121THE NEW ISLINGTON INFIRMARY, HIGHGATE HILL.

he knew of the by-law, but thought that it only applied Iwhen a private person made a complaint. Mr. Plowden ’,is reported as saying that he hoped the by-law wouldreceive the fullest attention from the police and that theywould not hesitate to use their’ powers whenever the

opportunity offered. It was a most salutary’ by-law andthe offence was complete if a person shouted to the annoy-ance of anybody. Blackman would be fined 10s. We

hope that Mr. Plowden’s remarks will be laid to

heart by the police, and especially by those of theC and E Divisions. Mr. Plowden is to be congratu-lated upon his change of opinions as to noises.His sympathy with the "natural noises of animal life" 1

evidently does not include the noise made by the" runner."We are glad to see, too, that on the same day a windowcleaner was charged at the Guildhall with standing on a sill"more than six feet from the ground." This was the first

case under the new by-law of the London County Council.The defendant pleaded ignorance of the law and was

mercifully let off. -

THE ATHLETIC MASTER IN SCHOOLS.

A SHORT article in the Contemporary Review for July byMr. H. J. Spenser, LL.D., is somewhat severe on the athleticmaster in schools and equally so on the headmasters whorush to engage the man who has achieved a reputation formere physical prowess. Dr. Spencer bases his remarks verymuch on the legend of a noted Blue," who on completinghis century in a recent ’varsity match received five telegramsfrom as many headmasters offering him posts. He admitsthat in the majority of cases the headmaster tries to securefirst the intellectual and teaching qualities which are

the chief requisites in all schoolmasters, but is evi-

dently of opinion that the temptation is strong and

often yielded to to appoint a man for his popularityamong boys, which is always best secured by the per-formance of physical feats. Dr. Spenser thinks not onlythat the athletic master is not necessarily a good teacher-rather the reverse ; but he charges him generally with slack-ness in intellectual work or in promoting such work inothers, with being untidy and unsystematic, with never con-descending to small details in life, with no sense of obliga-tion, and with being a tax on the forbearance and forethoughtof others. As he advances in life "his nights are usuallydevoted to cards, his clothes reek of tobacco, and the neces-sity for physical fitness is no longer cogent." He does notcommand the respect of his pupils, though on the field hemay excite their admiration. He conveys to boys an utterlyfalse view of the respective importance of work and play.There is much truth in this view of a certain type of athleticmaster. But we do not think the type is very common andwe are not disposed to allow that even any serious minorityof headmasters would be so unfaithful to their highestduty-that of selecting their subordinate-as to prefer Imen of mere physical fitness to those of intellectual i

and teaching aptitude. Undoubtedly the wise headmasterwill have an eye to recreation and play, and of two menseeking work in his school, other things being equal, he willprefer the man who has some sense of the pleasure of

physical life and activity-and rightly so. What boys inschool need is an object lesson of the mens sana in corporesano.

RUSSIA AND THE PROBLEM OF INTEMPERANCE.

RussIA, like all other progressive countries, is feelingthe necessity of facing the question of intemperance arisingfrom the existence among its simple-minded and good-natured peasantry of innumerable dram-shops where alcoholof the lowest quality and coarsest description is served out

1 THE LANCET, Jan. 28th, 1899, p. 276.

to the poor. The diseases due to alcohol, including the lossof moral self-control, abound, and the people were barteringthemselves as slaves to the dram-seller. We commend tothe notice of our readers and to that of all who are

contemplating temperance legislation in our own countrythe letter on this subject of our Special Correspondentat the Paris Exhibition which appeared in our issue

of July 7th, p. 53. The Russian Government in 1894commenced to take the sale of alcohol into its own

hands. Mere dram-shops in many provinces have beenabolished and no indemnity whatsoever has been paidto the dram-shop keepers. Profits made by the State fromthe sale of alcohol have been given to temperance com-mittees to establish taverns or places of social intercourse,restaurants, reading-rooms, libraries, concert halls, lecture

halls, and the like. It will be curious to watch the effectsof this measure on the future of Russia. One great goodwill be the better nourishment of the peasantry, who willspend their money on sound food. A great decrease indrunkenness and crime is already reported.

THE NEW ISLINGTON INFIRMARY,HIGHGATE HILL.

