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INSANE SAILORS AND SOLDIERS.
659 to break the habit. The method ill also mentioned by Dr. Leonard Guthrie in discussing functional diseases of the nervous system1 as suitable for inveterate cases of irritable contracted bladder. Admitting that the treatment may be advantageous in some cases, I think it should be clearly stated that it is not necessary or advisable for the majority, and that it must not be .employed indiscriminately. It is only appropriate for certain cases which ought to be defined. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, EDMUND CAUTLEY. Park-street,:W., Oct. 22nd, 1917.
vard, is sometimes sufficient
To the Editor of THE LANCET. treatment of enuresis by gradual dilatation of .the bladder is not new. I carried out the treatment in a very the advice bad case in a girl 14 years of aee, acting up>n of Mr. (now Lieutenant-Colonel) E. Tenison Collins, in 1903. Four ounces was all the girl could take at first ; this was .gradually increased to 12 ounces, and at the end of a fortnight treatment was stopped. There has been no I am, Sir, yours faithfully, relapse. G. P. JAMES. Penarth,,Oct.-20th, 1917.
SIR,-The
INSANE SAILORS AND SOLDIERS. To the Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-Dr. J. F. Gemmel in his letter in your issue of -Oct. 20th objects to " Service patientson two grounds. First, because they are "certified"; and secondly, that, being in a public asylum, they have the "taint and stigma "
of pauperism. My experience of the social class from which the majority of sailors and soldiers come is that they do not object to certification (a procedure they know little about) so much as to being sent to an asylum. The large military asylums which are suggested would suffer from the same "stigma"as the county asylum. Secondly, there are many private patients in public asylums, and they do not suffer from the stigma of pauperism. The Service " patients are
private patients.
Dr.
Gemmel has, however, put his finger on the weak of his own plan. One of the greatest pleasures the insane have is to receive visits from their rela.tives, and to deprive them of the possibility of suchprivilege would be downright cruelty. It is all very well to write of hardships as being unavoidable in war, but surely the whole aim of Dr. Gemmel’s letter is to remove hardships, and so far as I can To -see it merely replaces imaginary ones by a very real one. my mind the Ministry of Pensions and the Board of Control have grappled with a difficult problem in a most satisfactory I am, Sir, yours faithfullv, manner. R. H. H. STEEN. STEEN. London Mental Hospital, Hospital. near ’City of City of London Of t. 20th. 1917. Uartford. Kent, Oct. Dartford,
point
THE CONTINUOUS ADMINISTRATION OF ASPIRIN. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-The following case will perhaps help your correspondent, "J. 0. H.":A. H., a lady, aged 30, recently consulted me on account of curious sensations in her head, the chief of which was that when she entered a room she always saw a large box over which she had to step before being able to get to the other side. The history was that she had suffered from headache for a long time, for the relief of which she had taken aspirin freely. She was in a very nervous state, very active, and anxious to do her duty. Thorough examination failed to disclose any actual disease, but the ophthalmoscope revealed error of refraction. I sent the patient to an ophthalmic surgeon, who reported the presence of hypermetropic astigmatism, and prescribed glasses. She was ordered to discontinue the use of the drug. From that time the patient lost all her headache and other symptoms. I have no doubt that the reckless way in which aspirin is frequently prescribed would account for some obscure nervous conditions. Sisters and nurses in nursing homes are much given to doping patients with aspirin ’entirely on their own account, a practice which cannot be too strongly deprecated. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, CHARLES W. CHAPMAN. Harley-street, W., Oct. 17tb, 1917. 1
Diseases of Children.
and Dr. J. H.
Edited by Dr. A. E. Garrod, Dr. F. E. Batten,
Thursfield, 1913.
