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of late received especial attention, happily so far with

encouraging results. In spite of certain guarded andsomewhat ominous utterances on the subject, there seemsto be a pretty general agreement among producers thatfruit farming can be made to pay, and to pay well, if

reasonably favourable conditions be guaranteed. Theseinclude a readjustment of present railway rates, a modi-fication of the extraordinary tithe dues, and a greaterfixity in land tenure, or some compensation for neces-

sary outlay in planting and rearing a slowly productivethough valuable crop. Another necessity is the widerdissemination of knowledge as to the soil and exposure bestadapted to the growth of different fruits and their varieties.Every project has to traverse opposing difficulties in orderto succeed, and that now under discussion evidently affordsno exception to this rule. There is happily no reason toregard any one of those enumerated above as insuperable.Where the arrangements of railway companies have beentoo costly, other modes of carriage have before now beensuccessfully employed. It is hardly to be expected, how-ever, that either the companies or any intelligent landownerwill long persist in refusing to meet, as far as possible, theviews of persons interested in what bids fair to become, withjudicious encouragement, a flourishing national industry,and one, moreover, which is likely to hold its own in theface of foreign competition. -

THE ARMY MEDICAL OFFICERS’ DINNER.

THE annual dinner of the Army Medical Department washeld at the Holborn Restaurant on the llth inst. Thechair was taken by the Director-General, Dr. W. A. Mac-kinnon, C.B., who has recently succeeded to the high posthe now holds owing to the retirement of Sir Thomas Craw-ford. The Director-General was supported by Inspector-General Lawson; Surgeons-General Balfour, F.R.S., SirThomas Crawford, K.C.B., Gordon, C.B., Irvine, Madden,Mouat, V.C.; Brigade-Surgeons Anderson, Beattie, Clarke,Cogan, Gribbon, and many surgeons-major and surgeons,the company numbering upwards of a hundred. Amongstthe visitors were Dr. Dick, Director-General R.N., SirCharles McGrigor, Bart., Sir William MacCormac, SirWilliam Aitken, and Dr. Farquharson, M.P. The usual

loyal toasts were given by the chairman, who spoke withcommendable good sense and brevity. The toast of " Successto the Army Medical Department was warmly received.The party dispersed after spending a very pleasant andsociable evening. -

A ROYAL PHYSICIAN AND PHILANTHROPIST.

THE House of Bavaria can boast of few worthier scionsthan his Royal Highness the Duke Charles Theodore, whohas just resumed his villeggiatura on the Tegern-See after acampaign as honourable as any recorded in the history ofhis ancestors. For eight weeks, together with his wife andhis assistant physician, Dr. von Zenker, his Royal Highness,who has graduated as Doctor of Medicine, has been devotinghis experience and skill in ophthalmic surgery to the poorof Meran who suffer from affections of the eye. That well-known health resort of the Austrian Tyrol is now year byyear frequented by crowds of the humbler class of patientswho are afflicted by disease of the visual organs, attractedthither by the cure or alleviation they gratuitously receiveat the hands of his Royal Highness. Just before theWhitsuntide recess no fewer than 1061 of these had beenunder treatment, in which the chief share was borne by the"Duke-Doctor," as he is familiarly called, while theDuchess performed the part of nurse and general bene-factress. In 195 cases he had recourse to operation, withunusually satisfactory results, among which may be notedthe cure of sixty-eight persons suffering from cataract, to

all of whom their eyesight was successfully restored. Inthese last his Royal Highness acknowledges the co-operationof his assistant, Dr. von Zenker, whose skill in ophthalmicdisease had recommended him for the post. The miningand pastoral population around the Tegern-See welcomedtheir "Duke-Doctor" and his consort on their return

among them with the most touching demonstrations ofaffection and esteem-demonstrations, however, not morecordial than those of the Tyrolese poor, whose gratitude.they had earned by benefactions in the power of few tobestow.

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THE LIVERPOOL INFECTIOUS HOSPITALCOMMITTEE.

FOR some years past the Liverpool Corporation have hada Hospital Committee, presided over by Mr. R. Hamilton,F.R.C.S., and under his chairmanship numerous efforts havebeen made to provide the city with proper accommodationfor persons suffering from infectious diseases. In additionto the temporary small-pox hospital near the river, twofever hospitals have recently been provided for Corporationpurposes. Some may not fully agree that the provisionmade under Mr. Hamilton’s auspices has been the best froma theoretical point of view ; but it received the sanctionof the Local Government Board, who held a lengthenedinquiry into it, and few can doubt that an excellent instal-ment of hospital provision has been made in two portionsof Liverpool, and this in the face of difficulties which it hastaken years to overcome. We now learn that, on the Councilinstructing the Hospital Committee to defer bringing up areport with regard to more permanent hospital provisionuntil further directions are given to them, Mr. Hamiltonhas felt that this was a reflection on his persistent endeavoursto mature the scheme of his committee, and that he hasresigned ; and it is also suggested in Liverpool that sincemore accommodation has not been wanted for some years,and since temporary accommodation could at any momentbe procured, there is now no need for hurry. A more unfor-tunate conclusion of the committee’s labours could hardlybe imagined. It is notorious that Liverpool has constantlypauperised people by sending them into pauper infectioushospitals because the Corporation had made no adequateprovision, and it remains equally notorious that the numberof beds now available falls very far short of the current

requirements of such a city. As to temporary accommoda-tion, it must be known in Liverpool that sites cannot beobtained on the spur of the moment for the infectious sick,and that most people who have trusted to temporary pro-vision have failed to stay the epidemic which they desired tocontrol, and at times have not even had their hospital readyuntil the epidemic had completed its course. We sincerelytrust that this question will be dealt with in Liverpool in amanner which its importance demands.

SUBCUTANEOUS LYMPHORRHAGIA.

DR. NEUFELD mentions in a Polish journal a few caseswhich have come under his notice, where, in consequence ofsome injury, extravasation of lymph from a lymphatic vesselhas occurred. Six years ago a man was brought into thehospital who had been struck on the thigh with a largepiece of coal. There was no discolouration of the skin, butthere was marked fluctuation over a large portion of theanterior and lateral aspects of the thigh. Some years lateranother patient carne into the hospital who had received ablow on the back; here also there was extensive fluctua-tion, involving the whole of the dorsal region. With

regard to the first case, although Dr. Neufeld suspectedfrom the first that the fluctuating fluid was lymph, he wasunable to feel certain of it, and up to that time no descrip-