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to provide one for bodies taken from the river and docks,the barest shelter was all that they could be expectedto give. The parochial authorities cleaned the place,periodically, and paid for the gas and water, not becausethey were bound to do so, but because of "precedence."The City Council asserted that the Dock Board were boundto do what the Dock Committee had done before, whichincluded all connected with the deadhouse or mortuary.It was an apt illustration of how not to do it-averitable proof that what was evervbody’s business wasnobody’s business. And so for nearly sixteen years pastdead bodies have been taken to a wretched shed, inquestjuries have been taken there, and necropsies made-oftenin most important medico-legal cases—in spite of reason,remonstrances, and complaints ad nauseam.Meanwhile the Public Health Act was passed in 1875,

which would appear to make it compulsory upon the localauthority (i.e., the urban sanitary authority ahas theHealth Committee of the City Council) to provide a

mortuary ; and the clause empowered them, though notcompulsorily, to provide a post-mortem room (clauses 141,143). As was pointed out in a local daily paper, thelocal authority could be required by the Local Govern-ment Board to provide a mortuary, which is definedto be "a proper place for the reception of dead bodiesbefore interment." The possible appearance of a LocalGovernment Board inspector upon the scene would seemto have produced some effect. It may have been a

.coincidence. But at any rate, it was resolved, aftermuch discussion, that a new mortuary should be erectednear the site of the present one, at the joint expense of the- City Council and Dock Board, each also paying half thecost of maintenance.The new building comprises four separate compartments.

It is built of red brick with red stone facings, the greaterpart being lined inside with yellow and brown glazed Ruabonbricks, giving a pleasing appearance, as well as being cleanand easily washed. There are three doors of entrance, andover the central one is the word "Mortuary" cut in stone.To the right of this is a door leading to a vestibule runningthe whole length of the building. This vestibule is roofedin, well lighted and ventilated, and having on its inner side.a glazed partition, through which is obtained an excellent view,of the next chamber, or mortuary proper. This is also welllighted and ventilated with five separate sloping slabs, thefloor being so arranged that all wet will flow into a channelcontinuous with an open trapped drain. The slabs are soarranged that an excellent view can be had of each bodythrough the glass partition of the vestibule. Each slabbeing separate will enable anyone to get all round it, a,great improvement on one large slab, which is incon-venient to everybody. The third entrance leads into anante-room containing a fireplace, with boiler, for thesupply of hot water to the post-mortem room, as

well as lavatory, lock-up cupboards, and shelves forthe safe custody of viscera, &c. Passing through theinner door we come to the post-mortem room, which hasa separate roof of its own, as required by the Act, and isquite separate from the mortuary proper. It is linedthroughout with glazed bricks, has a tiled floor, centralpost-mortem table, fireplace, sink with hot and cold waterlaid on, slab for scales and weights, and desk for note-taking.The table is of slate, with slope downwards from the centreto each end, and brass drainage holes at each corner, fromwhich run four pipes to the central pedestal of glazed bricks,to discharge into an open drain trap, into which the sink.also discharges. The greatest care has been taken with allthe drainage, the pipes for which have been specially madeby Messrs. Doulton. The whole work reflects the greatestcredit upon Mr. Berrington, the architect to the DockBoard, who has taken pains to ensure the thorough com-pletion of the work with all the most recent improvements.The building is now quite complete, and Dr. Taylor, the

medical officer of health, is making arrangements at therequest of the Health Committee for its future management.It will still be in charge of the police, who are relieved everyeight hours; but there will be in addition an official who willassist at post-mortem examinations and perform othernecessary duties which it would be unreasonable to expectpolicemen to do except at greatly increased pay.

Liverpool has possessed a central coroner’s court for manyyears past, and it would tax the memory of the oldestinhabitant to call to mind an inquest held in a public-house. When a regular court cannot be secured, some

suitable building can be had temporarily. Mortuariesare even more necessary than coroners’ courts. A land-lord who might be willing enough to let the bar

parlour for an inquest will positively refuse to takein a dead body, even in any of the out-houses. Bodieswhich are the property of the coroner must be depo-sited in a suitable place where a post-mortem examina-tion, if required, can be made without offence to anyone.What has been done in Liverpool should be an encourage-ment to those who are endeavouring to establish mortuarieselsewhere. It is hardly likely that the same difficulties will beencountered, since the circumstances were somewhat ex-ceptional. If any doubt exists as to the meaning of thewords in Clause 141 of the Public Health Act previouslyquoted, this should be set at rest by an appeal to the LocalGovernment Board. It will be remembered that in theWhitechapel murders Mr. Phillips complained greatly ofthe place where he had to make the necropsies of some ofthe victims. Wherever there is a wrong there is said to bea remedy, and this should be found at no matter whatexpenditure of time or money.Great credit is due to Mr. F. W. Lowndes, surgeon to the

Liverpool police, for his unceasing and finally successfulefforts in procuring adequate mortuary accommodation forLiverpool.

