793

meeting selected Discovery as the name of the newjournal, and established a trust for its main-tenance, the first trustees being Sir J. J. Thomson,Sir F. G. Kenyon, Professor A. C. Seward, andProfessor R. S. Conway, who is also the honorarysecretary. The publisher will be John Murray,and the editor Captain A. S. Russell, M.C., D.Sc.,reader-elect in chemistry at Christ Church, Oxford.The price will be sixpence, and the first numberis to appear on Jan. 20th. The leading societies inevery branch of knowledge have undertaken tofurnish to the editor every year a list of suitablecontributors, and help has also been promised fromvarious bodies of students and teachers and frompublic libraries. The journal regards all know-ledge as its province; the managing committee, as atpresent constituted, is therefore large and may proveunwieldy in practice. No specific mention is madein the preliminary circular letter of the cooperationof any medical bodies, but presumably one at least ofthe five members to be nominated by the ConjointBoard of Scientific Societies will be a medical man.The criticism is often made that we have but little

general culture or knowledge of recent researchoutside our special lines, and on the whole it is notunjust. On the other band,it is amazing how ignorant even the highly educated lay public are of medicalresearch that concerns them very nearly, and towhat extent superstition still clings to them. A

widespread knowledge of current medical opinionon such matters as heredity and contagion intubercle and cancer would be of enormous benefitto many members of the general public, who oftenworry about these questions with a personalapplication that makes them hesitate to frame adefinite question. We trust that the editor willbear these facts in mind and will allot to medicalscience a space proportionate to its neglected placein national education. In any case we look forwardto the appearance of the journal with great interest.

NASAL HYDRORRHŒA.

ACCORDING to Dr. John A. Thompson,l ofCincinnati, the condition called by Bosworth nasalhydrorrhoea and by others rhinoedema or cedematousrhinitis has received little attention from rhino-logists. Thompson defines it as an obscure nervousdisease, the chief symptoms of which are nasal.There is some relation between it and angio-neurotic oedema with which it is occasionallyassociated. The disease is most common amongyounger men and women of sedentary habits.There are no known external exciting causes, suchas produce hay fever, or as in the oedema caused incertain persons by the emanations of horses, cats,or other animals. The local condition is a dropsy,the connective tissue interspaces of the turbinatedbodies being filled with serum. The characteristicsymptoms are a sense of extreme irritation inthe nose, followed by sneezing and a very profusewatery discharge from both nostrils, which variesin amount from an ounce to half a pint in 24 hours.The fluid is alkaline, and contains small amountsof sodium chloride and traces of phosphates. Thepresence of mucin differentiates it from the cerebro-spinal fluid discharged from the nose after injuries.The disease may begin at any season of the yearand last for months or years. The reasons forregarding nasal hydrorrhoea as anervous disease are,first, the pronounced mental depression from which

1 Journal of the American Medical Association, 1919, lxxiii., 587-8.

the patients suffer; secondly, any unusual mentalor emotional strain greatly aggravates the nasalsymptoms; and lastly, local treatment absolutelyfails to give relief, the condition being onlycured by tonic and hygienic measures.

THE THREAT OF INFLUENZA.

DREAD of an impending epidemic of influenzamay be justified, and it is of enormous importancethat the country should not be taken unawares.But neither a study of precedent or a considerationof existing circumstances warrants the public appre-hension. In view of inquiries, the Ministry ofHealth has stated that during the last few weeksthere has been in the 96 great towns of Englandand Wales a slight but gradual increase in thenumber of deaths attributed to influenza. and acoincident rise in the number of notifications ofacute primary and acute influenzal pneumonia.The increase appears to have been associated withprevailing meteorological conditions, and does not,in the opinion of the advisers of the Ministry,signify more than the usual variation in catarrhaland lung diseases generally which may be expectedat this season of the year. Whilst the possibility ofa fresh outbreak of influenza cannot be excluded,the data available do not at present afford anyindication of an immediate recrudescence of thedisease in epidemic form.

THE OLYMPIA MOTOR EXHIBITION.

THE thirteenth exhibition, which is under theRoyal patronage of H.M. the King and organisedby the Society of Motor Manufacturers andTraders, Ltd., in connexion with the Royal Auto-mobile Club, opens its doors next Friday, Nov. 7th.Many old as well as new British firms will be foundamong the exhibitors, names ranking high in themotor and engineering world. It has not beeneasy to change over from war work to car-building.Raw material has been difficult to obtain, strikeshave caused a shortage of fuel and castings, andlabour unrest has added to these difficulties. Still,many manufacturers are concentrating upon massproduction, which is the only method to producenowadays a car at a reasonable price. And someof them appear to be working might and mainwith the idea of meeting the requirements ofthe very rich, who-whether fairly or absolutelyunfairly-are being classed as war profiteers.Still, the man of moderate means, another wayof describing the doctor, will be catered for, andthe 4-cylinder car of 12 horse power will be inevidence, though it is questionable whetherdelivery of such cars will be obtainable at an earlydate. The experience of many who have orderedcars since the armistice has been unfortunate;the nearer the delivery date approached the moreit receded, a position which has tested severelytheir patriotism in ordering British cars. It is tobe trusted that future events will not justify suchan argument in favour of American, French, or

Italian products.The official announcements of the meeting may be

noted :-The price of admission, including tax,will be as follows : Tuesday and Thursday, before6 P.M., 5s. and 10s. respectively, other days andtimes being 2s. 6d. ; the band of H.M. Welsh Guardswill play thrice daily; and the catering is in thehands of Messrs. J. Lyons and Co., Ltd.