AN event of some significance and interest is to behonoured with the presence of Royalty on the 16th inst.at 4.30 P.M. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and

Duchess of York have kind:y agreed to attend the

ceremony of the opening of the Highgate Hill Infirmaryconnected with the parish of St. Mary, Islington. The

ground is somewhat classic. The infirmary is built onthe site of the old Small-pox Hospital where Marsondid his immortal work in the observation of small-

pox and of the effect on it of vaccination. But the new

institution has an importance of its own. It is meant forthe sick of this large parish-the most populous in the

kingdom. Unfortunately pauper sickness seems to groweven faster than the population and to require for its treat-ment something very different from the old workhouseaccommodation for paufers. We shall probably give ourreaders some details of the new institution next week.Meantime it is noteworthy that the Duke and Duchess ofYork should graciously show their concern for the welfare ofthe sick poor by their presence at the opening ceremony.

THE HOUSING PROBLEM IN RURAL DISTRICTS.

I PART III. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act,1890, has not up to the present been made much use of inrural districts, and an inquiry which has recently been heldby the Essex County Council into an application on the partof the Malden Rural District Council to adopt this part ofthe Act has brought out some interesting points. The pro-posal is to erect a dozen ‘cottages at Bradwell-on-Sea, at

which place there are 121 occupied cottages. Of these

cottages 22 have one bedroom, 77 two bedrooms, and 22three bedrooms; but of the total 121 only 18 are regardedby the local surveyors as being in good condition. Thedistrict council are proposing to erect 12 cottages at a costof .62500, including the land, and the surveyor estimatesthat at a rental of 3s. a week an annual loss of .650 wouldfall upon the rates. The county council commissioners

think, however, that this figure is below the mark and that.660 more correctly represents the truth. There seemed,indeed, to be a feeling at the inquiry that under nocircumstances could a higher rent than 3s. a week be paid forthe cottages, while others thought a rental of Is. 6d. shouldsuffice. The commissioners point out that this question ofrental is obviously the crux of the position and that underthe present system the cottages attached to farms are fre-quently let considerably below their proper rental. In this

122 THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION AT PARIS.

connexion they relate the evidence of one of their witnessesto the effect that a certain land-owner built for the use of afarmer two cottages at a cost of some z400 ; the farmer paysrent at 4 per cent. on the outlay in addition to doing repairsand paying rates and taxes. The annual expenditure of thefarmer on these cottages is about .622—i.e., about 4s. 6d.

per week for each cottage-but the rent which he chargeshis labourers is but ls. per week- i.e., the men’s wagesare 3s. 6d. in excess of the nominal figures. The com-missioners condemn this indirect method of payment andurge that if the farmers would increase the men’s wages and

charge the full rent some inducement might be offered toprivate building enterprise. The application of the districtcouncil is, it appears, likely to be granted and the experi-ment will be watched with interest by all those anxious tobring about a better state of affairs in some of our rural

districts.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND:ANNUAL MEETING OF FELLOWS.

THE annual meeting of Fellows was summoned for

Thursday, July 5th, at 5 P.M., but the election of mem-bers of Council delayed the entrance of the President,Sir William Mac Cormac, Bart., K.C.V.O., for about ten

minutes. As, however, the number of Fellows required toform a quorum, 30, were not present, the Presidentwaited a quarter of an hour, and at the end of that timerose and declared that no meeting could take place asonly 18 Fellows were present. He further pointedout that at the three previous meetings summoned no

quorum had been obtained, so that the minutes of July,1897, had not been yet confirmed. Until this year two

meetings had been summoned yearly, but in 1899, in

consequence of the repeated failures in getting a quorum,the Council had decided to call only one meeting eachyear. As it appeared that the Fellows were not sufficientlyinterested in these meetings to care to attend it mightbe possible that the Council would decide to do away withfixed meetings of Fellows and would themselves call a

meeting when it appeared advisable, or on the requisi-tion of a certain number of Fellows. We fear that the

privilege of meetings of the Fellows, obtained after so muchexertion, will shortly be withdrawn by the Council. The

only agenda were three motions by Mr. R. B. Anderson.

Mr. H. Lockwood and Dr. A. H. Downes, Local Govern-ment Board inspectors, on July 10th opened an inquiry atSt. Pancras Vestry Hall into the alleged irregularities whichhave recently taken place with regard to the certificationand removal of lunatics.

___

SIR H. BLAKE, the Governor of Hong-Kong, in a telegramto Mr. Chamberlain received at the Colonial Office on

July 9th, 1900, reports that 65 fresh cases of plague and 68deaths occurred last week.

___

A CIVIL list pension of Z50 has been granted to Mrs.

