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The eighth international congress of hygiene and demography
356
CORRESPONDENCE.~APPOINTMENTS. CORRESPONDENCE.
THE
EIGHTH
INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS
OF
HYGIENE AND DEMOGRAPHY. :To t]~e Editor Of PUBLIC HEALTH. SIE,--My committee would he much obliged if you could kindly insert a notice in your paper to the effect that a British Committee, of which Sir Douglas Galton, K.C.B., F.R.S., is the chairman, and Professor W. H. Corfield, M.A., M.D. (Oxon), is the treasurer, has been formed to further the interests in this country of the eighth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, which is to be held in Budapest from the Ist to the 8th of September this year. Any information may be obtained about the Congress from the Hon. Secretary, Dr. Paul F. Moline, 42, Walton Street, Chelsea, S.W.--I am, etc., PAUL F. MOLINE, Hon. Sac. British Committee. 49, Walton Street, Chelsea, London, S.W., ~'une 9th, I894. SEWAGE-FED " FISH." Z'o ~]~e Editor a f PUBLIC HEALTH. SIR,--I see in your number for June an article by Mr. J. Lawrence-Hamilton, M.R.C.S., on the above subject. He leaves out {perhapss as regards sea fish, the most sewageloving animal of any) the shrimp. At the Blackpool outlet you were always sure of some shrimps, and the nearer to it you could get the more shrimps you got. I have examined the stomachs of shrimps taken near that outlet, and in every case found them full of muscular fibre. The Lancashire Sea Fishery Committee has closed the graund opposite to Blackpool, so that none are taken near there now. The outlet of the " St. Anne's on the Sea" sewer is close to a very extensive mussel bed, and after the Kingstown and Kiel cases it will want careful watching. The Southport sewage is discharged into a pool that meanders through sandbanks with many cockles on them, and a good deal of shrimping is done by hand.nets and carts in the pool. Lytham sewage is also put into a pool, and shrimps are taken not far from the outlet. There is no doubt but the sewage does provide, directly and indirectIy, food for many shellfish, and they, in their young stages, form the chief food for the flat fish. So that if sewage is put into the sea it is quite as valuable to the nation as if put on the land, and with a great lessening of the expense.--I am, etc., It, Park Street, Lytham. ROBERTLAMB ASCROFT. THE INFLUENCE OF SANITATION ON T H E RACE. To t~e Edifor o f PUBLIC HEALTH. SIR,--Dr. Haycraft's lectures have been noticed more than once in your columns, and his startling conclusions criticised. If there was any good reason fur accepting these~ sanitations and social reformers might well pause and consider ttmir ways; But, having tested the data on which these conclusions are built up, in the one particular easily available, i.e., the Registrar-General's Annual Report for I88I, I found them to be utterly unreliable, and, to my mind, the whole fabric fell. What are Dr. Haycraft's statements with reference to Table XVII. (I7 it should be) of this report ? L In all cases in the first group (zymotic), except puerperal fever, there is a marked diminution from I858 to I89Oo 2. There is an increase in almost all the hereditary diseases. 3. There is a large increase in "diseases of the respiratory system, due in part to the increasing number of tuberculous patients, who kept from inroads of microbes, nevertheless readily fall a prey to other affections." What are the facts ?