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THE FACTORY REPORT.

THE report of the chief factory inspector for the yearending with the month of October, 1889, records increasedactivity in most of the important industries which comeunder his observation, and, as a consequence, some increasein the number of accidents which he has to report. Itwould seem, however, that, little by little, improved con-ditions are being established, both in respect of the sanitaryconditions under which work is carried on and the precau-tions adopted to prevent accidents resulting from theoperation of machinery. As bearing upon the former ofthese points, attention is drawn in the present report towhat seems to be a very important and very simpleimprovement in the art of weaving. It is well knownthat the air of weaving sheds has to be keptmoist in order to prevent the development of chargesof electricity upon various parts of the swiftly movingmachinery. The most obvious, and at the presenttime the almost universal, way of obtaining this effect is bydischarging steam into the atmosphere. The condensationof the water vapour moistens the atmosphere, thus render-ing it sufficiently conductive of electricity to prevent theformation of mischievous charges at any points. Theobvious consequence of thus loading the atmosphere withheated water is to raise the temperature, and to cause

everything exposed to it, and especially the worker’sclothing, to be saturated with moisture. It is not diffi-cult to understand that such conditions prove to be inthe highest degree prejudicial to the workers’ health.The new method, which is said to have been successfullytried in a factory at Belfast, consists in substituting forsteam the condensed vapour arising from a coolingreservoir. This vapour-or rather, as we presume, theair carrying it-is fed into the weaving shed by meansof a fan, and has the effect not of heating but of

cooling the temperature of the building. It is saidto be more economical than steam, as it amounts to theemployment of a waste product; and we hope that this iscorrect, since, if so, that circumstance will greatly facilitatethe general adoption of the new plan. Theoretically,nothing can be better or better adapted to its purpose thanthe agent now proposed. For rendering air conductive ofhigh-tension electricity nothing more is necessary than thatit should contain water vapour at the point of saturation.Whether the temperature be higher or lower does not in theleast matter; but, on the other hand, the quantity of watervapour which will produce saturation in a given quantityof air at one temperature will be short of saturation at ahigher temperature, and lience air which has been incontact with water at any given temperature becomessuper-saturated in the course and by the fact of cooling.This is the principle of which apparently the new inventionis an adaptation, and it is plain that by carefully adjustingthe temperature of the air drawn off from the cooler the

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inventor will be able to provide an atmosphere which willbe saturated when in contact with the cool surfaces of themachinery, but perfectly dry when in contact with thewarm bodies of workpeople. Hence it will conduct awaythe accumulating electricity, but will not deposit moisturein the workman’s or workwoman’s clothes. In other words,it is over again the familiar phenomenon of the sitting-room atmosphere, which is perfectly dry to the skin, butdeposits streams of water on the windows. In this domesticexperiment the source of the moisture is generally to befound in the exhalations from the bodies of personsassembled in an overcrowded room, and consequently itgoes hand in hand with imperfect ventilation, and oftenwith overheating; but there is no reason why the samehygrometric conditions should not accompany pure air anda wholesome and pleasant temperature.

THE CHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGICALACTION OF PHOSPHOROUS OXIDE.

THE June number of the Chemical Society’s Journalcontains a full account of the recent research on phos-phorous oxide which has been carried out jointly by Pro-fessor Thorpe and Mr. A. E. Sutton, of the Normal Schoolof Science, South Kensington. It is a noteworthy fact thatit is seldom that an inquiry into the nature of well-knowninorganic elements results in the full confirmation of thecharacters which have usually been assigned to the sub-stance experimented with. On the contrary, in manyinstances surprising results are often obtained, inasmuch asproperties are frequently discovered which are found to beof a nature entirely new and opposite to those which aredescribed in the text-books. This in a measure is probablydue to the circumstance that investigators have of late yearsdevoted their time chiefly to the fascinating and fashionablefield of organic chemistry. The authors have in the presentresearch obtained phosphorous oxide by the slow com-

