And Obstructing the Thoroughfare. Stapleton Sanitary District There Are
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496 THE RADICAL CURE OF HYDROCELE BY EXCISION. have had an order from Heaven on the subject; but that is the dumping ground for the sickness of Bristol. There matters not-he is insane; the desire is the product of a was no small-pox in this district till it was brought from diseased mind, and he is no more responsible for this dis- Bristol to one of the above workhouses, and thence it spread ordered cerebration than is the epileptic who falls down chiefly in the neighbourhood of the hospital, as is shown by convulsed in the street responsible for creating a disturbance a chart which I sent to the Local Government Board. In the and obstructing the thoroughfare. same way the medical officer for St. George’s thinks it arose The "opinion of the judges" still remains the letter of the in his district. Ilorfield, I understand, has only had two law in England; but the spirit of the law, as displayed in cases, and they were clearly traced to Bristol. As to the the utterances of our most liberal-minded and enlightened joint hospital, the matter fell through because the site judges, shows a considerable advance. It may truly be said selected was in the Stapleton district; and I think the ob- that the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." jection was reasonable considering we have already two I foci of infection. Our committee are the am, Sirs, yours faithfully, _. - - - sanitary taking S. A. K. STRAHAN, M.D., necessary steps to provide an infectious diseases hospital. ,March 5th, 1888. Barrister-at-Law. It is now six weeks since the last case appeared in this district, and, with the exception of that case, all the others "THE RADICAL CURE OF HYDROCELE who were willing were properly isolated either in their own BY EXCISION." houses or in the hospital of the union, with the guardians of which we for the of To the Editors THE LANCET. arranged reception paying patients. of 1 am, Sirs, yours truly, SiRs,-From the report of the discussion which followed WILLIAM BROWN, "Mr. Henry Morris’s paper on the Radical Cure of Ilydrocele at Fishponds, March 5th, 1888. Medical Officer of Health. the Medico-Chirurgical Society last week it would appear that *** We can quite understand that the facts are as reported the treatment by excision of the tunica vaginalis has not as by Dr. Wm. Brown. For a long time past it has been evident yet become very generally adopted. Having now performed that small-pox was being disseminated by reason of the objec- this in five cases, I should like to a word or two operation say tionable practice of using workhouse buildings as small-pox in favour of it, for in my hands it has been attended the by The of the true facts has .most satisfactory results. Four of the cases have already hospitals. difficulty ascertaining been recorded in THE LANCET (September 10th, 1887), been due to the hospital being connected with a workhouse, along with some remarks on the way in which the opera- and for that reason being subjected to no proper medical - tion should be carried out. At the present time, three of supervision by the central authority.-ED. L. the patients are still free from any evidence of recurrence of the hydrocele, and the fourth also was when last seen some months after the operation. The fifth case under recently LIVERPOOL. my care was one of suppuration of a hydrocele after tapping, when the sac wall was in a very thickened condition. From (From our own Correspondent.) a comparison of the results in these cases with those ob- tained in several others treated and 1 by injection incision, THE WINTER ASSIZBS. have come to the conclusion that in cases of hydrocele, espe- cially when the tumour has been frequently tapped and the MR. JUSTICE GRANTHAM has been presiding in the Crown tunica vaginalis has become somewhat thickened, the ex- Court since the 18th ult. Among other prisoners brought cision method is by far the most certain means of bringing before him was a Greek, a firt:man on board an English vessel, about a radical cure.-I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, stabbing another Greek,who was also one of the F. A. F.R.C S. charged with SOUTHAM, crew. The latter would to have been a to the Manchester Royal appear big, powerful Asst.