I. There is only a distinct diminution in ten of the zymotic diseases (or rather disease headings) ; there is an increase in five, and in three no distinct change can be seen. 2. Of the constitutional or hereditary diseases there is a distinct increase only in cancer and diabetes, of which possibly the former, and almost certainly the latter, are due to nomenclature only. 3. The increase in diseases of the respiratory system is less than to per cent., being a decrease from ISyI. These are three distinct inaccuracies, but the whole passage with respect to this Table is written in so loose and careless a way, and the interpretations placed on the lessons of the Table so opposed to knowledge and experience, that in my opinion it invalidates the whole argument of the lectures. Surely revolutionary theories should not be put forth on such a tottering basis of facts. In all probability the increase in diseases of the respiratory system, which appears to have taken place from 1858 to I876, is wholly due to the introduction of th~ stethc~ scope into general practice, and the consequent more frequent discovery of pneumonia and other diseases of the lungs, which had previously been classed under fevers, etc. m I am, etc., SIDNEY DAVIES, M.A., M.D., M.O.H. Plumsteado
APPOINTMENTS. MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH. ALLOTT, W. L., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Edin., reappointed M O.H. to the Hayland Local Board. FISI~EI~, .]'OLIN BELL, M.B., C.M.Edin., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Whitehaven R.S.D. GROVE, WILLIAM RI¢HARD, M.D. St. And., M.R.C.S. Eng., re-appointed M.O.H. for St. Ires. MUDGE, JAMES, L.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., reappointed M.O.H. to the Penzance R.S.A. NORTON, J., M.D., M.R.C.S., appointed M,O.H. to the Vestry of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster. PALMER, HAROLD LEWIS, M.R.C.S.Eng., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Newtown U.S.D. PALMER, A, M., L.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., reappointed M.O.H. to the Whittington U.S.D. POQSON, W., F.R.C,S., L R . C . P . E . , has been reappointed M.O.H. for the Leeds R.S.A.
ROBINSON, EDWARD STANLEY, ~/LR.C.S., L.R.C.P. Loud., re-appointed M.O.H. for Stourport. STEELE, ION, L.R.C.P. and S.Edin., re-appointed M.O.H. to the Kidsgrove Local Board. SHORTRIDGE, THOS. WOOD, M.D.Bmx., L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.A.Edin., re-appolntedM.O.H. for Honiton. SvMxS, W. S., L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.I., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Newbold U.S.Dispensary. THOMPSON, W . H . , M.D.Durh., L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S. Edin., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Quarry Bank U.S.D.
T H E POWERS OF THE METROPOLITAN ASYLUMS BOARD,--The London County Council, after receiving an elaborate report from a special committee, have p a s s e d t h e following r e s o l u t i o n : " T h a t all central m e t r o p o l i t a n powers in regard to public h e a l t h s h o u l d b e in the h a n d s o f a b o d y c o m p o s e d o f e l e c t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f the ratepayers, a n d that t h e L o n d o n C o u n t y Council, being the central m e t r o p o l i t a n he/dth authority, t h e powers o f t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n A s y l u m s Board, relating to the a c c o m m o d a t i o n for t h e infectious sick a n d the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f i n f e c t i o u s hospitals, c h o l e r a nursing, etc., a n d o f the a m b u l a n c e services s h o u l d b e t r a n s f e r r e d to the C o u n c i l . "
CORRESPONDENCE.~APPOINTMENTS. CORRESPONDENCE.
THE
EIGHTH
INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS
OF
HYGIENE AND DEMOGRAPHY. :To t]~e Editor Of PUBLIC HEALTH. SIE,--My committee would he much obliged if you could kindly insert a notice in your paper to the effect that a British Committee, of which Sir Douglas Galton, K.C.B., F.R.S., is the chairman, and Professor W. H. Corfield, M.A., M.D. (Oxon), is the treasurer, has been formed to further the interests in this country of the eighth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, which is to be held in Budapest from the Ist to the 8th of September this year. Any information may be obtained about the Congress from the Hon. Secretary, Dr. Paul F. Moline, 42, Walton Street, Chelsea, S.W.--I am, etc., PAUL F. MOLINE, Hon. Sac. British Committee. 