- Email: [email protected]
THE EAST LONDON WATER INQUIRY.
A NOVEL SUGGESTION.-SMALL-POX AT CARDIFF.
438
of accommodation. But the Local Government Board "are strongly of opinion that the scheme of infirmary extension as proposed by the guardians will be unduly costly, having regard to the limited accommodation which can be provided under the scheme and inadequate for the requirements of the parish for the in-door poor." It will be a serious thing for the public of Islington if at a great cost neighbouring property is bought up only to supply accommodation which in a very few years will be inadequate. Yet the Local Government Board have so far given way. They invite the guardians to further consideration of their inspector’s report of the great mortality of the infirmary and other facts. They say that the adoption of the scheme of the guardians will be an unfortunate one in the interests of the parish. They will not withhold their assent to the scheme i I I as an instalment of the further accommodation and provided that the Board are given assurances of early possession &c. Clearly the Local Government Board have ulterior views as to building a workhouse at Bowes Park or on some other site. The guardians will incur a heavy responsibility if they patch up the present buildings at a great cost and in a few years find themselves compelled to begin de novo. This will be a poor compensation for any shortI triumph over the authorities of the Local Government Board, who in this controversy represent true economy and the interest of the sick poor.
may
with the objects of the have many supporters.
sympathise
society and
trust that it
SMALL-POX AT CARDIFF. THE Vaccination Committee of the Cardiff board of has passed a resolution advising the appointment of six assistants to the vaccination officer to make a houseto-house inspection in order to discover the number of unvaccinated children in the town. This is a step in the right direction and one to be commended to the notice of boards of guardians in other large towns.
guardians
STREET NOISES.
WE are glad to see that the worm has begun to turn, and in saying this we hope that Mr. H. C. Mitchell, manager of the Consolidated Bank, 450, Strand, will pardon us. He made an application to Mr. Vaughan upon Tuesday last to know if nothing could be done to stop the annoyance caused by newsvendors’ shouting. Mr. Vaughan expressed his deepest sympathy, but said he could do nothing. We are accustomed to this kind of answer from Ministers, but we did expect more from a magistrate. If the law can do nothing the law must be altered. We can fully sympathise with Mr. Mitchell, but besides the nuisance he complains of there are others innumerable, for instance the discordant piano-organ. The remedy is easy-every hawker of buttons, brooms, and other articles has to have a hawker’s licence ; and licensed hawkers are a harmless race. Let a short Act be passed making it necessary that anyone who makes a noise of any sort in the streets for the purpose of earning a living should pay for a licence to do so. Thus a licence to shout "winner"or "’orrible slorter"should cost ;S10 a year, one to grind a pianoorgan .625, and a German band-well, say, .E200. It is no matter for joke or laughter-the constant irritation caused by these pests breaks down men’s minds and bodies, and the Government which stops the nuisance will go down to posterity in company with the most beneficent of past times.
required,"
If
_
A NOVEL SUGGESTION. AT the meeting of the Bath town council held on Feb. 4th it was recommended, in accordance with the report of the Baths Committee, that the council should advertise for a manager of the baths at a salary of £ 250 a year. A member suggested that a medical man should be appointed to the post. It was not mentioned in what way he would be required to act, except that the fees paid according to a tariff should be paid into the city treasury. It is, therefore, to be presumed that the medical manager would have been required to supervise the bathing establishment, diagnose the cases, and prescribe the variety of bath to be taken. The members who made this proposal have an idea that the present generation of medical men in Bath receive very generous remuneration. Unfortunately, when this suggestion was first made at the Baths Committee the only member of the profession on the council now in practice was absent. An alderman described the proposal to appoint a medical man as manager of the baths as flagrant nonsense and protested against the medical men of Bath being considered as a band of marauders or set of professional pickpockets. The fees, he added, were the same as they An amendment that either a laywere thirty years ago. man or a medical man be appointed was defeated, seven
that
a
only voting in its favour, and the recommendation general manager be elected was carried. The council
congratulated on their action, as had a medical been manager appointed it would scarcely have failed to have caused endless friction with the members of the profession who have patients using the baths. are
to be
THE SCOTTISH
POOR-LAW MEDICAL OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION.
