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AURAL DISEASE AND BATHING.
306
AURAL DISEASE AND BATHING.-PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE.
The Services.
Correspondence. " Audi alteram
partem."
ROYAL NAVAL MEDICAL SERVICE. is placed on the Retd. List with
Surg. Comdr. A. B. Cox rank of Surg. Capt. AURAL DISEASE AND BATHING.
ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE.
Surg. Sub.-Lt. E. H. Parkinson to be Surg. Lieut. of Proby. Surg. Lt. (D) W. R. Young to be Surg. Lt. (D). " The King has approved of the award of the Royal Naval as F.R.C.P." answer to the SiR,-In inquiry by Volunteer Reserve Officers’ Decoration to Surg. Lt.-Comdr. to the " special measures to prevent excessive con-J. Lorimer. To the Editor
THE LANCET,
tamination of swimming baths," it may be stated that the system of continuous filtration, disinfection, ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS. and aeration provided by the various types of special B. Laird retires, receiving a gratuity. W. Maj. plant installed for that purpose in a large number of Maj. T. H. Dickson retires on ret. pay. the public baths in London and the provinces has gone Lts. G. Anderton, R. J. G. Hyde, and R. V. Franklin to far to meet the need for counteracting their pollution,be 1 Capts. ARMY DENTAL CORPS. as well as the call for economising the water-supply. Additional precautions, including the direct superCapt. A. V. Milnes to be Maj. vision of bathers before entering the bath, and ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS. attention to details of their personal cleanliness, such Dental Corps:H. Wade, late Capt., Ind. Army, Army as are reported to be stringently applied in the United 1 be Capt. to further risk States, though affording safeguard against TERRITORIAL ARMY. of contamination, are probably considered too exactLt. G. W. Robinson to be Capt. ing for application in this country and likely to be S. Newsom to be Lt. strongly resented by the British bathing public. It Capt. G. F. Wilson, having attained the age limit, relinis true that evidence as to the presence or absence of quishes his commn. the B. coli group is regarded as supplying a conCapt. Alexander Graham Bryce (late R.A.M.C.) to be venient standard of bacterial pollution, in addition to Capt. Capt. D. Stewart, from T.A. Res. of Off. (4th/5th Bn. R. the enumeration of the total organisms per c.cm. The Lt. standard recommended by the American Public Scots), to beRees Lt. R. E. (late 5th Bn. R.W. Fus.) to be Lt. Health Association is that they should not yield more for service with O.T.C.-A. J. Parer to be Supernumerary than 1000 organisms per c.cm. after 24 hours’ incubation Lt., supern. for serv. with Med. Unit, Univ. of London at 37° C. in over 10 per cent. of samples of swimming Contgt., Sen. Div., O.T.C. bath water, with no single count of more than 5000 TERRITORIAL ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS. per c.cm., and the presence of B. coli in not more than Lt. E. L. Hancock, from the Active List, to be Lt. two out of five samples of 10 c.cm. of water taken on the same day. Unless special investigations are RESERVE OF AIR FORCE OFFICERS. required, particular attention is not usually paid to, as a contamination LE. J. Mockler routine, although streptococcal resigns his permanent commn. in the Royal there is little doubt that its presence can be detectedLAir Force and is granted a commission as a Flight Lt., Class without difficulty in subculture tests from the primaryr D.1. INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE. plate cultures. As an example may be quoted aL qualitative analysis,! made some years ago, of waterr Lt. Mohan Lal Ahuja to be Capt. from a small covered swimming bath, detailing the Lt. (on prob.) F. W. H. Caughey to be Capt. (prov.) (on various organisms identified in an approximate count ofprob.). 4000 colonies per c.cm. Subcultures from a number off scattered colonies showed that over 50 per cent.belonged to the proteus and B. coli groups, 12 per cent. were Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, and 4 per cent. Streptococcus fcecalis, in addition to a similar proportion of
Parliamentary Intelligence.
