437A CRUEL TRICK.-THE PROPER TEMPERATURE FOR VAGINAL INJECTIONS.

feet required by the regulations which were issued by theHome Secretary in 1857 and 1863, but were unfortunatelynot made applicable to burial grounds in use before the

passing of the Burial Acts. In the fifteen acres of the GeneralCemetery which have been already used there have beenlaid an average of 5400 bodies to an acre and, strange asit must appear, the authorities consider that there is

space for at least 60,000 further burials, which would implyan ultimate accumulation of 8000 bodies per acre. Dr.

Boobbyer is of opinion that the amount of land in Notting-ham laid out and still available for burial purposes may bereckoned at eleven acres, and as the average annual deathsare 4000 it follows that, roughly speaking, about two acresof cemetery space are required every year. He thereforerecommends that two fresh cemeteries should be provided,one in the outskirts of Sneinton and the other adjacent toBulwell. He remarks that a new cemetery would not becomplete without a crematorium, and adds that such a istructure should be under the management and control of a Ipublic rather than a private corporation. Sneinton church-

yard, which is now available only in exceptional cases, is

supposed to have been in use since about the twelfth century.

A CRUEL TRICK.

No practice, however discreditable, is entirely beyond thepossibility of plausible excuse. Be it never so irrational and

fallacious, we may rest assured that the plea of not guiltywill always be supported by some show of argument. The

practice of cruelty constitutes no exception to this rule. It

may be doubted, however, if any but its actual perpetratorscould be found to defend such conduct as that which

recently led to the conviction of two horse-dealers at Wake-field. Their offence was that of "nicking" horses. This

process it appears consists in incising the flexor musclesunderneath the tail, this organ being afterwards held up bymeans of a rope carried over a pulley, with the object of givingthe tail a fashionable upward set." As the desired resultis not very rapidly attained the pain and fatigue imposed onthe animal thus treated is considerable, and a sentence of .66 6fine and Z7 ls. 6d, costs imposed on each defendant in theaction in question was certainly not excessive in its severity.Such a proceeding is not only unjustified by any plea ofnecessity or utility, but it must in some degree injure theanimal by inflicting upon it a permanent deformity. It

amounts, moreover, to a species of fraud, for it is doubtlessintended that the artificial " set " of the tail should be

accepted as a natural production and a mark of spirit andstamina.

THE PROPER TEMPERATURE FOR VAGINALINJECTIONS.

THE Leeds Evening Eccpress of the 6th inst. contains thereport of a case tried in the Leeds county court in which theprincipal question at issue was whether or not water of toohigh a temperature had been used by a medical man as avaginal douche in the treatment of hxmorrhage. Severalwitnesses swore that they asked the medical man if thewater was not too hot and he made no reply. The witnesswho gave him the water swore that it was boiling and thatshe had told the medical man so. As a matter of fact, somelarge blisters appeared subsequently on the patient’s body,and it was alleged that they were produced by the

excessively hot water used. The county court judge foundthat the water used was scalding and not fit to use, and thatit did cause the injuries complained of. He did not find thatit was necessary to use such hot water to save the woman’slife. He held that the medical man was guilty of malpraxisbecause he did not observe that the water was scalding, anddamages to the extent of .615, less the medical man’sclaim of J?3 10.<. for medical attendance, were awarded. It

appears from the report that the patient was confined onOct. 21st last, and that the haemorrhage, for which the injec-tion of hot water was used, occurred on the fourteenth daywhen she got up-that is to say, it was a case of secondarypost-partum hsemorrhage. The medical man was sent for at2’30 in the afternoon, but he did not go at once " as he wasbusy in his surgery, and had other cases to attend to." Hedid not actually see the case, according to the report, till aquarter past five. By his own account the patient was thenpulseless, and he thought in extremis. He then used the

injection of hot water complained of. The lesson of the caseis that in cases of haemorrhage, especially occurring not longafter a confinement. it is wise to attend at once, if in any wayit is possible to do so ; and also that water to be used forvaginal and uterine injection should be carefully tested firstwith the hand thoroughly imvwrsed in it. The temperatureof the water should not exceed 120&deg; F., but the hand is thereadiest test, and for this purpose as reliable as anythermometer.