WE congratulate the members of our profession holding parochial medical appointments in Scotland on the recent formation of an association for mutual protection and As mentioned in THE LANCET of Dec. 21st, 1895, on Dec. 9th, and the appears in another column of our present issue, took place in Glasgow on Jan. 31st, the chairman and principal speaker being Dr. William Bruce of Dingwall in Ross-shire, the direct representative of Scotland in the General Medical Council. We heartily
support.
the first
meeting was held in Glasgow inaugural dinner, a report of which
-
THE EAST LONDON WATER
INQUIRY.
THE departmental inspectors appointed to inquire into the shortness of the water-supply in the East end of London last summer have issued and presented their report to the Local Government Board. Its conclusions are in striking agreement with a summary of the position which we drew up in THE LANCET of Oct. 12th last year-indeed, as a reference will show, the annotation we allude to proves to have been a very fair forecast of the conclusions and recommendations which Colonel Ducat, R.E., and Dr..Barry have just published. Thus they report that owing to the combined effects of frost in the winter and of prolonged drought in the summer a "maximum strain" was put on the resources of the East London Water Company, but that this maximum strain would probably not have been reached had not the London County Council blocked the proposals of the water company to extend their storage capacity some years The scarcity of water for drinking was, in the ago. inspectors’ opinion, due to a large number of unrepaired pipes on the consumers’ premises and to excessive use of water for garden purposes, and the inconvenience experienced by many consumers would to a large extent have been obviated by proper provision for domestic storage. With a supply that is liable to be intermittent cisterns become a necessity, but every care should be taken that these should be situated and constructed in accordance with the highest sanitary demands. The inspectors recommend the adoption of a tight box, consisting in reality of a capacious enlargement of the service pipe, so that dirt could not gain access and exposure to unhealthy environment would be
AN UNSATISFACTORY VERDICT.
WE understand that the subscription list to the Sir Lister Portrait Fund, to which a generous response has been made, will be closed shortly. Subscriptions may still be forwarded to Mr. Davies-Colley (Treasurer), 36, Harley-street, W., or to Mr. Bilton Pollard (Secretary), 24, Harley-street, W. It is proposed that the portrait, by Mr. Ouless, should be placed by the side of the portraits of Sir John Hunter and other great surgeons of the past in the rooms of the Royal College of Surgeons.
reduced to a minimum. We still maintain, however, that for the exclusive purpose of a drinking supply water direct from the main should when possible be drawn. This does not mean the abolition of cisterns or of some means of domestic storage, for the service pipe may be made to branch into two, the one to feed the cistern and the other to supply directly to the tap. The consumer would then have only to resort to the cistern supply when the main for some good reason or other is turned off. Then water, brilliant and sparkling under the influence of the pressure of the main and free from the risks of contamination of exposure, would with few exceptions be available.
Joseph
____
AN UNSATISFACTORY VERDICT. IT is a familiar commonplace that a coroner’s inquiry often falls short of success in its primary and essential functionAt West Hartlethe ascertaining of the cause of death. pool the coroner lately had occasion to investigate the circumstances leading up to the death of a lad fourteen years of age, who on Jan. 30th was engaged in his usual occupation of wheeling an old man about the streets in a bath chair, and retired to rest about 9 P.M., being then in good health and spirits. At 3 A.M. and again at 7 A.M. on Jan. 31st he complained of great thirst and also of feeling unwell, and was each time given a little water, which he drank. About 9 A.M. as he still felt very ill his mother gave him some tea and sent for a medical man, but before he arrived the lad expired quietly, and, as it seems, only a few I minutes after taking the tea. On Feb. lst Dr. Gray, who " the lad, I, was instructed by the coroner " to see the body of found it "laid out and dressed"in the room where he had ’i died. Everything had been removed from the room except the bed, but an examination both of the furniture which had I been in use and of the clothing worn by the deceased did not if result in the discovery of any bottles, sweets, or other ’, articles capable of throwing any light on the fatal issue. I The body was fairly well nourished, bore no marks of violence or injury, and did not emit any odour suggestive of volatile poison. At the inquest Dr. Gray, being asked by the coroner for his opinion as to the cause of death, very it that was replied properly impossible to specify the cause of death without a post-mortem examination. The jury thereupon, after a short consultation, returned a verdict of "Death from natural causes." A verdict such as this is not a protection against crime or misadventure and obviously is of no public utility.
