1808

addition of sulphuric acid. Its reactions justify the

assumption that one or more mercaptans or thio-alcoholsare present. It contains about 30 per cent. of sulphur.Experiment showed that when so far diluted thatthe air inhaled only contained 1/69000000000 in each cubiccentimetre it was still perceptible to the smell. Itis a powerful anæsthetic. When inhaled without the ad-mixture of a large amount of air the victim loses conscious-ness, the temperature falls, the pulse slackens, and if tneinhalation were prolonged fatal results would probably ensue.Introduced into the conjunctival sac it produces intense

pain and sets up acute inflammation. The fumes of this

liquid are overpoweringly pungent and extremely irritatingto the glottis. -

MEDICAL CERTIFICATES AND BOARD SCHOOLS.

IN another column will be found a letter referring to thecase of the West Ham School Board and Mr. R. B. Hunt

upon which we commented in our issue of May 30th. We

are glad to be able to congratulate the chairman of

the West Ham School Board upon his eminently sensible

remarks, only we would point out to him that not

only have school boards no right to demand the

nature of a child’s illness, but also no right to

demand a certificate at all. We have been fightingthis and kindred matters with the London School Boardfor over a year, and we trust that body will issue a

pronouncement to enthusiastic divisional superintendentson the subject, and will ponder well the remarks of the

chairman at West Ham. ___

THE CHEMISTRY OF WHISKY.

THE commonly prevailing ideas as to the chemistry ofwhisky are evidently confused. The public notion has

always been that crude or freshly distilled whisky wasinjurious and that it required the mellowing in-fluence of age to make it fit for consumption. Inother words, new whisky was held to be deleteriousbecause it contained fusel oil, and that the reason

why old whisky was more wholesome was becausethis fusel oil changed in course of time to the so-calledcenanthic ether. To put it chemically, the amyl alcohol(fusel oil) oxidises slowly into amyl ether, which isnot only thought to be innocuous but to improve theflavour. The Deputy Principal of the Inland Revenue

Branch of the Government Laboratory would remove

these notions at one sweep. Thus, in reply to a ques-tion before the Liquor Commission on Tuesday last he

stated-and it was a repeated statement-that it was

a mistake to suppose that new spirits contained morefusel oil and were more unwholesome than old. Withthe former part of his statement we will not now

deal, but to the latter we distinctly demur. It can-

not be supposed that whisky merchants take the

trouble to store their whisky for years unless they knowthat it is thereby improved from the dietetic point ofview. Again, it is well known that so convinced are the

authorities of the Canadian Government of the unwhole-someness of new whisky that we believe they have a regu-lation in force prohibiting the sale of whisky that hasnot been stored for a certain number of years. Fusel oil I,is admittedly injurious-indeed, poisonous-according, at

least, to the experiments of several observers. In one case, I,for example, 1 part of amyl alcohol in 500 parts of watercaused anæsthesia in frogs in twenty minutes, the heart’saction becoming slower, the skin dark, death occurring inabout two hours, and the cardiac pulsations graduallyceasing. The common effect of fusel oil is to produce intenseheadache, and it must be borne in mind that in the caseof whisky the action of alcohol must be added to that of

the fusel oil. The amount of fusel oil, we believe, inwhisky averages about 0-2 per cent. These observations

hardly bear out the statements made before the Commis-sion. Incidentally we may add that it is exceedingly satis-factory to find that the consensus of opinion of the witnessesbefore this Commission appears to be that there is an un-doubted decrease in drunkenness in the metropolis, but thisdecrease, it is noteworthy, is less among women than

among men. -

SHORTHAND IN MEDICINE.

THE Oxford Shorthand Society has memorialised theGeneral Medical Council, through the Education Com-

mittee, to grant the prayer of the Society of Medical Phono-graphers and include shorthand in the syllabus of the pre-liminary examinations for medical students, but to declineto in any way favour any one system of shorthand to thedetriment of others, such a course being, in the society’sopinion, equally opposecl to shorthand progress and the

public interest, and calculated, moreover, to defeat the

primary object of the Society of Medical Phonographers.The memorial is influentially backed by a large number ofheadmasters and others.

___

THE LONDON WATER-SUPPLY.

THE hybrid committee appointed to consider the Londonwater companies Bills dealt on Tuesday last with some of themost important measures concerned-viz., the Staines Reser-voir, the Grand Junction, and the New River Water Com-panies. The decision was announced by Sir J. Pease, whostated that the Bills would be passed after the eliminationand alteration of certain clauses. The committee were not

prepared to grant power for additional lands irrespectivelyof those necessary for the construction, supply, and discharge of reservoirs. Exception was taken, and we thinkvery rightly, to the deficiency in storage in the case ofthe Grand Junction Company, and it was felt that

this company should be required to give an undertaking thata specified proportion of water run into their filter bedsshould be for storage purposes. A limit of 80,000,000gallons per diem was placed on removal from the Thames,and the power to forward water down the conduit mustlikewise be limited to 30,000,000 gallons per diem on theaverage of any one month. Mr. Pope, in opening the casefor the New River Company, stated that six new wells andthree new reservoirs would be constructed, raising the

present supply of 46,500,000 gallons to 60,000,000 gallons,or nearly 10,000,000 gallons in excess of the quantityrequisite in ten years’ time. The committee adjourned tillFriday.

-

THE MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.

THE inauguration of the new convalescent home at

Clacton-on-Sea, which has been founded in connexion withthe Middlesex Hospital, is to be celebrated by a fete inthe hospital garden and medical school on Wednesday,July 1st. The afternoon fête, from 5 to 7 P.M., will be

graced by the presence of their Royal Highnesses theDuke and Duchess of York, and in the evening the gardenswill be illuminated. The members of the fête com-

mittee, of whom the Marquis of Breadalbane is chair-man, have drawn up an excellent programme for theentertainment of the visitors. The musical arrangementsare under the direction of Mr. Wilhelm Ganz, and severalwell-known artistes have offered their services. It is hopedthat the result of the f6te will go far to meetthe heavy outlay occasioned by the building of the

convalescent home, the maintenance of which v,’ill be chieflymet by the munificent bequest of the late Mr. Henry Spicerto the Samaritan Fund. We hope to publish next week a