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Bourne had with Howard, the prison reformer, whohad expressed himself as displeased with the conditionof the wards. Later we find in the note on C. L.Parker, one of the surgeons (M.R.C.S. 1834), that onone evening-

" I (Bishop ITobhouse) invited Mr. Lewes Parker, a

leading Oxford surgeon, who had lately shewn his skill inthe treatment of the venerable President of MagdalenCollege, Dr. Routh, who had been bitten by his gardener ina fit of madness."

The date of this tragedy is not given, but sinceParker died in 1848 it is evident that his treatmentmust have been successful, for Dr. Routh died inhis hundredth year in 1855. The nursing staff,though not always as efficient as it should have beeneven in the eighteenth century, must have been cheeredby the following incident which reflects gravely onthe medical staff as well. The Oxford Journcrl, ofDec. 13th, 1777, reports-

" On Monday last died in our Infirmary, Martha Jewell,a young woman admitted about five weeks ago, underPretence of being troubled with a Dropsical Disorder, somehours before whose death, upon examining the Girl’s Boxunder her bed, a female child was found wrapped up in aquilted petticoat, of which it appeared she had been privatelydelivered .... From Circumstances upon Examinationbefore the Inquest it appeared that she had been deliveredeleven days before her death."

This book should be read by every Oxford medical graduate ; moreover, anybody who cares for the pasthistory, not only of medicine, but also of varied aspectsof social life, will find vivid pictures within Dr.Gibson’s carefully written pages.

EXPERIMENTS IN PARABIOSIS.

ARTIFICIAL union of two individual animals hasbeen used from time to time in the study of variouspathological problems, but only in the last few yearshas any attempt been made to employ this methodin the elucidation of the various endocrine glandinter-relationships. A considerable amount of workhas now been done and the results are of interest,even though it would seem that this method ofinvestigation is not likely to lead to any very strikingresults in problems of this sort. The method ofproducing experimental parabiosis consists in unitingor grafting two animals of the same species, generallywhite rats, so that interchange can take place betweenthe circulating fluids of the two organisms. This isusually done either by musculo-cutaneous or peritoneo-cutaneous suture. The condition is sometimes known

as symbiotic grafting or, more simply, the animalsjoined may be referred to as a Siamese pair. Severalgroups of workers have attacked the problems ofendocrine inter-relationship by this means, thefavourite experiment being by union of animals ofdifferent sex. There has been general agreement as to ’’

the findings in such experiments, but a considerabledifference of opinion as to their interpretation.Changes occur almost universally in the sex andassociated glands. H. Matsuyama, a Japaneseinvestigator, was the first to study this aspect of

parabiosis.l Employing Siamese pairs of differentsex he noted invariably that degenerative changesoccurred in the sex glands of both male and femaleafter a short time. These changes were shortlyfollowed by changes in the adrenals, pituitary andmammary glands. He was inclined to consider thatall changes followed a primary disturbance in thesex glands, the result of an antagonism between thehormones of the testicles and ovaries. He regardedthe condition as one of reciprocal auto-castration, andthought this view was confirmed by the fact that thechanges in the other glands mentioned were the sameas those found in castrated animals. AlthoughMatsuyama’s findings have been confirmed by mostsubsequent workers, his conclusions have been thesubject of considerable criticism, and none of hiscritics agrees with the view that the changes found

1 Frankfurter Zeitschrift für Pathologie, vol. xxv., 1921.

are the result of antagonism between the hormones ofthe sex glands. The most popular view is that thechanges result from a mutual intoxication between thtinternal metabolisms of the two organisms, and annot specifically related to the sex hormones. Thelatest experimental work of G. Pighini and M. dePaoli in Italy seems to confirm this.2 They havecarried out a number of parabiotic experiments withmale and female pairs, and they found a very markedreaction to parabiosis almost immediately afteroperation, a reaction which rather suggested an acnttand mutual intoxication of the nervous system ofthe pair. This was apparently modified later bysome degree of mutual immunisation, though thelatter was insufficient to prevent emaciation and death.Intoxication was less obvious in pairs operated oewhen very young, in the first two months of life, andin those born of the same litter, but it was alwaysaccentuated when the members of the pair were oldor of different families. Pighini and Paoli’s anatomico-pathological findings corresponded with those ofMatsuyama. The post-mortem changes found in theglands of internal secretion were well marked. Therewas a general tendency to degeneration and atrophy,first seen in the thymus, then in the sex glands, andlater in the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenals. Thechanges found varied in proportion to the toxicreaction to parabiosis. These facts are certainlymore readily explained on the hypothesis of a mutualintoxication of internal metabolisms than on a primaryand specific antagonism between the sex hormones.

BVE greatly regret to inform our readers that SirErnest Hodder-Williams, our Chairman, was takenseriously ill last week. At the time of going topress a position of slight improvement was beingmaintained. -

INDEX TO "THE LANCET,"VOL. II., 1926.

THE Index and Title-page to Vol. II., 192fi, whichwas completed with the issue of Dec. 25th, is now inpreparation. A copy will be sent gratis to subscriberson receipt of a post-card addressed to the Manager ofTHE LANCET, 1, Bedford-street, Strand, W.C. 2. Sub-scribers who have not already indicated their desireto receive Indexes regularly as published should doso now.

2 Medical Journal and Record, Sept. 15th and Oct. 6th, 1926.

FELLOWSHIP OF MEDICINE AND POST-GRADDATLMEDICAL ASSOCIATION.—The Fellowship has arrangedclinical demonstrations in Ophthalmology at the RoyalEye Hospital, Southwark, by Mr. Letchworth (Jan. 17th).Mr. Griffith (Jan. 19th), Mr. MacCaHan (Jan. 20th), andMr. Dorrell (Jan. 21st) ; they will be held at 3 P.M. On.Tan. 19th Mr. Duncan Fitzwilliams will give a specialdemonstration in the wards at St. Mary’s Hospital at2 P.M. All these demonstrations are open to members ofthe medical profession without fee. A comprehensivecourse in venereal diseases will be given at the LondonLock Hospital from Jan. 31st to Feb. 27th. Also beginningon Jan. 31st there will be a four weeks’ course at the St.John’s Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, consisting ofinstruction in the out-patient department and bi-weeklylectures. t’lasses in pathology can be arranged. FromFeb. 7th to lUth an all-day course in Diseases of Childrenwill he held, in which the Paddington Green Children’sHospital and the Victoria Hospital are participating.The Royal Northern Hospital is holding a one week’scourse for general practitioners from Feb. 21st: no feewill be charged. The Fellowship can accommodatepost-graduates with practical courses in anaesthetics andcourses in obstetrics, and can arrange for clinical assistantships at the Samaritan Hospital for Women. Syllabus1i6of the Special Courses and copies of the programme of theGeneral Course and of the Post-Graduate Medical Journalmay be had from the Secretary of the Fellowship at

1, Wimpole-street, London, W. 1.