 were injured in factories. Membersof the society also attended 391 women in precipitatelabour, 2000 cases of suicide and attempted suicide,230 of insanity, and 180 of alcoholic excess. Theclose cooperation of police and hospital staffs withthe society ensures an immediate response to emer-gency ; 15 lives, for example, were saved by thisefficiency after injuries to the heart by stabbing orshooting; while the patient is being hurried to

hospital in an ambulance the surgical staff havealready been warned and are prepared to operate atonce.

CORONARY OCCLUSION

Dr. N. Landau has recently been speaking on thepathology and treatment of cardiac infarct. In theVienna Heart Hospital there have been in the lastthree years 150 cases of sudden coronary occlusion ;80 per cent. of the patients were men, 45 per cent.were aged 55-65, and 30 per cent. aged 45-55 ; but8 per cent. were not yet 45 and 2’5 per cent.were under 40. The majority (78 per cent.) hadsome previous symptoms such as dyspnoea, vertigo,intermittent claudication, or those of hypertension.In 21 per cent. the precise time of onset could notbe determined, and neither exercise nor the time ofthe day seemed to have any influence. The majorityhad had angina pectoris for about five years but in4 per cent. it was entirely absent ; other symptomswere cold sweats (25 per cent.), dyspnoea (25 per cent.),angor animi (18 per cent.), nausea and vomiting(15 per cent.), and unconsciousness (10 per cent.). ).In 91 patients brought in with a recent infarct theclinical findings were few ; 60 per cent. had weakmurmurs, while of the 23 that had a gallop rhythmonly 7 survived. An important sign almost constantenough to be considered pathognomonic was a riseof 1-3° C. in the rectal temperature, present in 75 percent. and remaining for about a month in 30 percent. Blood pressure was low in 60 per cent. andremained so for several weeks. A tachycardia notaffected by digitalis was a bad sign. The electro-

cardiogram was always abnormal; in 83 per cent.it was characteristic of occlusion of a coronarybranch and in 17 per cent. of myocarditis. The

mortality was 30 per cent., of whom a third diedsuddenly, some even in convalescence; the restdied after getting progressively weaker in spite ofall treatment.

SCOTLAND

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

TREATMENT OF LUPUS VULGARIS

Dr. Robert Aitken, at last week’s meeting of theEdinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Society, reported strik-ingly good results in the treatment of’lupus vulgarisby the use of the Finsen-Lomholt lamp. In the pastfive years, he said, 0’6 to 1 per cent. of the new casesseen in the skin department of the Royal Infirmaryof Edinburgh were cases of lupus vulgaris ; fifteenyears ago the incidence of this disease was threetimes as great. He has investigated 310 patientsand the face was affected in 77 per cent. of them.

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In more than half, the disease began during schoollife, and it is uncommon for it to commence after

middle age. He stressed the frequency with whichthis condition is associated with tuberculous glands,and said that during the past seven years 116 casesof lupus with tuberculous adenitis were treated athis department. Until recently lupus has been avery intractable disease, and the results of the oldforms of treatment were often unsightly. Dr. Aitkencondemned, in particular, the end-results of X raytreatment, for the scar of the burn is disfiguring andit often stimulates the development of carcinoma.In his opinion the diminishing incidence of lupus isdue to the successful treatment of tuberculous glandswith general light baths, without which many wouldhave developed lupus at a later age. The generaltreatment of lupus necessitates the use of the hygienicand dietetic measures that apply to the treatment ofall forms of tuberculosis. Tuberculin is the remedyof choice in the absence of facilities for light treat-ment. Excision, scraping, and cauterising are all

unsatisfactory, and they fail to remove the diseasefrom the deep skin glands ; X ray treatment shouldalso be given up. The original Finsen light treat-ment was satisfactory up to a point, but whereasonly 15 per cent. of the radiation energy of this lampcould be applied to the diseased surface the corre-

sponding figures for the new Finsen-Lomholt lamp is70 per cent. This increase in power has enabled thetime required for each treatment to be reduced tono more than one hour, and its convenient construc-tion makes the application much less tiring for thenurse in charge.

Dr. Aitken showed a number of beautiful colouredslides showing that even in an advanced state thedisease could usually be cured in about six months.Reports of a large series treated in Vienna from 1914to 1923 show that the striking results are usuallypermanent.