-Surgeon Infirmary. " Manchester, March 6th, 1888. fellow, and a great bully," the prisoner, a small and com- paratively weak man, being a frequent victim of his THE CHIAN TURPENTINE TREATMENT OF violence. On Jan. 31st, when within six days’ sail of CANCER. Liverpool, the deceased assaulted the prisoner with a back. handed stroke peculiar to Greek sailors. The prisoner, who To the Editors of THE LANCET. was breakfasting at the time, stabbed the deceased on the buttock and front of the as SIRS,—In my letter on the above subject in THE LANCET thigh, selectingtheseregions being least The deceased died from seven of Dec. 17th I mentioned that I had then under treatment dangerous. haemorrhage hours afterwards, and was buried at sea. His clothes were Chian a case of uterine and that in by turpentine cancer, produced, and cuts were visible on the front of the thigh due course I would report the result. I regret to say that and on that part which would cover the buttock. The the issue has been a fatal one. The turpentine treatment knife was also produced, and had stains, apparently of was commenced at the period when the indurated cervix blood, on the blade. The jury acquitted the prisoner. was beginning to break down, and was maintained up to a Another prisoner, a seaman, was tried and sentenced to fortnight before death, when, owing to the great and con- eighteen months’ imprisonent with hard labour for stabbing tinuous nausea produced, it was discontinued. Whilst the the second mate in two places without any provocation. drug had no effect whatever in arresting the progress of the disease, the ulcerative process steadily progressing, A UNIQUE CASE. and converting the cervix into an irregular, excavated Many cases of pregnancy after successful ovariotomy are chasm, it seemed to act beneficially in two respects. The on record, but such a fortunate sequence in a case where, discharge, never at any time great, was lessened; and the before operation, the menopause had apparently been estab- pain, which before taking the turpentine even increasingly lished for years, is not on record. The following is, how- large doses of opiates could not make bearable, was, with ever, such a case. The patient, a lady, gave birth to her - the exception of a short period before death, markedly last child in July, 1882, she being then thirty-five years of diminished. I am, Sirs, yours truly, age. She did not nurse this child. Shortly after, menstrua- Leytonstone, Feb. 27tb, 1888. J. KING KERR, tion became irregular, and finally ceased towards the end of M.D. 1884, when she consulted Dr. Burton, surgeon to the Hospital for Women, who a small ovarian tumour. No SMALL-POX ISOLATION NEAR diagnosed BRISTOL. operation was then recommended, as the tumour was small To the Editors of THE LANCET. and freely movable ; so nothing was done beyond keeping the under observation until when SIRS,—In last issue you make a statement on the patient February, 1887, your the removal of the tumour was considered advisable. The of a member of the Bristol authority Sanitary Authority operation was therefore performed by Dr. Burton on the that small-pox is extending and crossing the border into 18th of that month, when a small tumour, which subsequently Bristol. This is misleading and contrary to the facts. In proved to be a sarcoma of the right ovary, was removed. Stapleton sanitary district there are unfortunately two After this had been done the left ovary was examined. It workhouses to which are attached small-pox hospitals. was found to be small, ivory white, and indurated, and One of these workhouses is solely for Bristol; the other is for no suspicion existed in the minds of those who were pre- the use of 111,264 of the Bristol population, as well as for that sent that it contained any more ova to mature. It was of some neighbouring districts. Practically, then, Stapleton then returned. Exactly a month after the operation-viz" 497 March 10th-the patient menstruated, for the first time for NEEDLES IN A WOMAN’S BODY. three and continued to do so on the nearly years, regularly At intervals the last few 18th of each month until when she ceased, and during months, twenty needles, August, about an inch and a half in have been of soon after made their mostly length, symptoms pregnancy appearance. extracted from the of a woman in tne The was verified about the end of the fifth body Guisborough pregnancy Workhouse. She suffers from month, and has, up to the run a normal (North Yorkshire) epileptic present, perfectly and she states that some she had a severe course, the in most excellent health. fits, years ago patient being and had mustard all over her Liverpool, March 7th. illness, poultices placed body, which were fastened tightly round with needles, and she thinks that a quantity must then have penetrated her body. NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES. Newcastle-on-Tyne, March 6th. (From our own Correspondent.) NEWUA8TLE U.HILDREN8 .HU81’ITAL. EDINBURGH. THE annual meeting of the Newcastle Hospital for Sick (From our own Correspondent.) Children was held last week.