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Testimonial to Dr. T. W. Hime
126
PUBLIC HEALTH.
T H E " SHONE " S V S T E ~ . - - A t t h e a n n u a l m e e t i n g of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers, Lieut.-Col. Jones read a paper giving ten y e a r s ' e x p e r i e n c e o f w h a t is k n o w n as t h e " S h o n e " e j e c t o r , for t h e l i f t i n g a n d p r o p u l s i o n o f l i q u i d o r s e m i - l i q u i d m a t t e r b y c o m p r e s s e d air, a u t o m a t i c a l l y a d m i t t e d a n d d i s c h a r g e d , or b l o w n off, b y a m a c h i n e called a pneumatic ejector. Examples were given, including instances at Eastbourne, Henley-onThames, ahd Fenton, Staffordshire, where the system was working satisfactorily. In the course of a long d i s c u s s i o n o n t h e p a p e r , t h e o p i n i o n was g e n e r a l l y e x p r e s s e d t h a t t h e " S h o n e " i n j e c t o r for o r d i n a r y p u r p o s e s o f p m n p i n g w a s n o t e q u a l to e x i s t i n g m e t h o d s , o n t h e s c o r e o f e i t h e r efficiency o r economy. I t w a s a d m i t t e d , h o w e v e r , t h a t it is useful under some exceptional circumstances,ithough it w a s s t r o n g l y u r g e d t h a t n o r e l i a b l e d a t a h a d b e e n given of the actual cost of working the " Shone" system in any of the places named.
TESTIMONIAL
TO
DR.
T.
W.
HIME,
Late 2kfedicM O[ficer of Heaft~ for J3radford. T ~ E f o l l o w i n g c i r c u l a r h a s b e e n s e n t to t h e p r o fession, in response to which over .~3oo have already been subscribed :-~DEAR SIR,--You have no doubt learned the very unsatisfactory circumstances under which this town has lost the services of Dr. Hime as its Medical Officer of Health. His numerous friends in Bradford having failed to influence the Town Council to re-appoint him, have determined to present him with a purse of money, as a mark of their approval of the manner in which he has discharged his duties, and of their regret that through the action of the Sanitary Committee the town has been deprived of his valuable services. But his Bradford friends think that the question of the security of tenure of office of so important an official as the Medical Officer of Health, which is involved in this case, has more than a local importance, and is of special interest to the medical profession throughout the country. It is hoped the occasion may be the commencement of a successful movement to obtain for all Medical Officers of Health the right to appeal to the Local Government Board, in order that they may be able to pertorm their duties with due security and independence. The medical profession in Bradford have most cordially supported Dr. tfime, and two of its leading members are on this committee. W e venture to hope that you will allow your name to be added to the list of subscribers, as an indication to the public that not only the medical professional of the town, and the representative medical journals (the Lancd, the BritisIz 2VfedizalJaurna4 and 7ffedieal 7~s'esxa~td CireMctr), but also the Medical ONcers of ttealth, warmly sympathise with Dr. Hime. The N o r t h - W e s t e r n Association of Medical Officers of Health has already passed a resolution of sympathy with Dr. Hime, a copy of which has been sent to the Local Government B o a r d . - - W e are, dear sir, your obedient servants, I-IN N RY
MITCHELL~
CTzairnzan of Camn~illee,
f i t l y I6~.~, I888.
F. R. PESEL, Tz,°asurer, W . P . BYLES, f-Ion. See.
% * Contributions may he sent to the Treasurer, Oak House, Bradford, or direct to the Bradford Old Bank, Limited.
CORRESPONDENCE. ,=,
W H A T IS T H E P R E S E N T P O P U L A T I O N O F OUR LARGE TOWNS ? To t/ze Editor of PUBLIC HEALTH. SIR,--This question is one of especial importance to medical officers of health, and I would urge the desirability of those gentlemen supporting the recent memorial of the Royal Statistical Society to the Local Government Board in favour of a quinquennial census. That the present official estimates of populations are in many cases quite untrustworthy is admitted on all hands, but similar estimates, if checked by an enumeration every five years, would be sufficiently close for all practical purposes. I submit that not oniy is the population of individual towns a matter of uncertainty at the present moment, bnt even the population of the whole country. '~ T h e increase of emigration and the great fall both in the blrth-rate and the death-rate cannot but have had a notable effect not only on the number but also on the age-constitution of the population, so that to-day we cannot be said to have any solid basis upon which to found vital statistics ; moreover, wo shall be yearly in a worse and worse condition until the figures of the next census see the light. I would remind your readers that a quinquennial census is taken in the following countries--Germany, France, New Zealand, Queensland, Manitoba, the North-West territory of Canada, and several of the United States (twelve States and three territories). W h y shotfld England, the richest country in the world, that in which the population question is most urgent, and the generally admitted leader in aI1 matters related to preventive medicine, lag behind in this one respect ?--I am, Sir, your obedient servant, G. B. L O N G S T A F F . Wandsworth, f i d y 14~h, 1888.
