Poisoning by ferro-silicon on board ship

1909:

PUBLIC

mnounts to as much as four inches in stature, and thirty-six pounds in weight ; in ]London to only an inch-and-a-half and ten pounds. Observations have shown, that many great continental cities, in contrast with rural districts and small towns, present an excess of both tall and short individuals ; the richer quarters being occupied by a tall, and tile poorer by a very short population. This differentiation appears to be progressive. k m m o n studied the conscripts of Baden over a series of years, tlms obtaining information as to tile physique of tile entire young adult population during this period. He classified them into four groups--Urban, when both parents and conscripts were of town b i r t h ; Senti-urban, whe]t the parents were born in the c o n n t r y l m t had imlnigrated into the towns ; Semi-rm'af, when the conscripts, though, born in the country, had been transferred to the town in early life ; Rural, when tile conscripts and their parents had ahvays lived in tile country. He fouml a progressive diminution of stature accompanied city residence. Similar results ]mve followed an investigation on a much smaller scale into the physique of Londonm's. I t is probable t h a t the most ]?hysieally-fit seetion of t h e r u r a l conmmnity comes to the towns in search of higher wages. The physique of tlle eitizen is worst in the {'entrat and most crowded areas, best i]] the suburbs. Leslie Mackenzie has shown that in Cllasgow the average statm'e and weight of ehihlren varies ahnost directly with the nmnber of rooms occupied by the family, while Thomas, in London, indicated that though the physique undoubtedly varied with the number of rooms occupied, it bore a still closer relation to the mtmber sleeping in a room. Overcrowding is not only accompanied by detMent ventilation and increased exposure to chronic microbial infection, and consequent ill-health, I)ut also i]lvolves a smaller and less suitable food-supply, o w i n g to th.e meagreness of t h e family exchequer. A change from these surroundings .rapidly improves the el]i]d]'en, w]]o grow more m a short time than those ilot previously subjected to depressing influences. CENTRAL MIDWIVES B O A R D . - ~TEw ~:[F,MBI~;I~

APPOIXTED.---'I'he Lord President of the Council has been pleased to appoint the }Ion. Mrs. Charles Egerton to be a member of the Central Midwives Board in the place of Miss Jane Wilson, resigned.

HEALTH.

237

POISONING BY FERRO-S1LI{'OX ON BOARD SHIP. December ~lst, the (,rnnsb~ eor{mer ,.,,1LO N eluded the inquest upon the bodies {d lhe tlve RusSian emigrants who died suddenly (m board the steamship Ashto'., during the v posed of iron silicate, carbon, phosphorus, :rod arsenic. IIe found that five gases emanated from the mixture--arseniuretted hvdrogm~, phosphoretted hydrogen, acetylene, pm:e hydrogen, and sulphuretted !lydrogen. Four of the gases were highly poisonous, and the fifth, hydrogen, was of a]z asphyxiati~g nature. Arseniuretted hydro~e]~ was so terribly poisonous that its discoverer, G ah]en, died through inhaling one single bubble of tlm pure gas. Phosphoretted hydrogen was scarcely less deadly. In less than twenty-four houPs the nine tons of ferro-silieon would generate ll0 cubic feet of extremely deadly gas, assmning it was dry ; if the chemical were moist there wouId be thrice the volume of ~as. He added that ('aptain Millward's s.yml~t~mls were those produced by inhaling the gas. The early symptoms of ferro-silicon poisoning were often mistaken for cholera aml ptonaaine-poisoning. q'he gas decomposed the blood and produced death. l)r. William Bnhner Simpson, Medical Officer of Ifealth, said that the bacteriological examinations conducted by the Govenmmnt expert proved negative in eharaeter, showing that the deeeased did not die from cholera, ptomaine poisoning, or from consumption of crude poison. TILe lungs, on the other hand, were eongested and fnll of bh)od, suggesting asphyxia by noxious fumes.

PUBLIC HEALTH.

238

The Coroner said this was the first time in England that death had been proved to be due to ferro~ silicon, and he hoped it wonld have the effect of preventing so dreadful a substance being carried in ships used for passengers. The jury returned a verdict that the deceased died froin inhaling poisonous gases, but they exonerated the ship's officers from blame.

