The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-01-24 00:00:00

LOCAL NEwS

PUBLICAN'S FINES.—The amount of penalties inflicted
upon publicans on Friday amounted to £53 10s., and that
on other parties to £2. 9s. Gd.
The Cheshire Foxhounds meet to-morrow (Wednesday),
at Tatton
Park Park ; on Friday, at Beeston ; and on Saturday,
at Tabley ;--each day at half-past ten.
LIVERPOOL SAVINGS BANk.—During the three first bank
days in the present year, the sum of £8,079 was received
from 208 depositors, being a larger number of deposits and
amount than at any other corresponding period for several
years past.
THE JESSIE LOGAN.—The following was posted up on
Friday at the Exchange News Room. The crew of the Jessie
Logan, Captain Major, from Calcutta to Liverpool, were
taken into Cork on Wednesday, the 18th instant, by the
Lynn.

ANOTHER STEAMER Losr.—Letters have within the last
day or two been received in London reporting the loss of the
Dolphin steamer; she is said to have been driven ashore
during the tempest at Portinllean, and was every hour ex-
pected to fall to pieces. She belongs to Liverpool.
THE WRECK OF THE MONK STEAMER.—At the inquest
on Monday week on the bodies of the sufferers by this
melancholy occurrence, the jury found the following verdict,
" Accidentally drowned," expressing their opinion that the
steamer was not sufficiently seaworthy, and ought not to have
been placed upon the station, and that great blame was at-
tached to those having charge of her in leaving Porthdynllaen
on the day in question.
exerti
THE
ons PI
of the bands onLOT-BOATS.—These admirab
enabled b
to keep their
respective stations on the night of the terrific storm. Nos.
1,4, and 5 were on the western stations, and No. 12 on the
light-ship station succeeded the following morning in board-
ing the Hottinguer, Monongahela, and several other vessels,
in a most tremendous sea ; and, in all probability, but for
the courage and presence of mind displayed by the pilots,
these vessels would have shared the fate of the unfortunate
packet-ships which suffered in the gale of January 1839-
COMMITMENTS.—At the Police-court, yesterday,
girls, named Sarah White, Sarah Thomas, and Jane Brown,
were committed for trial at the sessions, on a charge of hav-
ing gone into the shop of Mr. Ingham, draper, Scotland-
road, to purchase some small articles, and thence purloining
lb yards of common print. The cloth was found wrapped
round one of their bodies before they left the shop, where they
had recently been frequently seen together.—Edward Hum-
phries was also committed for trial, for stealing seven pairs
of braces from the shop-door of Mr. Album, Whitechapel.
DEATH FROM A FALL—An inquest was held yesterday,
before Mr. Curry, on view of the body of James Sudlow.
The deceased, who was 61 years of age, on Thursday evening
last, fell down the steps of a cellar in Colling,wood-street,
by which he was so severely injured that he was picked up
insensible. He was bled by a surgeon immediately after,
and recovered for a time. He was afterwards attended at
his own house, but gradually got worse, and died on Satur-
day. Mr. Clark, surgeon, who attended him, stated the
cause of death to be concussion of the spine. Verdict—
Found injured in a cellar, and died from injury to the
spine ; but how the injury was caused there was no evidence
to show."

DEATH FROM SCALDlNG.—Yesterday, an inquest was
held before Mr. Curry, borough coroner, on view of the
body of Jane Thompson, a child of two years and a half old.
On the 11th instant, the mother of the deceased and another
female were at home washing in Orrell-street. There was
an iron pot on the floor about half full of hot water. The
mother went to cut a piece of bread for deceased, who fol-
lowed her, and in doing so she stumbled against the pot, and
overturned it, and the hot water went over her. She was
severely burnt over the right shoulder and under the arm.
She was taken to the dispensary arid dressed, and afterwards
attended by a surgeon, but she never recovered, and died on
Sunday morninc, last. Verdict—" Accidental death from
the burning."