z,
’
-
As we have already announced, there will be a debate at the :.&xt meeting of the Pathological Society of London on Tuesday, Feb. 18th, at 8.30 P.M., on the subject of Nonsuppurative Ankylosis of Joints. It is also intended to have an exhibition of specimens illustrating this subject. The discussion will be opened by Mr. William Anderson, and Mr. Howard Marsh, Mr. Davies-Colley, Dr. Griffiths, Mr. Bowlby, Mr. D’Arcy Power, Dr. Pye-Smith, Dr. Pasteur, and their many other members of the society have intention of taking part in it.
signified
A PUBLIC meeting on behalf of the University College of Wales was held in Cardiff on Feb. 5th under the presidency of Lord Windsor, with a view to raise 20,000 required to meet conditional grants from the Treasury and the Drapers’ (’ompany in aid of the building fund of the college. Subscriptions amounting to .613,400 were promised, including one of .62500 from Lord Windsor.
ON Monday next, Feb. 17th, a dinner will be given in the Grosvenor Rooms of the Grand Hotel, Birmingham, to Sir Willoughby Wade in celebration of his recent knighthood.
439
MR. GEORGE COWELL has retired from the surgeoncy of the Westminster and Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospitals after twenty-seven and twenty-five years’ service respectively. He has been nominated to the post of consulting surgeon in both institutions. Mr. Cowell has also been elected one of the joint treasurers of the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital in the place of Mr. G. B.
Hudson, M.P., resigned. DR.
-
NiCOLSON, who has been appointed,
as
we
have
already announced, one of the Lord Chancellor’s Visitors in Lunacy, was on Jan. 30th presented with a splendid silver punch-bowl by the officers and staff of Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, the superintendency of which he now vacates. ____
AMONG the list of
measures
mentioned in the Queen’s law for the
Speech is one for amending and consolidating the relating to public health in Scotland and another amending the law with respect to the supply of water to metropolis. -
THE Duke of Fife, the Earl of Durham, Lord Aldenham (Mr. Hucks Gibbs), and others, have signified their willingness to act as stewards in support of the Prince of Wales at the dinner to be held in May in aid of the funds of Guy’s
Hospital.
-
WE greatly regret to have to announce the death of Mr. A. T. Collum, M.B., F.R.C.S , which occurred on Feb. 12th in Charing-cross Hospital. The deceased, who was assistant surgeon to the hospital, died of septicsemia. SIR JOHN WILLIAMS, Bart., M.D., has been appointed Physician-Accoucheur to H.R.H. the Duchess of York, and Dr. Robert W. Burnet has been appointed Physician-inOrdinary to H.R.H. the Duke of York. MR. W. S.
COLMAN, M.D., M.R.C.P. Lond., has
been
appointed Assistant Physician to the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic, Queen-square, vice Dr. J. R. Bradford, F.R.S., resigned. THE anniversary dinner of the Medical Society of London will be held in the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metropole, on Saturday, March 7th.
PRESENTATIONS.-Dr. James
Taylor
of Belfast
has been the recipient of a handsome gold watch for his instructive lectures on First Aid to the members of the Ladies’ Ambulance Class at Belfast.-Mr. W. G. Grace, L.R.C.P. Edin., M.R.C.S., was last week entertained at dinner at the Clifton Club, the Duke of Beaufort presiding, when he was presented with a valuable gold watch, and a cheque representing the Gloucestershire contributions towards his testimonial fund, and Mrs. Grace was the recipient of a silver coffee kettle. The Gloucestershire county subscription towards the fund has closed at L1407 5s., and the authorities have joined the Marylebone Cricket Club in an investment sanctioned by both committees.
