1130 works leeches, infirmary leeches, private leeches, district lepches, under leeches, and Lazareth leeches. Finally, and there be mentioned two Notes, Short Comments, Answers may practitioners described as medical candidates, comparable in status to the surgical to candidates, no doubt. One of these medical candidates Correspondents. was also professor of botany at Christiania; the other was also a private leech. The Lazareth leech was in practice THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN NORWAY IN 1816. at Larvik, and is described in the list as a surgical candi- IN a brief but interesting account of the position of medical date and 11 physics " as well. His Lazareth or lazaretto and surgical practitioners in Norway a hundred years ago may have been either a fever hospital or a hospital for Dr. M. Soegaard gives a reproduction of the first official lepers, but it may be added that special provision was list of those then authorised to practise in that country. made for leprosy in Norway by the appointment of an The list was issued by the Third Department of the "unexamined assistant" at the Stavanger Radesygehus, Government and is dated Feb. 20th, 1816. The first or home for lepers, and a " Titular Professor," who was thing Yet that strikes the reader is its brevity ; it contains no more also chief inspector for leprosy," at Tonsberg. than a hundred names. Norway was one of the countries another professional title may be mentioned, if only for that had the misfortune to back the losers in the its grim sincerity. At Vinger there practised a " Forhen- Napoleonic wars. In 1800 the Danish Government, the vaerende Regiments Feltskjaer," or ex-regimental field predominant partner in the union of Denmark and shearer, to give a literal translation of his official title, Norway then existing, committed the Norwegians to the as though the surgery on the field of battle had con- second armed neutrality. When this was broken up sisted mainly of immediate amputations. by the bombardment of Copenhagen, Denmark and Norway supported Napoleon against both England VACCINATION ON THE FOOT. and Sweden in 1807. Rapid economic ruin was the To the Editor of THE LANCET. and in 1814 Frederick VI. of Denmark ceded result, shall be if of readers can me to Sweden. Sweden had SIR,-I glad any your give Norway previously joined the and results of vaccination on the the Allies against Napoleon; the Act of Union made particulars foot. bound I am, Sir, yours faithfully, Sweden and Norway equally independent countries, JAMES MARSH, M.B.Edin. under a in an offensive and defensive together single king 114, High-street, Atherton, near Manchester, Dec. 22nd, 1916. alliance, which survived till 1905. To return to the year 1816, it may be said that the economic condition of Norway LETTS’S "QUIKREF" DIARIES. was then deplorable; trade was bad, there was much have received some of the diaries the country was bankrupt. The popula- WE specimens published general poverty, Messrs. Cassell and Co. under the above title. The list tion numbered something over 900,000 souls, yet, as Dr. by from letters written includes books for the office, the study, the counter, and Soegaard proves by quotations by the sizes and medical men at the time, many of them found it hard to the pocket, varying accordingly, the bindings the various forms of cloth earn even a livelihood. "How I shall get on this year and from leather through to paper. in the future," writes Chief Surgeon Bencke, of Fredriks- The prices are from ls. to 16s. An accident insurance vaern, "I do not know; my time is stolen from me, I coupon accompanies each diary. For medical men a diary 7 in. in. is a week at an am a slave from morning till night. My pay is about by 3 provided, showing opening of 64 skillings a day...... I do not even know the name of civil two pages and ruled with columns for the insertion of 54 practice here." The skilling was worth nearly a halfpenny. visits to patients. Bound in cloth, with pencil, the Two medical men practised in the town of Stavanger; the price is 2s. 6d., or in French morocco, with tuck and two senior of these, Landphysicus (or chief district physician) pockets, 5s. There are intermediate prices according to Fangel, writes of his junior, the assistant physician, " he is style of binding. An excellent diary for nurses, price 2s. so good in helping the poor that with my whole heart I 6d., bound in red leather cloth, contains, in addition to wish this brave man an old age