SEIZURE OF AN ILLICIT STlLL.—Yesterday Mr. Super-
visor Gibson, and several other officers of excise, appeared
before Mr. Rushton, at the Police Court, and preferred a
"onaplaint against Patrick jonelly, John Rayner, and three
other persons, two females and a man, for having worked an,
illicit still. It appeared that having received certain informa-
tion, the officers went to No. 2, Gore-street North, on Satur-
day last. On looking through an aperture in the door they
saw and heard the prisoners Donnelly and Rayner conversing
!Ilion the flavour of some whiskey which they were tasting.
They then went in, anti in the cellar they found a still in full
operation. A great deal of disturbance followed, in the
course of which Donnelly threw two quart bottles full of
whiskey into the fire, whereby the house, for some time, was
in danger of being in flames. These two men were, however,
secured, and the other prisoners, being found up stairs, they
also were placed in custody. All the materials for manufac-
turing whiskey, and forty gallons of " wash,"were found and
seized. All the prisoners protested their innocence. Don.
nelly and Rayner were convicted in the penalty of £3O e PC
and, in default of payment, they were committed to the
rough Gaol for three months. The other prisoners ter
discharged.

I't7NRRAL OF MR. INSPECTOR Cithiwn.—The funeral
of Mr. Crouch, inspector of police, who died last week after
a protracted illness, took place yesterday afternoon, and was
attended by the whole of the disposable police-officers of the
northern division of the town, the superintendants, the chief
constable, and a number of private friends. The procession,
which consisted of several hundreds, followed the remains
from the deceased's residence in Richmond-row, along the
principal line of streets, leading southward, in the hi;ilier
part of the town, to St. James's—the Mount Cemetery.
The whole presented throughout a most impressive and
mournful appearance. The picturesque burying-ground was
much crowded as the last rites were performed. The de-
ceased, who had been in the force for 10 or 12 years, was a
highly meritorious and active officer. He was about 36

years of age

THE FUNDS: SATURDAY EVENING.—The funds have
experienced further improvement to-day, a large purchase of
Consols, to the extent, it is said, of £120,000, having been
concluded fur delivery on Tuesday next, by one of the leading
brokers, who is known to have a great share of the business
of the west end bankers. A general supposition prevails that
the operation proceeds from one of these establishments being
dosirous of laying out their unemployed capital at interest.
For one portion of the stock so bought 94k was paid, and
for the remainder the rather higher quotation of 95. In other
respects the English securities were firm, and altogether a
fair a nount of business was transacted. The last price of
Consols for money and the account was 94k to 95 ; Bank
Stock, 171 to 173 ; Exchequer-bills, 635. to 655. premium ;
India Stock, 262 to 263 ; Three per Cents. Reduced, 951 to
Three-and-a-Half per Cents. Reduced, 102 ; New Tcree-
and-a-Half per Cents., 101 to k ; Long Annuities, 12i ; and
India Bonds, 60 premium. In the foreign market no pro-
minent feature occurred beyond the continuance of much
steadiness in prices. Spanish Actives left off 18i to k ; ditto
New, 2311 to k ; Portuguese converted, 354 to 61 ; Mexican,
321 to A ; ditto Deferred, 9k to 3 ; Dutch Two-and-a-Half per
Cents., 52 to 4 ; Dutch Five per Cents., 102 - to k ; Danish,
85 to 86 ; Brazilian, 731 to 741 ; and Belgian, 1024. to 4.
THE INFANT SAPFHO'S FAREWELL CONCERT.—The
Infant Sappho gave her farewell concert last evening in the
Music-hall, which was filled by a highly respectable auditory.
The intentive talent of this remarkable child has surprised
every one, and none more so than the most experienced mu-
sical professors : in Manchester as well as Liverpool the
unanimous verdict of all who have heard her has been that
for her age she is a musical prodigy. She sang her usual
pieces last night, but with the additon of a Magnificat,
which she gave with much taste, delicacy, and expression,
for which she was warmly applauded. Her performances,
indeed, elicited universal admiration. Besides the efforts of
Mr. Vining. father of the Infant Sappho, Mr. Richard An-
drews and Master Andrews, of Manchester, greatly interested
the auditory by performing several duets on the piano-forte
and the concertina. At the close Mr. Vining returned
thanks for the support and encouragement his daughter had
met with in Liverpool : he should never forget the remem-
brance of it, not so much from any pecuniary benefit, but
from its showing that the extraordinary talent of his daughter
was appreciated in this town. We understand that the
Infant Sappho is about to visit Dublin, and we strongly re-
commend her to the notice of our contemporaries in that

