621MANCHESTER.—WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES.

of wood are placed in the reverse way. The inlet apertures v are largest at the top of the cupboards, and if the outlet t

apertures were similarly disposed then the air would s

simply travel across the upper portion of the room. Con- r

sequently the broad bases of the triangles are placed iat the top of the outlet cupboards and the widest openings s

are at the bottom. The hot air being propelled down- iwards. as it enters it meets the colder air, and these Btwo currents tumble over each other and create a rotary fmotion in the centre of the room. This prevents stratifica- (tion or the forming of layers of atmosphere, some of them i

moving rapidly and others slowly or not at all, and thus t

efficient ventilation is secured for all parts of the room. Com- i

municating with the outlet cupboards there is also a hori- ’’

zontal conduit leading to a second fan which, revolving in the reverse way, acts as an exhaust and throws the air outabove the roof, but at a point situated as far as possible fromthe inlet.

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The air, though delivered in great volume and at consider-able velocity, is so baffled and evenly distributed that itspassage cannot be felt. The room may be filled with peoplesmoking, but the smoke is at once carried away, the

atmosphere remaining always clear and fresh. Thisis a great comfort, and the active ventilation has a

distinct effect on the appetite of the people dining.But it will be seen that these results are not attainedwithout considerable trouble, expense, and minute atten-tion to detail. It is doubtful if this system could be

applied to a room for much less than £150. Thereare not many persons who could afford such an outlay.Dr. Lyon, however, replies to this objection by supposingthat some wealthy person was in the habit of giving dinnerswith on an average 20 guests at a cost of about £2 per head.It would suffice to give three dinners less than usual to

provide the means of defraying the cost of such a systemof ventilation, and ever afterwards the dinners given wouldbe infinitely more enjoyable.

MANCHESTER.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Manchester Royal Infirmary.AT the annual meeting of the trustees of the Manchester r

Royal Infirmary, held on Feb. 14th, Sir Forbes Adam, the tchairman, said that the most important part of the report related to the sub-committee appointed nearly a year ago to form plans for the rebuilding of the infirmary on the present t

site. He said that it had been reported to them by a previousmeeting " that a hospital on the non-pavilion plan would bein every respect satisfactory....... The great majority of c

the authorities, while still of opinion that the ideal plan was Ithe pavilion plan, saw no reason why, if under the circum- stances it-was not possible to have on the site a pavilion hos- tpital, there should not be an absolutely satisfactory hospitalon a plan other than the pavilion plan." " The sub-com- mittee hoped very soon to hand their report to the board, and it would be considered by the board in conjunction with the medical board and with any other competent expertoutside gentleman whom the board might think fit to join them in their deliberations. " A new infirmary has long been (

needed, and the medical board some time ago declared it to (

be a public scandal that Manchester should have no better hospital accommodation than the existing one. That 1point is settled, but the question of site may, perhaps, even yet be open to discussion. Authorities accept the pavilion ]plan as the ideal and any other is confessedly inferior to it. There is no room on the present infirmary site for the "ideal," the pavilion hospital, so that if it is rebuilt where it now stands Manchester must accept, and try to be content with, something below the best-i.e., with aninferior hospital. Yet, according to Sir Forbes Adam, theauthorities see no reason why an inferior hospital should notbe absolutely satisfactory, which seems a rerductio adabsurrlum. No one supposes that if there were sufficientspace on the present site any but the pavilion plan would beentertained for a moment. Insufficient space is drivingall concerned to the adoption of an " absolutelysatisfactory" inferior plan. The chief reasons for the

strong feeling on the part of many in favour ofthe present site are that it is central and of easyapproach from the various railway-stations ; that it is on the

vhole as convenient as any other for the medical staff : andhat it has stood where it now stands for a long time, so thatentiment has grown up around it. There are, however.nany objections to the Piccadilly site. The space about its so scanty that the wards are not far enough away from thesurrounding streets, busy with noisy traffic from early morn-ng till late at night. To many patients the noise, especiallyvith open windows, is most distressing and there is no escape’rom it. Then, too, the fog in the centre of the town is oftenlense to a degree, and singularly pungent and choking, causingnjury, with much distress in breathing and coughing, to

;hose suffering from chest ailments. The financial questions also an important one. If the infirmary is to be rebuiltwhere it now stands the money required will have to beraised where there are already numerous charitable calls,where almost all the hospitals are in debt, and where theirreports are full of grievous lamentations over the customaryannual deficit. Should, however, another site be chosen, as.for example, that of Stanley Grove, the sale of the Piccadillysite would provide funds for rebuilding without having toask the expert outside gentleman " to Lolve the problem ofhow to get an absolutely satisfactory hospital by an inferiormethod. As regards the financial position the institution onits present basis shows a surplus, but, as the chairman

regretted to say, it was entirely eaten up by the deficit on theBarnes Convalescent Home.

Teaching to Check Infantile Mortality.The Cheshire County Council is doing a good work in one

branch of education. At the quarterly meeting, held onFeb. 13th, the chairman of the Technical InstructionCommittee said that 46 scholarships in physiology andinfant hygiene had been granted, the object being to givegood and thorough instruction in those subjects to mistressesof elementary schools so as to qualify them to teach themin day and evening schools, in the hope of overcoming theignorance which prevailed as to the feeding and proper careof infants. It was mentioned that at Hyde, where theinfant mortality has been high, several of the mistresses hadtaken scholarship, and it was hoped that mistresses fromthe adjoining towns of Stalybridge and Dukinfield would doso. At Sandbach National School this teaching forms aspecial subject.

Arsenic in Beer.At the same meeting of the Cheshire County Council the

report of Mr. Carter Bell, the county analyst, stated thatthe beers which he had analysed were practically free fromarsenic. In some cases they contained from 1/200th to 1/300thpart of a grain to the gallon, so that a person would haveto drink 300 gallons to obtain one grain of arsenic.

Red Lead in Beer.At the Manchester Police-court on Feb. 17th a man was

charged with "wilful and malicious injury to property" byputting a quantity of red lead into a brew of beer valued atf.60. He had had notice to leave. When charged he saidthat he had done it "not with the intention of poisoninganyone, but simply to spoil the reputation of the brewer."This would seem to be a sufficiently serious matter and onecannot well see any room for much sympathy towards theoffender. But the prosecution and the bench were apparentlyalike tenderly disposed to the prisoner who had the grace tosay that he was ashamed of the wrong done and, as is

customary, asked for mercy "for the sake of his wife andchild and aged parents." The chairman of the magistratessaid that he had "taken a very stupid feeling against thebrewer" and sapiently added that he "might have done agood deal of harm." An ordinary person would, perhaps,have used the word " wicked " instead of stupid. The benchdecided to deal leniently with the prisoner, so he wasordered to pay £5 as damages and a fine of a guinea andcosts, or to go to prison for a month. Why should suchspecial tenderness be shown in a case of wholesale andreckless poisoning of beer ? ’?

Feb. 25th. ___________________

WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Vaccination Fees at Cardiff.THE Cardiff Board of Guardians has always resented the

payment of increased fees to the public vaccinators of theunion, and at a meeting of the committee of the Association