free from crushing anxiety the usual almanac, spaces ruled for nurses’ reports of the about his daily bread, for the hundred rigsbankdaler he patients’ progress and an index. The diary shows a week gets as assistant at the hospital barely supply the first in an opening. necessities of life." The rigsbankdaler or rixdollar of 96 At a season for exchanging gifts, when necessary skillings was worth less than four shillings ; clearly this I economy and generosity are likely to clash, a diary may assistant was not one of those passing rich on (nearly) solve the difficulty. All the above-mentioned books are twenty pounds a year. It is not surprising to read that printed on good tough paper and bound with an eye to when Chief Naval Surgeon Heiberg won a large sum of hard wear. money in the of 1814 he hastened to throw Hamburg lottery PUBLIC HEALTH AND VITAL STATISTICS OF up his practice and go into business as a shipowner and wholesale merchant. But in 1828, alas, he failed, and had CYPRUS. to return to his old profession as regimental surgeon at ACCORDING to the Cyprus Blue-book for the year 1915 the Horten. Here, " separated from his family, he lived in a estimated population of the colony is 294,664. In 1915 there very small way until he was appointed district doctor at were 9141 births, the rate being 31 per 1000 ; the number of Tonset." Clearly the hundred medical men practising in deaths returned was 5473, or 18’5 per 1000. The public Norway in 1816 had a hard time of it. Yet few and ill paid as health and general sanitary condition of the island have they were they all had official titles, many of them titles as been satisfactory; there was complete immunity from magnificent as apparently empty of all save credit and plague and cholera, and no severe quarantine restrictions renown. Most of these titles had to do with surgery, and were imposed. The number of cases of typhoid fever, at least a dozen varieties of surgeons are distinguished in which in Cyprus is generally of a mild type, was 267, as the official list of 1816. Twenty-seven of the hundred compared with 341 in 1914. On the other hand, 11 cases practitioners it contains are described as " uexaminerede terminated fatally, as against 8 in the previous year. Bataillonschirurger," battalion surgeons who had not There were 9 cases of diphtheria with 6 deaths, but only presented themselves-or who had not successfully pre- 6 cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis (5 deaths). 6701 vacci- sented themselves ?-for examination. Seventeen are regi- nations were performed during the year, and there was mental surgeons, 11 are district surgeons, 6 are candidates no case of small-pox. in surgery. Others are set down as town surgeons, mine This is the third year of the campaign against malaria surgeons, senior surgeons, under surgeons, company initiated by Sir Ronald Ross in 1913, and it is satisfactory surgeons, battalion surgeons, divisional surgeons, super- that the reduction in the casea of malaria and the spleen- numerary regimental or battalion surgeons, or town and rates is considerable. There were 2083 cases less than in the district surgeons. The mere physicians are fewer than previous year, and the spleen-rate, which was returned at the surgeons in the list, but enjoy a no less copious and 22.8 per cent. in the spring of 1913, has now fallen to perplexing variety of titles. Two are described as doctors 11’5 per cent. The reduction is fairly evenly distributed of medicine, though 11 others are mentioned as hold- over the island, but the greatest decrease is shown in the ing the degree of Dr. Med.: one is a doctor of both Larnaca and Famagusta districts, which were also the medicine and surgery, and 6 are described as "Land- most malarial, and this is due in great measure to the physici," or head physicians of their districts. A extensive drainage works that have been carried out. The seventh " Landphysicus " is set down as also a cases of malaria admitted to the six district hospitals in medical candidate, as though not fully qualified, while 1915 amounted to 167, of which only 6, or 3’5 per cent., an eighth is described as " Bergmedicus " (or mine terminated fatally. medico) as well as " Landphysicus," though the distinction Further work in improving the Nicosia General Hos- between the capacities of a "medicus and a " physicus" is pital, a Government institution, has been carried out. not at once apparent. Apart from the doctors of medicine, The electric light installation is now complete, and " the medici," and the " physici," come practitioners of a an X ray apparatus has been provided. Two separate fourth description, those set down in Norwegian as wards for dealing with septic cases in the women’s " Laeger," or, in English, leeches. The leeches existed in side of the hospital have been built. The number of various capacities, and are distinguished as leeches, prac- beds remains at 53. A total of 1196 patients received tising leeches (what did a leech do if he did not practise ?), treatment in the wards of the institution during the 1131