THEATRE-ROYAL—The tragedy of " Othello" was re-
presented on Friday last, when a 11r. Hoskins made his
debut before a Liverpool audience. We understood that it
was. Mr. Richard Hoskins that was about to essay this cha-
racter, and therefore attended with some curiosity ; how-
ever, it was not " Mister Richard " that appeared, but had
it been his veritable self it could not have •been done with
more humour. Whence this Mr. Hoskins comes, or whi-
ther he goeth, " deponent sayeth not" ; but if he be an
amateur, we can commend his attempt as rather creditable—
if a professional, as unworthy of notice. The Roderigo of
a Mr. Perkins was really quite ludicrous. Mr. Stuart's lago
was very clever : we never saw him act so well. Mrs. Sey-
mour's Desdemona was a charming and talented impersona-
tion of a wonderful creation of the poet's fancv.—The Pan-
tomime goes off capitally. The new clown, Mr. Wood, is
decidedly the best actor of this line of business we have seen
since Joe Grimaldi. His restless activity and his humour
keep the scene alive. But where are the huge pockets that
Joey used to wear, in which everything moveable, from a pig
down to a pin, used to.find its way I—Amongst the novelties
we see the " Tempest" is underlined for Monday next. The
new opera of " Marinette" is in preparation, and will shortly
be produced.

