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A MEDICAL MISSION TO POLAND.
944 An hour later he had abdomen was distended. violent pains with nausea. After another hour he vomited the greater part of the barium meal. Barium poisoning being suspected, he was given 25 to 30 g. of sulphate of sodium and sulphate of ’i magnesium. Barium was found in the urine ’, four hours after ingestion. There was further vomiting and then a remission of symptoms for six hours, so that it was thought that the danger of poisoning had passed. But his general condition became worse, and the vomiting, at first bilious then with streaks of blood, recurred. He died 36 hours after taking the barium. Other cases of In all a barium poisoning have been recorded. soluble salt had been given for radiological examination in place of the sulphate, which is quite harmless. In one case a pharmacist was absent and his daughter ordered over the telephone 150 g. of sulphate, but was supplied with sulphide. Death took place after five hours in spite of administration of sulphate of sodium. The carbonate is insoluble, but it is unstable and the hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice transforms it into the chloride, which is very poisonous.
disinfecting apparatus and materials, of soap, medicines, and general supplies. Dr. Stephens found the sanitary and housing conditions of the villages he visited so wretched that a house-to-house campaign would be necessary to free them from the pests and infections which they at present harbour. There must be many medical men and women now available with the necessary sanitary and epidemiological experience, and in volunteering for the relief of Poland they may be assured of work of surpassing interest and of an important share in retranquillising a focus of danger to a continent. The London office of the Friends’ War Victims Relief Committee is at 91, Bishopsgate, London, E.C. 2. WOMEN AND THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
AT next
adjourned general meeting, to be held Monday evening at 8 P.M., the following amendment, which was carried at the general meeting held on May 12th, will be submitted as a substantive resolution. The amendment, which was moved by Dr. J. H. Stowers and seconded by Mr. Ernest Clarke, reads as follows :an
That the time has arrived when the laws of the Medical
Society of London should be amended by the deletion of A MEDICAL MISSION TO POLAND. that part of Law 6 which excludes women from the society as visitors when introduced a Fellow, provided always IN response to various appeals from Colonel that the same visitor shall by not attend more than three S. G. Tallents, head of the British Economic meetings during any one session. Mission to Poland, from Mr. Kimens, acting British The original resolution submitted by the council
Commissioner and formerly Red Cross Commis- of the society ran :sioner at Petrograd, and others, a committee of That the time has arrived when the laws of the Medical inquiry recently visited Poland on behalf of the Society of London should be amended by the deletion of Friends’ War Victims Relief Committee. Through Law 6, which excludes women either as Fellows or visitors. the assistance of Dr. Tomasz Janiszewski, the Polish Notice of the motion has been sent to each of the Minister of Health, they were able to investigate 600 or more Fellows of the society, and those the hospitals and delousing stations in Warsaw and who desire to confirm the continued exclusion of Cracow, as well as to study the conditions in several women from full membership of the society will adjoining villages. In their report the committee rally to the-support of the score of Fellows present state that the stories of Poland’s sad plight are by the general meeting who voted in this sense. The chief need is for at no means exaggerated. the material and personnel of sanitary units THE MORTALITY FROM INTUSSUSCEPTION. which they feel would work under the Polish THE of friction. of Health without case pf intussusception in an infant, with any danger Ministry At the same time it is clear from a memorandum recovery after resection, recorded by Mr. E. R. issued by Dr. Janiszewski that through its long era Flint on another page, reminds us that the of vassaldom Poland has not been able to develop death-rate from intussusception in children has adequate hospital facilities, so that should the very greatly improved since the adoption of the present epidemic of typhus become more severe, or modern operative treatment. The mortality from should it be complicated by other epidemics, as this condition if left to Nature is enormous, for it small-pox or cholera, the most urgent need for foreign was very rare indeed for a case to recover, though assistance would lie in the creation of hospitals occasionally it occurred as, a result of sloughing. rather than in measures of prophylaxis. This does The value of inflation is not easy to estimate not imply that measures of preventive medicine exactly, but surely it was only rarely successful, are unimportant. The infantile death-rate in while it was ussless for an intussusception situated Cracow has risen from 10’1 in 1909 to 15’8 in 1917, above the ileo-coacal valve. Even when the invaginareckoned per thousand of population and not, as is tion was lower inflation failed to complete reduction. the case in this country, per 1000 live births. In the When we turn, however, to the results of operation latter year the mortality from all causes reached we reach a much more satisfactory position, but the appalling figure of 32’1. Tuberculosis mortality here we have to distinguish carefully between two alone was 9’0, the tuberculosis mortality for the conditions. Is the intussusception reducible, or not ? same year in Warsaw being 7’8, and in Lodz ll’O. When the included bowel can be readily returned A special report has been prepared by Dr. Walter the operation is short, and, as also it is generally C. Stephens, of Muncie, Indiana, the medical unnecessary to bring the bowel outside the abdomen, member of the committee of inquiry above the shock is slight and recovery is the rule. The He finds that the Polish authorities mentioned. is very small, though it differs if we comare well organised but straitened through lack of pare the results obtained by different surgeons. funds and a great deficiency of medical personnel. Probably it may be put at under 5 per cent. The At present there is but one doctor for every 10,000 case is, however, very different when we consider inhabitants, and it is expected shortly that the age those cases in which it is found impossible to reduce for military service will be raised from 42 to 50 the intussusception. Here there is an inevitable years, which will further reduce the medical aid prolongation of the operation, with a corresponding available for civilian needs. There is great lack of increase of shock ; moreover, most of the cases transport facilities, and above all a shortage of where reduction is impossible are those in which
mortality
disinfecting apparatus and materials, of soap, medicines, and general supplies. Dr. Stephens found the sanitary and housing conditions of the villages he visited so wretched that a house-to-house campaign would be necessary to free them from the pests and infections which they at present harbour. There must be many medical men and women now available with the necessary sanitary and epidemiological experience, and in volunteering for the relief of Poland they may be assured of work of surpassing interest and of an important share in retranquillising a focus of danger to a continent. The London office of the Friends’ War Victims Relief Committee is at 91, Bishopsgate, London, E.C. 2. WOMEN AND THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.
