158
��NOTES BY THE WAY.
��Empress
inoculated for
smallpox.
��lars as to his family, showing how interested the medical profession is in his election. He
" comes of an old Essex family, whose members have, as a rule, belonged to the Society of Friends, and one of the most renowned of whom was Thomas Dimsdale, M.D., who was born in 1712, educated at St. Thomas's Hospital, and who in 1767 published a book entitled 'The Present Method of Inoculation for the Smallpox.' This passed through many editions, and in 1768 Dimsdale was invited to Russia by the Empress Catherine for the purpose of in- oculating herself and her son the Grand Duke Paul. There were ignorant persons in Russia in those days, as there are now in this country, and in case of any untoward result the Empress had relays of posthorses ready all the way from St. Petersburg to the frontier for the safe conveyance of Dimsdale out of the empire. Both patients, however, did well, and Dimsdale received the honour of being made a baron and a Councillor of State, together with a sum of 10,OOOZ. down, an annuity of 5001. , and 2,000?. for expenses. In 1784 Dimsdale was again summoned to Russia to inoculate the Grand Duke Alexander and his brother Constantine. Inoculation received its deathblow on the introduction of vaccination, which brought about protection with far less risk, but it is interesting to note the election of a Dimsdale to the highest civic post in London at a time when the city is suffering from an outbreak of smallpox. We offer him our congratulations upon the honour to which he has been elected."
��MOZART'S SKULL.
1901, Oct. 19. The following appeared in The Standard of October llth,
Mozart's skull 1901, from its Vienna correspondent :
" The skull of Mozart, which, since the death of Prof. Hyrtl, who kept it in his house, has been transferred from one place to another, has now found its final home in the Museum at Salzburg. The relic was handed over on Sunday last, with all the solemnity befitting the occasion. An attempt was made some time ago to substitute another skull as that of Mozart's for the one preserved by Prof. Hyrtl, but the fraud was discovered ; upon which, in some mysterious way, the spurious skull disappeared and the genuine one was restored to its place. Every care will be taken at the Salzburg Museum of what is the only known portion that is left of the great composer's remains. The place of his grave is forgotten, and even for the authenticity of the skull there is only the evidence of a gravedigger, an engraver, and the late Prof. Hyrtl."
��1901, Nov. 2. Chopin MSS.
��CHOPIN MSS.
In The Daily Telegraph of the 25th of October, 1901, its Paris correspondent states that the Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild's bequests have now been placed in the Conservatoire de Musique :
' The gifts include several manuscripts of music by Chopin. There are eight pieces, all in the composer's own hand, together with a
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