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give your reason ? The British Optical Association’s-examination has also been held this month and twelvecandidates presented themselves, out of whom onlyone failed to pass. This examination occupies abouttwo and a half hours and is divided into three

parts—optic, dioptric, and ophthalmometric. Amongstthe questions were the following: 1. Show how imagesformed by concave lenses are always vertical, erect,and diminished. 2. Transpose the following lenses intoother combinations: (a) 1’73 cyl. axis 45° 0 + 3’25 cyl. axis135° ; (b) + 3-00 spher. C - 1-5 cyl. axis 105° ; (e) + 1-25sph. 8 + 2-75 cyl. axis 900. 3. In dislocation of the crystal-line lens, the periphery of the lens being located, say, inthe middle of the pupil; how would you .prescribe lensesto assist the refraction for distance ? These are sufficientlyreasonable questions and no exception can be taken to them_from a professional point of view. We must add, how-ever, that in the ophthalmometric part of the examinationof this association some of the questions trench on purelymedical subjects and imply that the young optician has gonesomewhat beyond his métier-for example, Question 3 is,How would you diagnose tobacco amaurosis ? Question 4 is,Tlow would you measure scotoma ? Question 7 is, What arethe indications that would lead you to suspect incipientglaucoma? If the candidate be expected to diagnose tobaccoamaurosis, why should he not know the retinal changes injBright’s disease and diagnose the nature and position of anintracranial lesion from the observed defects in the field of

vision ? Surely, all this is quite outside the optician’s work,

SWEET SPIRIT OF NITRE.

Now that the expression "sweet spirit of nitre" isincluded in the new Pharmacopoeia as a synonym for spiritof nitrous ether druggists are bound to supply this articlewhen asked for under the popular name and the article maybe demanded in accordance with the strength officially laiddown. It is well known that when druggists in the pastwere asked for sweet spirit of nitre they now and then

supplied an article of deficient strength against which noremedy could be provided because sweet spirit of nitre hadno official existence and no recognised definite strength.However, the new Pharmacopoeia now provides that whensweet spirit of nitre is asked for the official spiritus etherisjiitrosi shall be supplied. It is early yet to decide upon the.effect of this alteration but in one case an inquiry has beenmade. Dr. Bernard Dyer in his report as the analyst to the- county of Leicester found that of the 51 samples of sweet.spirit of nitre obtained 23 were of first-class quality, 21 werefairly good, while 7 samples were decidedly unsatisfactory.In the last instances the retailing druggists were only warned,.as it was considered probable that these specimens had beenin stock before the new Pharmacopoeia was published. The

inquiry is instructive and timely and it should place retailingdruggists on their guard so that they may not unwittingly.commit an offence under the Food and Drugs Act.

MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH AND PRIVATE IPRACTICE.

THE vacancy of the post of medical officer of health ofthe Burgh of Perth is the cause of much discussion as to

whether the newly-appointed medical officer should be

debarred from private practice and at the same time of

course be offered suitable remuneration. Hitherto in the

Burgh this has not been the case, although the countymedical officer is debarred. The late medical officer for the

Burgh, Dr. Simpson, now dead, had, we believe, E105 perannum as medical officer and C52 10s. as police surgeon, and was in addition allowed to carry on private practice. I,To our minds it is in no way desirable that the medical officer ’’

of health should be also in private practice, for the holding ’;

of the two posts must at times bring him into disagreeableand anomalous positions. To begin with he might very welloften come into conflict with his fellow practitioners and ashe is in private practice himself, with professional rivals. Alsocases might arise where as medical officer of health his dutymight be directly opposed to his interests as a practitioner.It is for these reasons that we hope that the Burgh of Perthwill see its way to appoint a medical officer of healthwho will be debarred from private practice but who will alsoreceive sufficient remuneration to enable him to devote hiswhole time to the duties of his office and who will be in a

position to exercise them without fear or favour.

I THE KITCHENS OF PARISIAN EATING-HOUSES.

IN December, 1897, the Sooiété Frangaise d’Hygieneresolved to appoint a commission to inquire into the

sanitary conditions under which the kitchen employés inParisian hotels, restaurants, and other establishments of asimilar character where food is prepared for public consump-tion, are compelled to carry on their work, and in due coursea report embracing the whole subject was published in theJournal d’Hyyiene over the signature of Dr. Bruhat, thesecretary of the commission. It is not too much to say thatthe condition of things disclosed in this exhaustive reportcan only be described as deplorable. Until a few years agoall kitchens, with their offices and annexes, where eatableswere cooked for the use of the public were underGovernment surveillance by virtue of several decrees

dating back upwards of twenty years, but in July, 1894,this important safeguard to the general health was with.drawn. A Ministerial circular suddenly appeared directingthe sanitary inspectors of the municipality of Paris to

abstain in future from the inspection of eating-houses of

every description because it had been ruled that such estab.lishments were no longer to be regarded as trading placesbut rather as partaking of the nature of private houses.And yet, to judge by the copious extracts which Dr. Bruhathas cited from official reports dated prior to the retrogressivecircular, the need for efficient supervision and control

remained as urgent as ever. Writing to the Minister ofCommerce in 1892 M. de Maroussen, with reference to thejunior employés in public kitchens, says: "A wretched

existence; cooking arrangements badly installed ; hygienicconditions deplorable." In July, 1888, MM. Hudelo and

Napias wrote the following description of the kitchen in oneof the principal boulevard restaurants :-

" Everything is on the narrowest scale and one was

consequently roasted on all sides. The ceiling is scarcely3 metres high, while overhead the gas flares. Under footare the pipes from the range, between which and the grillthe distance is so small that if two men want to pass eachother one of them has to squeeze himself up against theheated metal. To the left is the spit; alone the right end isunoccupied. Imagine eight or ten people working togetherunder such circumstances ! This is, nevertheless, the stateof affairs in 80 per cent. of the kitchens not only in Parisbut also in our larger towns, and even in Algeria."In a report by M. Schaere the following passage occurs :—

The kitchen is underground, less than 2½ metres high,and along with the larder and offices receives its light andair through, narrow slits, three opening at the level of thestreet and two on the garden. There are two ventilators,but they work badly. The street sewer being on a higherlevel than the floor it is impossible to drain into it, so a cess-pit has been sunk which has to be emptied by pumping.The smell from it is most offensive. The sink drains intothe sewer, but sometimes the contents of the latter inundatethe kitchen. A urinal hard by is in communication with thecess-pit."Another reporter writes :-"The kitchen is invariably the filthiest spot in the

house....... In some establishments you will find a latrinein direct communication with the kitchen or else with the