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in disease of the retina and with the fine terminations of thearteries. In microscopy it is well known that the insertion’of a Gifford’s screen between the light and the section addsgreatly to the detail by absorbing the red rays wherestructures have been stained red. By the kind courtesy- of the Westinghouse Electrical Company I have been ableto examine a number of fundi, both normal and diseased,by means of the mercury vapour lamp, the light ofwhich is produced by allowing a direct current toflow through a vacuum containing mercury, from a

platinum to an iron electrode, the resistance in the tube

having been first broken down by a spark of high tension.This light, when examined spectroscopically, is seen to bedeficient in red rays, being very rich in blue and violet. The

light, although brilliant, is diffuse and produces an "afterimage" of very short duration. On looking at the fundusby this light the background" appears pale green insteadof the usual red ; the vessels appear purple, standing outwith unusual distinctness ; the arteries being the same

colour as the veins can be traced to their finest ramifica-tions. The choroidal vessels are of a deeper purpleand over the whole the retina can be seen glistening,being especially well marked along the arteries and veins.The optic disc appears with a white centre and green edges.This illuminant ought to be of considerable utility inthe differential diagnosis of retinal and choroidal disease,since the perspective of the retina, choroid, and sclera is

very clear. Although the lamp in its present form is hardlysuitable for ophthalmoscopic work, alterations could be

- easily made for this purpose. A somewhat similar effect canbe produced by using an arc lamp and screening off the redrays, but the same definition and detail cannot be obtainedas with the mercury vapour lamp.

I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,M. S. MAYOU, F.R.C.S. Eng.,

Chief Clinical Assistant to the Royal Eye Hospital.March 20th, 1903.

___________________

PROFESSOR GRASSI’S RECENTPAMPHLET.

To the Editors of THE LANCET.SIRS,-Professor Grassi has recently published a pamphlet

entitled I I Documenti riguardanti la storia della scoperta delmodo di trasmissione della malaria umana " which I find hehas dedicated to me. The work is of a polemical character.Lest from the fact of the pamphlet being dedicated to me itmight be supposed that I indorse the views therein expressed,I beg to say that in many instances I do not, and, moreover,that I was not consulted about the dedication.

Yours trulv.

Queen Anne-street, W., March 20th, 1903. PATRICK MANSON.

ERRATUM.-In the letter headed " On the Problem ofGlycosuria and Diabetes " and bearing the signature"Rusticus," published in THE LANCET of March 21st, theword ’’ maintains " in the first line of col. 1, p. 839, ought tobe mentions.

THE LONDON LICENTIATES’ AND MEMBERS’SOCIETY.-A meeting of the members of this society was heldat the rooms of the Royal Medical and ChirurgicalSociety, Hanover-square, W., on March 10th. The chairwas taken by Dr. W. Bezly Thorne who in addressingthe meeting pointed out that there were two courses beforethem-viz., to approach the University of London with apetition that men holding the diplomas of the ConjointBoard should be permitted to present themelves for thefinal examinations without matriculation ; and, secondly, toapproach one of the provincial universities to allow suchmen to enter for the pass examination for their M.B. degrees.Mr. Elliott Blake spoke upon the various injustices sufferedby London "Conjoint men" and was of opinion that thesociety should be continued as a permanent one. Dr. A.Douglas Cowburn did not think that any good would resultfrom a petition to the University of London. Mr. F. W.Collingwood gave reasons for thinking that affiliation withcertain provincial universities would be impossible andproposed that a petition should be prepared for presentationto the University of London. An executive committee wasappointed for this purpose and it was also decided thatthe society should become a permanent one with an annualsubscription of 58. to be forwarded to the secretary, Mr.F. C. Langford, 142, Peckham Rye, London, S.E.

THE FOURTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CON-GRESS OF MEDICINE, MADRID.

(FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

THE JOURNEY.

THERE are two routes by which Madrid may be reached-the longer but more comfortable and healthy journey by seato Lisbon or Oporto, and the overland route through Paris.The latter course is most likely to be adopted by busy menand in general the Sud Express will be the train chosen.

Now, the Sud Express is as ill-contrived a train as any so-called train de lqtxe can well be. In the first place it has nodirect communication with any train from London ; the

traveller must either leave London in the morning andspend from 15 to 18 hours in Paris, or he must travel all

night by train and boat in order to reach Paris at an

uncomfortably early hour in the morning and will thenhave to wait several hours for the Sud Express to start.It must also be noted that places in this train shouldon ordinary occasions be booked at least 24 hours beforestarting, as the trains are constantly full, and those who visitsome other Spanish towns after leaving Madrid on theirreturn should bear in mind that a Spanish telegram may need24 hours to travel 500 miles. Travellers by the Sud Expresshave to change into a Spanish train at the frontierand the change is for the worse, for the French train,though dusty and ill-ventilated, is not overcrowded, as

the seats are all numbered. Luggage should be in a

handy form, as it is safer in the carriage with thetraveller, and no charge is made for excess of weight ifit is taken in the carriage-only 66 pounds are allowedfree and portmanteaus have been cut open before now inthe luggage vans. The sleeping-cars in the Sud Expressare divided into compartments, each containing four narrowbunks, one above and one below on each side, with justenough space in the middle for one man to undress. Thereis no place in which to secure money or jewellery and theonly means of ventilation in this small space occupied byfour persons is the window, for the door opens into thecorridor. There are dining-cars in this train de luxe, butthe food is not first-class and the attendance is insufficient.

