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prizes for which students are eligible. For the large numberof Indian women who are debarred by religious and socialprejudices from consulting male practitioners the action ofthe Association is of inestimable benefit.

THE SALARY OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER TOTHE DAVENTRY WORKHOUSE.

MR. C. E. OLDACRES, the medical officer of the DaventryWorkhouse, has been refused an increase of salary and hasresigned his post under circumstances which should makeother medical men pause before they apply for the

vacancy. Mr. Oldacres has held office for 10 years ata salary of E30 per annum. On a previous occasiona rise in salary was refused to him because the

work was said not to have become heavier since he acceptedoffice. It is apparently not denied that the work is now

harder, but the authorities will not give Mr. Oldacres the.650 per annum which is the least sum for which in justiceto himself he can discharge the duties of the appointments.

VETERINARY WORK IN BENGAL.

IN the annual report of the Bengal Veterinary College andof the Civil Veterinary Department, Bengal, for the year1899-1900, much information is given as to the prevalenceof disease among domestic animals in and around Calcutta.Glanders appears to exist to an alarming extent; out of 188draught ponies in the municipal Gowkhanas in Calcutta 102were destroyed on this account. The stables in which the

ponies were kept were described as being unsatisfactory,and Veterinary-Major F. Raymond, F.R.C.V.S., of the CivilVeterinary Department, bad recommended that all the poniesshould be tested with mallein, those that failed to pass thetest being destroyed. Rinderpest also was fatal in an

unusual degree. In one district alone it was reported tohave carried off 27,000 head of cattle. The report givesdetails of the inoculation of cattle with bile on the Aligarhdairy farm, where rinderpest broke out on April 16th, 1899.Inoculation began on May 13th and the outbreak ceased onJune 7th. The herd consisted of about 388 animals. 65animals died before the inoculations, 15 died while theinoculations were progressing, six developed the disease afew days after they had been inoculated, and three contractedthe disease about 10 months after the inoculation, duringanother outbreak. Altogether 291 animals, mostly cows,were inoculated ; of these 70 buffaloes and 26 Zebu cows werein calf ; but none of them aborted as a result of the treat-ment. Six developed rinderpest after inoculation (three diedand three recovered). Five were possibly infected at thetime of inoculation, but this did not apply to the sixthwhich was attacked 22 days after inoculation. The managerof the farm thought that the outbreak had been stopped bythe bile treatment. Three of the cattle inoculated in May,1899, died from rinderpest in March, 1900, from which it maybe inferred that the buffalo bile treatment had been pro-tective for 10 months.

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A NEW PUBLIC HEALTH BILL.

A BILL dealing with the status of officers of health hasbeen brought in by Sir Francis Powell and others and wasordered by the House of Commons to be printed on

April 2nd. The text of the Bill is now before us and amemorandum appended to it states that the main objectsof the Bill are to ensure that none but those properly qualifiedshall be appointed as officers of health and to give them thesame amount of security in their tenure of office as prevails in Scotland, and as Poor-law medical officers possessin England and medical officers of health have in the

metropolis. The Bill also deals with the question of

superannuation allowances and proposes that the term

11 sanitary inspector" shall be universally used in placeof "inspector of nuisances." The memorandum also

points out that under existing laws urban and rural sanitaryauthorities may appoint officers of health on such conditionsas to qualifications and tenure of office as they think fit.But highly technical duties are required of sanitaryinspectors and one object of the. Bill is to secure thatthey should be duly qualified. The term " officer of health,"as used in the Bill, includes a medical officer of health,an inspector of nuisances, a sanitary inspector under thePublic Health Acts of 1875 and 1891, or either of them,and a district or assistant sanitary inspector. The Billshall come into operation from, and immediately after,Sept. 29th, 1901. The qualifications of an officer of healthunder the Bill are to be a certificate of the Local

Government Board, or from some body approved bythat Board, that he has shown himself by examina.tion competent for office or that he has for threeconsecutive years before the commencement of the Actserved as an officer of health. An officer of health may be

suspended by a local authority at their discretion, and anofficer of health may resign on giving one months notice inwriting. The whole Bill consists of 32 clauses. It is backed

by, amongst others, Sir Walter Foster, Dr. Farquharson, andSir Michael Foster.

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EPISTAXIS IN PEOPLE BEYOND MIDDLE AGE.

A PAPER which we published in THE LANCET of April20th, p. 1133, by Dr. George Coates, entitled "On the Causa-tion and Treatment of Profuse Epistaxis in People beyondMiddle Age," presents many points of interest. The effectsof continued high arterial tension are frequently overlooked,or the resulting symptoms are attributed to other causes.One of the consequences of high tension is haemorrhage,frequently from the lungs, but always from the relativelyweakest point, and, as Dr. Coates expresses it, " it is

probable that the venous sinuses in the noses ofthese sufferers from epistaxis have very thin walls."Dr. Coates considers that the sequence of events

which lead up to the epistaxis is as follows : (a) long-continued high arterial pressure; (b) some sudden cardiacfailure; (e) overfilling of the whole venous system, the

weakened heart not being able sufficiently to empty theengorged veins against the high pressure in the arterial

system due to contracted arterioles ; and (d) leakage froman overfilled vein. Dr. Coates deduces these causes fromfive cases, giving a very brief account of each. We wish thathe had given some more details, especially in regard to

previous history,. He mentions, however, that be hadknown and watched all the patients for several

years both before and after the attack ; thereforehis remarks on the condition of the heart are ofconsiderable value. Three out of the five cases" de-

veloped " valvular mischief coincidently with the attackof epistaxis. It is a well-recognised fact that prolongedexercise tends to lower arterial pressure, but duringthe first stages of muscular exertion the range of blood-

pressure is high, especially in those persons unaccustomedto severe exercise. But in the cases mentioned by Dr.Coates there is no information as to whether there was a

history of any physical strain immediately preceding theepistaxis and valvular failure. In heart-strain the valve that

most usually suffers is the aortic and it is singular that intwo out of the three cases in which there was valvular

mischief, the mitral valve should have given way.The treatment adopted by Dr. Coates was perfectlyrational. As a rule, in cases of epistaxis pluggingthe nares is at once resorted to, without sufficient attentionbeing directed to the conditions causing the heamorrhage.By giving nitro-glycerine the general blood-pressure was