ST. JAMES'S CHURCH, 'LATCHFORD, WARRINGTON.—
Some of our radical contemporaries, and especially the Man.
chester Guardian and Liverpool Journal, have recently
made a great stir about the refusal of the Rev. Jas. Wright,
Incumbent of Latchford Church, Warrington, to bury a
child who had not been baptized. It is perfectly true that
Mr. Wright did refuse to read the burial service over the
child in question, though not before he ascertained that the
child had not been baptized at all ; but it is equally true that
the rubric in the prayer-book, which is the law of the land,
left him, under the circumstances of the case, no option. It
is, however, contrary to the fact, that Mr. Wright had pre-
viously buried several of the children of the same parent, as
he has read the service over one only, and that because he was
not aware that the child had not been baptized ; and it can-
not possibly be true that Mr. Wright has buried unbaptized
persons to any great extent, as there have been but twenty-
five funerals at the church within a period of eight years, and
two of these were Mr. Wright's own children. We under-
stand that the bishop of the diocese and the father of the
child have both expressed their approval of Mr. Wright's
behaviour. With all due deference to our contemporaries
the case of this child could not give rise to the questioi
whether " a person dying and not having attained the agi
at which baptism is administered by a particular class o
dissenters, is entitled to burial according to the law of thi
established church." That question is settled by law, an(
unless dissenters can without scruple expect the clergy o
the established church to violate their consciences and tin
law of the land, they should forbear a little on this point
As to any displeasure on the part of Mr. Wrights congrega•
tion at the occurrence, we believe no such feeling has beer
manifested ; and we are informed, by parties resident in the
neighbourhood, that there has never been the slightest inter-
ference on the part of the congregation with the discharge of
Mr. Wrights ministerial duties, and no doubt they find that
the affairs of the church go on quite as well without it We
can readily believe that many a dissenting clergyman :would
give all he is worth to be allowed to perform his ministerial
functions with equal freedom.
DEATH AT TIIE RAILWAY STATION, WAPPlNG.—Yes-
terday, an inquest was held before the borough coroner,
touching the death of Henry Pinington, a man aged 33
years. On Friday evening last, the deceased and some other
men were employed at the Railway Station, Wapping, in
loading a waggon with balks of timber. A crane was employed
in hoisting them, and lowering them on the waggon. After
' the third balk (weighing, upwards of three tons) was hoisted
up, the deceased, who had charge of the lowering, took hold
of the rope to lower, but the apparatus being insufficient,
(there being no regular break to the crane,) the balk went
down by the run, and could not be properly placed on the
waggon. One of the men on going round the crane im-
mediately afterwards, found the deceased lying on the ground,
just under the break, which consisted of three turns of the
rope round the shaft or barrel of the crane. The blood was
flowing from his ears, and there was a large wound on the
left ear. The deceased was taken to the Southern Hospital.
The iron wrench handle of the crane was found broken. In
the opinion of the other men who were working the crane, is
was not sufficient to lower such a weight with safety.—A
police-officer, who found the broken handle, (which had no
doubt struck the deceased,) expressed the same opinion.—
W. W. Cochrane, manager of the porters, said that a rope
twisted round the shaft of the crane had been used for some
time as a break for the crane, which had been in use for
about ten years. He did not consider the break sufficient to
lower the balk on it when the deceased was killed ; but it was
at the option of the parties using the crane, to use the break
or not at their option. The break (by the rope round the
shaft,) would be of some assistance, if two men were at the
handles, but not of itself. The men were aware of the state
it was in, arid that it would not support such a balk.—Mr.
Chaloner, surgeon of the Southern Hospital, said the de-
ceased was brought to the hospital in a state of insensibility,
and died before one on the following morning. The cause of
death was fracture of the skull, causing compression of the
brain.—The jury, after being briefly addressed by the coro-
ner, consulted for a short time, but not entirely agreeing,
they were about to be placed under the custody of the beadle
to consider their verdict, when those few who had stood out
gave way to the majority, and they returned a verdict of
" Accidental death," with an addendum, levying a deodand
on the crane (which belongs to the Liverpool and Manches-
ter Railway Company) of £2O.
LAW RELATING TO FIRES.—On Saturday last, Mr. As-
pinall, the barrister, appeared before Mr. Rushton, for the
purpose of substantiating an accusation preferred by Mr.
Whitehouse, agent for the West of England Insurance Com-
pany, against James Rigby, who was charged with having
carelessly set fire to the premises of Messrs. Platt and Co.,
in Greenland-street, on the 22d December last. The infor-
'nation was laid under the 81th clause of the Act 14 George
111., cap. 78, which enacts, in substance, " that, if any
servant shall be lawfully convicted of firing, or causing
to be fired, any dwelling-house or outhouse or houses, or
other buildings, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of one
hundred pounds to the churchwardens or overseers of the
poor, or, in default of payment, be committed to prison for
eighteen months." Mr. Aspinall said, the fire-office had
been induced to take this proceeding in consequence of the
numerous instances which had occurred of buildings having
been set on fire by the carelessness of servants. It was pro-
per to show such individuals that, if lives and property were
endangered by their negligence, they were liable to punish-
ment. The defendant was distilling turpentine. He must
have known the danger of carrying a light near the pans
while that process was going on, for he had been in Messrs.
Platt's service many years, and knew that all the pans were
provided with gas and with safety lamps, which would ena-
ble any person to look into them. Nevertheless, he took a
lighted stick for the purpose of looking into one of the pans,
and the result was, that the vapour ignited immediately, and
the whole building was presently in flames. None of the
partners of the firm were present at the time ; and he was
the more particular in making this observation, as a contrary
statement had gone abroad. Ile would be able to prove that
the defendant had done as he stated, and that he knew it to
be a practice fraught with danger.—Benjamin Platt, jun., a
partner in the firm, stated that the defendant had been in
their service twenty years. Their works consisted of a dis-
tillery, yard, an office, and a house, in one room of which a
person resided. General instructions were given that lights
were not allowed to be carried about. There was a gas-light
to each pan, which gave sufficient light for all purposes. It
would depend on the state of the pan whether there would
be any danger in using a light. If the pan were hot, it
would send up an inflammable vapour, and it would be dan-
gerous to use a light. From the experience of the defendant,
he must have known that it was dangerous to take a light to
look into the pan at that time.—John Edwards was called,
but he did not answer.--Mr. Aspinall begged for time, but
Mr. Rushton said, as this was a highly penal clause, and the
defendant stood then on his defence, he could not grant it.—
George Findlater, Messrs. Platt's foreman, was called, but
he was unable to prove anything material.--Mr. Rushton
read the clause in the act, as given above, and said that some
other questions might have arisen, even if the evidence had
been complete. As it was, the defendant must be acquitted