438
of accommodation. But the Local Government Board "are strongly of opinion that the scheme of infirmary extension as proposed by the guardians will be unduly costly, having regard to the limited accommodation which can be provided under the scheme and inadequate for the requirements of the parish for the in-door poor." It will be a serious thing for the public of Islington if at a great cost neighbouring property is bought up only to supply accommodation which in a very few years will be inadequate. Yet the Local Government Board have so far given way. They invite the guardians to further consideration of their inspector’s report of the great mortality of the infirmary and other facts. They say that the adoption of the scheme of the guardians will be an unfortunate one in the interests of the parish. They will not withhold their assent to the scheme i I I as an instalment of the further accommodation and provided that the Board are given assurances of early possession &c. Clearly the Local Government Board have ulterior views as to building a workhouse at Bowes Park or on some other site. The guardians will incur a heavy responsibility if they patch up the present buildings at a great cost and in a few years find themselves compelled to begin de novo. This will be a poor compensation for any shortI triumph over the authorities of the Local Government Board, who in this controversy represent true economy and the interest of the sick poor.
may
with the objects of the have many supporters.
sympathise
society and
trust that it
SMALL-POX AT CARDIFF. THE Vaccination Committee of the Cardiff board of has passed a resolution advising the appointment of six assistants to the vaccination officer to make a houseto-house inspection in order to discover the number of unvaccinated children in the town. This is a step in the right direction and one to be commended to the notice of boards of guardians in other large towns.
guardians
STREET NOISES.
WE are glad to see that the worm has begun to turn, and in saying this we hope that Mr. H. C. Mitchell, manager of the Consolidated Bank, 450, Strand, will pardon us. He made an application to Mr. Vaughan upon Tuesday last to know if nothing could be done to stop the annoyance caused by newsvendors’ shouting. Mr. Vaughan expressed his deepest sympathy, but said he could do nothing. We are accustomed to this kind of answer from Ministers, but we did expect more from a magistrate. If the law can do nothing the law must be altered. We can fully sympathise with Mr. Mitchell, but besides the nuisance he complains of there are others innumerable, for instance the discordant piano-organ. The remedy is easy-every hawker of buttons, brooms, and other articles has to have a hawker’s licence ; and licensed hawkers are a harmless race. Let a short Act be passed making it necessary that anyone who makes a noise of any sort in the streets for the purpose of earning a living should pay for a licence to do so. Thus a licence to shout "winner"or "’orrible slorter"should cost ;S10 a year, one to grind a pianoorgan .625, and a German band-well, say, .E200. It is no matter for joke or laughter-the constant irritation caused by these pests breaks down men’s minds and bodies, and the Government which stops the nuisance will go down to posterity in company with the most beneficent of past times.
required,"
If
_
A NOVEL SUGGESTION. AT the meeting of the Bath town council held on Feb. 4th it was recommended, in accordance with the report of the Baths Committee, that the council should advertise for a manager of the baths at a salary of £ 250 a year. A member suggested that a medical man should be appointed to the post. It was not mentioned in what way he would be required to act, except that the fees paid according to a tariff should be paid into the city treasury. It is, therefore, to be presumed that the medical manager would have been required to supervise the bathing establishment, diagnose the cases, and prescribe the variety of bath to be taken. The members who made this proposal have an idea that the present generation of medical men in Bath receive very generous remuneration. Unfortunately, when this suggestion was first made at the Baths Committee the only member of the profession on the council now in practice was absent. An alderman described the proposal to appoint a medical man as manager of the baths as flagrant nonsense and protested against the medical men of Bath being considered as a band of marauders or set of professional pickpockets. The fees, he added, were the same as they An amendment that either a laywere thirty years ago. man or a medical man be appointed was defeated, seven
that
a
only voting in its favour, and the recommendation general manager be elected was carried. The council
congratulated on their action, as had a medical been manager appointed it would scarcely have failed to have caused endless friction with the members of the profession who have patients using the baths. are
to be
THE SCOTTISH
POOR-LAW MEDICAL OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION.
