SUGAR "AS A MILITARY ALIMENT."

784

companies should elect one representativeeach. The 1774, the year after its foundation, which led to the proposition that the London County Council should have the resignation of the President and the secretaries, and of thc’, appointment of seven members and that the county of Hert- way in which Lettsom smoothed over the difficulties and led fordshire should have only one member seems on the face of to the return to the society of the revolted members. it absurd, and possibly the London County Council made this Lettsom cemented this reunion by regaling the Fellows quaint proposition simply with a view of showing that "some- in 1775 on a turtle which had been presented to him. thing should be done." This effect at any rate has been pro- The ancients believed that the earth rested on the back of a., duced. The London County Council Bill came up for second tortoise and Mr. Owen believed that the prosperity of the reading in the House of Commons on Thursday, March 9th, society was"based on the carapace of that turtle." Followwhen Mr. Cecil, member for the Hertford division of Hert- ing the toast of the evening came the presentation of the" fordshire, announced that the Lee Conservancy Board had Fothergillian Gold Medal to Dr. S. Monckton Copeman passed a resolution to the effect that " if the clauses relating for his researches on glycerinated calf lymph which had Dr. Copeman was veryi. to the Lee Conservancy be withdrawn from the present led to such excellent results. Dr. West proposed the toast of Bill the Lee Conservancy Board will themselves pro- loudly cheered. mote a Bill in the next or following session of Parlia- the visitors to which Sir Samuel Wilks, Bart., and’ ment for the reconstitution of the Board in such Sir William Mac Cormac, Bart., K.C.V.O., responded. manner as to make it representative of all the interests The health of the President was proposed by Dr. Ord of the river Lee." Mr. Cecil announced that the Hertford- who referred not only to Mr. Owen’s fulfilment of his office’ shire and Bedfordshire members of Parliament had come to as President, but to his personal qualities which would have’ the decision that it would be well for the Lee Conservancy ensured him distinction whatever profession he had adopted. Board to promote a Bill on the lines indicated and that they The toast was received with musical honours and Mr. Owen would be ready to do so if the London County Council replied. An excellent musical programme was arranged by dropped that part of their Bill referring to the Conservancy Dr. Robert Maguire which added greatly to the enjoyment of’ of the Lee. Mr. James Stuart, member for Shoreditch, the evening and included pianoforte solos by Mr. Plimmer, a, who was responsible for the Bill, withdrew the clause violoncello solo by Mr, Ronald Carter, and two’songs by Mr. which had reference to the Lee on the understanding Foster Ferguson which were loudly encored. that a Bill will shortly be promoted by the Lee Conservancy Board. The purity of the Lee water and the "AS A MILITARY ALIMENT." navigation of the river are of very great importance and DR. JOSEPH DE PIETRA SANTA has recently published we are of opinion that they should be dealt with by the an interesting paper in the Journal d’ Hygiène,1 of Government. The enormous amount of good which has he is editor, on the merits of sugar "as a military which been effected by the Thames Conservators during the last aliment." It was long believed, he says, that sugar few years has shown what can be done in the way of river caused constipation and was moreover "heating," an purification. We are of opinion that the best solution for the present difficulties concerning the Lee would be ill-defined term greatly in vogue a generation or two In the opinion of many distinguished members, to place it under the care of the existing Thames since. of the medical profession sugar became unwholesome Conservancy Board. The present Conservators and their when it was consumed in anything but small quantities, officers have now had considerable experience as to in the mouth with softening of the gums and the methods by which improvements can be brought causing ulcers to scurvy. Requiring a large amount of also predisposing about in the Thames and its chief tributaries, and it would for its proper solution it consequently soon juice gastric be a great advantage that the duty of conserving the Lee the while at the same time it favoured stomach, fatigued should be placed in strong and experienced hands. Wedo worms and weakened the chest. By degrees, however, morenot think that any exception could reasonably be taken to views to prevail. Physicians in various enlightened began placing the Lee under the Thames Conservators if a small countries became converted and in France the celebrated number of members representing the interests of the counties Michel Levy, constituted himself the champion of concerned were added to the Thames Conservancy Board. hygienist, the maligned product, preaching the doctrine that Nature herIt would be a great mistake to increase the numbers of the Board so as to make it an unwieldy body, but we think that self taught us to make use of sugar inasmuch as she comall interests would be properly represented by a very bined with it many tasteless or acid substances which otherwise would remain unpalatable. Cruveilhier likewisesmall addition to the existing Board. from the of supported sugar coign vantage of his professorial its evil reputation was a libel, whilethat chair, declaring ANNIVERSARY DINNER OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY was responsible for the aphorism that sugar conProudhon OF LONDON. stitutes the poor man’s pharmacy, being injurious solely toTHE 126th anniversary of the founding of the Medical the pocket." By this time the alimentary status of sugar is Society of London was celebrated on March 8th by no longer doubtful. The pariah of yesterday has grown., the Fellows and their guests dining at the Hotel Métropole, into the spoilt darling of the dietitians of to-day the President, Mr. Edmund Owen, being in the chair. There the change being in a great measure due to the was a record attendance, 168 sitting down to dinner, and the of cyclists whose sagacity wa3’ well-known hospitality of the society on these occasions had ever-increasing army not long at fault in recognising the value of sugar* been exercised to an unusual extent. Among the guests not merely as a trustworthy respiratory food but alsowere Sir Samuel Wilks, Sir William Mac Cormac, as a potent and speedy recuperator in muscular weariness. Sir Henry F. Norbury, and the Presidents of practically all In December, 1897, the question of the usefulness of the medical societies meeting in London. After the usual as a food for soldiers was raised in the Germanloyal toasts had been duly honoured, Mr. Owen proposed the sugar Parliament by Dr. Paasche who based his argument on sometoast of ’’ The Medical Society of Londonin an eloquent which had been undertaken by Staff Surgeonand humorous speech and in welcoming the guests informed experiments and in consequence of the discussion that Major Schumburg them that social relaxation in the past had played an ima further ensued investigation under Dr. Leitenstorfer took portant part in the history of the society. He gave a graphic at Metz during the annual manoeuvres. 20 men account of a quarrel and schism in the society in place water

SUGAR

’

1

Vide THE LANCET, March 11th,

p. 719.

