COUNTRY HOUSE DRAINAGE.

817

charged with authority service spying out the enemy are

in the is

no

On active army. doubt advantageous,

item of internal economy among grown men in barracks surreptitiousness of every description should be but

as an

having

their

erased from the

names

much

reason

facts

seems

to think that the

Register. There is too warning conveyed by these so many other warnings in

been, like of unqualified assistants, overlooked. to have

In one the matter and to Dr. WESTCOTT interdicted. the case WYNN With regard preliminary rigorously recently investigated by training of both officers and private soldiers there are a jury an unqualified assistant, in the absence of the several points which urgently demand attention. Before a principal, was sent to a serious case by the qualified

qualified assistant was that he could not be in two plaoes at once, and that "half a loaf " (an apt name for an unqualified assistant) was better than no bread. In the end the qualified assistant was weapons is tested before he is allowed to manipulate them censured and the coroner was asked by the jury to forward at large. Drills without number and exercises beyond a report of the proceedings to the principal "and to the computation have to be endured before the neophyte receives General Medical Council so that they could take what steps permission to take his place in the ranks. In a word, the they thought necessary in the matter." It is not for us, of

recruit is allowed to fire ball-cartridge he must have given proof that he thoroughly comprehends the mechanism of his piece as well as the effects of the discharge. Should his arm be the lance or the sabre his dexterity with these

utmost

of

is taken to educate the youngsoldier in the art or maiming his enemy, but by stopping short at

care

killing

this point the instructors have only

half equipped their man. In order that a soldier may be in acondition to do his country the maximum amount of service it is necessary that the art and science of taking care of his own health should be included in his curriculum. Even on home service it is highly desirable that this should be so; but abroad, where our troops have to live under conditions largely differing from those to which they have been accustomed, it should be I made a sine qud non. When a soldier fails to preserve his health he forthwith becomes "an encumbrance in the field, a source of weakness instead of a source of strength. Not only are his individual services wasted, but also the services in whole or in part of several of his comrades. As regards the efficiency of the force it would be better for him to die than to fall lame. For a soldier actively engaged there is nothing more important than health and yet no attempt is made to teach him how to preserve it. In addition to teaching their men how to be moral it would be well if commanding officers were to be directed to teach them the essentials of personal hygiene, with especial reference to the requirements of the locality where they might happen to be serving. A course of lectures at the canteen could not but be advantageous provided the lecturer were properly equipped for his task. Of this, however, he would need to furnish unquestionable proof, for of all branches of knowledge in which a little learning is a dangerous thing

there is

none

to surpass self-medication.

assistant.

The

excuse

course, under these

judgment particular case. But we should fail did not give them prominent notice as A holiday should be no holiday to a

on

the facts of this

in

our

a

if

duty

we

lesson to others.

medical

of the

circumstances,

to pass any

if made under conditions of such risk as we have described, for his apprehensions of mischief should man

prevent him from enjoying himself. The instructions and arrangements of a principal on leaving town should be such as to make sure that his patients can be attended

qualified representative. It that he can enjoy that

is

only by such arrangeof irresponsibility which, after all, is the very essence of a holiday. It may be said that the remuneration of medical practice in poorer neighbourhoods will not always admit of a principal keeping qualified assistants or paying qualified locum Then the public must understand that if they tenents. are to have fully equipped medical men they must pay for the service they receive. But we can scarcely think it possible that in any part of London a medical man

by

a

ments

would not be able to make

neighbours

so

his absence. not

only

a

that

sense

arrangements with his medical

they might

share his

The cultivation of

duty but an advantage, holiday seasons.

responsibilities neighbourly amenities and

one

at

no

time

in iss

more

obvious than in

Annotations. "Ne

quid nimis."

COUNTRY HOUSE DRAINAGE. THE recent

regulations of the General Medical Council prohibiting the employment of unqualified assistants, save in an entirely subordinate way, have a very obvious application in holiday times. It is absurd to think that although an unqualified assistant may not be allowed to have sole or serious charge of cases, yet such an assistant may be left in a position by his principal during the holidays which would place him at any moment in responsible care of the whole practice. This very obvious point seems to be overlooked by some practitioners. During the holiday season in past years medical men have experienced the reality of the risk and have been subjected to the odium and the inconvenience of censure at inquests as well as of being brought before the General Medical Council with the chance of being found guilty of infamous conduct in a professional respect, and of

THE problem for solution in a letter signed "South Dublinwhich will be found on p. 846, is one of perplexity to most responsible dwellers in rural districts. The of for the the extremely unsatisfactory provision disposal house drainage described in our correspondent’s letter is shared by many thousands throughout the country. The great importance of the question induced us recently to issue a Commission upon the subject of water-supply and the disposal of sewage in rural districts, the two questions being so intimately connected. The result of this inquiry will shortly be published and will afford information than can be given in an more complete annotation. Soak-away cesspools, such as are described by "South Dublin" are not only objectionable but must constitute a source of grave danger to the springs from which the water-supply is derived. The sewage, escaping as it does under pressure below the surface of the ground, depends entirely upon mechanical filtration through the soil

