- Email: [email protected]
PROFESSOR HUXLEY AND VACCINATION.
204 from the casioned.
of internal organs that was thus ocThe matter is made worse by the fact that, at Brighton, the policeman on duty had posted up on the wall before his eyes an order that no one brought drunk or insensiblee should be locked up until he had been seen by Mr. Penfold, the police surgeon. This order was simply ignored, and death in a few hours followed the night spent in a cell. Fortunately for the policeman, the coroner’s jury took a lenient view of his neglect, for which he himself expressed much sorrow; and the matter is therefore likely to go no further. The general principle, however, is one that should be insisted upon by the Home Office, and not left to the discretion of subordinates. It is impossible for a policeconstable to distinguish between drunkenness and illness, and no such responsibility ought to be thrust upon him. These cases show, moreover, that the unwarmed lock-up would be dangerous to life in the case of many sober people, and all these buildings should at once be placed under medical inspection. It is monstrous that X 22 should be able to inflict upon a possibly innocent person a night of such torture as would be endured by no criminal under sentence. We trust that the attention of Parliament will be called to the whole system of locking-up " at an early period of the coming session.
congestion
to be guarded, therefore, by additional securities ; and it cannot be doubted that Mr. Dalrymple’s Bill would have a largely preventive, as well as a curative, operation. It has
been cordially approved by the Public Health Department of the Social Science Association, under the presidency of Dr. Symonds, and may be regarded, on the whole, as among the most crying wants of the day.
PROFESSOR HUXLEY AND VACCINATION.
A CORRESPONDENT of the Marylebone Mercury recently referred to Professor Huxley as "one who had himself signed the protest against compulsory vaccination"; and a report to the same effect has been diligently spread abroad through various channels. We thought the matter of sufficient importance to justify us in inquiring of Professor Huxley whether the report was true; and we rejoice in being able to meet it with an authoritative and formal contradiction. Professor Huxley states that, 11 during his candidature for a seat on the School Board he found himself compelled to contradict a report, which had been industriously set about, that he was a champion of spirit-rapping and table-turning; and he cannot but think that the report that he is opposed to compulsory vaccination is a piece of work from the same manufactory." We should have felt no difficulty in expressing our total disbelief of the statement, even if the THE REMAINS OF PLATYCNEMIC MEN IN Professor could not have been himself appealed to; but DENBIGHSHIRE. We hope that any now the matter is for ever set at rest. AN interesting paper by Mr. Boyd Dawkins and Prof. journals that have assisted in publishing the report will Busk appears in the January part of the Journal of the give at least equal publicity to the contradiction. Ethnological Society, on the occurrence of the remains of men whose tibiae were remarkably compressed laterally, giving to WATER FROM THE CHALK. transverse sections of the bone almost the form of a vertical PROFESSOR TYNDALL’S to London with antero-posterior section of a canine tooth, instead of the water from the chalk has proposal a supply letter in The Times produced irregularly rhomboidal form by which they are usually cha- from a writer who seeks to show that pure water would be racterised. This peculiarity was first noticed by Dr. Falconer to from its men, very tendency to dissolve and and Mr. Busk in 1863, in human remains procured from the injurious matters that it might encounter. noxious Genista cave at Gibraltar, and almost coincidently by Prof. appropriate any His argument is that any idea of purity must be Utopian; Broca, in tibiae procured from the dolmen of Chamant (Oise), and that man is placed in the world to use its good things and subsequently in those discovered at Montmartre by M. as they are. The writer forgets, or perhaps does not desire E. Bertrand. Mr. Busk considers it in the highest degree to see, that Professor Tyndall’s proposal is to take a natural improbable that it constitutes a race character, and still less water, and to remove from it a single substance which unfits that it can be looked upon as indicative of simian tendenit for certain domestic uses. By doing