____

PRESENTATION TO DR. W. M. DOBIE.

THE inhabitants of Chester have marked their appreciaotion of Dr. Dobie’s labours among them during the pastforty years by presenting him with a portrait of himselfin oils, painted by Mr. Ouless, R.A. The presentation wasmade in the Town-hall, Chester, in the presence of a largeand distinguished company, presided over by the Duke ofWestminster. Too often the labours of medical men are left

unrewarded, and it is gratifying to us to be able to recorda testimony of gratitude on the part of the public for thedevotion to duty shown by any individual member of themedical profession. Dr. Dobie became honorary Physicianto the Chester Infirmary in 1875, which post he resigned in1894 and was appointed consulting physician in the followingyear. He was vice-president and subsequently president

. of the Chester Society of Natural Science and Literature,,

from which institution he received the Kingsley medal. In1883 and 1892 he was elected president of the Chester

i Medical Society, and a few years ago was made a Justice of,

the Peace. --

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD AND THEISLINGTON GUARDIANS.

BUT for the chance of some happy accident there seemsto be a possibility of the great parish of Islington makinganother huge mistake in the matter of workhouse accommo-dation. Our readers are aware that for some time past theguardians, or rather a majority of the guardians, have showngreat reluctance to realise the gravity of their defects of

accommodation and the inadequacy of their medical and

nursing staff. They seem to have been more concerned inthe enjoyment of defying the Local Government Board thanin making decent provision for the poor committed to theircharge. At their meeting on June 30th a letter was readfrom the Local Government Board, which seems to be regardedin some quarters as a concession to the defiant section of the

guardians. And it certainly reads too much like this. Butwhoever gets satisfaction out of this apparent concession, thepublic of Islington are likely to have to pay dearly for it.The Local Government Board enclose a report by their assist-ant inspector, Mr. Herbert, after his visit on Jan. 13th,showing an overcrowding of the infirmary to the extent of186, or 38 per cent. Mr. Herbert remarks that this appearsto him " to be very serious." So it appears to us. Theworkhouse itself contained 886 persons, being certified foronly 781. The guardians themselves had partially realisedthis overcrowding and sent 70 healthy aged men to

Bowes Park and 50 able-bodied men to the Salvation

Army Colony. The guardians have a little scheme for

buying adjoining property and getting a temporary increase

438 A NOVEL SUGGESTION.-SMALL-POX AT CARDIFF.

of accommodation. But the Local Government Board

"are strongly of opinion that the scheme of infirmaryextension as proposed by the guardians will be undulycostly, having regard to the limited accommodation whichcan be provided under the scheme and inadequate for therequirements of the parish for the in-door poor." It will bea serious thing for the public of Islington if at a great costneighbouring property is bought up only to supply accom-modation which in a very few years will be inadequate.Yet the Local Government Board have so far given way.They invite the guardians to further consideration of theirinspector’s report of the great mortality of the infirmary andother facts. They say that the adoption of the scheme of theguardians will be an unfortunate one in the interests of theparish. They will not withhold their assent to the scheme iI I as an instalment of the further accommodation required,"and provided that the Board are given assurances of earlypossession &c. Clearly the Local Government Board haveulterior views as to building a workhouse at Bowes Park oron some other site. The guardians will incur a heavy respon-sibility if they patch up the present buildings at a greatcost and in a few years find themselves compelled to begin Ifde novo. This will be a poor compensation for any short I

triumph over the authorities of the Local Government Board,who in this controversy represent true economy and theinterest of the sick poor. _

A NOVEL SUGGESTION.

AT the meeting of the Bath town council held on Feb. 4thit was recommended, in accordance with the report of

the Baths Committee, that the council should advertisefor a manager of the baths at a salary of &pound; 250 a year.A member suggested that a medical man should be

appointed to the post. It was not mentioned in what

way he would be required to act, except that the fees paidaccording to a tariff should be paid into the city treasury.It is, therefore, to be presumed that the medical managerwould have been required to supervise the bathing establish-ment, diagnose the cases, and prescribe the variety of bath tobe taken. The members who made this proposal have an ideathat the present generation of medical men in Bath receivevery generous remuneration. Unfortunately, when this

suggestion was first made at the Baths Committee the onlymember of the profession on the council now in practice wasabsent. An alderman described the proposal to appoint amedical man as manager of the baths as flagrant nonsenseand protested against the medical men of Bath being con-sidered as a band of marauders or set of professionalpickpockets. The fees, he added, were the same as theywere thirty years ago. An amendment that either a lay-man or a medical man be appointed was defeated,seven only voting in its favour, and the recommendation

that a general manager be elected was carried. The council

are to be congratulated on their action, as had a medicalmanager been appointed it would scarcely have failed to

have caused endless friction with the members of the pro-fession who have patients using the baths.

THE SCOTTISH POOR-LAW MEDICAL OFFICERS’ASSOCIATION.

WE congratulate the members of our profession holdingparochial medical appointments in Scotland on the recent

formation of an association for mutual protection and

support. As mentioned in THE LANCET of Dec. 21st, 1895,the first meeting was held in Glasgow on Dec. 9th, and theinaugural dinner, a report of which appears in anothercolumn of our present issue, took place in Glasgow onJan. 31st, the chairman and principal speaker being Dr.William Bruce of Dingwall in Ross-shire, the direct representa-tive of Scotland in the General Medical Council. We heartily

sympathise with the objects of the society and trust that itmay have many supporters.SMALL-POX AT CARDIFF.

THE Vaccination Committee of the Cardiff board of

guardians has passed a resolution advising the appointmentof six assistants to the vaccination officer to make a house-to-house inspection in order to discover the number of

unvaccinated children in the town. This is a step in theright direction and one to be commended to the notice ofboards of guardians in other large towns.

STREET NOISES.

WE are glad to see that the worm has begun to turn,and in saying this we hope that Mr. H. C. Mitchell, managerof the Consolidated Bank, 450, Strand, will pardon us.

He made an application to Mr. Vaughan upon Tuesdaylast to know if nothing could be done to stop the annoyancecaused by newsvendors’ shouting. Mr. Vaughan expressedhis deepest sympathy, but said he could do nothing. Weare accustomed to this kind of answer from Ministers, butwe did expect more from a magistrate. If the law can do

nothing the law must be altered. We can fully sympathisewith Mr. Mitchell, but besides the nuisance he complainsof there are others innumerable, for instance the dis-

cordant piano-organ. The remedy is easy-every hawkerof buttons, brooms, and other articles has to have a

hawker’s licence ; and licensed hawkers are a harmless race.Let a short Act be passed making it necessary that any-one who makes a noise of any sort in the streets forthe purpose of earning a living should pay for a licenceto do so. Thus a licence to shout "winner" or "’orribleslorter" should cost ;S10 a year, one to grind a piano-organ .625, and a German band-well, say, .E200. It is

no matter for joke or laughter-the constant irritationcaused by these pests breaks down men’s minds and

bodies, and the Government which stops the nuisance willgo down to posterity in company with the most beneficentof past times. -

THE EAST LONDON WATER INQUIRY.

THE departmental inspectors appointed to inquire into

the shortness of the water-supply in the East end of

London last summer have issued and presented their report tothe Local Government Board. Its conclusions are in strikingagreement with a summary of the position which we drew upin THE LANCET of Oct. 12th last year-indeed, as a referencewill show, the annotation we allude to proves to havebeen a very fair forecast of the conclusions and recom-mendations which Colonel Ducat, R.E., and Dr..Barry havejust published. Thus they report that owing to the com-bined effects of frost in the winter and of prolonged droughtin the summer a "maximum strain" was put on the re-

sources of the East London Water Company, but that thismaximum strain would probably not have been reached hadnot the London County Council blocked the proposals of thewater company to extend their storage capacity some yearsago. The scarcity of water for drinking was, in the

inspectors’ opinion, due to a large number of unrepairedpipes on the consumers’ premises and to excessiveuse of water for garden purposes, and the inconvenienceexperienced by many consumers would to a large extent havebeen obviated by proper provision for domestic storage.With a supply that is liable to be intermittent cisternsbecome a necessity, but every care should be taken that theseshould be situated and constructed in accordance with the

highest sanitary demands. The inspectors recommend theadoption of a tight box, consisting in reality of a capaciousenlargement of the service pipe, so that dirt could not gainaccess and exposure to unhealthy environment would be