August 23, 1906] 



NA TURE 



413 



liis M.O. in i8b5; in 1869 he became niedecin des 

 linpitaux and pri)ffsseur agr^gr^, in 1879 ho became 

 a professor in the Ivicuhy of Medicine, in 188 1 a 

 nu-mbcr of the Aeadeniie de Medecine, and in 1892 

 of the Academic des Sciences. For many years he 

 was dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Paris, his 

 work in connection willi the medical faculty bcinfj 

 chiefly concerned with patholojjy and legal medicine. 

 As a niedical jurist he occupied a most distinguished 

 position, and there is scarcely a portion of this subject 

 which has not received illumination from the 

 numerous lectures and cases which he published in 

 the " .Annales d'Hygiene publique et de Medicine 

 legale." His work as a medical jurist brought his 

 name frequently before the public through the 

 evidence which he had to give on many technical 

 points. He published many volumes upon legal 

 medicine, dealing with such problems as infanticide, 

 medical responsibility, le secret niddical, sudden death, 

 asphyxia by gases and vapours, &:c., and his work 

 as professor of legal medicine at the University of 

 Paris, in w'hich chair he succeeded Tardieu in 1879, 

 made him perhaps the best-known teacher in Europe 

 on this subject. For many years he gave practical 

 instruction in pathology at the Paris Morgue, and he 

 ascribed his illness and death to the insanitary con- 

 ditions under which this work was carried on. 



At many international congresses Prof. Brouarde! 

 was the representative of the French Government. 

 He will be best remembered in this country by the 

 speeches which he gave at the International Congress 

 of Hygiene and Demography in 1891, and by the 

 address which he gave at the British Congress on 

 Tuberculosis in 190 1. In the former he bore eloquent 

 testimony to the priority of England in practical 

 sanitary reform, and to the willingness of the English 

 to sacrifice, not only much money, but also a large 

 share of personal liberty, and thus by solidarity of 

 'ffort to secure the communal welfare. In this re- 

 mark he brought out the strong point of popular 

 representative government ; for in this countrv, 

 although there is possiblv more blundering, there is 

 greater practical action than in France, althou.gh in 

 the latter the non-enforced theoretical recommend- 

 ations are excellent of their kind. In the same 

 address he drew a favourable augurv for the twentieth 

 century, from the fact that the nineteenth had seen 

 Jenner at its commencement and Pasteur near its 

 end. 



But the public address which was most influential 

 for good was that given in igoi bv Prof. Brouardel 

 to the British Congress on Tuberculosis. In this 

 address he particularly emphasised the close associ- 

 ation between tuberculosis and alcoholism. Quoting 

 with approbation Sir J. Simon's remark that " the 

 wretched lodging is the purveyor of the public house," 

 he said, " the public house is the purveyor of 

 tuberculosis." To this he added, " in fact, alcoholism 

 is the potent factor in propagating tuberculosis. The 

 strongest man who has once taken to drink is power- 

 less against it. . . . .\ universal cry of despair rises 

 from the whole universe at the sight of the disasters 

 cai'sed bv alcoholism. . . . .Any measures. State or 

 individual, tending to limit the ravages of alcoholism 

 will be our most precious auxiliaries in the crusade 

 against tuberculosis." 



The preceding sketch gives a very imperfect idea 

 of the important work which Prof. Brouardel did. 

 His influence pervaded every department of medical 

 life in Paris and in France. Not only was he a dis- 

 tinguished physician, but also a great diplomat, and 

 h>' thus succeeded in securing reforms which would 

 otherwise have been impossible. His last public 

 appearance was as president of the recent congress in 

 NO. 192 1, VOL. 741 



Paris for the suppression of the illegal practice of 

 medicine. He was buried on July 26 in the Mont- 

 parnasse Cemetery after ;i funeral service in the 

 Church of Sle. Clotilde, and by his owjt request no 

 funeral orations were pront)unc(d. .\. N. 



The annual meeting of the British Medical Association 

 hef<an at Toronto on Tuesday last. In addition to a large 

 representation from the British Isles, the meeting is being 

 attended by very many medical men from all parts of 

 I'.inada and the United States. 



The pressure upon our >paic pn-vents us from doing 

 more than direct ;ittention to the important letters on 

 radium contributed to the Times of .August g, 15, 20, and 21 

 bv Lord Kelvin, Sir Oliver Lodge, and the Hon. R. J. 

 Sirutt. 



.According to a Rcuter telegram of .\ugust 16 from 

 Bombay, Dr. Bullocl-c Workman, who has been moun- 

 taineering in Kashmir, ascended a peak in the Nunkum 

 range more than 23,000 feet high. Dr. Workman, with 

 his wife and Italian guides and porters, camped two nights 

 at an altitude of more than 21,000 feet. This is stated to 

 be the highest camp ever made by mountaineers. 



Further particulars respecting the forthcoming French 

 exploring expedition under Major Lenfant are given by the 

 Paris correspondent of the Times, quoting from the 

 Di'peche Coloniale. Major Lenfant will go first to Brazza- 

 ville, where the real organisation of the expedition will 

 lake place ; the mission will then proceed to Nola, the 

 point of junction of the Mambere and the Kadei which 

 form the Sangha. .At Nola it is probable that some time 

 will be spent in the study of the immense forest there. 

 From Nola the mission will ascend the Mambere to Bania. 

 Thus far it will have followed the route recently taken by 

 Major Moll for the delimitation with a German mission 

 of the Cameroon frontier. From Carnot Major Lenfant 

 will plunge into the wilderness. His goal is Lake Laka, 

 which is situated between the Upper Logone and the de- 

 pression of the Tuburi which he has already traversed. 

 His object is to trace the various navigable stretches per- 

 mitting the linking, so far as possible by means of the 

 river routes, of the basin of the Logone to that of the 

 Sangha, and to establish between the L'pper Logone and 

 the L'pper Sangha a direct trade route permitting France 

 to dispense with the services rendered by the German 

 colony. 



.\ roRTRAiT of Robert Bunsen by Prof. Triibner, of 

 Karlsruhe, is to be presented to the German Museum of 

 Munich by the Grand Duke of Baden. 



The Graefe medal of the German Opbthalmological 

 .Society has been awarded to Prof. Hering, of Leipzig. 



Dr. Thoinot has been appointed professor of medical 

 jurisprudence in the Paris Faculty of Medicine in succession 

 to the late Prof. Brouardel. 



The appointment of Prof. A. Gruvel, formerly of 

 Bordeaux, to examine and report upon the sea and river 

 fisheries of the French possessions in West .Africa is 

 announced. 



Mr. William Ll-tlev Scl.\ter has resigned the director- 

 ship of the South African Museum, Cape Town, which 

 he has held for the last ten years, and has returned to 

 England. He has accepted the post of director of the 



