The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-16 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—Amongst half a dozen typographical inaccuracies
in my note of the 13th inst., perhaps you would let me
correct one which vitiates the entire subject under
review. I did not say the Turkish bath would " hurt
such an affliction as dropsy," &c.Eut benefit such an
affliction. I was more accurate th-an to say " Simpson,
the discoverer of chloroform." The word Simpson was
added. The great glory of ancesthetics is due to an Ame-
rican, whose name is almost unknown in newspaper litera-
ture. I need only further add, as to the "irrefragable
statistics" from my excellent neighbours in Jermyn-street,
which you believed I was in ignorance of, that I saw
them the day you published them, as the reference
to Dr. Goolden would show; and this note was
a reply to the idea that because a vast num-
ber of such statistics can be got together, that because a
large number of persons have taken Turkish baths without
very many deaths or coroners' inquests or complaints, that,
ergo, the baths are all perfect; the argument is the old one
as to Parr's pills, statistics, or endless ointments intended
to rejuvenate the world. As the thumb-screws in the
tower are of value in an archaeological way, so are strigils,
with which the Romans scraped their skin in the early
baths. These Romans had magnificent vomitoria, where
they vomited their meals in order that they might indulge
in the luxury of eating again; but we now know better,
and a cigar of the post prandial variety fills up the gap of
the vomitorian. We do without vomitoria and strigils, and
must not think the baths infallible.—Yours,
CHARLES KIDD, M.D.
Sackvillo-street, March 15.

China and Japan.

-- o---- --

The neck of the Taeping rebellion is broken, but,
says the China Mail:—" The various bands of
stragglers, consisting mostly of men belonging to
the original stock from which the insurrection
sprung, are massing together, the rendezvous being
some ten or fifteen miles from Fuhchau. People
are as usual getting out of the way, and taking
their most portable valuables with them. We re-
corded this many weeks ago, but we wait in vain
for any action of the mandarins of the district, or
instructions from the authorities of Peking. All
this while the rebel remnant are being enabled to
consolidate their force and throw up positions of
defence ; and it is quite likely that they are at
present so engaged. It would almost seem as if
Imperial callousness had reached the point of look-
ing upon the subjugation of the Taeping rebels as
more the affair of foreigners than of mandarins ;
and it is to be feared that the only way to awaken
the Chinese Government to a sense of danger would
be to treat this reduced body of insurrectionists in a
conciliatory spirit, and see whether commercial
relations of a satisfactory kind are attainable be-
tween Taeping and foreigner. It is just possible
that these rebels might embrace such an opportunity
of returning to the pursuits of peace, and
settling down in permanent homes. We are
not at all sanguine on the matter, but, as affairs now
stand, or rather hang, a settlement of one kind or
another is most desirable. Of course the arrange-
ment just hinted at would involve the capture of
Fuhchau, and the appropriatiou of the Customs
revenue, to which our new friends would have no
objections ; and as . they may have learned better
than to repeat the insolence to which they were
guilty at Ningpo, when they fired " salutes" with
shotted guns, it need not surprise us if the idea just
mooted should gain ground, even if it has not been
anticipated, in the highest quarters. The chief of
the remnant referred to is Shi Wang, and we shall
watch his movements with interest.

The same journal states :—The purchase of
steamers by powerful daimios seems to have gone
on more or less briskly in Japan. No less than ten
Japanese steamers, we learn by this mail, were seen
at anchor in the straits by her Majesty's steamer
Arrow, which happened to be on a cruise of inspec-
tion in order to ascertain the reliability of some re-
ports to the effect that the Prince of Nagato
(Chiusiu) had begun to rebuild his batteries. These
reports were found to be incorrect. The steamers
at anchor were said to be a portion of a fleet
assembliiig under thirty daimios, for the purpose of
punishing Nagato for rebellion against the Tycoon.
The names of the vessels already assembled are thus
given by a Japan contemporary :—Lotus, No One,
Sarah, Fohkien, Stork, Carthage, Cosmopolite,
Taotai, Gazelle, and Swatow. The Dutch Consu-
late buildings at Desima (Nagasaki) are announced
for sale, and will probably be bought by the English
Government.

FLOGGING AS THEY COME.—It is said that on one
occasion when a confirmation was to be held for the
school, each master was requested to make out and send
in a list of the candidates in his own form. One of them
wrote down the names on the first piece of paper which
came to hand, which happened unluckily to be one of the
slips of well-known size and shape used as flogging-bills,
and sent up regularly with the names of delinquents for
execution. The list was put into Keate's hands without,
explanation ; he sent for the boys in the regular course
and in spite of all protestations on their part, pointing to
the master's signature to the fatal " bill," flogged them all
(so the story goes) there and then. Another day a culprit
who was due for punishment could no where be found, and
the doctor was kept waiting on the scene of action for some
time in a state of considerable exasperation. In an evil
moment for himself, a namesake of the defaulter passed the
door ; he was seized at once by Keate's order, and brought
to the block as a vicarious sacrifice.—Blackwood's Magazine
for March.

CITY OF LONDON HOSPITAL.—The seventeenth
anniversary gathering of the friends of this institution was
held last evening at the London Tavern, and was so largely
attended that the ample dining-hall with difficulty found
accommodation: for all who adopted this practical method of
expressing sympathy with the objects of the charity. Lord
Enfield, M.P., presided, and in the course of some remarks
introductory to the toast of the evening said the primary
qualifications which he should deem essential in the case
of such a hospital as theirs were good drainage, pure air,
and a cheerful aspect. All these recommendations, he
was happy to say, united in the City of London Hospital,
which abutted on the Victoria Park, and received at
the east end of London a similar class of cases
to those which, at the west end, were treated in the
Brompton Consumptive Hospital honoured only the pre-
♦ious day by a visit from her Majesty the Queen. The
noble Chairman read extracts from the table of statistics,
with which he had been furnished, to illustrate the prac-
tical benefits conferred by the operations of the City of
London Hospital; and said that, in the presence of so many
distinguished medical me; he felt hesitation in ad-
vancing opinions of a professional nature, but they would
correct him if he was wrong in supposing that in the
earlier stages of disease atleast one-fourth of the cases were
curable, while the remaining three-fourths, even in later
stages, could be sensibly relieved. Having paid a warm
tribute of respect to the memory of the Earl of Carlisle,
late the President of the hospital, "an amiable and ac-
complished statesman, poet, and perfect gentleman in the
best sense of the word," Lord Enfield concluded by recom-
mending tho institution to the wannest sympathy and sup-
port of the public, as one which had done and was capable
of doing great things for the health and comfort—even for
the lives--of vast numbers of our fellow-countrymen. The
speeches were pleasantly interspersed with selections of
vocal music, given with the best effect by Miss Julia Elton,
Miss Emma Jenkins, Mr. Cummings, and Mr. Winn, under
the direction of Mr. Francis. The collection made in the
course of the evening amounted to upwards of 43,500.