EMETINE SALTS IN THE TREATMENT OF DYSENTERY.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION AND THE NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT. It will be noticed that the second version eliminates I wished to make. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, F. W. EDRIDGE-GREEN. The Institute of Physiology, University College,

italics.

nearly all the special points

Gower-street, W., Oct. 18th, 1912.

secretary, British Red Cross Society, 9, Victoria-street, Westminster, London, S.W., or to Messrs. Coutts and Company, 440, Strand, London, W.C., will be and sent either to the

gratefully acknowledged. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

ROTHSCHILD, Chairman of the Council British Red Cross

THE ACETONE-WRIGHT METHOD OF LEUCOCYTE COUNTING. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-In the very hot weather we have here May to August inclusive the acetone-Wright solution which I described in THE LANCETcompletely failed to work. Another method which is not affected by heat, is rather easier for the inexpert to handle, and gives almost equally good results, is as follows :-Prepare a 2/3 saturated solution of Wright’s stain in methyl alcohol free from sediment by adding 5 c.c. of methyl alcohol to 10 c.c. of filtered saturated solution. Store in a tall narrow bottle to allow any possible sediment to sink and leave perfectly clear fluid above. Prepare also some 0.1per cent. sodium chloride solution, filtered. For use add 1 part of the alcoholic solution to The alcoholic 3 parts of the saline and use at once. solution stains films quite successfully and is less apt to deposit a precipitate on them than the stronger solution commonly used. Further experience has convinced me of the great value and accuracy of these methods, provided that the cautions laid down in my previous communications are I am, Sir, yours faithfully, observed. R. A. P. HILL. Union Medical College, Peking, China, Sept. 30th, 1912.

from

BRITISH RED CROSS BALKAN FUND. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-The generosity of the British nation in alleviating the distress of the sick and wounded of foreign armies engaged in war has been repeatedly proved in the past. It is difficult to bring home to the public of this country the appalling suffering involved in a winter war in the Balkans. Communications are difficult, the cold is intense, and even rudimentary transport is a matter of extreme difficulty. Moreover, the fighting in this particular war is likely to be of a specially bitter and severe character, while, on the other hand, the medical organisation available is quite inadequate to cope with large numbers of wounded. In order to mitigate, in some measure, the terrible suffering entailed by such a winter campaign, the British Red Cross Society is preparing to despatch expeditions to the belligerent countries. In accordance with the provision of the Geneva Convention the sanction of the Foreign Office for these expeditions has been obtained, and offers of help have been gratefully welcomed by representatives in England of the various countries concerned. The invested funds of this society are only applicable to A special fund, wars in which British troops are engaged. therefore, is necessary in order to render assistance to foreign belligerents, and it is for this fund that the British Red Cross Society now appeals for subscriptions. The money contributed will be administered by specially appointed committees of the society. Among those who have consented to serve on these committees are Georgiana Countess of Dudley, R.R.C., the Marchioness of Lansdowne, C.I., the Marchioness of Londonderry, the Duchess of Montrose, LL.D., the Lady Wantage, R.R.C., Colonel Sir George Beatson, K.C.B., Sir Anthony A. Bowlby, C.M.G., Mr. James Cantlie, F.R.C.S., Sir Benjamin Franklin, K.C.I.E., Surgeon-General Sir Alfred Keogh, K.C.B., Mr. A. K. Loyd, K.C., Mr. George Henry Makins, C.B., Mr. J. Danvers Power, M.V.0., Mr. Edward A. Ridsdale, the Hon. N. Charles Rothschild, The Hon. Arthur Stanley, M.V.0., M.P., and Sir Frederick

Treves, Bart.,

G.C.0.C.B

The services of the society will be rendered impartially to all the combatants concerned, but it is, of course, open to .any subscriber to ear-mark a donation for the special assistance of one or other of the belligerent parties, and any instruction to that effect will be strictly observed. Subscriptions marked "British Red Cross Balkan Fund," 1

THE LANCET, Jan. 6th,

1912,

p.

20,

1179

and Feb.

10th, p. 389.

9, Victoria-street, London, S.W.. Oct.16th.1912.

Society.

EMETINE SALTS IN THE TREATMENT OF DYSENTERY. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-In THE LANCET for Oct. 19th Lieutenant-Colonel L. Rogers states that his treatment of dysentery with emetine salts is new. If he will refer to p. 269 of the Indian Medical Gazette for September, 1891, he will find that I used emetine with good results. No distinction was made between cases due to amcebas and those due to bacilli. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, J. H. TULL WALSH, Lieutenant-Colonel I.M.S. (retired). St. Faith’s, Norfolk, Oct. 23rd, 1912.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION AND THE NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-With all due deference I must contend that the ’ ° fallacies" Mr. Harford finds in my arguments more properly belong to his own. I I M.D."in the letter I criticised stated that in his opinion the need for medical services owing to sanitary advancement in the future would be diminished, as a matter of fact. This may or may not be the case. Mr. Harford appears to think that in reality there will be no such diminution, and that the average amount of medical work will remain the same. Perhaps he is right, but whether right or not it is a fallacy of the most pronounced kind to imagine that his arguments on this matter are in any way relevant to mine. With regard to the remarks on my representative responsibility, it is to be regretted that he is again rather wide of the mark. My letter was not in any sense written in my capacity as a member of the body to which he refers. If it will afford him any satisfaction I can assure him that it is exceedingly doubtful whether the State Sickness Insurance Committee would endorse all the views expressed in my letter. They only happen to be my own, and were not put forward in any representative character at all ; but I am not surprised at his confusing representative and individual opinions in this manner. He is not the only member of the profession at the present time subject to the same confusion. As I consistently opposed both the schemes Mr. Harford refers to, as is generally known in my own division, it will be a good illustration of the fallacy of supposing that a member of a representative body necessarily incurs any individual responsibility for its action, or can be accurately described as one of the "authors " of the same. I do not question the bona fides of Mr. Harford in the attitude he has thought fit to take up. When gentlemen like himself and Dr. Mills circularise the whole medical profession on the lines laid down in their recent pamphlet, it must be admitted that they are strongly impressed by the present situation. But I must be permitted to say that Mr. Harford’s remarks as to the likelihood of a rupture in the unity of the profession and the danger of its disunion come with an ill grace from one who has chosen to follow his own individual opinion in preference to that of his profession, which, if not unanimous, has been given with a solidarity hitherto unknown in its annals. If the profession remains united, even to the extent it has appeared to be, since the introduction of this mischievous Act, it is probable that it will gain its ends. If the causes that Mr. Harford suggests are sufficient to break it up, then it must be confessed that it is incapable of that union without which no independent profession can expect to protect its legitimate interests. In the latter case a heavy responsibility rests on those men who, like Mr. Harford, have deliberately flouted the opinion of their profession. The coming Representative Meeting may decide a good many