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GERMAN MEDICAL CONGRESS AT WIESBADEN.
287 munications. The fact that these are not always for the public matters of convenience has been repeatedly demonstrated by such accidents as that which was lately reported from New York. In this instance a broken telephone wire, coming in contact with one charged with electricity for lighting purposes, became itself a conducting medium, and was wound in its fall round the fore-quarters of a passing horse, with, of course, fatal consequences. It is also said that the driver, in his ignorant endeavours to free the animal, was barely prevented from handling the fatal wire. This and similar accidents which have occurred from time to time, while they counsel, on the one hand, the most perfect insulation of the conducting wires, must also give weight to an argument in favour of the partly adopted and most rational practice of carrying the wires underground instead of over the housetops, as is now too much the rule. mere
NOTES ON THE RIVIERA. AT the close of some articles on the Riviera written by a German physician in practice there, and published in the Deutsche Medizinal Zeitung, a complaint is made that there is seldom any correspondence between a Riviera medical man and a patient’s family doctor, who ha.s perhaps been treating him for years, and who necessarily knows all his idiosyncrasies, what drugs suit him, and what do not, &c. All this perhaps may h9.ve been communicated to the consultant under whose advice he has gone to the Riviera, but as a role the medical man under whom he puts himself when he gets there has to begin de novo and find out all these matters for himself, greatly to the patient’s disadvantage. Another matter on which the author touches is the difficulty and uncertainty of getting foreign prescriptions properly made up. A chemist in Genoa told him that about nine-tenths of the prescriptions which were brought to him by foreigners came from abroad. Those from Germany of course are in Latin, "abyno means familiar language to the Italian pharmacist" (!). Besides, as neither a German pharmacopoeia nor a Latin-Italian dictionary is usually to be found, sad havoc must often be made of the intentions of the prescriber. There is, says the writer referred to, no official Italian pharmacopoeia, and so, even when a prescription is written in Italian, the greatest care has to be taken to indicate exactly what preparations are meant. The pharmacopoeias mostly in use seem to be that of Orosi (1876) and Dorvault’s French Officine. There are also other Italian pharmacopoeias, as those of Sardinia (1853) and the Papal States (1869), and the old Austro-Italian one. In one chemist’s shop in Genoa he found nine Italian pharmacopœias (most of them imperfect), two English, and two French ones. There is no proper control over the pharmacies, and therefore old and useless drugs may be sold; still, he says, it is quite possible to obtain as good drugs in the Riviera as elsewhere. ___
POLYMORPHOUS ERYTHEMA. THE
These
pathogeny of many erythemata is ill-understood. of hyperasmia O2cur under a great variety of
areas
conditions, but their connexion with rheumatism is not the least
interesting. Rayer considered
that polymorphous form of rheumatic fever with cutaneous instead of arthritic manifestations. Haushalter regards multiform erythema as an eruptive fever, having, like the acute specifics, an eruptive period, a period of incubation, and visceral manifestations such as bronchitis, endocarditis, and nephritis. Search has been made, without success, by Haushalter for a micro-organism in these cases, but cultivations in agar-agar gave rise to white colonies, which, however, suspended in distilled water and injected into guineapigs, gave no result,
erythema
was a
REGISTRATION BILL. A WELL and influentially attended meeting on behalf of the sanitary registration of public and semi-public buildings was held last Saturday at the Society of Arts, Sir Joseph Fayrer in the chair, when resolutions were passed in favour of this measure. The subject has been repeatedly discussed in our columns, and we have felt the need for more precautions than are now taken to ensure that the drainage of houses should be constructed so as to meet the requirements of health before they are occupied as dwellings. We have, however, feared that the licensing of a large number of persons as proposed in the Bill for the purposes of granting certificates as to the condition of houses was an unsafe procedure, and that the possession of such certificate would be calculated in some instances to give rise to a false sense of security, and to obstruct an active local authority in utilising the powers conferred upon them by statute. The remedy for faulty construction of house drainage lies, we believe, in the improvement of the administration of local government.
