LOCAL OPTION IN INSURANCE PRACTICE.

560

Annotations. "Ne quid nirnis."

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL

CORPS WAR MEMORIAL,

A REPRESENTATIVE Committee has been constituted to put into execution a scheme for erecting a permanent memorial to the officers, noncommissioned officers, and men of the Royal Army Medical Corps who fell in the war. The Committee numbers on its body members of the Regular, the Special, the Reserve, the Territorial, and the Civilian Medical Services, to whom have been added the Presidents of the Royal Corporations and the past and present Director-Generals of the Service. Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales are

all voiced on the Committee, and at a large and authoritativemeeting the following decisions have now been agreed to :1. That

a

permanent memorial should

be erected in if funds

London, with replicas in Edinburgh and Dublin,

available. 2. That the names of officers, non-commissioned officers. and men who had fallen in the war should be inscribed on the memorial. for the benefit of 3. That funds " ear-marked families should be devoted to that purpose. 4. That it should be open to the public to subscribe such sums as they wish. 5. That subscriptions should be sent to the honorary secretary, R.A.M.C. War Memorial Fund, Captain A. R. Wright, D.S.O., War Office, Cornwall House, Stamfordstreet, S.E. 1.

the country which furnish special returns to thebZinistry. On the other hand. there is proof of the existence of epidemic inflnon7.a of an infectious hut relatively non-’ fatal type in certain largo SCl100ls situated in the south and south-west of England. Measures have been taken to deal with these outbreaks upon the general lines indicated in the previous coummnique. It is apparent from these circumstances that influenza is epidemic in a few localised English and

Welsh communities, and that the type is similar to but less severe than that of 1918-19. While this is a very different situation from that occurring in American cities and in certain parts of Europe, the Ministry is none the less anxious that the public should take heed to the possibilities. The increase of the number of notified cases of pneumonia, and the existence of epidemic influenza in certain schools, make it advisable to direct attention to the importance of attention to the measures already advised to be taken,’ advice which has been followed widely by public health authorities and the medical profession, when concerting appropriate measures to deal with emergencies.

were

"

We need not point out how heartily we sympathise with this movement, and we are glad, also, to see that public subscriptions will be admitted. We shall be surprised if a war memorial to the Royal Army Medical Corps does not receive support from the public, who have appreciated the splendid share which the Corps took in the war, and who, to some extent, are aware of the professional and private sacrifices made by many thousands of doctors at the call of the country. The decision of the Committee that funds can be ear-marked for the benefit of the families of the fallen is a wise one; it may be that a large proportion of the money received will be designed for this object.

A

NEW MONTHLY JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY.

EXPERIMENTAL

IT is a remarkable fact that such a vigorous branch of medical science as pathology has hitherto been served in this country by only one special I journal, which, appearing quarterly, has naturally been unable to publish more than a modicum of the regular flow of articles on pathological subjects. The consequence of this is to be seen in the scattering of such scientific communications through almost every kind of medical publication.’ Absence of ready reference and delay in the appearance of original work have impeded the natural growth of pathological science, and any attempt to remove such obvious drawbacks to progress is welcome. The British JOIl1’nal of Experimental Pathology, the first number of which has just been issued, is a determined attempt to fill the gap. Weare glad to see that the editors construe pathology in its broadest sense; they propose to disseminate knowledge gained by the experimental method, whether in bacteriology or physiology or bio-chemistry, in so far as it may contribute to our understanding of the nature of disease. In this way the journal will undoubtedly maet the needs of research workers, whether in the laboratory or at the bedside. We understand that a happy cooperation with workers in overseas dominions will be kept up in the journal, to which we wish a successful career.

INFLUENZA, HERE AND IN U.S.A. THE Ministry of Health has communicated to the press a statement as to the position of epidemic influenza at home and in the United States. Influenza is epidemic in many large American cities, and the disease is of the same kind as was LOCAL OPTION IN INSURANCE PRACTICE. observed in 1918-19, except that the proportion of THERE has been an interesting side-current in severe or fatal cases in persons attacked is the discussion on the new terms of service under vital The statistics of smaller. appreciably England and Wales exhibits the following the Insurance Acts. In the reports received from a number of areas may be noted a great measure features, the Ministry state :I of unanimity between the professional committees to deaths attributed influenza of totals The (1) weekly in London and the 96 great towns have, on the whole, on the one side and the insurance committees on tended to increase, but the absolute increments are so the other. In many areas these committees have small and the necessary uncertainty of classification agreed upon certain modifications in the regulaso great that no unfavourable inferences can be drawn tions, especially in regard to the schemes for from these fluctuations. remuneration and allocation. But the professional (2) The returns of notified cases of pneumonia have exhibited an appreciable increase, too large to be set representatives, who have been successful in carrydown as a mere chance fluctuation. The system of ing their lay committees with them, are naturally notification, however, has not been in force long enough disappointed when they find that the Ministry of to allow of comparison with the experience of a normal Health is unable to accept their modifications year ; hence an uncertain proportion of the undoubted because they contravene either the Statutes or the increase may be due to customary seasonal variations. regulations which have been framed under them.

(3) There are no indications of epidemic influenza in any of the large factories situated in various parts of

1

THE LANCET, Jan. 31st, 1920, p. 270.