Eliza Arlidge in consideration of the labours of her late

husband, Dr. John Thomas Arlidge, in the cause of indus-trial hygiene, and of her straitened circumstance?.

PRESENTATIONS TO MEDICAL MEN.-Mr. JamesC. M. Kinnear, M.B., C.M. Aberd., of Laurencekirk,Kincardineshire, on the occasion of his leaving the district,has been the recipient from his friends of a goldAlbert chain and pendant.-Mr. T. Macdonald, M.B.,C.M. Edin., has been presented with a centre-piece bythe Highland Railway Ambulance Class, Inverness, in

appreciation of his ambulance instructions.

THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION AT PARIS.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

New Nationalities.-Soientific, l6Tedi’cal,, and Sizrgical Ex7tibitsof Hungary, ltaly, and Sivit-.erland.

ONE of the practical services rendered by UniversalExhibitions is that of revealing to civilisation the advent ofnew nations in its midst. Take, for instance, the UniversalExhibitions from the one held in Hyde Park in 1851down to that apotheosis of the Second Empire, the firstUniversal Exhibition held in the Champs de Mars in

1867-up to that date there was no Hungary. Now, onthe contrary, excepting the Trocadero which is devoted

exclusively to colonial exhibits, the horizontal tricolourof Hungary may be seen proudly displayed in all direc-tions. Though now a thousand years have elapsedsince Arpud and his mystic seven chiefs led the

Magyars to the borders of the Tisza and the Danube,Hungary as a modern and independent nationality does notdate back further than to the Austro-Hungarian compromiseof 1867. But what giant strides have been made since thatdate, the nation accomplishing in each succeeding decadethe work of a century. For instance, and as indicating thespread of intellectuality, there were but nine printing firmsat Budapest in 1848, and 10 years after the re-establishmentof the Constitution of 1867 there were 51 printing establish-ments in the capital and 198 in the provinces. To-day thereare 660 printing firms in Hungary, of which 147 are at

Budapest. Whereas in 1868 only 50 per cent. of the childrenwent to school, now the school attendance is equal to80 per cent. of the juvenile population. These primaryschools to-day cost 38,182,306 crowns per annum, insteadof 7,520,246 crowns, as in 1868. In the same intervalthe State subventions to schools have increased from1,500,000 crowns to 10,000,000 crowns. For secondaryeducation the cost has increased from 6,741,000 to20,000,000 crowns and the number of pupils from 36,569 to56,441. The University at Budapest had 96 professors in1867 and 295 professors in 1899. In many other directionssimilar progress is to be noted and the result is manifest bythe large share that Hungary has taken in the present Uni-versal Exhibition. Naturally medical education has had itsplace in this general progress and development, and of themany public works undertaken some relate to water-supply,drainage, hospitals, clinics, university buildings, and otherservices bearing on the preservation of the health of thenation. Not least among these are the improvements inagriculture, as they tend to increase the food-supply and thecost of the necessities of life. All this is made manifest atthe exhibition not only by the exhibits themselves but bynumerous explanatory pamphlets and a special and semi-historical catalogue of the Hungarian exhibits published by

, the Royal Hungarian Commissariat., The Hungarian section in the department of the Exhibi-t tion devoted to letters, arts, and sciences is compact

and well organised ; it is easily accessible, its situationl

being in the western wing of the main building on

the Champ de Mars. Care has been taken to showthat every encouragement is given to the study of

i the sciences, and the various Hungarian institutes created1 for this purpose have their exhibits. Thus the HungarianInstitute for the Study of Forensic Medicine, which is under3 the direction of Dr. B. Kenyeres, exhibits stereoscopic photo-

graphs of wounds and other injuries that were the subjectof legal investigations. The Anatomical Institute of Topogr

, has a very fine display of bones, while the Botanic Institute,

managed by Professor Istvanffy, has models of plants, artistically prepared and some plants preserved in,-

alcohol. Professor Leschner’s clinique for mentaldiseases sends a cephalograph for mapping the convo-

lutions of the brain in relation to the walls of the skull.’ Then there are the exhibits of the schools of anatomy andsnotably that of the Budapest Faculty of Medicine-, sections of the pelvic region, the circulatory system,’ & c. But what strikes the eye first is a large collection

d of models of human teeth. These are from four to fiveinches in length and are most carefully painted, so that

- the appearances in caries and various other diseases are

readily perceived by reason of the exaggerated size of themodels. The teeth are held up by a brass frame and in thelower part, the leg or stem of the frame, there is space for the