bustion of phosphorus in an apparatus of special construc-tion. So prepared, it is described as a white wax-like solid,which melts at 22 ’5° C. toa clear, colonrless, and mobile liquid,resolidifying at 21° and boiling at 173.1° C. The formula asdeduced from the vapour density and Raoult’s recent methodis P{06’ thus exhibiting perfect analogy to arsenious andantimonious oxide, AS4O6 and Sb4O6 respectively. At hightemperatures it is resolved into tetroxide and free phos-phorus. Sunlight changes it to orange yellow, and ultimatelydark red; the exact chemical nature of these changes has notyet been investigated. More interesting is the action ofwater, alkalies, alcohol, &c., upon it. Phosphorous oxideslowly dissolves in water, and in afew days forms a solution ofphosphorous acid. Most text-books describe the oxide aspossessing a strong affinity for water, so much so that itcombines with it with such violence that a hissing sound isproduced, as with a red-hot iron. With hot water, on thecontrary, the reaction is very energetic, red phosphorus,the suboxide, spontaneously inflammable phosphorettedhydrogen, and phosphoric acid being violently produced.Cold alkalies, such as caustic potass, act similarly to coldwater, resulting in the gradual formation of phosphite ofpotassium. Hot alkalies act like hot water, phosphate andphosphoretted hydrogen being formed. Phosphorous oxideignites in contact with alcohol, forming diethylphosphorousacid. As would be expected, it readily oxidises to thepentoxideon exposure to air or oxygen. Under diminished pressure oxi-dation is accompanied by a luminous glow, which is instantlystopped when the pressure is restored. Ozone is not formed.The melted oxide readily ignites in the air. Finally, phos-phorous oxide has a well-marked physiological en’ect, andthe authors think that the influence of phosphorus on theglycogenic functions of the liver and on tissue change maynot improbably be due to this substance. It is known thatcaries is produced in those persons engaged in matchfactories only when exposed to the fumes, for Dr. LauderBrunton has found that when the bone of an animal fed byphosphorus is exposed to the air no carious change takesplace; but when it ia exposed to the fumes caries is pro-duced. And, further, it has been noticed amongst match-making people that only those who have carious teethsuffer from necrosis of the jaw. This may possibly beexplained by the fact that the fumes from phosphorusconsist largely of phosphorous oxide, for by merely drawingair over phosphorus a deposit possessing all the characters

of phosphorous oxide is obtained. The odour, moreover,,is identical with that of phosphorous oxide, and also withthe peculiar smell that invariably accompanies the making-and handling of the composition used for match-tipping.Under these circumstances, it is extremely probable thatpure phosphorus possesses no smell at all. Prof. Thorpeand his colleague are to be congratulated on the interestingand important results they have obtained, both practicaland theoretical. Chemists, at least, will not fail to.

recognise the fact that much valuable and useful informa-tion has been added to their storehouse of knowledge.

THE ROYAL EDINBURGH ASYLUM.

TIlE commemoration stone of the new department of this.asylum at Craig House was laid on the 16th inst. by theEarl of Stair, deputy governor, in the presence of a largeand representative gathering. The clergy, the University,the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, the LunacyBoard, and many public bodies in the city were repre-sented, while the majority of the Scotch asylum physiciansand superintendents were present, this addition to its.mental hospitals being regarded as an important event inScotland. The new institution is for 150 of the richer classof patients, and is, when completed, to take the place of the.old East House opened in 1813. Great pains have beentaken to make the plans fulfil all the modern requirementsfor such a hospital, and to lead the way in many respects.There are eight central wards and six villas, two of which-are small hospitals.Lord Stair gave a sketch of the history of the institution

since the inception of the idea of such a building in 1792by Dr. Andrew Duncan and the College of Physicians.The insanity of the poet Ferguson, and the absence of anyproper means of treatment, first suggested the idea to-Dr. Duncan.

Sir Douglas Maclagan, President of the Medical Board,said, " It was a most interesting thing to observe that fromthe beginning of the institution up to the present time ithad maintained the same broad constitution, that both themore affluent and the poor classes should be looked after,and that, by a wise adjustment of the means, what was.won from the treatment of the affluent should be applied to.diminish the expense to the poor. Everything in the insti-tution was tinged with the colour of philanthropy." Hespoke eloquently on the influence of art and beauty onbodily and mental ailments. " Art, as developed in such a.building as that, in its architecture and in its pleasant site,was itself not merely a help to the doctor, but a medicine ofthe most valuable kind."

Dr. Clouston spoke on the medical aspect of insanity,showing that science must rid the public mind, as it had ridthe medical mind, of its outrageous and hurtful prejudices.and its feelings of repulsion in regard to mental disorder.Science knew nothing of repulsion in regard to whatwas to benefit humanity. Nothing to it was commonor unclean. Some of the greatest triumphs of medicine hadconsisted in attacking problems previously repulsive to

ordinary humanity, and in rendering them of the keenestinterest to mankind. The prejudices that now so often addto the pain of mental disease, in the case of the sufferers andtheir relatives, were not worthy of our civilisation andmust be got rid of. He trusted New Craig House wouldhelp to take away this reproach, and he believed that itwould take its place as one of the great medical and philan-thropic institutions of Edinburgh.The institution is to cost about £70,000, not including

the price of the site, which is £30,000 in addition. ThePresident of the College of Physicians, Professor GraingerStewart, and Professor Chiene also spoke.

THE LUNACY COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT.

THE report of the Lunacy Commissioners is this yearlargely occupied with a discussion of the effect of recentlegislation upon the work of their department. It seems tous that the Commissioners a little overestimate the publicimportance of this aspect of their theme. They point outthat the additional reports for which the Act of last yearprovides will entail a large increase in the clerical workwhich has to be transacted in their office, and will