REVIEWS.
The Treafnzenl and Utifizatfon of Sewage. By W . H. CORFIELD,M.A., M.D. Third Edition revised by the Author and Louis Parkes, M.D. (Macmillan and Co.) In this work are embodied the latest processes and developments of the modern treatment of sewage ; although a third edition of a standard work, it is practically re-written, and is in its present form a very valuable manual for students, and at the same time a handy book of reference for the professed hygienist. It is interesting to note that the identical summary writteu seventeen years ago is again repeated, evidently in the opinion of the authors, no modification of chemical precipitation, no form of utilization, no form of filtration has been discovered in the seventeen years, of sufficient merit to be considered as a real or substantial advance. The historical record of sewage treatment is a chronicle of large promise, of small performance, and of waste of public money ; it is therefore with no small satisfaction that we find in a work like the one under review, clear principles laid down and a dispassionate statement of the chief lessons as taught by ekperienee. The method most conducive to health is the one, says Dr. Corfield, " which removes at once and. completely from the vicinity of habitations, the various sorts of refnse in the most expeditious manner." The dry methods all violate this principle, for they leave the excremental matters in and about the house for a certain time, and there is no assurance that the matters have been disinfected as well as deodorized ; on the other hand tbe results of the water system are known ; where it has been introduced in conjunction with other sanitary improvements, it has been the means of practically annihilating cholera and has been little less effectual in the extermination of typhoid fever. " W e are sure that it is the speedy removal of the refuse matters that has accomplished this, because in towns where free exit has not been allowed for the sewage from the sewers, the death-rate from typhoid has only very See Journal of Statistical Society. I886~ p.p. 76o-3.
PUBLIC HEALTH.
T H E " SHONE " S V S T E ~ . - - A t t h e a n n u a l m e e t i n g of the Association of Municipal and Sanitary Engineers, Lieut.-Col. Jones read a paper giving ten y e a r s ' e x p e r i e n c e o f w h a t is k n o w n as t h e " S h o n e " e j e c t o r , for t h e l i f t i n g a n d p r o p u l s i o n o f l i q u i d o r s e m i - l i q u i d m a t t e r b y c o m p r e s s e d air, a u t o m a t i c a l l y a d m i t t e d a n d d i s c h a r g e d , or b l o w n off, b y a m a c h i n e called a pneumatic ejector. Examples were given, including instances at Eastbourne, Henley-onThames, ahd Fenton, Staffordshire, where the system was working satisfactorily. In the course of a long d i s c u s s i o n o n t h e p a p e r , t h e o p i n i o n was g e n e r a l l y e x p r e s s e d t h a t t h e " S h o n e " i n j e c t o r for o r d i n a r y p u r p o s e s o f p m n p i n g w a s n o t e q u a l to e x i s t i n g m e t h o d s , o n t h e s c o r e o f e i t h e r efficiency o r economy. I t w a s a d m i t t e d , h o w e v e r , t h a t it is useful under some exceptional circumstances,ithough it w a s s t r o n g l y u r g e d t h a t n o r e l i a b l e d a t a h a d b e e n given of the actual cost of working the " Shone" system in any of the places named.
TESTIMONIAL
TO
DR.
T.
W.