this he would shut cies, a notion that M. Broca seems inclined to favour. The or entirely, a water that is not natural in any remains were found in a cave at Perthi Chwareu, near Cor- out, partly has been frequently defiled by human excresense-that wen, with bones of the dog, fox, badger, pig, roe and red ment and tidal filth, and that carries into our cisterns all deer, sheep, Celtic shorthorn, horse, water-rat, hare, rabbit, manner of solid dirt in suspension. There is here no and eagle, and in another at Cefn, near St. Asaph, where after unattainable purity; but simply a proposistraining the tomb was remarkably divided into chambers. There tion that, having a good and a bad thing equally at our appear to have been at least sixteen bodies, and Mr. Dawdisposal, we should use the former rather than the latter. kins refers them to the Neolithic age. It has also been objected by more than one writer that the yield of the chalk would be insufficient, and that there are HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS. serious engineering difficulties in the way of its being WE are glad to see that Mr. Dalrymple, M.P., purposes utilised. To the first part of this objection the Professor once more to bring before the House of Commons his Bill himself furnishes a very simple and conclusive replyfor the reformatory seclusion of habitual drunkards. We saying, 11 Let us at least use the good water as far as it will feel that in doing so he deserves the warmest support of all go." To the second we make answer that engineers always who desire to promote the welfare of society. Among the find means of overcoming difficulties that it is not their respectable classes there is no other curse to compare with business to magnify. the habitual drunkard in a family. Medical practitioners DOMESTIC ANODYNES. see more of the nature and extent of the evil than most other persons; and we call upon our readers to urge upon WE regret to announce a death said to have been occamembers of Parliament, and to enforce by illustrations sioned by a self-administered over-dose of chloral hydrate. drawn from their personal experience, the necessity that The deceased was rector of a village in Northamptonshire, exists for some such law as that which Mr. Dalrymple’s and suffered from sleeplessness, on account of which he had Bill will provide. The Legislature has recently greatly been in the habit of taking opiates for some time past. extended the facilities for the sale of alcoholic drinks, and Latterly he had used chloral hydrate instead; and he was has thus indirectly rendered the descent to habitual intoxi- one morning found dead from its effects. We are not told cation more easy than it has ever been before. It requires what amount was taken, nor by what post-mortem appear"
-
of internal organs that was thus ocThe matter is made worse by the fact that, at Brighton, the policeman on duty had posted up on the wall before his eyes an order that no one brought drunk or insensiblee should be locked up until he had been seen by Mr. Penfold, the police surgeon. This order was simply ignored, and death in a few hours followed the night spent in a cell. Fortunately for the policeman, the coroner’s jury took a lenient view of his neglect, for which he himself expressed much sorrow; and the matter is therefore likely to go no further. The general principle, however, is one that should be insisted upon by the Home Office, and not left to the discretion of subordinates. It is impossible for a policeconstable to distinguish between drunkenness and illness, and no such responsibility ought to be thrust upon him. These cases show, moreover, that the unwarmed lock-up would be dangerous to life in the case of many sober people, and all these buildings should at once be placed under medical inspection. It is monstrous that X 22 should be able to inflict upon a possibly innocent person a night of such torture as would be endured by no criminal under sentence. We trust that the attention of Parliament will be called to the whole system of locking-up " at an early period of the coming session.
congestion
to be guarded, therefore, by additional securities ; and it cannot be doubted that Mr. Dalrymple’s Bill would have a largely preventive, as well as a curative, operation. It has
been cordially approved by the Public Health Department of the Social Science Association, under the presidency of Dr. Symonds, and may be regarded, on the whole, as among the most crying wants of the day.
PROFESSOR HUXLEY AND VACCINATION.
