The State of the Eye During Sleep.—Dr. W. Sander (“Archiv,” ix. Band, 1 Heft), observes that with some care and practice the eye may be opened during sleep, and its condition examined. The view commonly given in the text books is that during sleep the eyeballs are turned inwards and upwards. This, I think, was first taught by Sir Charles Bell. According to Sander's experiments, the eyes are in a middle position, the axes parallel to one another, as when looking at a far object. In falling asleep, the eyeballs are converged and turned upwards, and the same thing takes place when the sleep is disturbed through raising of the lids. We then can see the eyes slowly moving upwards and inwards, as if to avoid the light, and seek protection from the covering eyelids. It is this condition which has been mistaken for the permanent one during disturbed sleep. Divergent positions of the eyes were seldom observed, and Dr. Sander is inclined to regard them as the result of disease, or deep stupor.

Professor Verga has collected the statistics for all the asylums in continental Italy (excluding, therefore, Sardinia and Sicily), taken on the night of December 31, 1874. There were then 170·79 lunatics to every 100,000 inhabitants, a proportion somewhat higher than in England, Ireland, and France, but lower than in Scotland. In the province of Naples, where the ratio was lowest, it was 1 to 903; while in Lombardy, where it was highest, it was 1 to 435. In Umbria the proportion of insane persons had doubled in 15 years, and in Lombardy nearly tripled in 10 years.

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases. New Series. Vol. 1.

In an article of 50 pages the authors adduce 56 cases to confirm their former observations, and render their conclusion more precise. Many of these cases relate to patients in the Salpétrière during the past year, and the rest are gathered from the literature of the same period.

We have received a copy of a special report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, regarding the death of a Col. Hull, in the Asylum, at Elgin. In that State a trial by jury seems to be necessary to send a man to an asylum, however insane he may be; but the problem of doing this with safety, expedition, and without even the knowledge of the patient who is being tried, has been cleverly solved by the Americans.

Thomas Humphreys was indicted for the wilful murder of his wife at Shrewsbury on the 30th of August last.

In asking for leave to introduce the County Boards Bill in the House of Commons on the 18th March, Mr. Sclater-Booth made the following remarks in regard to how it would affect the Government of County Asylums. They show that the action of the Medico-Psychological Association last year has not been without result. “In the third place, the County Boards would have the very important power of reviewing the workhouse accommodation of each county, and of providing for the accommodation in the workhouses of imbecile and idiot paupers, whether children or adults. He wished this power had been granted long ago. He did not provide in this Bill for any direct power over the lunatic asylums, but the Boards would be empowered to inquire into the lunatic asylums and enabled by their influence to check their future enlargement. It was proposed last year to give the County Boards a considerable share in the management of the lunatic asylums, and he had no doubt that before long some plan would be devised by which their management would be given to these County Boards. But long familiarity with the Public Lunatic Acts had convinced him of the very great difficulty of dealing with those Acts by means of a few clauses in a Bill of this kind. It would be most unsatisfactory, without a review of those Acts, to place the administration of the lunatic asylums in the hands of the County Boards.”

The first case was one of putrid bronchitis, with chronic ulcerating pneumonia. The first paralytic symptom was weakness, with increase of temperature and sweating in the right arm, followed next day by almost complete motor paralysis of this limb. On the third day the arm was convulsed, and subsequently the whole body was seized with tetanic spasms, causing opisthotonism (three attacks). In a few days the inferior branches of the facial became paralysed on the right side. Next the speech was affected, and lastly came motor paralysis of the right leg. The patient, without looking, had no idea in what position his right limbs lay. During this short time rapid atrophy of theright arm had taken place.