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is that the matriculation examination aims at two objects,which are incompatible. It is looked on by many as acertificate of proficiency for boys leaving school, whilst it isalso the entrance examination for the University degrees.So far as it fulfils the former purpose, it must fail as a propercommencement to the latter. It would be one of the firstduties of a teaching university to arrange a proper examina-tion to serve as the portal to its degrees.

ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL.

DR. PATRICK MANSON has been appointed Lecturer onTropical Diseases in the St. George’s Hospital MedicalSchool. Dr. Manson will give a course of some twentylectures on the principal diseases peculiar to the tropics andMem Asia during the summer session of each year, com-mencing this year early in June. They will be illustrated bydemonstrations of living patients and of microscopic objectsshown by means of the electric lantern, with which theSt. George’s lecture rojms have lately been fitted. Thelectures will be especially adapted to the needs of medicalmen preparing for service in the tropics or the East, andadmission to them will not be limited to students of theSt. George’s School. This is, we believe, the first pro-vision made by any English school for special instructionin this important subject.

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THE HEALTH OF LORD ROSEBERY.

WE are happy to announce that Lord Rosebery’s healthcontinues to improve, though the duration of his period ofconvalescence speaks to the severity of his attack and thewearing nature of the chief symptom-insomnia. He has

gained in strength during the week, and in general tone, andhas enjoyed better nights ; but, as can be readily believedby those who have watched the politics of the last few daysand have noted the acrimonious spirit that has crept intothem, public affairs have made great demands upon him andhave undoubtedly retarded him in his progress to health. TheCabinet Council held on Saturday last at Downing-street wasunusually protracted, and as a result of the anxiety and fatiguethe Premier passed a bad night. He has not yet left TheDardai2s, partly because the unsettled state of the weatherdid not promise him a pleasanter sojourn at Walmer, butchiefly because the proximity of his Epsom house to Londonrenders it easy for him to see his colleagues and personallyassist in their deliberations.

THE PREVENTION OF WINDOW-CLEANINGACCIDENTS.

ACCORDING to the report of the Registrar-General thenumber of fatal falls from the window in England aloneis eighty per annum, but notwithstanding this factlittle has been done either on the part of the Govern-ment or on the part of house-owners to take means

to lessen this unnecessary mortality. In 189Z the cor-

poration of Glasgow passed a by-law enacting thatin dwelling-houses all window-sashes above the groundfloor should be hinged or constructed so as to admit of theoutsides of the windows being cleaned from the inside ofthe apartment; and we believe that an old Act, passedin 1847 and applying to English boroughs, made it anindictable offence to allow anyone to stand outside a window,with a fine of 40s. payable by the occupier. But this Actis undoubtedly a dead letter in the country, and would any-how be impracticable in a large city like London. The properremedy obviously lies in the fitting of the window itself.If this can be so constructed that the operation of clean-ing can be performed from the inside, whilst the frame-work is both air- and water-tight, the safety of the cleaneris assured, but before any such innovation can become

popular among those who have grown up among sashes, and

are returning to casements, it must be made clear that thenew invention does not lose in comfort for its user what it

may gain in safety for his servants. The framework must be

air-tight and water-tight, and the general effect must begood to look at and obtained at a reasonable cost. Theseand many other advantages are possessed by the NationalAccident Prevention Window, which we have had an oppor-tunity of examining at the Builders’ Exhibition held this weekat the Agricultural Hall, London. The window, which hasthe appearance of an ordinary window, consists of top andbottom sashes, each of which can be drawn inwards andattached to a stay bar while being cleaned, the top sashdrawing down so as to render it unnecessary for the cleanerto use steps or to raise himself above the level of the floor.Cleaning is thus rendered perfectly easy and the risk of loss oflife is obviated. At the same time the peculiar constructionof the sash and frame entirely prevents draughts. When

necessary for the admission of a large body of air or for theentrance of cumbrous articles of furniture, the window canbe liited out; and reglazing can be done inside the room withperfect safety. The cost of fitting this window to existingframes varies from 17s. 6d. to ö&bgr;l, and a new window andframe in this style costs but 17s. 6d. more than the fitting ofan old-fashioned window. The same firm exhibit a window

adapted to hospitals, which, while possessing the same

advantages as those we have just alluded to, has in additiona hopper transom light, with glazed wooden cheeks and aready means of drawing the fanlight inwards for cleaning.A casement window is also shown which opens inwards and

outwards, and is perfectly watertight. We are glad to notethat these windows are now the accepted model in buildingnew Board schools in London.

THE BACTERIOLOGICAL TEST OF THE PURITYOF WATER.

WE desire to call attention to the excellent scientific workof a practical and useful character that is at present beingcarried on in India, thanks to the labours of Professor

Hankin, the chemical examiner and bacteriologist to theGovernment of the North-West Provinces and Ondh.Professor Hinkic, who is a Fellow of St. John’s College,Cambridge, is by his training eminently qualified for thework he has undertaken and is prosecuting in India.He has just written and published a short pamphlet for theuse of municipal engineers and others interested in providingwater for drinking purposes, in which his aim has been toexplain the process of testing for microbes present in waterto those who wish to carry out this process for them-

selves. He states his conviction that the time hascome for substituting the simpler, cheaper, and more

reliable method of "microbe counting " for the cumbersomeand expensive one of testing municipal water chemically, andhe considers that the former method should be relied

on to learn whether municipal filter beds are performingtheir functions properly. This opinion is mainly based on theobservations and evidence of Prof. Koch in his paper "Wasser-filtration und Cholera," which was translated and publishedas an appendix to the report of the medical officer to theLocal Government Board for 1893. Of course, the great valueof the chemical test for other purposes is not questioned; ,

but cases have been known, says Professor Hankin, in whicha breakdown of filter beds that caused an epidemic wasdetected by means of the bacteriological test when thechemical test failed to afford any indication that anythingwas wrong with the water. The little pamphlet under noticecontains much interesting information regarding the bac-teriology of the waters of Indian rivers as compared withthose of Europe ; the process of filtration and the modus

operandi of sand filtration ; the municipal filter beds, filter-tank wells, and water-supplies of India, and the accidents to