A CORRESPONDENT of the Marylebone Mercury recently referred to Professor Huxley as "one who had himself signed the protest against compulsory vaccination"; and a report to the same effect has been diligently spread abroad through various channels. We thought the matter of sufficient importance to justify us in inquiring of Professor Huxley whether the report was true; and we rejoice in being able to meet it with an authoritative and formal contradiction. Professor Huxley states that, 11 during his candidature for a seat on the School Board he found himself compelled to contradict a report, which had been industriously set about, that he was a champion of spirit-rapping and table-turning; and he cannot but think that the report that he is opposed to compulsory vaccination is a piece of work from the same manufactory." We should have felt no difficulty in expressing our total disbelief of the statement, even if the THE REMAINS OF PLATYCNEMIC MEN IN Professor could not have been himself appealed to; but DENBIGHSHIRE. We hope that any now the matter is for ever set at rest. AN interesting paper by Mr. Boyd Dawkins and Prof. journals that have assisted in publishing the report will Busk appears in the January part of the Journal of the give at least equal publicity to the contradiction. Ethnological Society, on the occurrence of the remains of men whose tibiae were remarkably compressed laterally, giving to WATER FROM THE CHALK. transverse sections of the bone almost the form of a vertical PROFESSOR TYNDALL’S to London with antero-posterior section of a canine tooth, instead of the water from the chalk has proposal a supply letter in The Times produced irregularly rhomboidal form by which they are usually cha- from a writer who seeks to show that pure water would be racterised. This peculiarity was first noticed by Dr. Falconer to from its men, very tendency to dissolve and and Mr. Busk in 1863, in human remains procured from the injurious matters that it might encounter. noxious Genista cave at Gibraltar, and almost coincidently by Prof. appropriate any His argument is that any idea of purity must be Utopian; Broca, in tibiae procured from the dolmen of Chamant (Oise), and that man is placed in the world to use its good things and subsequently in those discovered at Montmartre by M. as they are. The writer forgets, or perhaps does not desire E. Bertrand. Mr. Busk considers it in the highest degree to see, that Professor Tyndall’s proposal is to take a natural improbable that it constitutes a race character, and still less water, and to remove from it a single substance which unfits that it can be looked upon as indicative of simian tendenit for certain domestic uses. By doing this he would shut cies, a notion that M. Broca seems inclined to favour. The or entirely, a water that is not natural in any remains were found in a cave at Perthi Chwareu, near Cor- out, partly has been frequently defiled by human excresense-that wen, with bones of the dog, fox, badger, pig, roe and red ment and tidal filth, and that carries into our cisterns all deer, sheep, Celtic shorthorn, horse, water-rat, hare, rabbit, manner of solid dirt in suspension. There is here no and eagle, and in another at Cefn, near St. Asaph, where after unattainable purity; but simply a proposistraining the tomb was remarkably divided into chambers. There tion that, having a good and a bad thing equally at our appear to have been at least sixteen bodies, and Mr. Dawdisposal, we should use the former rather than the latter. kins refers them to the Neolithic age. It has also been objected by more than one writer that the yield of the chalk would be insufficient, and that there are HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS. serious engineering difficulties in the way of its being WE are glad to see that Mr. Dalrymple, M.P., purposes utilised. To the first part of this objection the Professor once more to bring before the House of Commons his Bill himself furnishes a very simple and conclusive replyfor the reformatory seclusion of habitual drunkards. We saying, 11 Let us at least use the good water as far as it will feel that in doing so he deserves the warmest support of all go." To the second we make answer that engineers always who desire to promote the welfare of society. Among the find means of overcoming difficulties that it is not their respectable classes there is no other curse to compare with business to magnify. the habitual drunkard in a family. Medical practitioners DOMESTIC ANODYNES. see more of the nature and extent of the evil than most other persons; and we call upon our readers to urge upon WE regret to announce a death said to have been occamembers of Parliament, and to enforce by illustrations sioned by a self-administered over-dose of chloral hydrate. drawn from their personal experience, the necessity that The deceased was rector of a village in Northamptonshire, exists for some such law as that which Mr. Dalrymple’s and suffered from sleeplessness, on account of which he had Bill will provide. The Legislature has recently greatly been in the habit of taking opiates for some time past. extended the facilities for the sale of alcoholic drinks, and Latterly he had used chloral hydrate instead; and he was has thus indirectly rendered the descent to habitual intoxi- one morning found dead from its effects. We are not told cation more easy than it has ever been before. It requires what amount was taken, nor by what post-mortem appear"
-