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bed, K. 76-100 ; three beds, K. 91-115. Series E: single bed,K.31-50; double bed, K.46-75 ; three beds, K.61-90. SeriesF:single bed, K. 16-30; double bed, K. 30-45 ; three beds,K. 44-60. Such apartments may be engaged by the personwho requires lodgings stating in which series and at whatprice he desires a room with one, two, or three beds andwhether it is to be in an hotel or in a private house. He

will be free to choose the price which he is prepared to payaccording to the scale set out above, and this price must besent to the central booking office in advance. In return for

this remittance an "accommodation order " for an appro-

priate lodging will be sent to the applicant. The committee

of the Congress has arranged that a commission of K. 8.50per person shall be paid to the booking office in returnfor its trouble and expenses. This commission is to

be sent at the same time as the rent and the

receipt of it will be acknowledged separately. If a

person thus taking a room should be prevented fromattending the Congress and notify the fact before

August 20th, the rent paid in advance will be refunded

upon production of the accommodation order with a deduc-tion of 10 kronen a head, but should such notice reach thecentral booking office after that date 20 kronen will be

deducted for each person. We would add for our readers’

benefit that members who desire to avail themselves of the

proposals contained in this communication should considerthem carefully and keep every document in connexion withtheir bargain, as failure to produce written evidence of

similar contracts proved a fruitful source of trouble at theMadrid meeting of the International Medical Congress.

INFLAMMATION OF BURSÆ AND "RHEUMATISM."

IN spite of recent progress in diagnostic accuracy theterm " rheumatism " is still used vaguely and is applied to i,

many different conditions, often to any articular affectionthe nature of which is unknown. Bacteriology has done ’,something to diminish the evil by separating from thismiscellaneous group gonorrhoeal and pneumococcic arthritisand acute rheumatism, but much still remains to be done.In the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of April lst,Dr. E. A. Codman has called attention to the fact that

many obscure cases of pain about joints termed "rheu-matism " are due to inflammation of bursse or of the areolar

tissue between the different planes of muscles. In the

human body those tissues which move on one another

and bear weight-namely, joints-have their points of

friction defended by articular cartilage, but where thereis much movement but no weight is borne a simplesynovial membrane is interposed for the purpose of diminish-ing friction. Tissues which move on one another only to aslight extent are provided with an interposed layer of areolartissue, the spaces of which act like a compound bursa. The

cracking and snapping about joints which occurs in some

persons is usually produced in bursæ. The very existence ofmost of the bursas is often forgotten, and therefore an

altered condition in them is not entertained in diagnosis,but no matter how small they are subject to inflammation.Normally their walls are very thin, but when inflamed theymay become much thickened. Dr. Codman has recentlycalled attention to the frequency and importance of inflam-mation of the subacromial bursa. Inflammation of bursæ

may be due to injury, infection, toxic waste products in thecirculation, and over-use. Dr. Codman thinks that the stiff-ness which occurs after unusual exercise is due to mild

temporary inflammation of bursæ, tendon sheaths, andareolar tissue. The wonderful self-oiling mechanism of thebody is thrown temporarily out of order. The bursse become

thickened with congestion and acute cedema, and theirsecretion becomes too viscid and fibrinous to allow easy

motion. The areolar tissue being in a sense a compoundbursa may also become inflamed. This Dr. Codman regardsas the pathology of lumbago and" stiff neck." The func-tion of the serous membranes—pleuræ, pericardium, and

peritoneum-is the same as that of the bursae, the diminu-tion of the friction of parts which move on one another.Their inflammations may consequently be regarded as

analogues of bursitis. This opens up an interesting fieldfor comparisons when affections of bursæ have been more

fully investigated ; at present we have not much material iorbroad deductions.

____

THE EFFECTS OF WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY ONOPERATORS.

IT has been remarked that each step taken in the onwardmarch of any applied science seems to bring into notice somefresh special pathological condition. Various previouslyunknown diseases dogged the steps of the earlier engineers,electricians, chemists, and balloonists. The dangers lurkingin the Crookes tube-beneficent though it be when used

under proper control-have been of late made tragicallyprominent. Amongst the numerous persons who are now

learning to fly possibly some new pathological curiosity willbefore long come to be recognised. According to M. P, Bellile,a French naval surgeon on board the Desoartes, which has beenengaged in the campaign in Morocco, the members of theship’s company who were employed in wireless telegraphduty developed various affections in consequence of the

action of the Herzian waves. Most commonly the tele-

graphists complained of their eyes, a slight conjunctivitissimilar to that occurring amongst those who work witharc lamps being found. Although this of itself was not

generally at all serious, yet in one case where the attacksrecurred again and again, keratitis was produced whichresulted in a leukoma of the right cornea and consequentimpairment of vision. In order to protect the eyes fromdamage by the ultra-violet rays of the electric emanation,which have a very powerful action, it was recommended thatyellow or orange glasses should be worn. Not only were theeyes of the operators affected, but two cases of eczema-one of the wrist and one of the eyelid, both very difficultto cure-were seen, probably due to the same cause.

Lastly, one of the officials who had been employed forseveral years in wireless telegraphy suffered from painfulpalpitation of the heart which came on after working for anylength of time at the instruments for sending messages.This man was quite free from any organic lesion of the heart.M. Bellile is disposed to think that a good many of the casesof "nervousness" and neurasthenia which seem now to be

getting rather common among naval men may be due to thework which is being done in wireless telegraphy.

CONGENITAL NEPHRITIS.

THE kidneys of young children appear to be very sus-

ceptible to irritation from causes which have little or no

influence in adult life. Thus, in addition to the ordinarycauses of nephritis, such as passive congestion, ingestedirritants, and the infections, such conditions as acute indi-gestion, inflammatory conditions of the alimentary tract,cold plunges, exposure to high degrees of heat, calcareous andhasmosiderin deposits in the tubules, interstitial haemorrhages,and even icterus, may all be concerned in the production ofnephritis in early life. Other causes. are uric acid infarcts

and parental syphilis, both of which may produce changes inthe kidneys before birth. In the latter case the nephritis isusually of interstitial type, but parenchymatous changesoccur in some cases. Dr. Howard T. Karsner contributes an

interesting study of these conditions to the Februarynumber of the Proceedings of the Pathological Society of