GLASGOW ROYAL INFIRMARY

In the 141st annual report of the managers of

Glasgow Royal Infirmary it is stated that there wereover 18,000 in-patients and 120,000 out-patientsduring the past year. There has been a deficit onthe ordinary account of over 26,000 ; the extra-

ordinary receipts totalled £ 62,000, and it was pos-sible to carry 28,000 of this to the capital account.The managers hope that the Canniesburn auxiliaryscheme, the foundation-stone of which was laid bythe Duke of Kent in May of last year, will be com-pleted by the end of 1936. These buildings will

provide 80 beds for patients in early stages of con-valescence, together with 40 beds for paying patientsof limited means. It is hoped that the provision ofthese additional buildings will reduce the numberof patients awaiting admission to the infirmary.

THE LATE PROF. ASHWORTH

Edinburgh graduates who have enjoyed his teach-ing will feel that the university has lost one of itsoutstanding figures by the sudden death of Prof.James Hartley Ashworth, F.R.S., of the chair ofnatural history. It was because of his importantwork in invertebrate zoology that large contributionswere made to the university for building the newzoological laboratories. He was particularly interestedin entomology and protozoology and had conducteda class in this subject in the university since 1905.His life and energies were devoted to his science andto the university, in which he taught for nearlythirty-six years. He was everywhere popular andwas always anxious to help his colleagues and hisstudents.

IRELAND

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS)

THE NATIONAL MATERNITY HOSPITAL

THE governors of the National Maternity Hospital,Dublin, are engaged in promoting a private Bill withthe object of amending their charter, altering thename of their corporation, and effecting other changesin their powers and constitution. The preamble ofthe Bill has been declared proved and the Bill nowlies on the table of the Pail. The National MaternityHospital, which is familiarly known as Holles-streetHospital, was founded in 1894 for the relief of poorlying-in women and for the treatment of diseases

peculiar to women. In 1903 a charter under theGreat Seal of Ireland was issued by King Edward VII.,which established the corporation of governors ofthe hospital, and defined their powers and duties.The hospital has had a very successful career, andhaving outgrown its old premises, has recently beenprovided with a new and commodious building fromSweepstake Funds. Up to the present the hospitalhas been managed by a body of governors co-optedas vacancies occurred. It is now proposed to makeseveral important changes in the constitution, andto bring the hospital into direct relation on the onehand with University College, Dublin, and on theother with certain general clinical hospitals. At

present the number of governors is limited to 65,but if the Bill becomes law this limit will be raisedto 100. Of these governors 3 shall be nominated

by the corporation of Dublin, 2 shall be nominatedby the governing body of University College, Dublin,and 1 each shall be elected by the hospital from thestaffs of Jervis-street Hospital, the Mater MisericordiaeHospital, and St. Vincent’s Hospital respectively.Provision is made for the appointment of an executivecommittee and the delegation to it of certain powers.The hospital is to be designated in future " TheNational Hospital for Women, Dublin." It is pro-vided that the present master (Dr. J. F. Cunningham)shall continue in office until Dec. 31st, 1941.

THE KING’S PROFESSORSHIPS IN THE SCHOOLOF PHYSIC

On Feb. 7th the President and Fellows of the RoyalCollege of Physicians of Ireland elected Dr. DavidSmyth Torrens to the King’s professorship of theinstitutes of medicine in the School of Physic, TrinityCollege, Dublin, to fill the vacancy created by thedeath of Prof. Harold Pringle. Dr. Torrens has beenfor some time assistant professor of physiology inTrinity College. He was formerly lecturer in zoologyin the Royal College of Science, Dublin. At thesame meeting the resignation of Dr. Thomas HenryWilson, King’s professor of midwifery since 1910,was received with regret. Dr. Wilson’s health hasnot been good in recent months.

OUTBREAK OF FIRE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY,BELFAST

There was a serious fire at Queen’s University,Belfast, on the afternoon of Feb. 7th. The partaffected was the medical school, which is a largebuilding situated close to others in the universitygrounds. The fire began in a storeroom under theanatomy lecture theatre, which is on the secondfloor. Students were at work in the dissecting-roomnearby and on the ground floor a surgical lecture wasin progress. So rapid was the spread in the fewminutes before the brigade arrived that the buildinghad to be evacuated, dense clouds of smoke pouring