NEW DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE NAVAL MEDICAL SERVICE.

179 Oct. 1st. Sir Robert Hill, whose retirement will be received with regret, before his appointment some four years ago was Principal Medical Officer in the Grand Fleet, serving under both Lord Jellicoe and "Ne quid nimis." Lord Beatty. His excellent organisation at the Battle of Jutland received special commendation, THE MUSEUM OF THE COLLEGE OF and was recognised by his promotion to the rank THE most noteworthy event recorded by Sir of Deputy Surgeon-General. He was many times Arthur Keith, conservator of the museum of the selected as medical officer on the ships which have Royal College of Surgeons of England, in his recent carried the King and Queen when Prince and Princess annual report is the completion of the series of of Wales on tours to India and the colonies. Surgeon Rear-Admiral Jose pit Chambers, who has specimens which illustrates the principles of pathology -the great series which is now exhibited on special had much administrative experience at Haslar, stands on the floor of Room III in the museum. In was appointed in 1908 health lecturer at the home 1910 Prof. S. G. Shattock and Mr. Cecil Beadles ports, and later took over the charge of the began to select, arrange, and catalogue specimens Naval Hospital at the Cape of Good Hope. In 1913 for this purpose, and now, for the first time, a complete he was appointed medical officer of the cruiser and systematic treatise on disease has been compiled, Suffolk, the original flagship during the war of the not in words, but in illustrative specimens. The late Admiral Cradock, and in 1915 was transferred work was broken into by the war, and subsequently to Chatham Hospital. Since October last he has by the high prices charged for museum materials, but been in charge of Plymouth Hospital. We conin the spring of the present year the series of general gratulate him on the high charge to which he has now pathology was completed. The scope of this section been appointed. of the museum is now fixed ; if changes are made in the future they will have to be done by replacement OUTBREAKS OF SEPTIC SORE-THROAT rather than by addition. The re-arrangement, reSPREAD BY MILK. mounting, and re-cataloguing of that department of the museum which illustrates disease of the various OUTBREAKS of sore-throat, usually accompanied parts, organs, and systems of the human body is by other complications, spread by contaminated now being undertaken. During the year a special milk and due to streptococci, although not very room was provided to house and exhibit the War common are yet sufficiently numerous to warrant Office collection of medical specimens-now known careful consideration. Nearly all the earlier outas the Army Medical Collection-which had been breaks were reported in this country, and Savage,i handed over to the custody of the College. During in 1912, gave particulars of 18 outbreaks in Great the last 12 months 370 specimens have been mounted ’, Britain. Since that date few further outbreaks and added to this collection and considerable progress have been reported here, but a considerable number has been made with its cataloguing. The series of has occurred in the U.S.A., many of which teratology and of human osteology have received have been very extensive and have been studied in valuable additions during the year, and the mounting considerable detail. Notable American outbreaks and arrangement of the material of the Onodi collec- are those in Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore. The tion has made good progress. The preparation of pioneer scientific work upon the relationship between a new catalogue of the human remains preserved in mastitis in the cow and human disease was done by the museum, a task undertaken by Miss M. L. Savage between 1906 and 1909, and is contained in Tildesley, working under the Council of Scientific three reports made to and published by the Local and Industrial Research, is still in progress. The Government Board. 234 His views as to the relationcompletion of this work, which involves much labour ship were summarised in a paper read before the and research into records, is regarded by the conservator Epidemiological Section of the Royal Society of as most important in view of the desirability of Medicine, in February, 1911.5 While in common arranging the human remains at our disposal in a with earlier continental workers he found that the proper time sequence, in order to study structural setiological factor in most cases of bovine mastitis changes in succeeding periods, and an appeal has been was invasion by streptococci, he carried the subject made to the Council of Scientific and Industrial further and differentiated between the types present. Research to have Miss Tildesley’s appointment It is a striking fact that while on the one hand bovine renewed for at least another year. Reports on various is a widely prevalent condition and the human remains submitted to the College for examina- mastitis importance of excluding from the milk-supply all tion have been made during the year and facilities have the milk of infected animals is not well realised or been afforded and material supplied to investigators acted upon, on the other hand, outbreaks of septic in various fields. In a brief report from the curator sore-throat from milk are rare. Savage was able to of the physiological department of the museum, demonstrate that the ordinary type of streptococcus special attention is drawn to a series of eel larvae (Streptococcus mastitidis) associated with bovine presented by Dr. Johannes Schmidt in illustration of mastitis is non-pathogenic to mice and other rodents, his important researches on the peculiar and till readily sets up mastitis in experimental goats, but recently unknown breeding habits of this fish, among fails to set up disease when inoculated upon the human other recently acquired specimens. Mr. Alban Doran throat. In contra-distinction the streptococci assohas almost completed the descriptive catalogue of the ciated with human sore-throat possess a considerable collection of surgical instruments in the possession pathogenicity for mice and guinea-pigs, but do not of the College, a task to which he has given 12 years readily set up mastitis in goats. In one case, however, of his life. He is now engaged on the last section of a streptococcus was isolated from a case of bovine the collection-the surgical instruments used by mastitis which was of the human type. From his barbarous and semi-civilised peoples. 11,688 students extended investigations Savage advanced the hypoand visitors used the museum during the past year. thesis which may be stated in his own words (1911) : Specimens recently added to the museum will be on " Briefly stated, I regard the bovine udder and teat view in Room I from Oct. 8th until Nov. 5th next. lesions, as commonly met with, as of purely bovine origin and, as such, harmless to man. Occasionally, either as an invasion superadded upon the original NEW DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE NAVAL bovine lesions or as a primary infection of the milkorgans, there is a local infection with organisms of MEDICAL SERVICE.

Annotations.

SURGEONS.

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IT has been officially announced that 1 W. G. Savage : Milk and the Public Health, 1912. 2 Report of the Medical Officer, L.G.B., 1906-07, pp. 205-252. Rear-Adrniral Joseph Chambers will succeed Surgeon 4 Ibid., 1908-09, pp. 294-315. 2 Ibid., 1907-08, pp. 359-424. Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Hill as Director-General of 5 Proc. Royal Soc. of Med., Epidemiological Section, 1911, the Medical Department of the Royal Navy on iv., 73.

Surgeon