year and there were 59 deaths. 6881 persons obtained ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN, Albemarle-street, treatment in the out-patient department. The district Piccadilly, W hospitals of Larnaca, Limasol, Famagusta, and Christmas Lectures: -The Human Machine which All must Work Paphos, (adapted to a Juvenile Auditory). Kyreniaohave continued to carry out their valuable work; TUESDAY.—Prof. A. Keith : Living Pumps. the total number of in-patients during the year was 1278 THURSDAY.-Prof. A. Keith: Living Bellows. and of out-patients 12,303. There were only 5 admissions SATURDAY.-Prof. A. Keith: Living Workshops. to the leper farm, as against 12 in 1914, and there were 10 deaths. The number of cases living in the farm at the close of the year was 92, the lowest on record in the present EDITORIAL NOTICES. century. IT is most important that communications relating to the It is recorded that the island has been in use by the Editorial business of THE LANCET should be addressed authorities as a convalescent resort. There military have exclusively "To THE EDITOR," and not in any case to any arrivals and of been constant departures convalescents from who may be supposed to be connected with the and and the benefit derived from gentleman Egypt elsewhere, they Editorial staff. It is urgently necessary that attention should the salubrious climate has been considerable. The absolute be given to this notice. mean for the was 66.48° as temperature year F., against It is that of local 65.21° in the year The mean rainfall was 16-12 especially requested early intelligence previous events a medical or which it is desirable as inches having interest, inches, against 23-49 during 1914, and an average under the notice of last ten to bring the profession, may be sent of 21-89 inches during the years. direct to this office. MILK IN THE REARING OF INFANTS. Lectures, original articles, and reports should be written on one side of the and when To the Editor THE LANCET. paper only, accompanied by of blocks it is requested that the name of the author, and if SIR,—Will any of your readers kindly inform me what possible of the article, should be written on the blocks to should be done in the rearing of infants when milk cannot facilitate identification. be taken ? The child in question is now 15 months old and Letters, whether intended for insertion or for private informa- refuses milk in any form; if pushed she retches. tion, must be authenticated by the names and addresses I am, Sir, yours faithfully, of their writers--not necessarily for publication. Dec. 26th, 1916. M.D., M.R.C.P. We cannot prescribe or recommend practitioners. understand of Local paper? containing reports or news paragraphs should One of Them.—We that the arrangement local be marked and addressed To the Sub-Editor." for discontinued. collectors Epsom College has not been Letters to the and In numerous the local relating publication, sale, advertising districts, however, honorary of THE LANCET should be addressed To secretaries are on at their departments engaged military duties, and the the central office is the local sub- Manager." request looking after We cannot undertake to return MSS. not used. scriptions. New collectors will, we are informed, be welcomed in districts where the College is not already Offices: 423, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. represented. MANAGER’S NOTICES. for Week. ALTERATION IN THE PRICE OF " THE LANCET." Medical Diary the ensuing INCREASED war expenses and cost of production necessitate an increase of the price of THE LANCET. Commencing with SOCIETIES. the first issue in the New Year, the price will be 8d. instead BONTGBN SOCIETY, Institution of Electrical Engineers, Victoria of 6d. The rates of subscription will remain as revised Embankment, W.C. in October. TUESDAY.