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CHARITABLE DONATIONS IN 1894.
45 but to many months, and that year by year. Fully alive to the advantages she secures by the presence of such a society, she is at pains to uphold the sanitary conditions under which it remains and multiplies. A {Jom’lnuniqu&bgr; from her hygienic bureau within the last few days of 1894 has, from this point of view, a significance of its own. "Except the month of January "-so runs the communication-" which owed its slight increase of mortality to a brief and transient visitation of inflaenza, all the rest of the year now closing showed, if anything, a diminution in the death-rate as compared with the year preceding, which, as regards the public health, was in all respects excellent. The later months of 1894 have registered a marked decrease in the fatal cases usual at that season ; while not less notable has been the diminution throughout the whole year in the death-rate specially due to infective maladies. These, in fact, have touched a figure so low as to have fallen short of all expectation or forecast. An inspection of the monthly bulletins issued by the communal board of health will be found to confirm this reassuring statement, and we have only to add our congratulations on the result, and expression of the hope that the sanitary efficiency which explains it will continue unimpaired, even if Florence is, after all, disappointed in her expectation of once more welcoming Queen Victoria as her
guest.
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DIPHTHERIA IN LONDON. DIPHTHERIA in London has in the last two weeks shown a disposition to decline both in amount of attack and in severity of type. In the four weeks of November the number of notifications in London was 911 ; but in the same period in December the notifications fell to some 780. The deaths, however, were not very different in the aggregate .in the two periods-namely, 188 and 181 ; but in the last four weeks a large decline has been witnessed, the numbers having been 57, 53, 36, and last week 5, or 20 per cent. of notified cases. The 71 deaths of the last fortnight of December included 4 in Lambeth, 5 in Battersea, 7 in Greenwich, and 6 in Islington sanitary areas. Of the total, 43 were in children aged from one to five years, and other 23 in young perThe deaths of last week sons under twenty years of age. were just equal to the ’corrected average. The admissions to hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board were 75, against 104, 111, and 80 in the three weeks preceding ; and similarly the patients remaining under treatment last Saturday were 521, against 514, 521, and 510. In Greater London there were 15 deaths from diphtheria in West Ham alone during the latter half of December.
CHARITABLE DONATIONS IN 1894. ACCORDING to the Ckccrity Record, the charitable bequests made during the past year have not been as numerous or large as in 1893. Nevertheless, it is estimated that, for medical and other charities for giving actual relief, something like 3,000,000 has been subscribed or bequeathed during the year. This does not include, of course, what has been given for missionary and educational work. The sums devoted to these latter purposes are much larger, and the claims of education and of religious propaganda contribute undoubtedly to considerably decrease the amount that would otherwise be available for the relief of actual physical suffering. The greater part of the money bequeathed to other than religious and educational institutions has been left to hospital and convalescent homes. Thus, to take only the larger sums, Mr. Barbour, formerly M.P. for Paisley, has given 15,000 to build an infirmary for that town ; Baron Hirsch has subscribed .t15,000 to the London hospitals ; the Ear; 0:: Leicester, by_giving an additional
E5000 has brought his endowment of the Fletcher Convalescent Home of Norfolk up to E20, 000 ; and Messrs. Heath have subscribed 20,000 to the North Staffordshire Working Men’s Mr. Samuel Weston of Manchester Convalescent Home. has left to the charities of that town the munificent sum of .E115.000. Of this legacy, the Royal Infirmary will get E50, 000, and the Salford Dispensary, the Deaf and Dumb Schools, the Blind Asylum, St. Mary’s Hospital, and the ConvaIescentTIospita! will receive EIO, 000 each. Mr. John Clark gives Paisley Infirmary and other institutions E28,000. Messrs. Schilizzi leave to London, Athens, Constantinople, and Island of Scio charities 20,000. The trustees of the David Lewis bequest offered 70,000 to some Manchester hospitals so that a maternity hospital might be built. Miss Rolleston left f:20,OOO to metropolitan charities, and Mr, Matthew Honan of Cork, JM8,000 to the charities of that city. Mrs. Elizabeth Allan has bequeathed 60,000 to be distributed among the London hospitals, and Miss Wells has left 12,000 to the Lincoln Hospital. In concluding its long list of donors and benefactors, the Charity Reco’l’d mentions the Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund, and estimates the amount obtained as 34,000. This is nearly .610,000 short of the sum actually collected ;
the
namely, 43,679. THE RELATION BETWEEN STERILITY AND UTERINE FIBRO-MYOMATA. THE influence of fibroid tumours of the uterus on conception, pregnancy, and the puerperal state has been recently considered by Hofmeier in a paper an analysis of which appeared in the Annales de Gynécolo{j’ie towards the end of last year. The question as to whether there is any etiological relation between fibroid tumours of the uterus and sterility, either absolute or relative, is one of considerable interest. The current impression undoubtedly is that the relation between them is causal rather than accidental. As in the case of so many other accepted views, the accuracy of this one is now called in question, and a careful consideration of the statistical evidence adduced by Hofmeier makes it clear that, even if we cannot unreservedly accept his conclusions, there is at least sufficient ground for doubting the views hitherto commonly accepted as correct. Hofmei.r’s figures are based on a total of 213 A cases of women with fibroid tumours of the uterus. review of the details in this series of cases enables him to say that about 25 per cent, of women affected with uterine fibroids and seeking medical treatment are not married. 75 per cent. are married, and of these from 25 to 30 per cent. are sterile. Now, before drawing any conclusion from these figures, it is necessary to know what the percentage of sterility is among the whole class of married women. Probably further information is needed before we can state this exactly, but in the meantime, if we take the percentage of sterility among married women generally, as given by Matthews Duncan, at about 15 per cent., it will be seen that while there is a difference between this percentage and the percentage of sterility among married women affected with uterine fibroids, it is not so great as one might have expected. Still, at first sight-and we are not prepared to say at present that the conclusion is wrong-these figures would seem to justify the opinion that women with fibroids are about twice as likely to be sterile as other married women, Looking carefully into the matter it appears, however, that there is some reason to doubt whether the sterility should be ascribed to the presence of fibroids, or to some other cause. The duration of the sterility in each case, and the date of the first appearance of the symptoms of the fibroid tumours, are important points requiring consideration. Thus the average age of thirty-eight married sterile women was 41-4 years, and the duration of the sterility about sixteen
guest.
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DIPHTHERIA IN LONDON. DIPHTHERIA in London has in the last two weeks shown a disposition to decline both in amount of attack and in severity of type. In the four weeks of November the number of notifications in London was 911 ; but in the same period in December the notifications fell to some 780. The deaths, however, were not very different in the aggregate .in the two periods-namely, 188 and 181 ; but in the last four weeks a large decline has been witnessed, the numbers having been 57, 53, 36, and last week 5, or 20 per cent. of notified cases. The 71 deaths of the last fortnight of December included 4 in Lambeth, 5 in Battersea, 7 in Greenwich, and 6 in Islington sanitary areas. Of the total, 43 were in children aged from one to five years, and other 23 in young perThe deaths of last week sons under twenty years of age. were just equal to the ’corrected average. The admissions to hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board were 75, against 104, 111, and 80 in the three weeks preceding ; and similarly the patients remaining under treatment last Saturday were 521, against 514, 521, and 510. In Greater London there were 15 deaths from diphtheria in West Ham alone during the latter half of December.