SINGULAR MISTAKE.—When Dr. Keate was the Head
Master of Eton College, and sitting one afternoon enthroned
in his awful chair in the upper school, a person was seen ad-
vancing from the lower end, clad in scarlet, the livery of
royalty. Nothing doubting his regal origin, and supposing
him to be the bearer of a message from his Sovereign, the
doctor received him with marked courtesy and his best smile ;
when, what was his astonishment at hearing him ask per-
mission to perform feats of legerdemain in the lower school
—in truth, it was no other than Mr. Moon, e conjuror
We leave our readers to imagine the amusementth this afforded
to the boys, and need hardly say that this request was re-
fused instanter.
Poor LORD MORI'ETII has been writing a namby-pamby
school-boy epistle to some " dear Mrs. Chapman" in Amc-
rikv• and published in'the Liberty Bell, for circulation at a
" Slavery Fair," held at Boston in December last. As a spe-
cimen of style and research—original and quotation—we sub-
mit the following:—
" I am conscious (my dear Mrs. Chapman,) that I may
seem to you to magnify any possible effect that might proceed
from some probably very pointless scrap of composition ; but
in all these matters it should be more a question of principle
than of degree. I have seen before now that the susceptibi-
lity ofnations can stoop very low, as well as soar very high.
If a foreign chime should be detected in the peal of the Li.
berly Bell, I know not what startling echoes it might not
awaken in the deepest recesses of Accomac. There is a line
which we happen to have often heard quoted among ourselves
Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow ?"

LIVERPOOL EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY

The annual general meeting of the subscribers to the Ey,
nd Ear Infirmary was held on Saturday last, in the Claren

don-rooms, South John-street, for the purpose of receivin

Union in the past year, the election of officers, and the trans-

action of other business appertaining to the annual meeting
GEORGE GRANT, Esq., president of the institution, toot

The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings by observing that
the ooject of the meeting was to receive the report of the pro-
ceedings of the Eye. and Ear Infirmary during the past year.
It was not for him, perhaps, to enter into any statement of
details, as the report would be read which had been drawn up by
those who had witnessed the usefulness of the charity, and who
had taken all due pains to promote and support it. He re-
gretted to state that an institution so eminently useful as this,
which hail done, such a vast extent of service to the suffering
poor, and others, should be so feebly supported in this large
and important place. He could only hope that they whom
he had the honour to address would be so kind as to use
their influence with their friends, and in that way contribute,
as much as possible, to the success of the institution, by
means of increased subscriptions, without which the institu-
tion, he feared, although he trusted it might not, must be
abandoned. lie was sorry to hear that the charity was now
in debt, but he did not despair that through the exertions of
its supporters, a town so celebrated as this for every thing
charitable and good,. would step forward and maintain
an institution so eminently valuable and useful. He had no
more to say at present; and he would conclude by calling
upon the Treasurer and Secretary to read their reports.
Mr. JOHN CROSSFIELD, treasurer to the institution, said,
that before reading his accounts he would state, that the
committee had practised every economy consistent with the
efficiency of the charity. The annual expenditure was con-
siderably short of £3OO, yet with that small means 9,000
cases had been relieved, a circumstance which afforded the
best proof of its utility. He was sorry to say that the insti-
tution had a debt of about £7O to commence the year with.
He hoped the announcement of this fact would induce in-
creased support, for it was to be much lamented if one of the
most useful institutions in Liverpool should be neglected.
Mr. Crossfield then read the accounts. The receipts appeared
to be £2BB. Os. 10d. ; and after defraying every expense there
was a balance remaining due to the treasurer of £23. 16s. 10d.,
which, with £5O of bills yet to come in, would make the
debt upwards of £7O.
Mr. T. C. DUNIXVIE, the honorary secretary, then read
the report of the committee.

The report stated that in the Eye Department of the in-
stitution, from its establishment in 1820, 35,864 patients had
received relief, and in the Ear Department, from 1839, the
period of its commencement, 6,285 persons had been bene-
fitted—thus showing that in two of the most sensitive and
useful organs, the eye and the ear, 42,149 individuals have
been restored to comparative happiness. This vast good had
been effected at the trifling annual outlay of £290, and out
of a hich, independently of out-door relief, the committee
have been enabled to maintain and relieve, during last year,
50 in-door patients,—some from Lancashire and other places
in England; others from Ireland and Scotland, and some
from even North America.
Patients suffering from contusions, wounds, burns, and
particles of steel, &c., to the number of 145 of our best
operative mechanics have, during last year, been afforded
relief, and by such relief were enabled to resume their re-
spective occupations.
The committee have received during the year a donation of
£25 from John Ripley, Esq., and donations from George
Grant, Esq., and three other gentlemen to the amount of
£23 45., yet this excellent charity is in debt, and the com-
mittee appeal strongly to the liberality of the public for
increased support.
After readin; this report Mr. NEILL, the philanthropic
and efficient medical officer of the institution, read a number
of interesting cases, showing in their results the valuable
benefits conferred by the society through the skill and at-
tention of himself and the other medical officer of the
establishment. We extract two or three as well worth the
perusal of our readers :
" John Fyvie, aged 20, from Rathfriland, County of Down,
Ireland, came to your hospital on the 11th of April, quite
blind :in infancy an injury had destroyed one eye—the other
became blind from cataract. He left the institution on the
17th of June, with his sight restored by operation. This
young man's sight was wonderfully acute. I have received a
letter from the Rev. Mr. Forde, his patron, saying, that ob-
jects so distant as to other eyes to require a telescope, to his
eyes are quite apparent. This circumstance I have heard
others who have been operated on for cateract also remark."
" Jane Todd, aged 20—a fine hale young woman—was a
dairy maid at Scarisbrick. In infancy she was pricked in
the eye by a needle, and her sight in that eye was lost; but
with one eye she managed to get on very well, and was a
happy girl in possessing a good one. However, in her daily
duties one day she was unluckily struck in this good eye by
the horn of a cow, and the eye was knocked to atoms. She
was now quite blind, and a more broken-hearted creature I
never saw. She came to our institution. For the now in-
jured eye I could do nothing; but for that, of the sight of
which she had been deprived in her infancy, I told her I
hoped she might have her sight—waiting until the inflam-
matory effects of her present accident had passed by. I
then operated upon the eye which had been long dark, and
the Almighty willed that the operation should avail, and her
sight was restored, and she is now again milching her cows
and pursuing her duties as a merry, tidy dairy-maid.
" Robert Tyer, aged 57, was a farmer, ' well to do,' in
Rainford. He consulted me, about three years ago, as a
private patient. He had cataract in both eyes. He dis-
liked my operating fee, and chose to have the operation
done in the country, and one eye was lost ! Ashamed now
to come to me, he visited Manchester, where a similar ope-
ration was followed by a similar unfortunate result, and he
was now supposed hopelessly blind. His farm was not at-
tended to—all went wrong—he was no longer "well to do"—
and three years blindness made him a very poor man. Lord
Derby recommended him to your institution, and he became
my patient—and the result of the operations on this man
was completely successful. The pupils of his eyes had been
closed from the injuries inflicted in the former operations.
I was enabled to make false pupils, through which the light
entered ; and he now visits Liverpool market every Satur-
day morning, driving his own market cart. His sight is
now quite restored, and he will soon again be `well to do.' "
These were the cases in the eye department which he had
thought it well to mention. In the ear hospital there was a
novelty : he believed there was only one institution in the
world where the same means were made use of for overcom-
ing deafness, therefore, as the matter was special, and as
three years had passed by since a similar report had been
made, it was advisable that a report of these new means
should be laid before the public, and the present seemed the
best opportunity of doing so. Mr. Neill then read the fol-
lowing

