404 The PRESIDENT said that appendicitis might occur in infancy (i.e., under 2 years), but it was rare, the diagnosis difficult, and its course rapid. In all cases the younger the New Inventions. child the more serious the prognosis. Acute pancreatitis following mumps was an occasional cause of acute abdomen in children. These cases tended to recover. There might AN ABDOMINAL RETRACTOR. be no discoverable at the onset of a absolutely signs pneu- IN many abdominal sections a suitable exposure of the monia, and rapidity of respiration was not a reliable guide. field of operation adds considerably to the facility of their Many bilious attacks and some cases of cyclic vomiting arose performance. This is particularly true in gynaecological from an appendicitis. Epidemic outbreaks of appendicitis work in which the depth of the pelvis affords additional in schools, often concurrent with epidemics of tonsillitis, suggested the possibility of some infectious agent. FIG. 1. Mr. G. MORGAN (Brighton), Mr. G. L. CRIMP (Walton-on- Thames), and Dr. W. C. CHAFFEY (Hove) quoted illustrative cases. Mr. J. S. KELLETT SMITH (London and Eastbourne) read a paper upon The Neeessity for Selection and for Skilled Supervision in the T,reat7nent of Spinal Defornaities by Exercise. There was a distinct danger of cases of this kind drifting into the hands of people who held training school certificates, but had little anatomical knowledge. Efficient exercises were powerful measures, and demanded as much skill and care as the use of any other powerful remedy, whether surgical or medical. Many cases were quoted to show the advisability of sometimes combining mechanical methods with treatment by exercise, and various types of patients were instanced in whom some factor other than the spinal deformity exerted an influence both upon the treatment and the progress of the case. The selection of suitable exercises for each individual was an essential to success. Mr. A. S. BLUNDELL BANKART (London), in a paper on Acicte . Poliomyelitis, absolutely condemned the treatment of recovering paralysis difficulty in any surgical procedure. A retractor is frequently ’’ needed that not access to the site of by massage, electricity, exercises, and removable splints. only gives ready opera- He advocated continuous fixation of the paralysed parts in tion, but is of simple design and manipulation. It should be plaster-of-Paris. This avoided passive stretching and ensured capable of easy enlargement and it should be possible to complete relaxation of the muscles. alter the position or inclination of any blade without inter- fering with the instrument as a whole. To meet these ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF FIG. 2. ENGLAND. MEETING OF COUNCIL. AN ordinary meeting of the Council was held on July 31st, Sir RICKMAN J. GODLEE, the President, being in the chair. In accordance with a report of the Court of Examiners diplomas of Membership were granted to 85 successful candidates, and in conjunction with the Royal College of Physicians of London Diplomas in Public Health were issued to 29 successful candidates. It was resolved to recognise the following institutions for instruction in Chemistry and Physics for the Examining Board in England : Exeter School, Northampton and County School, Northampton, and Taunton School. Mr. Arthur Rendle Short was elected a member of the Board of Examiners in Anatomy and Physiology for the Fellowship, and Mr. Norman Godfrey Bennett was elected I have the which is a member of the Board of Examiners in Dental Surgery. conditions devised abdominal retractor, illustrated in the 1 The following were elected Honorary Fellows :- accompanying Figs. and 2. Raffaele Bastianelli, Professor of Clinical Surgery, Royal University It has been made for me by Messrs. Down Bros., of Rome; August Bier, Professor of Surgery, University of Berlin ; 21 and 23, St. Thomas’s-street, London, S.E., and for of Frederic Dougan Bird. M.B., B.S., Lecturer in Surgery, University it the are claimed : 1. Its mechanics Melbourne; George Washington Crile, M.A., M.D., Professor of Sur- following advantages are it is of small and introduced with gery, Western Reserve University, Cleveland, U.S.A. ; Harvey simple, light, bulk, Cushing, M.D., Professor of Surgery, Harvard University; Anton ease. 2. After intro- duction it is self- FIG., 3. Freiherr von Eiselsberg, LL.D., M.D., Professor of Clinical Surgery, and remains and University of Vienna; Ernst Fuchs, M.D., Professor of Ophthalmology, retaining absolutely fixed, University of Vienna; Henri Hartmann, M.D., Professor of Clinical attachment or detach- ment of any blade Surgery, University of Paris; Werner Kórte, Geheimer Sanitats-Rath, can be accomplished. 3. Director of the Surgical Division of the Urban Municipal Hospital, speedis ily effected in either direc- Berlin; William James Mayo, M.D., Surgeon, St. Mary’s Hospital, Enlargement readily Rochester, Minn., U.S.A.; Ambroise Monprofit, M.D., Professor of tion. 4. The position or inclination of any Clinical Surgery, School of Medicine of Angers, University of Paris; blade is altered at will, and by placing John Benjamin Murphy, A.M., M.D., LL.D., Professor of Clinical the blade in desired the Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, U.S.A. ; Johan Nicolaysen, any position M.D., Profeasor of Surgery, Royal Fredericks University, Kristiania; frame is automatically locked. There is Vladimir A. Oppel, Imperial Military Academy of St. Petersburg; thus no need for any binding screws, &c., Francis Professor of John Shepherd, M.D., C.M., LL.D., Anatomy and on the frame itself. 5. blades have Operative Surgery, MeGill’University, Montreal; and Theodore Tuffier, Special Professeur Agrege de Chirurgie a l’Université de Paris. been devised for attachment in any desired position at either end of the in work the A letter was read from Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson thanking retractor-e.g., pelvic the Council for their resolution of condolence on the death intestines, after being packed off with gauze, are held aside of his father, Sir Jonathan Hutchinson. by a special framework (Fig. 3) which is connected to the frame of the instrument. A letter was also read from Mrs. Willett, thanking the Council for their resolution of condolence on the death of HAROLD CHAPPLE, M.C. Cantab., F.R.C.S. Eng. her husband, Mr. Alfred Willett. St. Thomas’s-street, S.E..