CHARITABLE DONATIONS IN 1894. ACCORDING to the Ckccrity Record, the charitable bequests made during the past year have not been as numerous or large as in 1893. Nevertheless, it is estimated that, for medical and other charities for giving actual relief, something like 3,000,000 has been subscribed or bequeathed during the year. This does not include, of course, what has been given for missionary and educational work. The sums devoted to these latter purposes are much larger, and the claims of education and of religious propaganda contribute undoubtedly to considerably decrease the amount that would otherwise be available for the relief of actual physical suffering. The greater part of the money bequeathed to other than religious and educational institutions has been left to hospital and convalescent homes. Thus, to take only the larger sums, Mr. Barbour, formerly M.P. for Paisley, has given 15,000 to build an infirmary for that town ; Baron Hirsch has subscribed .t15,000 to the London hospitals ; the Ear; 0:: Leicester, by_giving an additional
E5000 has brought his endowment of the Fletcher Convalescent Home of Norfolk up to E20, 000 ; and Messrs. Heath have subscribed 20,000 to the North Staffordshire Working Men’s Mr. Samuel Weston of Manchester Convalescent Home. has left to the charities of that town the munificent sum of .E115.000. Of this legacy, the Royal Infirmary will get E50, 000, and the Salford Dispensary, the Deaf and Dumb Schools, the Blind Asylum, St. Mary’s Hospital, and the ConvaIescentTIospita! will receive EIO, 000 each. Mr. John Clark gives Paisley Infirmary and other institutions E28,000. Messrs. Schilizzi leave to London, Athens, Constantinople, and Island of Scio charities 20,000. The trustees of the David Lewis bequest offered 70,000 to some Manchester hospitals so that a maternity hospital might be built. Miss Rolleston left f:20,OOO to metropolitan charities, and Mr, Matthew Honan of Cork, JM8,000 to the charities of that city. Mrs. Elizabeth Allan has bequeathed 60,000 to be distributed among the London hospitals, and Miss Wells has left 12,000 to the Lincoln Hospital. In concluding its long list of donors and benefactors, the Charity Reco’l’d mentions the Metropolitan Hospital Sunday Fund, and estimates the amount obtained as 34,000. This is nearly .610,000 short of the sum actually collected ;
the
namely, 43,679. THE RELATION BETWEEN STERILITY AND UTERINE FIBRO-MYOMATA. THE influence of fibroid tumours of the uterus on conception, pregnancy, and the puerperal state has been recently considered by Hofmeier in a paper an analysis of which appeared in the Annales de Gynécolo{j’ie towards the end of last year. The question as to whether there is any etiological relation between fibroid tumours of the uterus and sterility, either absolute or relative, is one of considerable interest. The current impression undoubtedly is that the relation between them is causal rather than accidental. As in the case of so many other accepted views, the accuracy of this one is now called in question, and a careful consideration of the statistical evidence adduced by Hofmeier makes it clear that, even if we cannot unreservedly accept his conclusions, there is at least sufficient ground for doubting the views hitherto commonly accepted as correct. Hofmei.r’s figures are based on a total of 213 A cases of women with fibroid tumours of the uterus. review of the details in this series of cases enables him to say that about 25 per cent, of women affected with uterine fibroids and seeking medical treatment are not married. 75 per cent. are married, and of these from 25 to 30 per cent. are sterile. Now, before drawing any conclusion from these figures, it is necessary to know what the percentage of sterility is among the whole class of married women. Probably further information is needed before we can state this exactly, but in the meantime, if we take the percentage of sterility among married women generally, as given by Matthews Duncan, at about 15 per cent., it will be seen that while there is a difference between this percentage and the percentage of sterility among married women affected with uterine fibroids, it is not so great as one might have expected. Still, at first sight-and we are not prepared to say at present that the conclusion is wrong-these figures would seem to justify the opinion that women with fibroids are about twice as likely to be sterile as other married women, Looking carefully into the matter it appears, however, that there is some reason to doubt whether the sterility should be ascribed to the presence of fibroids, or to some other cause. The duration of the sterility in each case, and the date of the first appearance of the symptoms of the fibroid tumours, are important points requiring consideration. Thus the average age of thirty-eight married sterile women was 41-4 years, and the duration of the sterility about sixteen