HIME,
Late 2kfedicM O[ficer of Heaft~ for J3radford. T ~ E f o l l o w i n g c i r c u l a r h a s b e e n s e n t to t h e p r o fession, in response to which over .~3oo have already been subscribed :-~DEAR SIR,--You have no doubt learned the very unsatisfactory circumstances under which this town has lost the services of Dr. Hime as its Medical Officer of Health. His numerous friends in Bradford having failed to influence the Town Council to re-appoint him, have determined to present him with a purse of money, as a mark of their approval of the manner in which he has discharged his duties, and of their regret that through the action of the Sanitary Committee the town has been deprived of his valuable services. But his Bradford friends think that the question of the security of tenure of office of so important an official as the Medical Officer of Health, which is involved in this case, has more than a local importance, and is of special interest to the medical profession throughout the country. It is hoped the occasion may be the commencement of a successful movement to obtain for all Medical Officers of Health the right to appeal to the Local Government Board, in order that they may be able to pertorm their duties with due security and independence. The medical profession in Bradford have most cordially supported Dr. tfime, and two of its leading members are on this committee. W e venture to hope that you will allow your name to be added to the list of subscribers, as an indication to the public that not only the medical professional of the town, and the representative medical journals (the Lancd, the BritisIz 2VfedizalJaurna4 and 7ffedieal 7~s'esxa~td CireMctr), but also the Medical ONcers of ttealth, warmly sympathise with Dr. Hime. The N o r t h - W e s t e r n Association of Medical Officers of Health has already passed a resolution of sympathy with Dr. Hime, a copy of which has been sent to the Local Government B o a r d . - - W e are, dear sir, your obedient servants, I-IN N RY
MITCHELL~
CTzairnzan of Camn~illee,
f i t l y I6~.~, I888.
F. R. PESEL, Tz,°asurer, W . P . BYLES, f-Ion. See.
% * Contributions may he sent to the Treasurer, Oak House, Bradford, or direct to the Bradford Old Bank, Limited.
CORRESPONDENCE. ,=,
W H A T IS T H E P R E S E N T P O P U L A T I O N O F OUR LARGE TOWNS ? To t/ze Editor of PUBLIC HEALTH. SIR,--This question is one of especial importance to medical officers of health, and I would urge the desirability of those gentlemen supporting the recent memorial of the Royal Statistical Society to the Local Government Board in favour of a quinquennial census. That the present official estimates of populations are in many cases quite untrustworthy is admitted on all hands, but similar estimates, if checked by an enumeration every five years, would be sufficiently close for all practical purposes. I submit that not oniy is the population of individual towns a matter of uncertainty at the present moment, bnt even the population of the whole country. '~ T h e increase of emigration and the great fall both in the blrth-rate and the death-rate cannot but have had a notable effect not only on the number but also on the age-constitution of the population, so that to-day we cannot be said to have any solid basis upon which to found vital statistics ; moreover, wo shall be yearly in a worse and worse condition until the figures of the next census see the light. I would remind your readers that a quinquennial census is taken in the following countries--Germany, France, New Zealand, Queensland, Manitoba, the North-West territory of Canada, and several of the United States (twelve States and three territories). W h y shotfld England, the richest country in the world, that in which the population question is most urgent, and the generally admitted leader in aI1 matters related to preventive medicine, lag behind in this one respect ?--I am, Sir, your obedient servant, G. B. L O N G S T A F F . Wandsworth, f i d y 14~h, 1888.
REVIEWS.
The Treafnzenl and Utifizatfon of Sewage. By W . H. CORFIELD,M.A., M.D. Third Edition revised by the Author and Louis Parkes, M.D. (Macmillan and Co.) In this work are embodied the latest processes and developments of the modern treatment of sewage ; although a third edition of a standard work, it is practically re-written, and is in its present form a very valuable manual for students, and at the same time a handy book of reference for the professed hygienist. It is interesting to note that the identical summary writteu seventeen years ago is again repeated, evidently in the opinion of the authors, no modification of chemical precipitation, no form of utilization, no form of filtration has been discovered in the seventeen years, of sufficient merit to be considered as a real or substantial advance. The historical record of sewage treatment is a chronicle of large promise, of small performance, and of waste of public money ; it is therefore with no small satisfaction that we find in a work like the one under review, clear principles laid down and a dispassionate statement of the chief lessons as taught by ekperienee. The method most conducive to health is the one, says Dr. Corfield, " which removes at once and. completely from the vicinity of habitations, the various sorts of refnse in the most expeditious manner." The dry methods all violate this principle, for they leave the excremental matters in and about the house for a certain time, and there is no assurance that the matters have been disinfected as well as deodorized ; on the other hand tbe results of the water system are known ; where it has been introduced in conjunction with other sanitary improvements, it has been the means of practically annihilating cholera and has been little less effectual in the extermination of typhoid fever. " W e are sure that it is the speedy removal of the refuse matters that has accomplished this, because in towns where free exit has not been allowed for the sewage from the sewers, the death-rate from typhoid has only very See Journal of Statistical Society. I886~ p.p. 76o-3.