GERMAN MEDICAL CONGRESS AT WIESBADEN. THE seventh annual Medical Congress will take place at Wiesbaden from the Jth to the 12th of April, Professor Leube of Wiirzburg being the president. The following subjects will be discussed : Chronic Diseases of the Heart Wall and their Treatment, to be opened by Professor Oertel (Münich) and Professor Lichtheim (Berne); Alcohol as a Remedy, by Professor Binz (Berne) and Dr. von Jaksch (Graz); Prevention and Treatment of Asiatic Cholera, by Professor Cantaui (Naples) and Dr. A. Pfeiffer (Wiesbaden). Amongst the papers already promised are: Dr. Rumpf (Bonn) on Floating Heart (Wanderherz)Dr. Unverricht (Jena), Experimental Researches on the Mechanism of Respiration ; Dr. Adamkiewicz (Cracow) on Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord; Dr. Jarworski (Cracow), Experimental Contributions to the Dietetics of Digestive Disorders ; Dr. Stiller (Buda-Pasth) on the Treatment of Basedow’s Disease and on the Diagnosis of Renal Tumours ; Dr. Ernst Pfeiffer (Wiesbaden), Excretion and Solution of Uric Acid ; Dr Binswanger (Jena) on the Pathogenesis of the Epileptic Fit; Dr. Jdrgensen (Tiibingen) on Cryptogenetic Septico-pyæmia.
PUBLIC HEALTH OF INDIA. A PAPER was recently read to the Society of Arts by Mr. Justice Cunningham on "The Public Health of India." Our readers may remember the active part taken by Mr. Justice Cunningham in 1881 to promote the sanitary improvement of Calcutta. In the paper now read he called attention to the very great importance of the subject, referring as it does to a population of 200,000,000, spread over an area of 881,000 miles, " with local variations of climate, rainfall, soil, national habits, and character, as pronounced as any to be found among the European States." In 1885 there were above 5,000,000 deaths registered in British India, or 26 per 1000 of the population, and there is every reason to suppose this is considerably under the actual number; " above 78 per cent. of the entire registered mortality was due to mitigable or preventable diseases." Fevers were the cause of nearly three millions and a half of the deaths, amounting in some districts to a mortality of from 35 to 42 per 1000; and cholera gave rise to 395,928 deaths. That much may be done to reduce the death-rate is sufficiently shown by the decrease effected in that of the army, which from an average of 65, in the period before the Crimean War, has been brought down to 14½ per 1000. An equally striking result has been obtained in the gaols, the mortality in them being not more than a third of that which formerly existed; and the reduction in the death-rate of
NOTES ON THE RIVIERA. AT the close of some articles on the Riviera written by a German physician in practice there, and published in the Deutsche Medizinal Zeitung, a complaint is made that there is seldom any correspondence between a Riviera medical man and a patient’s family doctor, who ha.s perhaps been treating him for years, and who necessarily knows all his idiosyncrasies, what drugs suit him, and what do not, &c. All this perhaps may h9.ve been communicated to the consultant under whose advice he has gone to the Riviera, but as a role the medical man under whom he puts himself when he gets there has to begin de novo and find out all these matters for himself, greatly to the patient’s disadvantage. Another matter on which the author touches is the difficulty and uncertainty of getting foreign prescriptions properly made up. A chemist in Genoa told him that about nine-tenths of the prescriptions which were brought to him by foreigners came from abroad. Those from Germany of course are in Latin, "abyno means familiar language to the Italian pharmacist" (!). Besides, as neither a German pharmacopoeia nor a Latin-Italian dictionary is usually to be found, sad havoc must often be made of the intentions of the prescriber. There is, says the writer referred to, no official Italian pharmacopoeia, and so, even when a prescription is written in Italian, the greatest care has to be taken to indicate exactly what preparations are meant. The pharmacopoeias mostly in use seem to be that of Orosi (1876) and Dorvault’s French Officine. There are also other Italian pharmacopoeias, as those of Sardinia (1853) and the Papal States (1869), and the old Austro-Italian one. In one chemist’s shop in Genoa he found nine Italian pharmacopœias (most of them imperfect), two English, and two French ones. There is no proper control over the pharmacies, and therefore old and useless drugs may be sold; still, he says, it is quite possible to obtain as good drugs in the Riviera as elsewhere. ___
