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collyrium, several hundred patients being thus doctored Iin less than half an hour, all of them being given hope andtold to come again the next day. It may be asked how isit that in a country where the practice of the art of healingby unauthorised persons is illegal-which, of course, it isnot with us-a notorious and dangerous quack, such as thisArab, should be allowed, not merely to practise, but to usea house belonging to the municipality of the metropolisfor his operations ? The answer is humiliating enough-aduly qualified practitioner is said to be "covering" him.It is known in Brussels that Golam Kader was successfullyprosecuted at Genoa for illegal practice some three yearsago, and it is possible that the Brussels medical authoritymay have something to say on the matter.

THE "EPIDEMIA DI SAN GOTHARDO."

ITALIAN nosologists have classified this disease, which,prevailing in epidemic form in the Canton Ticino, the lay-man may be apt to confound with the periodical collisionsbetween Liberal and Ultramontane, of one of which thatcanton has just been the scene. Dr. Prospero Sonnino,some time since, read a paper before the FlorentineSociety d’lgiene, in which he traced the malady to thepresence in the duodenal mucosa of a parasite, the " anchy-lostoma " described by the Tuscan helminthologist Dubiniin 1838. Sporadic cases of the "anaemia perniciosa," thepathognomonic feature of this disease, have occurred fromtime to time in Upper Italy, but not till the decade 1872-82did it assume epidemic proportions. At that period theSt. Gothard tunnel was in course of construction, a

gigantic undertaking in which navvies not only fromthe Canton Ticino, but also from Piedmont and Lom-

bardy were largely engaged. The confined air of the

tunnel, charged with noxious gases evolved from the dis-turbed earth, seemed to favour, if not actually to induce,the disease, and so many of the navvies suffered from it thatthe hospitals at Airolo and other stations on the line hadto be enlarged to make room for the constant influx ofpatients. The dependence of anaemia perniciosa on thepresence of the anchylostoma duodenale having been

ascertained, Dr. Sonnino proceeded to describe the treat-ment to which the malady was found to yield, and thiswas large doses of thymol. Further confirmation of Dr.Sonnino’s positions has lately come from Ceylon, where thesame anaemia perniciosa, associated with the anchylostomaduodenale, prevailed in epidemic form, particularly at

Colombo, and was successfully treated by thymol in con-siderable doses, just as recommended by the Florentine

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A CORONER’S OPINION.

IN August last an inquest was held at West Ham byMr. Henry Symonds, deputy coroner, touching the death ofa single woman aged fifty-seven years. The deceased wasfound dead by her brother, who sent for Dr. Drury. Thelatter gentleman reported the case to the coroner as

follows:—*’ I beg to report the sudden death of ElizaRebecca Pearce. Deceased is quite unknown to me, andhas not been medically treated by anyone for years past.I have viewed the body, but found no marks of violence orinjury upon it." At the inquest Mr. Symonds thought fit toanimadvert on Dr. Drury’s conduct in the following terms :-"Dr. Drury. should have instructed the police, so that he(the coroner) might have had full particulars regarding thedeath, and should not have sent a letter which practicallycontained no information at all, so as to enable him tojudge as to the cause of death. Under these circumstanceshe considered it would be more satisfactory to have an inde-pendent medical testimony." We take this opportunity ofprotesting against the language of the coroner and against

the want of courtesy with which we consider he treatedDr. Drury. The latter gentleman did all that was legallyrequired of him, and more, for instead of giving the coroner"no information" he actually reported the result of theexamination which enabled him to say there were no marks.of violence on the deceased. Why the coroner did not regardDr. Drury as an independent witness we are at a loss tounderstand.

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MASSAGE IN HEADACHE.

DR. NorSTR6M, finding that a good many cases of head-ache occur where, though the symptoms are more or lesslike those of migraine, the remedies suited to that affectionare of but little use, examined the heads of such patientscarefully, and came to the conclusion that the pain mustdepend upon inflammatory thickenings existing at theinsertion of various muscles, especially the sterno-mastoid,the temporal, the scaleni, the trapezius, and the occipito-frontalis. These indurations do not usually produce any localpain, and therefore are generally unnoticed both by physicianand patient. They are commonly the result of "takingcold," and the headaches they cause can be traced to changes.in the weather. Dr. Norstrom obtains excellent results byregular massage of these indurated spots, the sittingslasting for about a quarter of an hour. Similar treatmentis also efficacious where the headache is due, as it some-times is, to enlarged lymphatic glands. Of course, littleresult can be expected from massage in headaches ofanaemic or of hysterical origin, or where there is organiccerebral disease.

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NORTH QUEENSLAND MEDICAL SOCIETY.IT may be taken as a surety of the accomplishment of a

high proportion of success in a young colony when itsmedical men settling there begin to form themselves into aMedical Society. From no British possession does thetruth of this proposition receive more ample confirmationthan from North Queensland, which in commerce, agri-culture, engineering, and in the department of nationalfinance has made strides equalled by few and excelled bynone of the sister colonies in the southern hemisphere. TheNorth Queensland Medical Society has just issued its firstannual report. It has commenced with twenty-one members,with fair prospects of increase. Undertakings of muchhumbler origin have ultimately made their power felt overthe civilised world. Such a membership, obtained in anarea so widely scattered, says much for the management ofthe Society. We have much pleasure in echoing the wishof the secretary, G. A. Van Someren, M.B., C.M., Towns-ville, that the Society may enjoy a prosperous and influentialcareer.

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INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN HEALTH RESORTS.

I IT is a terrible thing when people in health resorts harbourinfectious diseases and conceal the fact. The MetropolitanAsylums Board report the reception of four cases from onelocality, all unrelated to each other, save in going to the sameplace in search of health andgettingentericfeverinstead. Thisis a very familiar story to medical men, and is now becomingso common an incident in connexion with the summerexodus that it ought to be the subject of immediate andspecial legislation. It is already a legal offence to knowinglysend an infected person to a strange place in a publicconveyance. To send them to public resorts is a heart-less procedure that should be ruthlessly exposed by theauthorities of any such place. Then, at all hazards, theexistence of such cases in any given health resort should bepublished, and the premises and all the plant thereof barredfrom public use. No doubt this would be hard on the parti-cular householder, and it might be right in the sanitary