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THE CAPE MEDICAL ACT.
733 from all classes of the community was a mistake. It We may leave the electrical experts to judge of the scientific is interminable and it is of questionable utility. Anybody, value of the grounds for that advocacy ; but we cannot, for in however good a house, who does not like the care, cost the honour of our profession, refrain from expressing our strong and trouble of isolating a case of scarlet fever may send it disapproval of the uses to which the physician in question to the hospitals which were meant originally for the poor. has applied his knowledge. He cannot fail to be conscious of The law has been altered so as to allow of this without the the infinite harm that may accrue from one in his position discredit of pauperism and for the bare cost of maintenance. giving such warm commendation to a method of treatment Is this alteration of the law justified by the results ? It that is so closely bound up with quackery. Nor could hedoubt that an opinion so directly addressed to the firm would seems a time for questioning whether the system is diminishing the number of cases, as it certainly seems diminishing be made the most of, and that his litera scripta would be the independence of the people. Of course we entirely sent broadcast through the land in support of a speculative approve the isolation of cases occurring in the houses of the enterprise which feeds on the ignorance and folly of the multitude. poor. cases
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THE CAPE MEDICAL ACT.
THE PUBLIC HEALTH OF ITALY.
AN Italian correspondent writes under date the 18th inst.e: " La Direzione Generale di Sanità, having been informed of’ the reports in American and French journals as to the occurrence of cholera cases at Naples, gives a categorical denial tosuch reports. The public health at Naples and in the Island; of Capri, as well as throughout the Italian kingdom, is exceptionally good ; above all, there has not been verified a. single case of any malady which can awake the slightest suspicion of the presence of cholera. This satisfactory result is mainly due to the steady, thorough and effective surveillance practised at the frontier, without causing any inconvenience to the traveller. Only articles of personal use and to out Mr. Sauer and other of this Bill that actually soiled were subjected, and that immediately, to. promoters point such penalties are for those who are under no obligation of the disinfecting process. " honour and position. Medical men have their own reputation and that of their profession to maintain, and may be trusted SCARLET FEVER AND MILK. to take those precautions which science and self-interest alike A SOMEWHAT outbreak of scarlet fever is
profession is petitioning the Cape Legislature lately passed, and very reasonin One claim so. particular, leaving the practice of ably women without pain or penalty, to uncertificated midwifery but subjecting certificated midwives and medical men to penalties for breaking regulations to be made by the Medical Council, gave great and just offence to the profession who claim, as educated and qualified practitioners, to be a law to themselves. It is said to have the effect of hindering medical men from taking obstetric practice, and may easily tell badly against lying-in women by leaving them to be attended by the unqualified and the ignorant. We would THE medical
for an amendment of the Act
-
reported
sharp
dictate. ___
CHOLERA NURSING. WE would direct attention to an excellent little lecture to trained nurses by Dr. Heron, physician to the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, on some important points in cholera nursing, which has been published by the Royal British Nurses’ Association. The lecture was given on the lst and 5th of the present month to over 400 trained nurses. After referring very briefly to the history of the disease and giving a graphic description of its symptoms, the lecturer states in clear and precise terms what is known about it with direct relation to the practical bearing which Koch’s discovery of the comma bacillus, as its cause, has upon our methods of dealing with persons suffering from cholera. From this point of view the lecturer lays down with much perspicuity the precautions that have to be taken, the disinfectants to be used and the method of using them, the dresses that should be worn, and the course which should generally be followed in regard to the patient and the nurse. ___
"ELECTROPATHIC" ADVERTISING. IT is with painful surprise that we find the name of a member of our profession appended to a highly eulogistic letter addressed to the head of a firm that is now deluging the British public with advertisements of its wares, which are alleged to be panaceas for almost every ill. The medical in is an M. D. of St. practitioner Andrews, a question Fellow of the Edinburgh College of Physicians, a Licentiate of the London College, a Member of the College of Surgeons of England and a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. Our contemporary, the Electrical IZevee7v, in its issue of this week, not only exposes the fallacies underlying the "experiments"upon which this precious recommendation was penned, but also speaks in no measured terms of the wrong done to the profession and the public by this advocacy of an "electropathic" appliance.
It has transpired that most of the’ sufferers were supplied with milk from a single dealer who, obtains his milk from Ongar. It is further reported that at a farm at Ongar, from which this dealer obtains his milk, scarlet fever is prevalent in the family of the farmer. Urgent and careful inquiry into this outbreak will doubtless be madewithout delay.
at
Leyton
in Essex.
-
SOME HORRORS
OF QUACKERY.
a storm " has often found) THE old proverb"any port in the empirical treatment of disease. practical illustration Time was when even regular practitioners in the art of healingincluded in their professional armament, along with many simple remedies of real value, other matters the very mention. of which might almost suffice to engender illness. We may feel thankful that we have now entered upon a later and morescientific era, and that such extraordinary drugs as weasels’ gizzards, does’ hoofs, snails and other even more repulsive horrors do not now find a place in any pharmacopoeia. Therestill exists, however, a species of medical folk-lore, and some of’ its prescribed wisdom available for use in illness is of the most remarkable kind. Times of panic, by throwing a population to some extent on its own resources for treatment, are apt to’ create a demand for these survivals of a dark age. Thishappened lately in Germany where a toad cooked with much As to the result care was swallowed as a cure for cholera. we are not informed. Most of us would probably choose tosuffer rather than thus attempt our own relief. One can easily understand how such remedies as these have gained their favourable reception among ignorant persons. Used.’ first, in all likelihood, in some case of illness mistaken for an incurable disease, the nostrum has been followed by spontaneous healing, and has carried the stolen credit and the’ faith which goes with reputation to other sick bedsides, sometimes with like spurious results. It cannot be doubted that some such confidence in the horrors of empiricism lingers. amongst our own poorer population, especially in country districts. In view of this fact the practice lately adopted by
in
___
-----
THE CAPE MEDICAL ACT.