" Four years having nearly elapsed since the formation of
the Ear department of this institution, and as it originated
in some mechanical improvements which gave facilities for
investigating the causes of disease in some of the remotest
and hitherto inaccessible parts of the organ of hearing, it
may be naturally expected that the results of experience ob-
tained would have placed the surgeon in a position to declare
whether his expectations have been realised, and that hu-
manity had been benefitted by the introduction of the new
means. It is a great and a common folly when a new matter
is discovered to land its powers beyond its capabilities ; and
it would have been a great folly had I made promise that
the air-press and its accompanying vapour apparatus could
have done more than act as, first, a means to ascertain (as by
a stethescope) the state of the inner passages of the ear, and
afterwards convey such stimulants as were required to restore
the diseased structures to health and I did not do more than
' this ; whilst I showed that, through this instrument, a power
was given to the surgeon, which he did not before possess, to
gain a knowledge of diseases in a part hitherto unapproach-
able ; and, when made aware of the nature of the disease, to
treat it medically or surgically, as was required. Now, 1
neither deceived myself nor you. The means were all they
promised and I promised, and they have fully carried out all
my expectations. In catarrhal deafness, the common disease
of the climate, I am bound to declare the extreme usefulness
of the air-press in detailing to me the exact state of the parts,
and affordinl me a fair chance of treating the disease with a
likelihood of benefit to the patient. lam the more inclined
to thus publicly identify myself with the introduction and
use of this apparatus in Liverpool, and in connection with a
great public charity, as it may be a means of setting aside
much evil and great drawbacks to the continuance of the
modern practice and treatment of diseases of the inner ear.
Anonymous writers—but especially one who has written in
the London Medical Gazette, and who I will guarantee has
never in his life seen the " air-press"—have pronounced the
operation dangerous, and likely to do great evil to the patient.
I did not reply to " Anonymous," believing that Mr. Pitcher,
a learned and eminent practitioner of modern aural surgery in
London, and writer on the subject ; or Mr. Yearsley, a gen-
tleman connected with a large public hospital, also in London,
would, had he been worthy of notice, have done so. But,
as the following remarks of this writer have travelled through
all the medical publications of the kingdom, I feel myself
called on to state, that what he has written has been written
in utter personal ignorance of the subject ; and the only two
cases of evil which he has been able to detail, are cases which
have not occurred in the hands of an hospital surgeon, or
indeed is there proof that the evil did arise from the use of
the air-press. One was a man who died in the house of a
wonder-working doctor in London. In evidence before the
coroner, the doctor or his assistant avowed that the man
used the air-press in their absence, he being alone, and he
was found choked. The other was a case occurring in the
practice of a wandering aurist. This patient was supposed
to have died from injury inflicted by the violent use of the
instrument. But are two such supposed cases, and occur-
ring in the practice of such individuals, to warrant remarks
that follow? The British and Foreign Medical Review, in
noticing the paper of ' Anonymous,' says :
" This paper is violently dissuasive of air injections of
the eustachian tube. The author seems to think that the
injection is not actually effected in a great many cases in
which it is pretended by the operator, and imagined by the
patient, to be done. Among the disastrous effects which
have resulted from attempts to perform the operation, or
from its actual performance, he enumerates inflammation of
the throat and tube itself, as well as of the tympanum, so
. . . .

severe as sometimes to terminate in suppuration; emphy-
sema, caused by laceration of the mucous membrane of the

eustachion tube, or posterior flares ; rupture of the mem-
brane of the tympanum ; diliquiurn, so protracted as to
threaten life ; death.'

" When the Liverpool Ear Institution was first publicly
acknowledged, at the first public meeting, Dr. Formby and
Mr. Bickersteth, who had repeatedly seen me operate, and
witnessed the results, were the individuals to move and
second the formation of a public establishment where the
poor might avail themselves of a means to relieve their deaf-
ness and were they likely to advise a rash or dangerous
practice? Since that time three years have gone by, and I
have operated on thousands ; and as a contradiction to
" Anonymous," I call on you all, and on all my medical
brethren, to denounce me if they have ever heard of the most
trifling injury occurring during this operation in my hands,
or succeeding to it. Whilst in most of the individuals round
me I see the relations and friends of a host of patients, who
arc willing to acknowledge that their restored hearing has re-
sulted from the application of the air-press, and of the vapour
apparatus."

The CHAIRMAN said to him, this was a most interesting
report. It ought to be published, for be was sure that if the
public knew how much good the institution was doing they
would give it more extensive support.
The Rev. It. L. TOWNSEND rose to move the first resolu-
tion. He was quite sure that few remarks would be required
from him to induce the meeting to adopt the resolution which
he had the honour to move. After the interesting report read
by the Secretary and the cases which had been read by their
skilful honorary surgeon Mr. Neill, shewing that upwards of
40,000 persons had received relief since the establishment
of the institution, he thought there could be little doubt that
this charity had the strongest claims upon the benevolent
consideration of the community. He regretted deeply that
it should languish for want of funds ; but if gentlemen would
but be kind enough to make its claims and its utility known,
he was sure there would be such a response as would at once
place it in a flourishing position. He thought the mere fact
that 40,000, and upwards, of poor had received benefit from
this charity, would be enough to stamp its usefulness, without
one word more. (Hear, hear.) With these observations he
begged to move the first resolution, that the report and trea-.
surer 's accounts be passed and printed.
Dr. Annociun, of Maranham, seconded the motion, and
it was unanimously carried.
The Rev. Dr. ILIFF, Principal of the Royal Institution
School, moved the second resolution, which thanked the
officers of the charity for their valuable services during the