There is but little in the scenery along the route to interestthe traveller, except glimpses of towns the names of which arefamiliar to him since his school days, as the most beautifulcountry-i.e., the Pyrenees-is passed during the night onthe way south, but on the return journey there is very muchto admire. The Sud Express is the best means of returningto England for the sake of the scenery through which the linepasses and of the quaint sights from the windows of the trainsuch as a woman and a girl ploughing with a yoke of oxen,carts drawn by oxen, or the same patient beast tramping amonotonous round to draw water from a well, or it may be awoman working a water-wheel with her feet, as the convictworks the treadmill, or threshing-floors with oxen treadingout the corn. The trees will interest every stranger-forestsof cork oaks, mostly small, stunted trees with curiouslygnarled and twisted boughs, then the dull, weird, grey-greenolives, Spanish chestnuts and acacias, and lastly mountain-pines and larches with stone-pines intermixed, and hereand there in warm valleys agaves and aloes growingwild in the open air, though these latter are rare in

Spain. The line, too, passes near (seldom through) littleold-world, walled towns ; occasionally these little towns stillhave the fortifications made during the Peninsular War, butit is very remarkable that there are practically no modernfortifications on the Pyrennean border. The landscape asthe train approaches the Pyrenees affords views of rockygorges and of beautiful wooded valleys with streams coursingthrough them, bordered by bold cliffs and sometimes byboulder-strewn mountains, but there are so many tunnelson the railway that the passenger can only catch glimpsesof what must often be striking scenery. Often there aresmall square watch-towers standing alone on the tops ofthe hills like the Peels in Northumberland and theserecall the days of the borderland wars between France,Navarre, and Spain. Sometimes in place of these borderfortresses there are monasteries with their out-buildings allwalled in so that they also might be fortresses on occasionseven as the churches might be which in these border town,are very large and massive, with tiny windows made high

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up tin the walls, so that even these sacred placescould be made defensible in case of invasion. Thehouses in some of these little towns are them-selves curious and picturesque, being three- and four-

storeyed buildings stained to pleasing shades of colour byage and lichens and pierced with small windows veryinadequate for the admission of air and light to the roomswithin. Another sight which is characteristic of thePeninsula is that of four or five boxes, each about five feethigh by three wide, marked "Bulls," on an open cattle-truck of a goods train which are intended for the bull-

fights performed in every town and even village throughoutSpain. It is certain that the representatives at the Congresswill be invited to be present at a bull-fight-to Englishminds the most unsportsmanlike amusement ever devised.The bull-ring itself with its crowds of people in gay-coloureddresses and the initiatory procession are worth seeing,but the show itself is not only cruel but stupid.Railway tickets to Madrid and back by the ordinary express

trains may be obtained for the price of a single fare by anymember of the Congress.

-- _ - _

The alternative way of reaching Madrid-viz., by sea toLisbon-is far preferable for those who are good sailors andcan afford the time, for the voyage lasts from three to six

days, though it might be made shorter and more convenientif a sufficient number of passengers would club together andcharter a vessel for themselves, as the regular boats only runonce or twice a week. By this plan visitors to the Congresswould not only have a healthy and pleasant holiday and savethemselves much of the unpleasing tedium of the railwayjourney, but they would also be able to see Lisbon, one of thequaintest and most picturesque towns in Europe. Lisbon isbuilt on the side of a steep hill sloping down to the riverwhich here opens out into a lake, or rather series of lakes, amost beautiful site, and from the top of the hill there is amost charming view over the town to the river.Everyone who travels to Madrid through Lisbon should

visit the Botanical Garden at the latter town to see thetropical plants growing luxuriantly in the open air which atKew can only be cultivated under glass. The garden is inthe outskirts of the town and therefore easily accessible ; itis situated on the slope of a hill, a convenient site, in thatthe more hardy plants occupy the higher ground and themore delicate ones are below and sheltered from cold winds.The grounds are said to cover ten acres and are well laid outwith winding paths and here and there a small pool of waterfor aquatic plants. The soil seems poor and thin and stony,but the plants flourish there. From the lower entrance thevisitor passes through an avenue of Washingtonias whichare amazingly large seeing that they were planted only20 years ago. Within the garden there are clumps of