THE PUBLIC HEALTH OF ITALY.
AN Italian correspondent writes under date the 18th inst.e: " La Direzione Generale di Sanità, having been informed of’ the reports in American and French journals as to the occurrence of cholera cases at Naples, gives a categorical denial tosuch reports. The public health at Naples and in the Island; of Capri, as well as throughout the Italian kingdom, is exceptionally good ; above all, there has not been verified a. single case of any malady which can awake the slightest suspicion of the presence of cholera. This satisfactory result is mainly due to the steady, thorough and effective surveillance practised at the frontier, without causing any inconvenience to the traveller. Only articles of personal use and to out Mr. Sauer and other of this Bill that actually soiled were subjected, and that immediately, to. promoters point such penalties are for those who are under no obligation of the disinfecting process. " honour and position. Medical men have their own reputation and that of their profession to maintain, and may be trusted SCARLET FEVER AND MILK. to take those precautions which science and self-interest alike A SOMEWHAT outbreak of scarlet fever is
profession is petitioning the Cape Legislature lately passed, and very reasonin One claim so. particular, leaving the practice of ably women without pain or penalty, to uncertificated midwifery but subjecting certificated midwives and medical men to penalties for breaking regulations to be made by the Medical Council, gave great and just offence to the profession who claim, as educated and qualified practitioners, to be a law to themselves. It is said to have the effect of hindering medical men from taking obstetric practice, and may easily tell badly against lying-in women by leaving them to be attended by the unqualified and the ignorant. We would THE medical
for an amendment of the Act
-
reported
sharp
dictate. ___
CHOLERA NURSING. WE would direct attention to an excellent little lecture to trained nurses by Dr. Heron, physician to the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, on some important points in cholera nursing, which has been published by the Royal British Nurses’ Association. The lecture was given on the lst and 5th of the present month to over 400 trained nurses. After referring very briefly to the history of the disease and giving a graphic description of its symptoms, the lecturer states in clear and precise terms what is known about it with direct relation to the practical bearing which Koch’s discovery of the comma bacillus, as its cause, has upon our methods of dealing with persons suffering from cholera. From this point of view the lecturer lays down with much perspicuity the precautions that have to be taken, the disinfectants to be used and the method of using them, the dresses that should be worn, and the course which should generally be followed in regard to the patient and the nurse. ___
"ELECTROPATHIC" ADVERTISING. IT is with painful surprise that we find the name of a member of our profession appended to a highly eulogistic letter addressed to the head of a firm that is now deluging the British public with advertisements of its wares, which are alleged to be panaceas for almost every ill. The medical in is an M. D. of St. practitioner Andrews, a question Fellow of the Edinburgh College of Physicians, a Licentiate of the London College, a Member of the College of Surgeons of England and a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. Our contemporary, the Electrical IZevee7v, in its issue of this week, not only exposes the fallacies underlying the "experiments"upon which this precious recommendation was penned, but also speaks in no measured terms of the wrong done to the profession and the public by this advocacy of an "electropathic" appliance.
It has transpired that most of the’ sufferers were supplied with milk from a single dealer who, obtains his milk from Ongar. It is further reported that at a farm at Ongar, from which this dealer obtains his milk, scarlet fever is prevalent in the family of the farmer. Urgent and careful inquiry into this outbreak will doubtless be madewithout delay.
at
Leyton
in Essex.
-
SOME HORRORS
OF QUACKERY.
a storm " has often found) THE old proverb"any port in the empirical treatment of disease. practical illustration Time was when even regular practitioners in the art of healingincluded in their professional armament, along with many simple remedies of real value, other matters the very mention. of which might almost suffice to engender illness. We may feel thankful that we have now entered upon a later and morescientific era, and that such extraordinary drugs as weasels’ gizzards, does’ hoofs, snails and other even more repulsive horrors do not now find a place in any pharmacopoeia. Therestill exists, however, a species of medical folk-lore, and some of’ its prescribed wisdom available for use in illness is of the most remarkable kind. Times of panic, by throwing a population to some extent on its own resources for treatment, are apt to’ create a demand for these survivals of a dark age. Thishappened lately in Germany where a toad cooked with much As to the result care was swallowed as a cure for cholera. we are not informed. Most of us would probably choose tosuffer rather than thus attempt our own relief. One can easily understand how such remedies as these have gained their favourable reception among ignorant persons. Used.’ first, in all likelihood, in some case of illness mistaken for an incurable disease, the nostrum has been followed by spontaneous healing, and has carried the stolen credit and the’ faith which goes with reputation to other sick bedsides, sometimes with like spurious results. It cannot be doubted that some such confidence in the horrors of empiricism lingers. amongst our own poorer population, especially in country districts. In view of this fact the practice lately adopted by
in