WE congratulate the members of our profession holding parochial medical appointments in Scotland on the recent formation of an association for mutual protection and As mentioned in THE LANCET of Dec. 21st, 1895, on Dec. 9th, and the appears in another column of our present issue, took place in Glasgow on Jan. 31st, the chairman and principal speaker being Dr. William Bruce of Dingwall in Ross-shire, the direct representative of Scotland in the General Medical Council. We heartily
support.
the first
meeting was held in Glasgow inaugural dinner, a report of which
-
THE EAST LONDON WATER
INQUIRY.
THE departmental inspectors appointed to inquire into the shortness of the water-supply in the East end of London last summer have issued and presented their report to the Local Government Board. Its conclusions are in striking agreement with a summary of the position which we drew up in THE LANCET of Oct. 12th last year-indeed, as a reference will show, the annotation we allude to proves to have been a very fair forecast of the conclusions and recommendations which Colonel Ducat, R.E., and Dr..Barry have just published. Thus they report that owing to the combined effects of frost in the winter and of prolonged drought in the summer a "maximum strain" was put on the resources of the East London Water Company, but that this maximum strain would probably not have been reached had not the London County Council blocked the proposals of the water company to extend their storage capacity some years The scarcity of water for drinking was, in the ago. inspectors’ opinion, due to a large number of unrepaired pipes on the consumers’ premises and to excessive use of water for garden purposes, and the inconvenience experienced by many consumers would to a large extent have been obviated by proper provision for domestic storage. With a supply that is liable to be intermittent cisterns become a necessity, but every care should be taken that these should be situated and constructed in accordance with the highest sanitary demands. The inspectors recommend the adoption of a tight box, consisting in reality of a capacious enlargement of the service pipe, so that dirt could not gain access and exposure to unhealthy environment would be
AN UNSATISFACTORY VERDICT.
WE understand that the subscription list to the Sir Lister Portrait Fund, to which a generous response has been made, will be closed shortly. Subscriptions may still be forwarded to Mr. Davies-Colley (Treasurer), 36, Harley-street, W., or to Mr. Bilton Pollard (Secretary), 24, Harley-street, W. It is proposed that the portrait, by Mr. Ouless, should be placed by the side of the portraits of Sir John Hunter and other great surgeons of the past in the rooms of the Royal College of Surgeons.
reduced to a minimum. We still maintain, however, that for the exclusive purpose of a drinking supply water direct from the main should when possible be drawn. This does not mean the abolition of cisterns or of some means of domestic storage, for the service pipe may be made to branch into two, the one to feed the cistern and the other to supply directly to the tap. The consumer would then have only to resort to the cistern supply when the main for some good reason or other is turned off. Then water, brilliant and sparkling under the influence of the pressure of the main and free from the risks of contamination of exposure, would with few exceptions be available.
Joseph
____
AN UNSATISFACTORY VERDICT. IT is a familiar commonplace that a coroner’s inquiry often falls short of success in its primary and essential functionAt West Hartlethe ascertaining of the cause of death. pool the coroner lately had occasion to investigate the circumstances leading up to the death of a lad fourteen years of age, who on Jan. 30th was engaged in his usual occupation of wheeling an old man about the streets in a bath chair, and retired to rest about 9 P.M., being then in good health and spirits. At 3 A.M. and again at 7 A.M. on Jan. 31st he complained of great thirst and also of feeling unwell, and was each time given a little water, which he drank. About 9 A.M. as he still felt very ill his mother gave him some tea and sent for a medical man, but before he arrived the lad expired quietly, and, as it seems, only a few I minutes after taking the tea. On Feb. lst Dr. Gray, who " the lad, I, was instructed by the coroner " to see the body of found it "laid out and dressed"in the room where he had ’i died. Everything had been removed from the room except the bed, but an examination both of the furniture which had I been in use and of the clothing worn by the deceased did not if result in the discovery of any bottles, sweets, or other ’, articles capable of throwing any light on the fatal issue. I The body was fairly well nourished, bore no marks of violence or injury, and did not emit any odour suggestive of volatile poison. At the inquest Dr. Gray, being asked by the coroner for his opinion as to the cause of death, very it that was replied properly impossible to specify the cause of death without a post-mortem examination. The jury thereupon, after a short consultation, returned a verdict of "Death from natural causes." A verdict such as this is not a protection against crime or misadventure and obviously is of no public utility.