POLYMORPHOUS ERYTHEMA. THE
These
pathogeny of many erythemata is ill-understood. of hyperasmia O2cur under a great variety of
areas
conditions, but their connexion with rheumatism is not the least
interesting. Rayer considered
that polymorphous form of rheumatic fever with cutaneous instead of arthritic manifestations. Haushalter regards multiform erythema as an eruptive fever, having, like the acute specifics, an eruptive period, a period of incubation, and visceral manifestations such as bronchitis, endocarditis, and nephritis. Search has been made, without success, by Haushalter for a micro-organism in these cases, but cultivations in agar-agar gave rise to white colonies, which, however, suspended in distilled water and injected into guineapigs, gave no result,
erythema
was a
REGISTRATION BILL. A WELL and influentially attended meeting on behalf of the sanitary registration of public and semi-public buildings was held last Saturday at the Society of Arts, Sir Joseph Fayrer in the chair, when resolutions were passed in favour of this measure. The subject has been repeatedly discussed in our columns, and we have felt the need for more precautions than are now taken to ensure that the drainage of houses should be constructed so as to meet the requirements of health before they are occupied as dwellings. We have, however, feared that the licensing of a large number of persons as proposed in the Bill for the purposes of granting certificates as to the condition of houses was an unsafe procedure, and that the possession of such certificate would be calculated in some instances to give rise to a false sense of security, and to obstruct an active local authority in utilising the powers conferred upon them by statute. The remedy for faulty construction of house drainage lies, we believe, in the improvement of the administration of local government.
GERMAN MEDICAL CONGRESS AT WIESBADEN. THE seventh annual Medical Congress will take place at Wiesbaden from the Jth to the 12th of April, Professor Leube of Wiirzburg being the president. The following subjects will be discussed : Chronic Diseases of the Heart Wall and their Treatment, to be opened by Professor Oertel (Münich) and Professor Lichtheim (Berne); Alcohol as a Remedy, by Professor Binz (Berne) and Dr. von Jaksch (Graz); Prevention and Treatment of Asiatic Cholera, by Professor Cantaui (Naples) and Dr. A. Pfeiffer (Wiesbaden). Amongst the papers already promised are: Dr. Rumpf (Bonn) on Floating Heart (Wanderherz)Dr. Unverricht (Jena), Experimental Researches on the Mechanism of Respiration ; Dr. Adamkiewicz (Cracow) on Combined Degeneration of the Spinal Cord; Dr. Jarworski (Cracow), Experimental Contributions to the Dietetics of Digestive Disorders ; Dr. Stiller (Buda-Pasth) on the Treatment of Basedow’s Disease and on the Diagnosis of Renal Tumours ; Dr. Ernst Pfeiffer (Wiesbaden), Excretion and Solution of Uric Acid ; Dr Binswanger (Jena) on the Pathogenesis of the Epileptic Fit; Dr. Jdrgensen (Tiibingen) on Cryptogenetic Septico-pyæmia.
PUBLIC HEALTH OF INDIA. A PAPER was recently read to the Society of Arts by Mr. Justice Cunningham on "The Public Health of India." Our readers may remember the active part taken by Mr. Justice Cunningham in 1881 to promote the sanitary improvement of Calcutta. In the paper now read he called attention to the very great importance of the subject, referring as it does to a population of 200,000,000, spread over an area of 881,000 miles, " with local variations of climate, rainfall, soil, national habits, and character, as pronounced as any to be found among the European States." In 1885 there were above 5,000,000 deaths registered in British India, or 26 per 1000 of the population, and there is every reason to suppose this is considerably under the actual number; " above 78 per cent. of the entire registered mortality was due to mitigable or preventable diseases." Fevers were the cause of nearly three millions and a half of the deaths, amounting in some districts to a mortality of from 35 to 42 per 1000; and cholera gave rise to 395,928 deaths. That much may be done to reduce the death-rate is sufficiently shown by the decrease effected in that of the army, which from an average of 65, in the period before the Crimean War, has been brought down to 14½ per 1000. An equally striking result has been obtained in the gaols, the mortality in them being not more than a third of that which formerly existed; and the reduction in the death-rate of