The Express.
London, England, 1847-06-29 00:00:00

SCOTLAND.

EDINBURGH, JUNE 28.
A government pension of 2001. has ken conferred
on the widow and family of Dr. Chalmers. The
following is Lord John Raessll's letter to Mrs.
Chalmers:

Jew 21—.11.-1 ban
uss iss Zuttekastiefeett ;Lin;
elogemea tlstlr
londft et . Mir se. lea beta limed to
comma thea bee barbel jamb per &mold be
Mad Ware imd per iliegbamp, est et her liejeeles ewe nst.
Albw erne le ellik Set I trust SW tale eat ef Vie Qom nay mew
the reseeksthe el your lib ea takeoffs es the is duo alma lel
feeeelkisa partner will yemit.—l have the boom ta be,lllleien,
par eledieet, faithful antINA, J. laseges.
As the papers are filled with paragraphs about
fever, it may be well to give some particulars derived
from authentic medical sources. The cases in Edin-
burgh Infirmary are about 600; in Glasgow, 750,
and as yet no indication of decrease. The epidemic
is a short fever with an almost invariable relapse
about the 14th day—a circumstance worthy of par-
ticular notice. It is not fatal, except in those beyond
middle life, but its contagiousness is undoubted—
nurses, medical men, inspectors, and other function-
aries having been extensively attacked, and in
several instances fatally. Scurvy is probably not on
the decline, but it has been thrown irate the shade by
the more pressing danger of fever. In the Edinburgh
infirmary, many scurvy cases have been refused, on
account of the crowded state of the wards from fever.
Its victims have chiefly been railway labourers. The
cause is believed to be a saocharo-farinaceous diet, and
the cure mainly consists of a due admixture of animal
food, particularly of milk. With such diseases ra-
vaging our towns, it is to be regretted that hospital-
crowding and other provocative, of virulence should
be persisted in. What, for example, could be more
absurd than to convert the Glasgow police-office into
a temporary receptacle for fever patients—the ordi-
nary duties going on within the premises at sae and
the same time. It is also worthy of notice, that in
Edinburgh the services of the hospital physicians are
gratuitous, and in the new Glasgow Hospital this
liberal system was attempted, but the surgeons have
struck work unless they get fifty guineas per annum.

SCOTCH LITIOATION.-113 moving for an increase of salary
LO the sheriff substitutes of the lower ward of Lanarkshire,
the writers in Glasgow have given the statistics of litigation
in that part of the county. In ordinary actions the number
of judgments prononnoed, excluding those on a verbal hear-
ing, has been : in 1843, 1,361 ; in 1846, 2,207. In summary
actions, in 1843, 1,538; in 1846, 2,099. In the Small Debt
Court, in 1843, 10,301 new actions; in 1846, 15,617. In the
criminal trials by jury a proportionate increase is apparent.
FOOD IMPORTS are again pouring into Leith on a large
scale. On one day this week 12,861 quarters of various
kinds of grain were landed, and it is reported that on the
11th and 15th inst. respectively, 26 and 76 vessels passed the
Sound laden with grain for the British markets. An Aber-
deen vessel discharging at that port, also brings intelligence
that at her departure 1,200 veuels were taking in grain at
Riga.
Stover( YEOMATIRY.--In 1840 the cost of 889 officers and
13,818 men amounted to 87,9481. As these gentlemen arc
fond of amateur soldiership, it strikes us that all this expense
might be saved to the country. Rather than give up their
accoutrements and peancings, the yeomanry would probably
bear the expense out of their own pockets.
Szarous RAILWAY OFFENCL.—On the evening of Fri-
day last, says the Ayr Advertiser, an attempt was made to
throw the last train, from Glasgow to Ayr, off the rails. It
was made in the neighbourhood of Dairy, or rather near to
Swinlees, where twenty stories about the size of a man's list
were laid upon the rail, it is supposed in the expectation of
the iron rod in front of the engine wheel passing over them.
Fortunately this was not tested, as a surfaceman travelling
along part of the line discovered and removed the obstruc-
tions. A short time afterwards, one of the contractors
coming past the same spot, saw a piece of an iron railway
chair firmly fixed on the same rail, which leads to the sus-
fyi togni
nt htahtetnheei;shrie,
neighbourhood
.w who placed
gthtt atones must
tmouisiti
ihave s
ur ebeenr.
ous attempt • and, on seeing the removal of the stows, had
the hardihood to come upon the line again and fasten the
grooved iron on the roil. Alluditg to an alleged attempt at
concealing this misdeamenour, the Advertiser goes on to re•
I mark : " Surely the public have a right to know, through
the press, both that such an attempt hes been mule, and
whether they are likely to be protected from such danger in
future by the anprehensien and punishment of so reckless an
off:nder. So far as we can learn, he is yet at large,"