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in its strictly etymological sense. It was shown inthe course of the paper that the amount of occludedmercuric cyanide contained in the material mainly dependedupon the quantity of water in which the reacting com-pounds were dissolved. By increasing the quantity ofwater the occluded mercuric cyanide will be reduced to avery small amount, but by diminishing the quantity of thewater as far as possible the amount of occluded mercuriccyanide may be raised to about 36 per cent. In the courseof the subsequent discussion, Sir Joseph Lister laid stressupon this fact, remarking that it was very important thatit should be pointed out in order that manufacturers mightbe uniform in their action in this respect, and that theymight not have one man using a pint of water and anotheronly a quarter of a pint; because that would alter not onlythe quantity, but also the quality of the product. !

THE INTERNATIONAL ALCOHOL CONGRESS.

CHRISTIANIA is to be the seat of the next International

Congress convened for the suppression of the abuse ofalcoholic drinks, and meetings will be held from Sept. 3rdto the 5th of the present year. The choice of the

Norwegian capital was made by the permanent committeewhich sits under the presidency of Dr. Fovel at Zurich, and1890 was substituted for 1889, on the ground that the ParisExhibition made the latter year less favourable for a

numerously attended gathering. The programme promisesto be an interesting one, including as it does the follow-ing subjects: (1) The means which have proved so suc-cessful in Norway in lessening the evils of alcoholism;(2) the results of the Gothenburg System; (3) the alco-hol question in relation to the upbringing of the

young; (4) the deterioration of indigenous tribes by thespirit trade; (5) substitutes for alcoholic beverages as

weapons in the warfare against alcoholism. It is in con-

templation to combine with the deliberative programme ofthe Congress an exhibition, as comprehensive as possible, ofall the journals, books, statistical reports, drink samples,&c., illustrative of the international movement. It is themain object of the Congress to throw light on the successattained by different countries and by different means incombating the evils of alcoholism. The discussions will beconducted in English, German, and French.

FATALITY FROM CHLOROFORM.

A CASE of some interest, from the fact that a necropsywas obtained, is recorded in the Western Morning News.E. Viz, a young lady of twenty-four, was admitted intothe Maud Hospital, Exmouth, to undergo an operation forlupus affecting the face. She was placed under the influenceof chloroform, a Skinner’s inhaler being used, and abouttwenty drops being allowed to fall upon the flannel. The

patient inhaled for seven or eight minutes, when she wasconsidered fit for operation; the face piece was removed,and the scraping of the nose was commenced. In aboutthree minutes after this the administrator saw signs of

returning consciousness and gave more chloroform; "then,"the report before us says, "she suddenly stopped breathing."The tongue was seized with forceps and withdrawn fromthe mouth, while Silvester’s method of artificial respirationwas carried out and continued for half an hour. The coh-dition of the heart was not noticed at the moment of respira-tory failure. Half an hour’s performance of artificial

respiration was fruitless; " the deceased never showed a signof life." At the necropsy, conducted by an independentauthority, the heart was examined, and pronounced sound,and was stated to give post-mortem evidence " that theheart acted after breathing stopped." The patient had hadchloroform successfully administered on several occasionsbefore, and had given no anxiety ; she was also organically

healthy. The verdict returned wasoneof "Accidental death,"accompanied by a rider exonerating the administrator fromall blame, as the Coroner’s Court found the anaesthetic hadbeen skilfully given, and all means adopted to resuscitate thedeceased. In the course of the inquiry it transpired that agalvanic battery was used to stimulate the heart, and nitriteof amyl inhalation practised. Out of 200 administrations

during four years at the Maud Hospital, one death (thepresentone) had occurred, and this, the report before us says, wasconsidered by one of the medical witnesses as "satis-

factory." The case has especial interest from the follow-ing points: The patient was in good health, had no

respiratory or cardiac disease ; had experience bothof the operation, the anaesthetic, and the doctors whowere attending her, and felt no fear; the chloroformi-sation was skilfully performed by a gentleman of no

small experience (500 cases) both in a large London

hospital and at the Maud Hospital, without any previousdeath during his administrations; the method employedlent itself to only small quantities of chloroform beingevaporated (twenty minims), which were fully diluted withair. No undue hurry was permitted, from five to eightminutes being allowed to elapse before the operation wascommenced, so that surgical shock was avoided; carefulwatch was kept over the pulse and respiration; instan.taneous measures for resuscitation were resorted to whenthe administrator found respiration had stopped, and yetdeath took place; death due, we are told by the medicalwitness who performed the post-mortem examination, toasphyxia, the heart having ceased to beat subsequently torespiratory failure.

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PROOFS OF BACILLARY MIGRATION FROMBLOODVESSELS.

DR. LATIS of Modena (Centralblt. f. Allg. Path. andPath. Anat., No. 3) reports experiments tending to showthat the walls of the bloodvessels are so modified by thevirus of anthrax as to readily lead to diapedesis; and henceto infer that direct transference of the disease from thematernal to the foetal organism is possible, without assuming(as has been done) the necessary antecedent condition of pla-cental haemorrhage. He introduced into the peritoneal cavityof guinea-pigs small portions of elder pith thoroughly steri-lised by boiling, and then inoculated the animals withanthrax. Subsequent microscopical examination of sectionsof the pith showed it to contain anthrax bacilli as well as

blood-corpuscles. In others he excited keratitis, and detectedthe bacilli in the corneal epithelium and occasionally in theplasmatic channels. By varying the time after infection atwhich the animals were destroyed, he found that, in themesentery the first effect was a migration of leucocytes,which gradually increased, and which was followed laterby an invasion of bacilli and red corpuscles. He also foundthat when cinnabar was injected into the jugular veinduring these experiments, its particles appeared togetherwith the bacilli in the elder pith or mesentery.

LOCAL SANITARY INSPECTION.

WRITING from the Sanitary Department of the City ofGlasgow, Mr. Peter Fyfe refers to our remarks last weekunder the above heading. He entirely endorses what wesaid as to the term "inspector of nuisances" being onewhich should not be applied to officers of whom we expectskill, and he gives it as his experience that even moderatelyeducated officials resent the term. He also points out thatalthough the term " sanitary inspector" was used inScotland as far back as the Act of 1867, yet the EnglishPublic Health Act of 1875 still maintained the former

objectionable title. We would gladly see the title changed;but if all such officers are to have the title of " sanitary in-