and does not cause fatigue of the heart. Sunbaths are used successfully in scrofulous and tubercular diseases, in diseases of the heart and blood vessels, in diseases of the skin, and nervous system, particularly in neurasthenia.

The Prevention of Malaria.-In his report on the prevention of malaria to the Madrid International Congress of Medicine, Dr. Ascoli, of Rome, stated that the prevention of malaria will not have attained its real aim and object, until tillable land in localities formerly known as malarial will be so improved by drainage and cultivation that the husbandman will not be forced to wear anti-mosquito masks while at his work, or to take quinine. In the meantime he recommended the following means for preventing malaria: (1) The elimination of the infected person. This is an ideal method. In certain cases the malarial patient should be isolated as well as treated. (2) The destruction of mosquitoes. Drainage of the soil and cultivation are the best means for the accomplishment of this object. (3) The prevention of contact between man and mosquitoes. The building of villages on high places, use of mosquito nets, etc.; the use of mechanical protectives, metal masks, gloves and screens, are particularly useful for special classes of men who are under discipline, such as soldiers and railway employees. (4) By rendering man refractory to malaria. Serotherapy has so far given negative results in the treatment of malaria; on the contrary, quinine, in preventive doses, gives satisfaction, when this treatment is pushed for some time.

Report of the German Tuberculosis Commission.-The German Commission appointed to investigate the claims made by Professor Robert Koch, at London, in 1901, viz., that human tuberculosis is not identical with cattle tuberculosis, or murrain, and that cattle tuberculosis cannot be transmitted to man, reported, July 9th, to the Berlin Medical Society. The report was read by Professor Kossel, director of the Bacteriological Laboratory of the German Health Office. The experiments detailed were confined to inoculating cattle with the bacilli of animal tuberculosis, and also those of human tuberculosis. The result obtained was that in the former case acute tuberculosis was engendered, and in the latter case it was not. Animals treated,

however, with a subcutaneous injection of the bacilli taken from persons suffering from intestinal tuberculosis, developed tuberculosis; but, as such a form of disease is extremely rare, Professor Kossel arrived at the opinion that his experiments proved that Professor Koch was justified in the view he expressed at London. Professor Orth, successor to Virchow in the chair of Pathological Anatomy at Berlin, denied the correctness of the conclusion arrived at by the reporter. He contended that human tuberculosis can be transmitted to animals and vice versa. In the meantime, it is a satisfaction to know that Koch holds the field, and that his opinions as to the routes by which tubercular infection reaches human beings are confirmed by good observers.

Remarks upon Cæsarian Section for Placenta Prævia, with Special Reference to the Life of the Child. In a paper read by invitation before the Celtic Medical Society of New York, Academy of Medicine, New York, April 23rd, 1903, and published in the Annals of Gynecology and Pediatrics, Boston, August, 1903, Dr. Francis D. Donoghue, Instructor in Clinical Surgery, Tufts Medical School, Boston, said: Is Cæsarian section for certain varieties of placenta prævia justifiable? If you believe that the mother and child have the same right to life, you must answer affirmatively. If, on the other hand, you believe in the teaching that the infant may be deliberately sacrificed to improve the mother's chances of living, then you probably do not believe in this treatment. After quoting results of Shauta, Ehrenfest, Fry, Straussman, and Higgins, Dr. Donoghue says: "It is evident, therefore, that the results of the modern conservative treatment for placenta prævia compare favorably, so far as the child is concerned, with the conservative operation so common twenty years ago in cases of contracted pelvis, namely, craniotomy. The mortality to the mother, in both instances, is about the same. Craniotomy, with a low maternal mortality, has given place to Cæsarian section, with a slightly higher maternal mortality, because the right of the child to life cannot be denied. Is it unfair to draw a parallel between the operation which deliberately sacrifices a hundred per cent. of the children in the interest of the mother, and one which only sacrifices eighty or ninety per cent.? Finally, I believe that (a) the operation should be performed

through the left rectus muscle; (b) incision of the uterus is not usually followed by hemorrhage, even when the broad ligaments are not constricted; (c) time should be allowed for contraction and retraction of the uterine fibres before attempting to remove the placenta; (d) if sufficient time be given for this to occur, no blood will be lost from beginning to end of operation, and if severe hemorrhage has preceded operation the abdomen can be filled with saline solution before it is closed; (e) the shock of such an operation is certainly not greater than that of version or forceps in a woman already exhausted; and (f) within a few minutes of starting, the indications of treatment-(empty uterus, and control hemorrhage)-will have been fulfilled. A consideration of the rights of a patient to choose a treatment for herself opens up a question so broad that it can not be satisfactorily considered in one paper even of considerable length. However, if we concede that the patient has the right to elect that she shall not again be exposed to the danger of repeated extrauterine pregnancy, or to a pregnancy that makes a serious operation necessary, if a living child is to be obtained, and if she may demand as her right that some mechanical obstacle be placed in the way of future child-bearing, will we not also be obliged to concede that she may demand relief from any child-bearing, if she decides that it is accompanied by more danger than she is willing to risk?