Gram-negative diplococcus (possibly Micrococcus catarrhalis), Staphylococcus albus, and Sarcina lutea. Chemical analysis also is helpful in affording evidence of degrees of pollution, and, especially when chlorination is used for disinfection, the estimation of the amount of available free chlorine, on account of its bactericidal action, can and should be regularly carried out by simple test, or by the use of the chloroscope, to ascertain that the necessary 0-2 parts a
HOUSE OF COMMONS. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24TH.
per million free Cl is maintained. The question of the prevention of pollution of swimming baths formed the subject of a detailed discussion at a meeting of the Medical Officers of
Schools Associationin May, 1927, and was fully reported in the Association’s annual report for that
It is significant that, as compared with the year. attention paid to the safeguarding of the general public, precautions to ensure the hygienic condition of swimming baths in the great majority of our private and public schools leave much to be desired. I am,
Sir,
yours
faithfully, J. GRAHAM FORBES.
1 The Pollution of Swimming Baths, School Hygiene, 1912,
’
iii., 79.
2 See THE LANCET, 1927, i., 1143.
Grinding Wheel Closed at Sheffield. Mr. HOFFMAN asked the Home Secretary whether his attention had been drawn to the closing of the Corporationstreet grinding wheel in Sheffield, which had thrown out of employment 40 to 60 men ; and what was the reason for this step taken by the factory inspector.-Mr. CLYNES replied : It is reported to me that the conditions at these premises have been very unsatisfactory, and in particular that some of the most important provisions of the Regulations for the grinding of cutlery and edge tools are not complied with. This Code of Regulations was made as long ago as 1925 to protect the workpeople from the grave danger of silicosis of the lungs ; a period of three years was allowed before some of the Regulations became operative, so as to give owners and occupiers of premises an opportunity of making any necessary alterations in the ventilating and other arrangements, but notwithstanding this and repeated warnings from the factory inspector since January last, the owners of the property have not found themselves able to bring it into compliance with the law. In these circumstances the inspector came to the conclusion, which I think was fully justified, that he could not acquiesce in work being continued under these unsatisfactory conditions until the premises were put in order. I am glad to say, however, that the hon. Member would
AURAL DISEASE AND BATHING.-PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE.
The Services.
Correspondence. " Audi alteram
partem."
ROYAL NAVAL MEDICAL SERVICE. is placed on the Retd. List with
Surg. Comdr. A. B. Cox rank of Surg. Capt. AURAL DISEASE AND BATHING.
ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE.
Surg. Sub.-Lt. E. H. Parkinson to be Surg. Lieut. of Proby. Surg. Lt. (D) W. R. Young to be Surg. Lt. (D). " The King has approved of the award of the Royal Naval as F.R.C.P." answer to the SiR,-In inquiry by Volunteer Reserve Officers’ Decoration to Surg. Lt.-Comdr. to the " special measures to prevent excessive con-J. Lorimer. To the Editor
THE LANCET,
tamination of swimming baths," it may be stated that the system of continuous filtration, disinfection, ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS. and aeration provided by the various types of special B. Laird retires, receiving a gratuity. W. Maj. plant installed for that purpose in a large number of Maj. T. H. Dickson retires on ret. pay. the public baths in London and the provinces has gone Lts. G. Anderton, R. J. G. Hyde, and R. V. Franklin to far to meet the need for counteracting their pollution,be 1 Capts. ARMY DENTAL CORPS. as well as the call for economising the water-supply. Additional precautions, including the direct superCapt. A. V. Milnes to be Maj. vision of bathers before entering the bath, and ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS. attention to details of their personal cleanliness, such Dental Corps:H. Wade, late Capt., Ind. Army, Army as are reported to be stringently applied in the United 1 be Capt. to further risk States, though affording safeguard against TERRITORIAL ARMY. of contamination, are probably considered too exactLt. G. W. Robinson to be Capt. ing for application in this country and likely to be S. Newsom to be Lt. strongly resented by the British bathing public. It Capt. G. F. Wilson, having attained the age limit, relinis true that evidence as to the presence or absence of quishes his commn. the B. coli group is regarded as supplying a conCapt. Alexander Graham Bryce (late R.A.M.C.) to be venient standard of bacterial pollution, in addition to Capt. Capt. D. Stewart, from T.A. Res. of Off. (4th/5th Bn. R. the enumeration of the total organisms per c.cm. The Lt. standard recommended by the American Public Scots), to beRees Lt. R. E. (late 5th Bn. R.W. Fus.) to be Lt. Health Association is that they should not yield more for service with O.T.C.