561

absolutely no reproach to the Ministry, revolver without detection, and that the honest but none the less local negotiations have been householder has a right to arm himself adequately felt to be useless. In certain areas, and notably in even when out of doors as long as dangerous Sheffield,.protest has been made over the loss of criminals carry weapons. The revolver has figured time and trouble involved in the refusal of the in a large number of crimes recently, including the central department to sanction arrangements agree- holding up of banks and the murder of Mrs. Breaks. able to both the contracting parties on the spot, It is very desirable to restrict its use, as the but the situation was not clearly understood. We coroner at Paddington urged, by strengthening the believe that it would be well for the medical existing law, but it is a difficult thing to suggest profession to realise that, for the present at precisely where the law should be strengthened. least, agreements between panel and insurance Severe penalties for carrying revolvers are urged committees can only deal with modifications in by some, but the difficulty is to detect the persons detail of the administrative machinery, or, in who carry them before they are arrested for some other words, with the methods of carrying crime, which in itself would enable them to be out the settled principles underlying the regula- severely punished. The formalities attending the tions. It is true that alterations in the regula- sale of revolvers only affect cases where a weapon tions themselves have been made upon the is bought from a trader ; it is impossible to restrict suggestion of local medical committees, and private transfers between individuals. Of course, secured in the conferences between the Ministry if the criminal classes could be prevented from of Health and the Insurance Acts Committee. But carrying firearms, the claim of other citizens to local committees are apt to be late in the field, possess them for the defence of their persons and would have less justification. and to forget that their opportunity for altering the regulations in principle lasted only so long as these were in draft, and that the mechanism for doing so was provided by the resolutions passed in THE SELECTIONS FOR FELLOWSHIP OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. the Conference of Local Medical and Panel Committees. We regard the rapprochement between THE Council of the Royal Society decided the local medical and lay interests, as evinced at recently to recommend for election into the Sheffield and elsewhere, as of happy augury for the Fellowship of the society the following 15 from smooth and effective working of medical benefit the list of candidates :— under the Insurance Acts. But these protagonists Dr. Edward Frankland Armstrong, Sir Jagadis of the Whitley principle must bear in mind that Chunder Bose, Dr. Robert Broom, Professor Edward their brethren in general, both medical and lay, Provan Cathcart, Mr. Alfred Chaston Chapman, Dr. have not been willing to give up the carnal weapon Arthur Price Chattock, Mr. Arthur William Hill, Dr. of collective bargaining; and they cannot have it Cargill Gilston Knott, Professor Frederick Alexander both ways. But their time will come, for the whole Lindemann, Dr. Francis Hugh Adam Marshall, Dr. future of medicine is bound up with smooth and Thomas Ralph Merton, Dr. Robert Cyril Layton efficient local working, and the Ministry of Health Perkins, Professor Henry Crozier Plummer, Professor Robert Robinson, and Professor John William Watson This is

property

in

no

taking over the Local Government Board had Stephens. quarrel with the local government principle. THE THE DANGER OF PISTOLS.

AT a recent inquest in the Paddington coroner’s court held upon the body of a demobilised officer, who had shot himself with a revolver in an hotel, the coroner said that he intended to call the attention of the authorities to the case. It showed, as he pointed out, that the deceased, though he had left the army and gone into civil employment, had been in the habit of carrying about with him the Service revolver with which he took his life. He had no gun licence and probably many others also carried pistols without licences in the same way. Everyone will agree with the coroner for Paddington that the carrying of pistols in the streets is a dangerous habit. Attention was called in THE LANCET fre quently to the practice for many years before the war. The danger then arose chiefly from the selling to boys and irresponsible persons of cheap pistols, dangerous toys rather than military weapons, and the restrictions of the Pistols Act were designed to check, if possible, this unnecessary traffic. The situation is now different. There must be a great many weapons of a large type, taking service ammunition, in the possession of private individuals who may justly claim that crime is prevalent and that they are necessary for their protection-for example, in a country house or suburban villa. They would naturally point also to such cases as the recent murder of a policeman at Acton, and argue that the undiscovered murderer was able to carry a

-

ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH.

THE Royal Institute of Public Health will hold the Annual Congress for 1920 in the University of Brussels from Wednesday, May 19th, to Monday, May 24th, 1920, on the invitation of Monsieur Adolphe Max, the Burgomaster of Brussels, and the rectors of the various Belgian universities, Viscount Sandhurst, Lord Chamberlain, presiding. The scientific work of the Congress will be carried on under the following sections :-

(1) State Medicine: President, the Right Hon. the Lord Dawson of Penn; (2) Naval, Military, Tropical, and Colonial: President, Surgeon Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Hill, Medical Director-General of the Royal Navy. (3) Municipal Hygiene : Sir Leslie Mackenzie, Member of the Scottish Board of Health. (4) Industrial Hygiene: President, Professor Sir Thomas Oliver. (5) Hygiene and Women’s Work: President, Mrs. Mary Scharlieb. (6a) Bacteriology: President, Professor J. G. Adami, F.R.S., Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool. (6b) Chemistry: President, Professor Benj amin Moore, F.R.S., Member of the Medical Research Committee.

During the Congress the Harben lectures of the institute will be delivered by Professor Maurice Nicolle, M.D., of the Pasteur Institute, Paris. An of receptions, with visits to attractive programme institutions of interest, and excursions to war centres and other places of note in Belgium, has been arranged, and delegates are being appointed by public health authorities. All interested in public health and national welfare questions may