-8.15 P.M., General Meeting. Paper :-Mr. C. A. Schunk: TO SUBSCRIBERS. A Spectroscopic Investigation of Some Sources of Ultra-Violet Radiation in Relation to Treatment by Ultra-Violet Rays - WILL Subscribers please note that only those subscriptions Dr. Batten will describe a Simple Cross-thread Frame for Use which are sent direct to the Proprietors of THE LANCET at in Localisation. their are dealt with _____ Offices, 423, Strand, London, W.C., by them? Subscriptions paid to London or to local newsagents LECTURES, ADDRESSES, DEMONSTRATIONS, &c. (with none of whom have the Proprietors any connexion POST-GRADUATE COLLEGE, West London Hospital, Hammersmith- whatever) do not reach THE LANCET Offices, and con- road, W. sequently inquiries concerning missing copies, &c., should MONDAY.-2 P.M., Medical and Surgical Clinics. X Rays. Mr. Gray: be sent to the Agent to whom the subscription is paid, and Operations. Mr. B. Harman: Diseases of the Eye. Dr. Simson : not to THE LANCET Offices. Diseases of Women. Subscribers, by sending their subscriptions direct to TUESDAY.-2 Medical and Clinics. X P.M., Surgical Rays. Mr. THE LANCET Offices, will ensure in the Baldwin : Operations. Dr. Banks Davis: Diseases of the Throat, regularity despatch Nose, and Ear. Dr. Pernet: Diseases of the Skin. of their Journals and an earlier delivery than the majority of WEDNESDAY.-IOA.M.,Dr. Saunders : Diseases of Children. Dr. Banks Agents are able to effect. Davis: Operations of the Throat, Nose, and Ear. 2 P.M.. Medical THE COLONIAL AND FOREIGN EDITION (printed on thin and Surgical Clinics. X Rays. Mr. Pardoe : Operations. Dr. paper) is published in time to catch the weekly Friday mails Simson: Diseases of Women. to all parts of the world. THURSDAY.—2 P.M., Medical and Surgical Clinics. X Rays. Mr. Gray : Operations. Mr. B. Harman : Diseases of the Eye. TO COLONIAL AND FOREIGN SUBSCRIBERS. 2 FRIDAY.-10 A.M., Dr. Simson: Gynaecological Operations. P.M., Subscribers abroad are to note the rates Medical and Clinics. X Mr. Baldwin : particularly requested Surgical Rays. Opera- on 4. tions. Dr. Banks Davis : Diseases of the Throat, Nose, and Ear. of subscriptions given page Dr. Pernet: Diseases of the Skin. The Manager will be pleased to forward copies direct from SATURDAY.—10 A.M., Dr. Saunde’s: Diseases of Children. Dr. Banks the Offices to places abroad at the rates shown, whatever be Davis: Operations of the Throat, Nose, and Ear. Mr. B. Harman : the weight of any of the copies so supplied. Eve Operations. 2 P.M., Medical and Surgical Clinics. X Rays. Mr. Pardoe: Operations. NORTH-EAST LONDON POST-GRADUATE COLLEGE, Prince of METEOROLOGICAL READINGS. Wales’s General Hospital, Tottenham. N. (Taken daily at 8.30 a.m. by Steward’s Instrzcrraerats.) MONDAY.-Clinics:-10.30 A.M., Surgical Out-patients (Mr. E. THE LANCEr Office, Dec. 27th, 1916. Gillespie). 2.30 P.M.. Medical Out-patients (Dr. T. R. Whipham): Gynaecological Out-patients (Dr. Banister). 3 P.M., Medical In-patients (Dr. R. M. Leslie). TUESDAY -2.30 P.M., Surgical Operations (Mr. Carson). Clinics :- Medical Out patients (Dr. A. G Auld); Surgical Out-patients (Mr. Howell Evans); Nose, Throat, and Ear Out-patients (Mr. C. H. Hayton). Radiography (Dr. Metcalfe). 3.30 P.M., Medical In-patients (Dr. A. J. Whiting). WEDNESDAY.—Clinics:—2.30 P.M., Throat Operations (Mr. C. H. Hayton). Children Out patients (Dr. T. R Whipham); Eye Out- patients (Mr. R. P Brooks) ; Skin Out-patients (Dr. H. W. Barber). 5.30 PM., Eye Operations (Mr. R. P. Brooks). THURSDAY.-2.30 P.M., Gynaecological Operations (Dr. A. E. Giles). Clinics :-Medical Out-patients (Dr. A. J. Whiting); Surgical Other information which we have been accustomed to give in these Out-patients (Mr. Carson ; ; Radiography (Dr. Metcalfe). 3 P.M., Readings" is withheld for the period of the war. Medical In-patients (Dr. R. M. Leslie). FRIDAY.-2.30 P.M., Surgical Operations (Mr. Howell Evans). The following Journals, magazines, &c., have been received :- Ulinics :-Medical Out-patients (Dr. A. G. Auld) ; Surgical Out- Proceedings of the Royal Society of M dicine, Medical Times, patients (Mr. E. Gillespie); Eye Out-patients (Mr. R. P. Brooks). British Journal of Dental Science. Military Surgeon, Canadian Practitioner and THE Review, Liverpool Medico-Chirurgical Journal, THROAT HOSPITAL, Golden-square, W. Archives of Radiology and Electrotherapy. Annali d’ Igiene, Annales MONDAY.-5.15 P.M., Special Demonstration of Selected Cases. de I’Institut Pasteur, Surgery, Gynecology, and Obstetrics, Tropical THURSDAY.-5.15 P.M., Clinical Lecture. Diseases Bulletin.