lofty cocoa-nut trees and many varieties of Phoenix, i

Bourbon, and very large fan-palms and great tree-ferns.Here are also many sorts of cacti and agaves andaloes in flower (with names scratched on their leaves in truecockney style) and great bushes and even hedges of plantswhich in England are only seen as small bedding-outplants, such as lantana, veronica, and datura arborea.The cannas and begonias make but a poor show and thegeraniums (which in Devonshire will cover a cottage) arethin and weedy and the roses are only of the most ordinaryvarieties. Moreover, much space is wasted on common

plants and trees-possibly because they are rare in Portugal.That part of the garden also which is intended for thebotanical students needs supervision, for here are plantswithout labels and labels without plants and labels on thewrong plants, and occasionally a whole family of plantsis characterised by a simple initial with no explana-tion of that initial. There is but one greenhouse andthat poorly furnibhed with comparatively common plants.The banana trees, too, are shabby and poor and there are butfew plants in bloom to be seen in the garden and no careseems to be taken to insure a succession of flowering plants,but the wealth of tropical vegetation more than atones forthese minor faults and it must be remembered that in thi,Lisbon Butanical Garden there are no potted plants put outfor the summer months only, but there are to he sem greattrees and bushes indigenous to Brazil, Syria, New Holland,&c., planted out and left in the garden throughout thewinter-e g. (among many others), cocos Au6tralis, cocos

Romanzowiana, and cocos flexuosa as lofty trees, andnicotiana colossea 10 feet high. In a word, the LisbonBotanical Garden, which is open free all day, is a delightfulplace in which to spend an hour or two even for the visitorwho has forgotten his botany

Oporto is well worth a visit by those who wish to knowhow port is made and are interested in the most medixvalsanitation hidden behind a modern mask. Visitors to Oportovid Lisbon should not take their tickets to Madrid througha London agency, as in that case they will have to

spend an uncomfortable night in Pampilhosa, whereas thedirect and proper route is through Barca d’Alva. Thosewho travel from Lisbon or Oporto to Madrid may spenda profitable day in Salamanca, the oldest university townin Spain. From Lisbon to Madrid is only 11 hours’ journeyby the Sud Express, but this train only runs on Mondaysand Thursdays and places must be booked the day before.There is, however, a daily express at 9.30 P. M. whichis almost as fast and cheaper. The scenery on this lineis most interesting and the train gives glimpses of theaqueduct which supplies Lisbon, of fields tilled by mendressed in white shirts and breeches as if they meant toplay cricket where there is no grass to play on, although onthe sides of the hills there are quite large flocks of sheepand goats with shepherds watching them. Women, too, workin the fields, for wages are very small, less than from 6d. to 9d.per day, and the children must be fed somehow, if only onchick-pease and oat-bread. The vegetation along the linemust attract the attention of the least observant traveller,for orange and lemon trees, bamboos, carob trees, Indiancorn, cacti, yuccas and agaves and great aloes which flowerin the open air during the summer, eucalyptus trees, andpalms and tree-ferns growing along the sides of the railwayare not common sights with us.

THE

ORGANISATION OF THE PROFESSION.(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

The Battle of the Clubs at Cheltenham.-The Professionorganises, wins in a First Encounter, and is subsequentlysignally defeated.IN January, 1901, 14 of the junior practitioners of Chelten-

ham met together and discussed the evils of club practice.In a somewhat loose and informal manner they consti-tuted an organisation. The Oddfellows and members ofother benefit societies paid only 3s. a year for medicalaid and if they chose the members might also enter thewhole of their families for another 5s. a year. The practi-tioners who gathered together passed a resolution to theeffect that henceforth it would be considered derogatoryto the dignity of the profession to accept less than 4s.a year per member or 10s per family. It was likewisedecided that if any practitioner resigned his post as

medical officer of a friendly society because he couldnot obtain this rate of payment no other member of theprofession was to take his place. These proposals havingmet with general approval it was determined to try a testcase and Dr. R. Davies threatened to resign his post asmedical officer of a benefit society unless the subscriptionwas raised from 3s. to 4s. per member. The members ofDr. Davies’s lodge, in reply, acknowledged that the pay-ment they made was not sufficient, but they explainedthat if they increased the amount they would placethemselves at a disadvantage in respect to other lodges.Therefore, the three months’ notice was duly served andaccepted. The friendly society advertised for a new medicalofficer in the local papers, but no one replied. Then it

again advertised, this time offering the very terms whichDr. Davies had insisted upon, but received no other replythan that sent by Dr. Davies himself. The friendly societywas consequently obliged to reappoint its medical officer andthis at the new and higher rate of payment. This, then, wasan emphatic victory for the medical practitioners, and nowMr A. A. Dighton. who had a large lodge of Oddfellows,made a similar application, but he was at once met witha flat refusal and therefore he resigned. Knowing that themedical men of Cheltenham were well disposed to eachother and that they would not compete against Mr. Dighton,no attempt was made by the lodge to secure the servicesof a local practitioner. Advertisements were consequentlysent to some Yorkshire newspapers and replies were

received.

By this time, and with but one exception, all the medicalpractitioners of Cheltenham had signed a declaration that