AT next
adjourned general meeting, to be held Monday evening at 8 P.M., the following amendment, which was carried at the general meeting held on May 12th, will be submitted as a substantive resolution. The amendment, which was moved by Dr. J. H. Stowers and seconded by Mr. Ernest Clarke, reads as follows :an
That the time has arrived when the laws of the Medical
Society of London should be amended by the deletion of A MEDICAL MISSION TO POLAND. that part of Law 6 which excludes women from the society as visitors when introduced a Fellow, provided always IN response to various appeals from Colonel that the same visitor shall by not attend more than three S. G. Tallents, head of the British Economic meetings during any one session. Mission to Poland, from Mr. Kimens, acting British The original resolution submitted by the council
Commissioner and formerly Red Cross Commis- of the society ran :sioner at Petrograd, and others, a committee of That the time has arrived when the laws of the Medical inquiry recently visited Poland on behalf of the Society of London should be amended by the deletion of Friends’ War Victims Relief Committee. Through Law 6, which excludes women either as Fellows or visitors. the assistance of Dr. Tomasz Janiszewski, the Polish Notice of the motion has been sent to each of the Minister of Health, they were able to investigate 600 or more Fellows of the society, and those the hospitals and delousing stations in Warsaw and who desire to confirm the continued exclusion of Cracow, as well as to study the conditions in several women from full membership of the society will adjoining villages. In their report the committee rally to the-support of the score of Fellows present state that the stories of Poland’s sad plight are by the general meeting who voted in this sense. The chief need is for at no means exaggerated. the material and personnel of sanitary units THE MORTALITY FROM INTUSSUSCEPTION. which they feel would work under the Polish THE of friction. of Health without case pf intussusception in an infant, with any danger Ministry At the same time it is clear from a memorandum recovery after resection, recorded by Mr. E. R. issued by Dr. Janiszewski that through its long era Flint on another page, reminds us that the of vassaldom Poland has not been able to develop death-rate from intussusception in children has adequate hospital facilities, so that should the very greatly improved since the adoption of the present epidemic of typhus become more severe, or modern operative treatment. The mortality from should it be complicated by other epidemics, as this condition if left to Nature is enormous, for it small-pox or cholera, the most urgent need for foreign was very rare indeed for a case to recover, though assistance would lie in the creation of hospitals occasionally it occurred as, a result of sloughing. rather than in measures of prophylaxis. This does The value of inflation is not easy to estimate not imply that measures of preventive medicine exactly, but surely it was only rarely successful, are unimportant. The infantile death-rate in while it was ussless for an intussusception situated Cracow has risen from 10’1 in 1909 to 15’8 in 1917, above the ileo-coacal valve. Even when the invaginareckoned per thousand of population and not, as is tion was lower inflation failed to complete reduction. the case in this country, per 1000 live births. In the When we turn, however, to the results of operation latter year the mortality from all causes reached we reach a much more satisfactory position, but the appalling figure of 32’1. Tuberculosis mortality here we have to distinguish carefully between two alone was 9’0, the tuberculosis mortality for the conditions. Is the intussusception reducible, or not ? same year in Warsaw being 7’8, and in Lodz ll’O. When the included bowel can be readily returned A special report has been prepared by Dr. Walter the operation is short, and, as also it is generally C. Stephens, of Muncie, Indiana, the medical unnecessary to bring the bowel outside the abdomen, member of the committee of inquiry above the shock is slight and recovery is the rule. The He finds that the Polish authorities mentioned. is very small, though it differs if we comare well organised but straitened through lack of pare the results obtained by different surgeons. funds and a great deficiency of medical personnel. Probably it may be put at under 5 per cent. The At present there is but one doctor for every 10,000 case is, however, very different when we consider inhabitants, and it is expected shortly that the age those cases in which it is found impossible to reduce for military service will be raised from 42 to 50 the intussusception. Here there is an inevitable years, which will further reduce the medical aid prolongation of the operation, with a corresponding available for civilian needs. There is great lack of increase of shock ; moreover, most of the cases transport facilities, and above all a shortage of where reduction is impossible are those in which
mortality