1

No. 1169, Feb. 16th, 1899.

785 been selected from each company of a regiment, necropsies disclosed the lesion which was diagnosed during resembling each other as much as possible life. Further interest attaches to the fact that the case an extra ration of of the daughter was one of that rare type of disease known ran physique, general health, &c., issued of was to half of the whole as " juvenile general paralysis." It may be mentioned 100 grammes sugar The results are said to have been conclusively in that cases of such similar heredity are quite rare, and
’having

all of them

------

THE CHAIR OF PHYSIOLOGY IN EDINBURGH

BLACKWATER FEVER.

UNIVERSITY.

THE paper which is to be read before the Epidemiological advertising columns last week, the Society of London to-night (Friday) on this interesting preliminary steps are being taken with a view to filling the but imperfectly understood condition is probably looked chair of physiology left vacant by the lamented death of forward to with much interest by epidemiologists. Mr. Professor Rutherford. On account of the important interests W. H. Crosse, the reader of the paper, was for some years involved it is essential that both the patrons who decide the Principal Medical Officer to the Royal Niger Company appointment and also the intending candidates should have and in this capacity he had unusual opportunities for ample time in which to complete their arrangements. studying the manifestations of this condition and its Applications are now invited and are to be sent not later relations to malarial fever, to paroxysmal hasmoglobinuria, than Saturday, May 20th next, to the secretary to the and to quinine poisoning. As to the distribution of this curators of patronage, Mr. R. Herbert Johnston, W.S., abnormal state we have yet much to learn, and it must be 66, Frederick-street, Edinburgh. Each candidate must send said that having regard to the large number of our countryeight copies of his application, one of which should be men who spend most of their existence in those of our signed, and must also send eight copies of any testimonials colonies where malaria obtains it is of great importance which he may desire to submit. that our knowledge on the subject should be extended. As announced in

our

THE

GENERAL PARALYSIS OF THE INSANE IN MOTHER AND CHILD. ,

condition has been very rarely recorded, and a interesting case (with results of the post-mortem examination) published by Dr. Oscar Miiller in the Allgemeine Zeitse7triftfiir Psychiatrie, June, 1898) calls for special notice. The mother, a woman aged 45 years, had had syphilis and had given birth to two children, one of whom died from infantile convulsions. This child showed evidences of congenital infantile syphilis. The other child grew up apparently in good bodily health and as regards her mind she was an average and even promising child. At the age of 10 to she exhibit loss of intelligence, years, however, began could not keep pace with her schoolmates, and soon From being a clever became quite dull and stupid. skater she soon became an incapable one, while her handwriting also rapidly failed and grew confused and illegible. Her increasing mental dulness passed into a profound apathetic dementia ; she was reduced to an idiotic and helpless condition, in which state she died. The mother shortly before this began to show signs of mental and moral deterioration and probably the onset of the climacteric period tended to hasten the dénouement. She developed extreme conjugal jealousy and then she became careless and neglectful of her own appearance and took to drink. At this time a slight defect of articulation developed ; this became marked and finally there was actual paresis of the muscles of articulation, with tremors of the tongue and lips. Her mind now rapidly and steadily lapsed into dementia and she died shortly afterwards. A necropsy showed her brain to be affected with the typical vascular and meningeal lesions of general paralysis. The child was also examined post mortem and the brain lesions were found to conform to those of the mother. The interest of the case lies not only in its rarity, but also in the fact that the THIS recent

rare

MEDICAL FACTOR IN IMPERIAL EXPANSION.

THE "white man’s burden" is a complex as well as a weighty one and its medical constituent is as important as any. This was admirably put by Professor McKendrick at the mass meeting held last week in Glasgow on the subject of medical missions. No other nationality has combined, as has the British, colonial development with civilisationcivilisation of which the inferior races sooner or later feel the benefit and from which they take "a new departure" in their evolution. True, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Francis Xavier and his followers, mainly belonging to the Society of Jesus, did splendid work in East Africa and in South America, but that work was too closely identified with religious proselytism to be thoroughly healthy or lasting. Their sucThe Capuchin cessors in practice have admitted as much. monk Massaia (afterwards promoted to be cardinal) took a leaf out of English-speaking missionary effort when he made Bible instruction to come after, not precede, physical and moral rehabilitation. In the Galla country 50 years ago he taught the savage population the arts of peace (mainly agricultural industry) before translating for them and interpreting the Sermon on the Mount. But his most effective resource was of a medical nature and he owed his wonderful command of native sympathy and allegiance more to his having stamped out small-pox by vaccination than to any other of his benefactions. Among all the incidents brought to light by the Fashoda difficulty, none was more significant than the friendly reception accorded to Major Marchand by the natives from the mistaken notion that he was English, so universal is the native impression that of all the °° white men"who invade Equatorial Africa, those of British nationality are the least to be dreaded or rather the most to be welcomed. Professor McKendrick and the able speakers who followed him put the superiority of