827

many of our correspondents on this subject. Of the im-

portance of arm-to-arm vaccination we apprehend that therewill be little, if any, professional division of opinion. Ofthe mode in which this is sought to be secured by theGovernment there possibly may be, but it is to be re-

gretted that the issue is not raised upon the principlesavowed in the memoranda to which we have referred.-ED. L.

THE INQUEST AT ROSSALL SCHOOL.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-It is never too late to vindicate the honour of apublic officer.Your annotation on the death of a scholar belonging

to Rossall was sullied by a scurrilous remark upon themanner in which the inquisition was taken. The remarkwas not only unjust-it was untrue, and criticism ceases tobe valuable when it ceases to be just. There was no suchverdict of "Accidental death" returned, nor was there asingle point you have yourself made left unnoticed at theinquest. I am, of course, in no way responsible for the im-perfect account you have read or received from some ruralreporter, of whose presence I was unconscious. The wit-nesses were the master (in whose house the boy lived), twoof the scholars, the surgeon, and the head master. I hadit clearly in evidence that at the time the boys started it wasa fine bright afternoon, and that during the chase a severehailstorm came on. The list of "hare and hounds" is madeout by one of the older boys, is then submitted to all themasters who have boys in it, and finally revised by the sur-geon, who, on this very occasion, struck out the names of twoboys. The deceased and his companions only ran for aboutthree miles, resting sometimes at the fences. They hadbeen out for about an hour, and then gave it up.When the two were within a field from the playground ontheir return, the companion ran on, leaving Calvert to walkin. That was the last seen of him alive. The poor boy wasat once missed from the tea-table at six o’clock, and theschool sergeant immediately dispatched in search of him.On his return in about half an hour without any tidings ofthe boy, other messengers were sent out, and then the headmaster was communicated with, and he and a staff of theolder boys went out with lanterns, and the head master wassearching the playground when the boy was found there.Mr. Williams, the surgeon of the school, was on the spotdirectly, but rigor mortis had set in, and the boy was beyondthe reach of human aid or skill. Mr. Williams gave me adetailed statement of the case, and was of opinion that theboy had fainted, and before he recovered the faint was ren-dered fatal by the wet clothes and the exhaustion of theboy. Then the head master gave his evidence, of which hehas furnished you with some particulars. Upon this I

charged the jury that no blame could fairly attach to theschool authorities, who had taken every prudent precautionthe case demanded, and left it to them to say if they weresatisfied with the medical evidence that the boy died fromsyncope, rendered fatal by cold and exhaustion ; or, in otherand untechnical language, had died suddenly from naturalcauses-if not I should order a post-mortem. The jurywere satisfied, and so their verdict stands recorded.From this brief outline of the evidence, I ask if you were

justified in the remark you made ? If not, you will printthis letter, or an apology for the vilification, widely pub-lished, of the coroner who took the

Lancaster, Nov. 26th, 1873. INQUISITION.

*** We publish this letter, notwithstanding the stronglanguage in which it is couched. We commented on the

subject entirely on public grounds, and we could have hadno possible intention of doing an injustice to the coroner.It now appears that our remarks were based on an im-

perfect report of the inquest, from which it did not appearthat the information contained in the head master’s sub-

sequent communication to The Times had been elicited ; andwe were misled as to the terms of the verdict, whichwas one of " Death from natural causes," and not one of" Accidental death." The coroner, according to the above

letter, so far from conducting his inquiry in a perfunctorymanner, neglected so means of eliciting everything bearingon the case ; and we willingly give the fact all the publicitywe can.-ED. L.

___

AFRICAN FEVER.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-Having been a surgeon in the African Royal MailService from 1868 to 1872, and knowing the coast from theGambia to St. Paul de Loando, I beg to offer a few remarkson fever and its treatment on this coast.

During five years I have had many opportunities of £witnessing African, or remittent fever, chiefly amongst themilitary and naval officers and civilians returning home, asthe crew were generally healthy. The treatment I foundmost efficacious in remittent fever was: To avoid mercury, togive a purge of-Podophyllin, half to one grain; compoundextract of colocynth, five grains ; extract of hyoscyamus,three grains; peppermint water, one minim; in two pills.To apply to the head, the hair being kept shaved, a lotionmade with the juice of the native lime, with a little ice-water. This forms a most grateful application for theintense headache. To allay the vomiting, often very dis-tressing, chlorodyne, or champagne iced. The sicknessovercome, during the remissions give from three to fourgrains of quinine, with a little dilute sulplauric acid, andchloric ether; or if quinine cannot be retained, three to fiveminims of liquor arsenicalis, with infusion of calumba,every three or four hours. Thorough ventilation, quiet,and light diet are very essential. In the debility followingsevere or repeated attacks of this fever, nothing equals acombination of iron, quinine, and strychnia, constant atten-tion being paid to the liver. The compound phosphorus pill,made by Messrs. Kirby and Co., of Newman-street, wouldbe invaluable, being kept dry, being very portable, andbeing tasteless.In intermittent fever, an ipecacuanha emetic, a podo-

phyllin purge, and, during the intermissions, quinine withrest, avoidance of exposure to the sun, and a light diet,generally soon effect a cure.

In acute dysentery I found the following plan the best :-Withhold fluids for a few hours, put a cataplasm of linseedand mustard over the epigastrium, administer an enema of £opium, and after a little time give from half a drachm toone drachm of ipecacuanha powder in some thick vehicle, re-peating it in some six hours if necessary. The diet to befarinaceous, free from solids and all effervescents,In the chronic form, quinine, ipecacuanha, and compound

ipecacuanha powder are the best remedies; whilst on the Coastthin flannel should be worn next the skin, never sleep onthe ground without a waterproof sheet under and a roof of £some kind over, and, as far as possible, avoid all excess,especially stimuli. Cold weak tea is an excellent beverageto allay thirst, and moderate smoking is beneficial amongstthe lagoons.

Should these remarks prove of any advantage to thejuniors of the medical staff going to the Coast, I shall feelvery pleased to have contributed my mite towards soothingthe fevered head of a countryman.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,December 1st, 1873. NOT A SURGEON-PURSER.

THE "VICTOR EMANUEL."To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-Having had an opportunity of visiting the fine

hospital ship, the Victor Entanuel, and having been greatlyimpressed with the excellence of her medical arrange-ments, I write to ask you to urge on the Government the

importance not only of keeping the plans and specifica-tions of her fittings, but of having a working modelmade. This country has never, and I suppose no

other country has ever, sent out a floating hos-

pital so carefully planned. It is of the greatest con-

sequence that an exact record shall be preserved forfuture guidance, as it seems probable such vessels will belargely employed in all future wars. I shall look with in-terest for your promised second report, which will, I hope,