49, Walton Street, Chelsea, London, S.W., ~'une 9th, I894. SEWAGE-FED " FISH." Z'o ~]~e Editor a f PUBLIC HEALTH. SIR,--I see in your number for June an article by Mr. J. Lawrence-Hamilton, M.R.C.S., on the above subject. He leaves out {perhapss as regards sea fish, the most sewageloving animal of any) the shrimp. At the Blackpool outlet you were always sure of some shrimps, and the nearer to it you could get the more shrimps you got. I have examined the stomachs of shrimps taken near that outlet, and in every case found them full of muscular fibre. The Lancashire Sea Fishery Committee has closed the graund opposite to Blackpool, so that none are taken near there now. The outlet of the " St. Anne's on the Sea" sewer is close to a very extensive mussel bed, and after the Kingstown and Kiel cases it will want careful watching. The Southport sewage is discharged into a pool that meanders through sandbanks with many cockles on them, and a good deal of shrimping is done by hand.nets and carts in the pool. Lytham sewage is also put into a pool, and shrimps are taken not far from the outlet. There is no doubt but the sewage does provide, directly and indirectIy, food for many shellfish, and they, in their young stages, form the chief food for the flat fish. So that if sewage is put into the sea it is quite as valuable to the nation as if put on the land, and with a great lessening of the expense.--I am, etc., It, Park Street, Lytham. ROBERTLAMB ASCROFT. THE INFLUENCE OF SANITATION ON T H E RACE. To t~e Edifor o f PUBLIC HEALTH. SIR,--Dr. Haycraft's lectures have been noticed more than once in your columns, and his startling conclusions criticised. If there was any good reason fur accepting these~ sanitations and social reformers might well pause and consider ttmir ways; But, having tested the data on which these conclusions are built up, in the one particular easily available, i.e., the Registrar-General's Annual Report for I88I, I found them to be utterly unreliable, and, to my mind, the whole fabric fell. What are Dr. Haycraft's statements with reference to Table XVII. (I7 it should be) of this report ? L In all cases in the first group (zymotic), except puerperal fever, there is a marked diminution from I858 to I89Oo 2. There is an increase in almost all the hereditary diseases. 3. There is a large increase in "diseases of the respiratory system, due in part to the increasing number of tuberculous patients, who kept from inroads of microbes, nevertheless readily fall a prey to other affections." What are the facts ?
I. There is only a distinct diminution in ten of the zymotic diseases (or rather disease headings) ; there is an increase in five, and in three no distinct change can be seen. 2. Of the constitutional or hereditary diseases there is a distinct increase only in cancer and diabetes, of which possibly the former, and almost certainly the latter, are due to nomenclature only. 3. The increase in diseases of the respiratory system is less than to per cent., being a decrease from ISyI. These are three distinct inaccuracies, but the whole passage with respect to this Table is written in so loose and careless a way, and the interpretations placed on the lessons of the Table so opposed to knowledge and experience, that in my opinion it invalidates the whole argument of the lectures. Surely revolutionary theories should not be put forth on such a tottering basis of facts. In all probability the increase in diseases of the respiratory system, which appears to have taken place from 1858 to I876, is wholly due to the introduction of th~ stethc~ scope into general practice, and the consequent more frequent discovery of pneumonia and other diseases of the lungs, which had previously been classed under fevers, etc. m I am, etc., SIDNEY DAVIES, M.A., M.D., M.O.H. Plumsteado
APPOINTMENTS. MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH. ALLOTT, W. L., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.R.C.P.Edin., reappointed M O.H. to the Hayland Local Board. FISI~EI~, .]'OLIN BELL, M.B., C.M.Edin., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Whitehaven R.S.D. GROVE, WILLIAM RI¢HARD, M.D. St. And., M.R.C.S. Eng., re-appointed M.O.H. for St. Ires. MUDGE, JAMES, L.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., reappointed M.O.H. to the Penzance R.S.A. NORTON, J., M.D., M.R.C.S., appointed M,O.H. to the Vestry of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster. PALMER, HAROLD LEWIS, M.R.C.S.Eng., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Newtown U.S.D. PALMER, A, M., L.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., reappointed M.O.H. to the Whittington U.S.D. POQSON, W., F.R.C,S., L R . C . P . E . , has been reappointed M.O.H. for the Leeds R.S.A.
ROBINSON, EDWARD STANLEY, ~/LR.C.S., L.R.C.P. Loud., re-appointed M.O.H. for Stourport. STEELE, ION, L.R.C.P. and S.Edin., re-appointed M.O.H. to the Kidsgrove Local Board. SHORTRIDGE, THOS. WOOD, M.D.Bmx., L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.A.Edin., re-appolntedM.O.H. for Honiton. SvMxS, W. S., L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S.I., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Newbold U.S.Dispensary. THOMPSON, W . H . , M.D.Durh., L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S. