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was left after "ovariotomy." Will Dr. Harding state thisfor the case of Mrs. R-, who produced a female childafter extirpation of one ovary ?

I am, Sir, ours faithfully,Feb. 2nd, 1880. BETA.

EDINBURGH.(From our own Correspondent.)

DR. KEITH had a second case of ovariotomy on the24th January. In this case a large dermoid cyst was re-moved, a long narrow pedicle ligatured and returned to theabdomen. There were many adhesions to the omentum and

intestine, which were carefully separated, and bleeding

points secured with catgut ligatures. These adhesions weredue to the position the patient had chiefly occupied-viz.,lying with the face downwards. The usual antiseptic pre-cautions were followed. The first case has made a good re-covery.At the meeting of the University court on Monday

(26th January) the medical examiners were all reappointedwith the exception of Dr. Dyce Duckworth, whose term ofoffice as Examiner in Practice of Medicine has expired ;Dr. A. B. Daffin, of King’s College, has been elected as hissuccessor.

NAVAL NOTES FROM MALTA.(From a Correspondent.)

STATEMENTS all more or less incorrect regarding the out-break of small-pox in H.M.S. Rupert have recently beengoing the round of the papers. The facts are these. Whenat sea on the 5th of last December, while on passage fromAlexandria, and the day before reaching Malta, Sub-Lieu.tenant Moore " went sick." Two days after arrival decidedsymptoms of small-pox appeared, and the sufferer was placedin the Royal Naval Quarantine Hospital. Two days there-after a stoker of the same ship was also sent there similarlyaffected. Mr. Moore’s case ended fatally, the stoker is con.valescent, and there has been no further spread of the. dis.ease. The ship was never put in quarantine, and otherwisethe health of the crew has remained excellent. It is un-known how the contagion was caught. For ten monthspreviously the stoker had had no communication whatcveIwith the shore. It is also certain that the officer had notbeen out of the ship for many months. The senior medicalofficer has issued a supply of fresh vaccine lymph-tubes tcthe various ships for the purpose of revaccination, and otheinecessary precautions having been duly observed, themischief is probably at an end.Great regret is felt at the sudden death of Fleet Surgeon

Roe, R.N., of H.M.’s Dockyard, which took place in theNaval Hospital on the evening of the 4th inst. The sympathywith his wife and family is universal.The recent batch of promotions to the rank of Staff Sur-

geon did not bring joy unmixed to all included. The iiidis.criminate way in which seniors were reduced to juniors orthe new list is very stinging. Besides, this "last straw’makes medical officers if possible more distrustful than eve]of the powers that be, for the slight has been put upon morethan one officer hitherto conspicuous for professional zealand blameless conduct.Malta, Jan. 12th, 1880.

THE WEATHER AT ALGIERS.(From a Corresponclent.)

IT is worthy of note .that the severe weather whichtroubled nearly the whole of Europe during the month ofDecember affected in a degree the northern coasts of Africa.A mild sorocco, or desert wind, swept over Algiers duringthe first few days of December, but it had not the blastingproperties of the summer soroccos, when the inhabitants arecompelled to keep indoois with closed windows. This wasfollowed by a week of fine but rather chilly days, the lowesttemperature in the daytime ranging between 47° and 50°Fahr. After two days of strong north-easterly and north-

westerly winds, the rain came down in torrents on Dec. 14th,and continued both day and night with but little inter-mission till the evening of the 18th. At times the watercame down almost in sheets, and on the nights of the 15thand 16th it thundered and hailed a little ; at no time, how-ever, was there any frost or snow, and the thermometer atnight never fell below 429° in the town.On Dec. 19th it cleared, and the weather has been beau-

tifully warm and clear, with a very occasional shower atnight, up to Jan. 15th. While London was visited by a succes-sion of fogs, frosts, and snows, Algiers had an uninterruptedspell of such weather as we rarely see even in an Englishsummer,-mild enough to be pleasant driving, and not toohot for walking exercise.

Is it not surprising that more of the sufferers by theEnglish climate should not take refuge in this healthfulwinter resort, where great historic and artistic attractionsare combined with all the comforts of modern civilisationand many of its amusements ?

Obituary.JOHN MACDONALD, M.D.,

OF BUENOS AYRES.

To the list of those of our profession who died at theclose of 1879 must be added the name of John Macdonald,M.D., son of Alex. Macdonald, Esq., of Lynedale, Isle ofSkye; and some mention should be made of the passingaway of a valuable life, and one simply sacrificed to a senseof duty.Educated at Glasgow and at Paris, and having taken his

degree of M.D. at the former University in 1862, Dr. Mac-donald studied at most of the principal hospitals in Austriaand Prussia. It is, however, of his work in Buenos Ayresthat we desire to lay some notice before our readers. Hearrived there about fourteen years ago. Finding that nodoctor could practise within the precincts of the town withouta Spanish diploma, and not knowing the Spanish language,he, to acquire it, joined the Argentine army for a year assurgeon, which was then, together with the allied Brazilians,fighting against the Paraguayans, commanded by the noto-rious Lopez. While thus engaged, he was so successful insurgical operations as to be specially noticed by the authori-ties, by whom he was placed at the head of the hospital andambulance corps of one of the divisions, and raised to therank of surgeon-major. Returning to Buenos Ayres at theend of a year, he took his diploma, intending to remainthere ; but a special request from the commander-in-chiefthat he would not discontinue his services, accompanied bythe expression of a high opinion of their value, appeared tohim an appeal to his sense of honour. He remained, there-fore, with the army to the close of the war, through con-tinual privation and exposure, and experiencing many nar.row escapes ; suffering at one time from a severe attack ofmalarious fever, after having remained for three weeks in aswamp, and not taking off his boots once in that time.

In the year 1871 the memorable epidemic of yellow feverbroke out at Buenos Ayres. Three medical men only re-mained-one only, Dr. Macdonald, remained till all wasover-in a plague-stricken city of some 150,000 inhabitants.Of his devotion to his work some estimate may be formedfrom the fact that during this fearful epidemic he onceattended as many as ninety cases in a single day. Medicinehe supplied largely at his own expense; and in many in-stances death itself did not terminate his services, for he evenadvanced money to defray funeral expenses, too often neverrepaid. The fever lasted some months, during which timeDr. Macdonald was himself twice struck down by it. For hisservices he received almost nothing, abundantly as they hadbeen acknowledged and extolled both by the Governmentand by the native and the English press. The medal whichthe Government offered lie declined, more suo. It was notin his nature to value such things, even if they could haveborne adequate witness, which, of course, they could not, toservices of the highest possible order, and to the sacrifice ofhealth gone for ever.He remained at Buenos Ayres for a few years longer in

varying conditions of health. It was hoped that a good