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sobriquet. In so far as the item of food is concerned he

may be said to undergo a kind of chronic siege of Paris.You are probably awa,re from other sources that this cityhad only food till the 5th instant, or at all events was saidto have had so at the time of the signature of the conven-tion, armistice, capitulation, or whatever else the documentwas called, under the provisions of -which the Prussianforces now occupy the surrounding forts, the Prussian flaghas taken the place of the tricolour, the fortifications arebeing dismantled,the barricades thrown down, and the regulartroops of Paris disarmed. The condition of the sick, andespecially the wounded, had been going from bad to worse,and from worse to still worse for some time before. Menfrom whose wounds, stumps, resected bones, excised joints, ’’

and so on, pus distilled at the rate of several ounces perday, required very large quantities of animal food to supplythe necessary materials of expenditure. But this was im-

practicable. Science failed to produce actual beef or muttonby any other process than the slaughter of cattle and

sheep, and these not being obtainable, merely because theydid not exist within the line of fire and steelrdrawn by thePrussians around us, the very men who had fallen and bledfor honour and France had their chances of recovery con-siderably lessened by the existing dearth. Throughout thesiege, mortality in general, but more particularly of thewounded, has progressively increased. After the greatsortie towards Malmaison, on October 21st, it was foundthat many of the severely wounded did well, although byno means so well as those who had been injured on theoccasion of the smaller affair of September 20th. After theterrible action at Champigny, on November 30th, thewounded did very badly; after Drancy and Bourget, onDecember 21st, still more badly; and after the last, andit is to be hoped concluding, affair at Montretout, onJanuary 19th, no better. In fact, as fatigue and priva-tion increased, so did the chances of recovery of the wounded

°

diminish.

By the way, one circumstance connected with the wounded Ion the last-named occasion may be mentioned as illustra-ting, not only the great amount of previous fatigue theFrench soldiers had undergone, but how such fatigue may,under some conditions, prove too powerful a soporific to beneutralised by even gunshot and shell wounds. Some sixty-four men, more or less severely wounded, had in the courseof the day been brought from the field of battle to theAmerican ambulance, where, it is quite needless to say,they received the best of surgical assistance and of non-professional attention. Early in the evening I visited thetents in which they lay. Literally the whole number weresound asleep, and in so still and sound a sleep that it wasdifficult to believe they really were wounded; yet some hadbullets through their limbs, some of the long bones beingbroken, some through hands and feet, and one poor fellowpresented, as he lay still and in deep slumber, the jaggedborders of a bullet firmly impacted in his frontal bone. Notone of them had had a drop or grain of opium in any form,nothing beyond soup, tea, coffee, comfortable bed and kindattention. Soon afterwards the bullet was extracted fromthe man’s frontal bone. Extensive fracture was discovered,and three days subsequently he was numbered among thedead.

Paris, Feb. 9th, 1871.

THE LANCET BILL.

AT a meeting of the Ulster Medical Society, held in theLibrary of the Belfast General Hospital, on Saturday, Jan.28th, 1871, the Councill submitted THE LANCET MedicalBill for the consideration of the Society. The followingresolutions were passed :-

1. That the members of this Society thank the Editor ofTHE LANCET for the Medical Act Amendment Bill he haspublished on November 26th, 1870. That they cordiallyapprove the two leading features of the Bill-viz., the one-portal, and representation of the profession on the MedicalCouncil.

2. That we consider Clause 5 should stand thus:-" TheGeneral Council shall consist of sixteen persons, as follows :Four shall be nominated by her Majesty, with the advice of Iher Privy Council; two of whom shall be appointed for I

England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for Ireland.Twelve shall be elected, in the manner hereinafter provided,by the registered medical practitioners of the United King-dom-namely, six by the registered practitioners of Englandand Wales, three by the registered practitioners of Scotland,and three by the registered practitioners of Ireland. Allthese appointments shall be for a period of three years."

3. Clause 14 should stop after the words "or under thisAct."We consider that, with the exception of those members of

Council nominated by the Crown, all should bo elected bythe votes of the profession at large. Referring to the re-solution on Clause 14, we are most decidedly of opinion thatno candidate should be permitted to present himself beforea medical authority for examination, until he is registeredas having passed through the one portal.

Parliamentary Intelligence.HOUSE OF COMMONS.

FEB. 13TH.

THE VACCINATION ACT OF 1867.MR. W. E. FORSTER moved for a committee to inquire

into the operation of the Vaccination Act (1867), and toreport whether such Act should be amended. This com-mittee was proposed by the Government in fulfilment of apledge given towards the close of last session by the HomeSecretary to the hon. member for Sunderland. Mr. Forstercited many facts illustrative of the benefits of vaccination,and said he was strongly of opinion that a committee woulddo good. There were certainly some persons in the countrywho entertained a conscientious objection to vaccination,on the ground that it would do their children harm, and hethought the evidence which would be adduced before thecommittee would tend to convince those persons of theirerror. He hoped that the committee, if appointed, wouldfeel it to be their duty to report as speedily as possible.

Sir C. ADDERLEY opposed the appointment of the com-mittee, contending that there was no longer anything toinquire into. Mr. CANDLISH said that the law was in amost unsatisfactory state. Dr. BREWER and Lord R.AIONTAGU supported the committee. Dr. L. PLAYFAIR tooka similar view, and said he would have supported themotion for a committee last year, but that he did not wishto impair the public faith in vaccination at a time when hebelieved that a great wave of epidemic was rolling towardsthis country.-The motion was agreed to.

THE ROYAL SANITARY COMMISSIONERS.

In reply to Sir C. Adderley,Mr. BRUCE thanked the Commissioners for the great care

and labour they had devoted to this subject, and the specialpains they had taken to promote legislation. Severalof the departments connected with the administration ofthe sanitary law were giving attention to the subject, andif the right hon. gentleman waited for about three weekshe would find that the labours of the commission had notbeen vain.

FALSE WEIGHTS AND ADULTERATIONS.

In reply to Lord E. Cecil,Mr. BRUCE said a Bill was in preparation with regard to

the use of false weights and measures, wnich the Presidentof the Board of Trade hoped to be able to introduce in thecourse of the session. He intended to introduce a stringentclause into the Licensing Bill, which he hoped would beeffective as regarded the adulteration of drinks. But with

regard to the adulteration of food and drugs, he did notthink he could introduce a Bill this session.

FEB. 14TH.MINES REGULATION AND INSPECTION.

Mr. BRUCE moved for leave to bring in a Bill to consoli-date and amend the Acts relating to the regulation ofmines in the United Kingdom. The Committee on minesrecommended a modification of the rule requiring coal minesto have a sufficient amount of ventilation to dilute thenoxious gases, but he, having consulted the inspectors,thought it better to retain the regulation in its presentform. Certain modifications had been made in respect of