APPOINTMENTS. GERALD F. BIRD, M.B. Cantab., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health of the Borough of Godalming, Surrey. ARTHU~, LEeHE, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Edin., has been re-appointed Medical Officer of Health of Axbridge (Somerset.) P. T. ToLPuww,L.R.C.P. and S. Edin., L.F.P.S. Clas., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Neyland U.D.C. F. D. CLEW,M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Higham Ferrers Town Council. D. G. DYKES, M.B., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Martley R.D. E. R. F. MAsoN,L.R.C.S., L.R:C.P. Edin., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Gomersall R.D. CT. CLARK TROTTER,M.B. Edin., D.P.H. Aber., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Burgh of Paisley. J. D. WELLS,M.B., Ch.B. Edin., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Billericay U.D. BEaR~" CECIL, L.R.C.P. and S. Edin., has been appointed Assistant Medical Officer for Schools to the County Borough of Wigan. I-IENRYHERD, M.B., Ch.B. Edin., has been appointed Assistant School Medical Officer to the Manchester Educatio~ Committee. R. BURNET,M.B., D.P.H., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Borough of Bury. E. F. M. HEAVE, M.D. Edin., has been appointed Medical Inspector of School Children to the Manchester Education Committee. W. CRAm, M.B., C.M. Glas., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Thurnscoe U.D. MEYRIeK--JONES,M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Charlton King's U.D. J. W. G. MYLER,M.D. Brux., F.R.C.S. Eng., L.R.C.P. Loud., D.P.H. Lond., has been appointed Medical Inspector of Schools to the Rhondda (Glam.) Education Committee. KISSING THE Boo~:.----On February 1st the Mayor of Salisbury, at the City Petty Sessions, announced that the custom of kissing the Book was to be discontinued in t h e Court, and that the Scotch form of administering the oath to witnesses would supersede it. The Mayor said the decision had been arrived at by the Bench in consultation with the Watch Committee and the Medical Otticers. The new form of oath would be administered to the police and other official witnesses, and as m a n y other persons as could be persuaded to ~ake it.

MARCr~, REVIEWS.

GOODALL and WASHROURN'S Manual of Infectious

Diseases. :Second Edition, revised by E. W. Goodatl, M.D. Pp. XII. and 426. Price 14s. net. H . K . Lewis. The twelve years that have elapsed since the appearance of the first edition of this book have witnessed considerable advances in the knowledge of i~ffectious di'seases, and Dr. Goodall in preparing the second edition has found it necessary to make many changes both in subject-matter and in arrangement. The book has been thoroughly revised, a very large amount of new information has been added, and the result is that the second edition is practically a new book. Among the chief additions are three new chapters on glanders, cerebrospinal meningitis and plague, and an admirable series of photographs illustrating important diagnostic features in the rashes of the chief diseases. There has been b u t little increase in bulk, the mlmber of additional pages being only fifty-eight, and the book is still convenient to handle ; but a great deal more subject-matter has been got into each page. The epidemiology of the diseases has been more fully treated than in the first edition, and the value of the book, particularly for the public health worker, has thereby been considerably enhanced, while more detailed information has been given on the important subject of diagnosis. I)r. Goodall has read widely in the literature of his subject, but in most of the diseases he describes, he writes chiefly of his own experience. He has formed definite opinions which, though avoiding dogmatism, he is not afraid of stating. In the treatment of laryngeal diphtheria, he prefers intubatlon to tracheotomy--at all events in hospital pract i c e - a n d he gives an excellent description of the former operation. He diso,pproves of t h e use of antitoxin as a prophylactic measure against diphtheria, and thinks it should be strictly limited to "cases where the risk of infection has been very great, or where the removal of those affected by diphtheria, and of those apparently healthy individuals, from whose fauces the bacilli have been obtained, has failed to stop an outbreak in a children's institution." He is of course fully convinced of its therapeutic value, and is of opinion that it should be given to any patient who is suffering from diphtheria, however slight. In the dietetic treatment of typhoid fever the author observes a wise conservatism. While the temperature is above normal, he relies ahnost entirely on milk, and he evidently has a poor opinion of the " f e e d i n g up '! methods advocated by some modern clinicians. The book is interesting to read, but its chief merit is its practical usefulness. I t is what a medical text-book ought to b e - - a thoroughly seviceable tool. It gives the right kind of information and gives it in the right way. It is, in short, the best book on infectious diseases in English. To the medical officer of health the appearance of this edition is particularly welcome; but no doctor, whatever his special work may be, can afford to neglect infectious disease; and every doctor who wishes to keep his knowledge up to modern requirements will do well to add the second edition Of "Goodall and W a s h b o u r n " to his !ibrar¥.