-A. J. Parer to be Supernumerary than 1000 organisms per c.cm. after 24 hours’ incubation Lt., supern. for serv. with Med. Unit, Univ. of London at 37° C. in over 10 per cent. of samples of swimming Contgt., Sen. Div., O.T.C. bath water, with no single count of more than 5000 TERRITORIAL ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS. per c.cm., and the presence of B. coli in not more than Lt. E. L. Hancock, from the Active List, to be Lt. two out of five samples of 10 c.cm. of water taken on the same day. Unless special investigations are RESERVE OF AIR FORCE OFFICERS. required, particular attention is not usually paid to, as a contamination LE. J. Mockler routine, although streptococcal resigns his permanent commn. in the Royal there is little doubt that its presence can be detectedLAir Force and is granted a commission as a Flight Lt., Class without difficulty in subculture tests from the primaryr D.1. INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE. plate cultures. As an example may be quoted aL qualitative analysis,! made some years ago, of waterr Lt. Mohan Lal Ahuja to be Capt. from a small covered swimming bath, detailing the Lt. (on prob.) F. W. H. Caughey to be Capt. (prov.) (on various organisms identified in an approximate count ofprob.). 4000 colonies per c.cm. Subcultures from a number off scattered colonies showed that over 50 per cent.belonged to the proteus and B. coli groups, 12 per cent. were Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus, and 4 per cent. Streptococcus fcecalis, in addition to a similar proportion of
Parliamentary Intelligence.
Gram-negative diplococcus (possibly Micrococcus catarrhalis), Staphylococcus albus, and Sarcina lutea. Chemical analysis also is helpful in affording evidence of degrees of pollution, and, especially when chlorination is used for disinfection, the estimation of the amount of available free chlorine, on account of its bactericidal action, can and should be regularly carried out by simple test, or by the use of the chloroscope, to ascertain that the necessary 0-2 parts a
HOUSE OF COMMONS. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24TH.
per million free Cl is maintained. The question of the prevention of pollution of swimming baths formed the subject of a detailed discussion at a meeting of the Medical Officers of
Schools Associationin May, 1927, and was fully reported in the Association’s annual report for that
It is significant that, as compared with the year. attention paid to the safeguarding of the general public, precautions to ensure the hygienic condition of swimming baths in the great majority of our private and public schools leave much to be desired. I am,
Sir,
yours
faithfully, J. GRAHAM FORBES.
1 The Pollution of Swimming Baths, School Hygiene, 1912,
’
iii., 79.
2 See THE LANCET, 1927, i., 1143.
Grinding Wheel Closed at Sheffield. Mr. HOFFMAN asked the Home Secretary whether his attention had been drawn to the closing of the Corporationstreet grinding wheel in Sheffield, which had thrown out of employment 40 to 60 men ; and what was the reason for this step taken by the factory inspector.-Mr. CLYNES replied : It is reported to me that the conditions at these premises have been very unsatisfactory, and in particular that some of the most important provisions of the Regulations for the grinding of cutlery and edge tools are not complied with. This Code of Regulations was made as long ago as 1925 to protect the workpeople from the grave danger of silicosis of the lungs ; a period of three years was allowed before some of the Regulations became operative, so as to give owners and occupiers of premises an opportunity of making any necessary alterations in the ventilating and other arrangements, but notwithstanding this and repeated warnings from the factory inspector since January last, the owners of the property have not found themselves able to bring it into compliance with the law. In these circumstances the inspector came to the conclusion, which I think was fully justified, that he could not acquiesce in work being continued under these unsatisfactory conditions until the premises were put in order. I am glad to say, however, that the hon. Member would