818 for its purification, and in a limestone district will often travel for miles through fissures without undergoing any material improvement. Bacterial life, the mainstay upon which we depend for the breaking up of organic into harmless inorganic substances, scarcely exists 12 in. below the surface of the ground, and can therefore exercise no influence upon matter escaping below this point. The contamination of the rain-water by first discharging it into the cesspool and afterwards having to disinfect it seems a somewhat useless mode of procedure. This should be made to go directly into the ditch mentioned by our correspondent. Disinfectants are at best but a poor substitute for the process of disintegration provided by nature through the means of the existence of which process recent iresearch has revealed. Experiments have proved that secondary decomposition invariably takes place in a short time after using disinfectants ; they do not prevent but only delay a natural process. If used, quicklime is perhaps the best and cheapest for this purpose, and in this case it should be thrown into the ditch. The principle which would appear to provide at once the simplest and the most effective method of dealing with domestic sewage where water carriage is adopted, is one which was first practised by Mr. J. Scott MoncrieS in his microbe cultivating tank. This consists of passing raw sewage through a brick channel filled with round stones upon the surface of - which various bacteria of a non-pathogenic character .always present in excreta rapidly multiply. They con"vert the solid organic constituents into a liquid form. ’This view is confirmed by the experiments carried - out a short time back by Mr. Dibdin (when chemist to the London County Council). This gentleman passed ,large quantities of raw sewage slowly through a pit filled with various materials, such as coke, burnt ballast, small He found that a comparatively clear effluent - stones, &c. was obtainable with either material, provided that the pit or filter had at least one week’s rest in five. He found the coke perhaps the least desirable. For such a case as that described by "South Dublin," in place of the existing cesspool twochannels or filters would be required, formed side by side. They should be six or eight feet long by three feet wide and cemented internally to prevent the escape of the liquid sewage. These should be filled to a depth of about two feet with stone or pieces of burnt ballast measuring, say, about two inches over each piece. The effluent should be made to flow out at the level of the top of the stones, and provision must be made for running off the liquid from each filter once every month, the incoming stream being diverted into the neighbouring filter, for which purpose some simple provision must be made. The effluent can then be allowed to pass into the ditch without any annoyance being caused. It is better to fill the filters above the stones to the level of the ground ’, with washed gravel. At periods varying from six to twelve months the stones must be taken out and laid at the side of ’i the filter so as to be exposed to the air, but they must not be ’i washed, and any accumulated sludge should be removed - from the bottom of the filter. This last had better be - buried at once in the ground. Mr. Scott Moncrieff’s tank provides the most satisfactory conditions for the conduct . of the foregoing arrangement, but how far the application ,,of the principle is covered by his patent rights is a detail.

bacteria,

THE HURRICANE IN THE WEST INDIES. THE recent hurricane in the West Indies, which affected principally the group known as the Lesser Antilles, has worked great havoc. The islands which have suffered most are Barbadoes, Santa Lucia, and St. Vincent. The governor of Barbadoes has telegraphed home that 50,000 persons are homeless, and he most earnestly entreats financial help as in

its present financial condition the colony is quite unable to bear the strain. Up to Sept. 19th 83 deaths had been of St. Vincent sends the folThe Administrator reported. lowing report: "Speaking generally, about three-quarters of the population, 41,000, are shelterless, without food, and crowding into the populous centres, which have no accommodation for their own inhabitants, much less for the hundreds of others who are coming in. From Argyle to Kingstown on the windward side there is not a single works or estate house standing. From Buccament to leeward side on the Kingstown everything is destroyed. has a house uninjured, and most of hardly Kingstown them are in ruins ; two vessels are ashore, two have sunk, and the fate of others is unknown. It is unnecessary after this to say that almost all the labourers’ houses are lying flat. There are at least fifty deaths that are known of the people that are flocking into Kingstown from all the country round for shelter and food, which I am endeavouring to supply for the moment until the weather clears and we can take the damage in detail. So far I have no news of the country beyond Argyle to windward or beyond Buccarent to leeward, but I fear that the disaster there cannot have been less than in the southern part of the island. Reports from windward report everything as far as Grand Sable a wreck ; that there are two large ships and one small one ashore on the windward coast, and the manager of Sans Souci, Mr. Hillocks, has been killed. From leeward everything is a wreck with much loss of life ; in Barrouallie everything levelled to the ground except three buildings ; Chateau Belair reported not to have suffered so heavily, but no reliable information yet." The Governor is borrowing necessary funds to provide relief. From Santa Lucia the accounts are as follows: " Tremendous rain with thunder and incessant lightning all Sunday (Sept. llth) night. The following information received to-day from coast:Immense landslips at Soufriere; five deaths ; ten houses and two bridges washed away. A tidal wave did much damage at Choiseul ; 7 deaths occurred from landslips. Cocoa estates have suffered immense damage and many are quite ruined. No news from westward ; roads impassable ; all telephone lines down. Steamer Deramore returned to the port last evening with three men rescued off this island from waterlogged schooner Oeean King of Saint Vincent."’ Food is running very short in St. Vincent and a steamer has been sent from Trinidad with

supplies.

-

SHOULD PREGNANT WOMEN WORK ?

paper in the Annates de lfynécotogie for August, Professor Pinard continues his observations with 1898, of rest on the part of the to the influence regard mother during pregnancy upon the development of the foetus. In a previous paper he had shown by observations upon 1000 infants, 500 born of mothers who had had to work up to the end of their pregnancy and 500 born of mothers who had been able to rest for varying periods not longer than ten days before their confinement, that there was a marked difference in weight in favour of the children of the latter class. In further confirmation of his views he quotes from a table drawn up by Dr. Bochimont, based upon 4445 cases showing the average weight of the children of women who had been compelled to work during the whole of their pregnancy and of those who had been able to rest for periods of two, three, or more months. From the results set out in the table he comes to the conclusion that the average weight of the child of a woman who is able to rest for the last two or three months of her pregnancy is greater by at least 300 grammes than that of the child whose mother is compelled to work up to the date of her confinement. The explanation of this difference appears IN

a