J. J. C.

PERSONALS.

DR. GEO. PETERS is spending some weeks on the Atlantic

coast.

DR. F. LEM. GRASETT, of Simcoe Street, returned from the Old Country three weeks ago.

DR. A. J. JOHNSON took a vacation of three weeks last month at his country house at Goderich, Ont.

DR. MACDOUGALL has removed from 306 Bathurst Street to the corner of Spadina Avenue and Harbord Street.

DR. C. R. CUTHBERTSON, of Toronto, left August 4th, for California where he will spend a few weeks.

DR. MALCOLM CAMERON BLACK, of Paisley, has been appointed an associate coroner for the County of Bruce.

DR. BRUCE RIORDAN, of Toronto, spent two weeks in July travelling and visiting Cape Breton and other points in Nova Scotia.

DR. W. S. PLAYFAIR, the noted specialist in women's diseases and an authority on obstetrics, died August 16th, at St. Andrews, Scotland.

DR. ALEX. PRIMROSE has been spending the past few weeks with his family in Muskoka, having a much-needed rest prior to his winter's work in the Amalgamated Faculties.

AT Bracebridge on the 13th ult. at the Liberal convention held to nominate a candidate for the local legislature, caused by the death of the late Dr. Bridgland, Dr. Hart, of Huntsville, was the unanimous choice of the convention.

DR. JUSTIN HEROLD, of New York City, recovered a verdict of $12,158 against the Metropolitan Street Railway Co. for injuries received three years ago, in a collision while a passenger on one of the cars. The case was tried before Judge Leventritt, and a jury, and the Supreme Court. Dr. Herold is the wellknown author of "Herold's Legal Medicine."

DR. HOLFORD WALKER'S private hospital on Isabella Street, in this city, has for months now been "full up," or nearly so. This institution has for several years numbered among its inmates patients sent for treatment to Dr. Walker by members of the profession all over Canada, and the hospital is now known as one of the most up-to-date and best-managed institutions in the province. The profession may always rest assured that any patients referred there will receive the best of care, the medical superintendent be ing always jealously careful of the interests of those referring cases to him. To his having pursued that path can be attributed entirely his success in the past,

Obituary

DEATH OF DR. J. W. MCLAUGHLIN, OF BOWMANVILLE.

DR. J. W. MCLAUGHLIN, Registrar for West Durham, died, in his 63rd year, at his home in Bowmanville, on the 9th ult. He had been in very poor health for two years, and a month before went to Guelph for a change, and was thought to be benefited, but he was suddenly taken ill on August 8th, and died early next morning. The funeral took place from the family residence, Rathskamory, on Tuesday, the 11th, at 2 p.m. Deceased was the son of John and Eliza McLaughlin, of Tyrone, Darlington township, and was educated at Tyrone Public School. After a brilliant medical course in the University of Toronto, he graduated in 1864. He was gold medallist in his class, and was subsequently appointed an examiner in the university. He became a licentiate of the Medical Council of Ontario the same year. In 1872, after practising medicine at Enniskillen seven years, he went to the Old Country, and successfully passed the examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians, taking the M.R.C.P. and M.R.C.S. diploma at Edinburgh. He was for many years a member of the Medical Council of Ontario, and was looked upon as one of the most skilful physicians in eastern Ontario. Just twenty-eight years ago, he went from Enniskillen to Bowmanville, where he enjoyed a very extensive practice till his health broke down. Dr. McLaughlin represented West Durham in the Liberal interest in the Ontario Legislature for three Parliaments. On entering the Legislature he formed a partnership with Dr. Alex. Beith, which has ever since existed. Deceased was a capital debater, having few equals as a political platform speaker, and his voice was often heard in the legislative halls. He was twice married, his first wife being Ida Ella Gross, and his second wife, who survives him, Sarah J. Wilkinson, youngest daughter of the late Captain Neil Wilkinson. He leaves also two sons, Arthur E., who practises law in Bowmanville, and Norman, of Dunkirk, N.Y. His eldest daughter is the wife of Mr. B. B. Cronyn, Toronto, now in Paris, France, where their children are being educated, and a daughter, Mary lives at home. Deceased was a great temperance advocate, and took an active part in every campaign against the liquor traffic during the last quarter of a century. On retiring from the Provincial Par