z,
’
-
As we have already announced, there will be a debate at the :.&xt meeting of the Pathological Society of London on Tuesday, Feb. 18th, at 8.30 P.M., on the subject of Nonsuppurative Ankylosis of Joints. It is also intended to have an exhibition of specimens illustrating this subject. The discussion will be opened by Mr. William Anderson, and Mr. Howard Marsh, Mr. Davies-Colley, Dr. Griffiths, Mr. Bowlby, Mr. D’Arcy Power, Dr. Pye-Smith, Dr. Pasteur, and their many other members of the society have intention of taking part in it.
signified
A PUBLIC meeting on behalf of the University College of Wales was held in Cardiff on Feb. 5th under the presidency of Lord Windsor, with a view to raise 20,000 required to meet conditional grants from the Treasury and the Drapers’ (’ompany in aid of the building fund of the college. Subscriptions amounting to .613,400 were promised, including one of .62500 from Lord Windsor.
ON Monday next, Feb. 17th, a dinner will be given in the Grosvenor Rooms of the Grand Hotel, Birmingham, to Sir Willoughby Wade in celebration of his recent knighthood.
439
MR. GEORGE COWELL has retired from the surgeoncy of the Westminster and Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospitals after twenty-seven and twenty-five years’ service respectively. He has been nominated to the post of consulting surgeon in both institutions. Mr. Cowell has also been elected one of the joint treasurers of the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital in the place of Mr. G. B.
Hudson, M.P., resigned. DR.
-
NiCOLSON, who has been appointed,
as
we
have
already announced, one of the Lord Chancellor’s Visitors in Lunacy, was on Jan. 30th presented with a splendid silver punch-bowl by the officers and staff of Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, the superintendency of which he now vacates. ____
AMONG the list of
measures
mentioned in the Queen’s law for the
Speech is one for amending and consolidating the relating to public health in Scotland and another amending the law with respect to the supply of water to metropolis. -
THE Duke of Fife, the Earl of Durham, Lord Aldenham (Mr. Hucks Gibbs), and others, have signified their willingness to act as stewards in support of the Prince of Wales at the dinner to be held in May in aid of the funds of Guy’s
Hospital.
-
WE greatly regret to have to announce the death of Mr. A. T. Collum, M.B., F.R.C.S , which occurred on Feb. 12th in Charing-cross Hospital. The deceased, who was assistant surgeon to the hospital, died of septicsemia. SIR JOHN WILLIAMS, Bart., M.D., has been appointed Physician-Accoucheur to H.R.H. the Duchess of York, and Dr. Robert W. Burnet has been appointed Physician-inOrdinary to H.R.H. the Duke of York. MR. W. S.
COLMAN, M.D., M.R.C.P. Lond., has
been
appointed Assistant Physician to the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic, Queen-square, vice Dr. J. R. Bradford, F.R.S., resigned. THE anniversary dinner of the Medical Society of London will be held in the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metropole, on Saturday, March 7th.
PRESENTATIONS.-Dr. James
Taylor
of Belfast
has been the recipient of a handsome gold watch for his instructive lectures on First Aid to the members of the Ladies’ Ambulance Class at Belfast.-Mr. W. G. Grace, L.R.C.P. Edin., M.R.C.S., was last week entertained at dinner at the Clifton Club, the Duke of Beaufort presiding, when he was presented with a valuable gold watch, and a cheque representing the Gloucestershire contributions towards his testimonial fund, and Mrs. Grace was the recipient of a silver coffee kettle. The Gloucestershire county subscription towards the fund has closed at L1407 5s., and the authorities have joined the Marylebone Cricket Club in an investment sanctioned by both committees.