The War. THE CASUALTY LIST. THE following names of medical officers appear among the casualties announced since our last issue :Killed. Capt. R. H. Spittal,R.A.M.C., attached Lancashire Fusiliers, qualified at Aberdeen University, where he held the appointment of junior demonstrator of anatomy in 1905, and was in practice at South Bank, Yorks, before joining the R.A.M.C. Lieut. D. S. E. Milligan, R.A.M.C., attached Worcester Regiment, was a student at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, where he held the appointment of casualty officer, and qualified in the early part of 1915. Lieut. R. G. Hill, M.C., R.A.M.C., attached Coldstream Guards, received his medical education at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, where he was at one time senior house physician, and qualified in 1911. He also held an appointment at the Great Northern Central Hospital, and was a surgeon at the British Red Crescent Hospital during the Turco-Italian War of 1912. At the outbreak of the great war he obtained a combatant commission in the Royal Field Artillery, and served in France and in Egypt, and later was given a commission in the R.A.M.C. The award of the M.C. was recorded in THE LANCET of Oct. 6th, 1917, p. 550. Capt. E. T. Gaunt, R.A.M.C., qualified at Birmingham in 1908, and held appointments at the General Hospital and at the Queen’s Hospital, Birmingham. Capt. G. S. Elliott, Australian A.M.C. Capt. F. C. Davies, R.A.M.C., attached Northumberland Fusiliers, was educated at Cambridge and at Charing Cross Hospital, London, and qualified in 1903. He held appointments at Charing Cross, at West Ham Isolation, and at Great Ormond-street Hospitals, and was medical adviser to Cambridge Insurance Committee, and county tuberculosis officer at the time of joining the R.A.M.C. Capt. A. M. Fisher, R.A.M.C. Died of Wounds. Capt. G. A. MacFarland, R.A.M.C., was educated at Belfast, Dublin, and Edinburgh, and qualified at the latter place in 1903. He was at one time assistant medical officer at Hackney Union Infirmary, and later practised in Belfast. Lieut.-Col. A. W. F. Sayres, R.A.M.C., was a student at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, and qualified in 1890. He had held appointments at St. Thomas’s and at the Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, and also at the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital, Plymouth. He was attached to the R.A.M.C. (T.F.) prior to the outbreak of war, and was in practice at Hartley, Plymouth, where he was tuberculosis officer to the Stonehouse District of the Devonshire County Council. Capt. R. Sherman, R.A.M.C., was a student at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and qualified in 1912. He held a house appointment at St. Bartholomew’s, and joined the in December, 1914. Shortly afterwards he went to France, and was present at the battles at Loos and on the Somme. Capt. (temp. Lieut.-Col.) H. Gibson, R.A.M.C., received his medical education at the London Hospital, and qualified in 1907, and shortly afterwards joined the R.A.M.C. Died. Capt. R. Sterling, R.A.M.C., qualified at Durham in 1892, after taking holy orders in 1884. He was for many years a C.M.S. missionary in Palestine, and was an honorary canon of St. George’s Collegiate Church, Jerusalem. H. E. Dalby, R.A.M.C., was a student at Charing Major ’ Cross Hospital, and qualified in 1899. He was in practice at Torquay before going on active service, and died at Basra, Mesopotamia, where he was in command of H.M.
R.A.M.C.
Hospital Ship,
Assaye. Womnded.
Capt. H. L. Flint, R.A.M.C., attached East Lancs Regiment. Capt. J. H. Morris-Jones, R.A.M.C., attached Worcester Regt Major W. E. Crowther, Australian A.M.C. Capt. A. Nelson, New Zealand A.M.C. Capt. D. A. R. Haddon, R.A.M.C., attached Royal Scots. Capt. M. R. Finlayson, Australian A.M.C. Capt. E. H. Griffin, M.C., R.A.M.C., attached Northumberland Fusiliers.
Capt. J. Tate, R.A.M.C., attached Royal Field Artillery. Capt. W. E. Graham, R.A.M.C. Capt. W. E. Hallinan, R.A.M.C., attached Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Capt. R. F. Walker, R.A.M.C., attached Coldstream Guards. Capt. G. T. Baker, R.A.M.C. Lieut.-Col. P. J. Hanafin, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.
vard, is sometimes sufficient
To the Editor of THE LANCET. treatment of enuresis by gradual dilatation of .the bladder is not new. I carried out the treatment in a very the advice bad case in a girl 14 years of aee, acting up>n of Mr. (now Lieutenant-Colonel) E. Tenison Collins, in 1903. Four ounces was all the girl could take at first ; this was .gradually increased to 12 ounces, and at the end of a fortnight treatment was stopped. There has been no I am, Sir, yours faithfully, relapse. G. P. JAMES. Penarth,,Oct.-20th, 1917.
SIR,-The
INSANE SAILORS AND SOLDIERS. To the Editor of THE LANCET.
SIR,-Dr. J. F. Gemmel in his letter in your issue of -Oct. 20th objects to " Service patientson two grounds. First, because they are "certified"; and secondly, that, being in a public asylum, they have the "taint and stigma "
of pauperism. My experience of the social class from which the majority of sailors and soldiers come is that they do not object to certification (a procedure they know little about) so much as to being sent to an asylum. The large military asylums which are suggested would suffer from the same "stigma"as the county asylum. Secondly, there are many private patients in public asylums, and they do not suffer from the stigma of pauperism. The Service " patients are
private patients.
Dr.
Gemmel has, however, put his finger on the weak of his own plan. One of the greatest pleasures the insane have is to receive visits from their rela.tives, and to deprive them of the possibility of suchprivilege would be downright cruelty. It is all very well to write of hardships as being unavoidable in war, but surely the whole aim of Dr. Gemmel’s letter is to remove hardships, and so far as I can To -see it merely replaces imaginary ones by a very real one. my mind the Ministry of Pensions and the Board of Control have grappled with a difficult problem in a most satisfactory I am, Sir, yours faithfullv, manner. R. H. H. STEEN. STEEN. London Mental Hospital, Hospital. near ’City of City of London Of t. 20th. 1917. Uartford. Kent, Oct. Dartford,
point
THE CONTINUOUS ADMINISTRATION OF ASPIRIN. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-The following case will perhaps help your correspondent, "J. 0. H.":A. H., a lady, aged 30, recently consulted me on account of curious sensations in her head, the chief of which was that when she entered a room she always saw a large box over which she had to step before being able to get to the other side. The history was that she had suffered from headache for a long time, for the relief of which she had taken aspirin freely. She was in a very nervous state, very active, and anxious to do her duty. Thorough examination failed to disclose any actual disease, but the ophthalmoscope revealed error of refraction. I sent the patient to an ophthalmic surgeon, who reported the presence of hypermetropic astigmatism, and prescribed glasses. She was ordered to discontinue the use of the drug. From that time the patient lost all her headache and other symptoms. I have no doubt that the reckless way in which aspirin is frequently prescribed would account for some obscure nervous conditions. Sisters and nurses in nursing homes are much given to doping patients with aspirin ’entirely on their own account, a practice which cannot be too strongly deprecated. I am, Sir, yours faithfully, CHARLES W. CHAPMAN. Harley-street, W., Oct. 17tb, 1917. 1
Diseases of Children.
and Dr. J. H.
Edited by Dr. A. E. Garrod, Dr. F. E. Batten,
Thursfield, 1913.
The War. THE CASUALTY LIST. THE following names of medical officers appear among the casualties announced since our last issue :Killed. Capt. R. H. Spittal,R.A.M.C., attached Lancashire Fusiliers, qualified at Aberdeen University, where he held the appointment of junior demonstrator of anatomy in 1905, and was in practice at South Bank, Yorks, before joining the R.A.M.C. Lieut. D. S. E. Milligan, R.A.M.C., attached Worcester Regiment, was a student at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, where he held the appointment of casualty officer, and qualified in the early part of 1915. Lieut. R. G. Hill, M.C., R.A.M.C., attached Coldstream Guards, received his medical education at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, where he was at one time senior house physician, and qualified in 1911. He also held an appointment at the Great Northern Central Hospital, and was a surgeon at the British Red Crescent Hospital during the Turco-Italian War of 1912. At the outbreak of the great war he obtained a combatant commission in the Royal Field Artillery, and served in France and in Egypt, and later was given a commission in the R.A.M.C. The award of the M.C. was recorded in THE LANCET of Oct. 6th, 1917, p. 550. Capt. E. T. Gaunt, R.A.M.C., qualified at Birmingham in 1908, and held appointments at the General Hospital and at the Queen’s Hospital, Birmingham. Capt. G. S. Elliott, Australian A.M.C. Capt. F. C. Davies, R.A.M.C., attached Northumberland Fusiliers, was educated at Cambridge and at Charing Cross Hospital, London, and qualified in 1903. He held appointments at Charing Cross, at West Ham Isolation, and at Great Ormond-street Hospitals, and was medical adviser to Cambridge Insurance Committee, and county tuberculosis officer at the time of joining the R.A.M.C. Capt. A. M. Fisher, R.A.M.C. Died of Wounds. Capt. G. A. MacFarland, R.A.M.C., was educated at Belfast, Dublin, and Edinburgh, and qualified at the latter place in 1903. He was at one time assistant medical officer at Hackney Union Infirmary, and later practised in Belfast. Lieut.-Col. A. W. F. Sayres, R.A.M.C., was a student at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, and qualified in 1890. He had held appointments at St. Thomas’s and at the Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, and also at the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital, Plymouth. He was attached to the R.A.M.C. (T.F.) prior to the outbreak of war, and was in practice at Hartley, Plymouth, where he was tuberculosis officer to the Stonehouse District of the Devonshire County Council. Capt. R. Sherman, R.A.M.C., was a student at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and qualified in 1912. He held a house appointment at St. Bartholomew’s, and joined the in December, 1914. Shortly afterwards he went to France, and was present at the battles at Loos and on the Somme. Capt. (temp. Lieut.-Col.) H. Gibson, R.A.M.C., received his medical education at the London Hospital, and qualified in 1907, and shortly afterwards joined the R.A.M.C. Died. Capt. R. Sterling, R.A.M.C., qualified at Durham in 1892, after taking holy orders in 1884. He was for many years a C.M.S. missionary in Palestine, and was an honorary canon of St. George’s Collegiate Church, Jerusalem. H. E. Dalby, R.A.M.C., was a student at Charing Major ’ Cross Hospital, and qualified in 1899. He was in practice at Torquay before going on active service, and died at Basra, Mesopotamia, where he was in command of H.M.
R.A.M.C.
Hospital Ship,
Assaye. Womnded.
Capt. H. L. Flint, R.A.M.C., attached East Lancs Regiment. Capt. J. H. Morris-Jones, R.A.M.C., attached Worcester Regt Major W. E. Crowther, Australian A.M.C. Capt. A. Nelson, New Zealand A.M.C. Capt. D. A. R. Haddon, R.A.M.C., attached Royal Scots. Capt. M. R. Finlayson, Australian A.M.C. Capt. E. H. Griffin, M.C., R.A.M.C., attached Northumberland Fusiliers.
Capt. J. Tate, R.A.M.C., attached Royal Field Artillery. Capt. W. E. Graham, R.A.M.C. Capt. W. E. Hallinan, R.A.M.C., attached Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Capt. R. F. Walker, R.A.M.C., attached Coldstream Guards. Capt. G. T. Baker, R.A.M.C. Lieut.-Col. P. J. Hanafin, D.S.O., R.A.M.C.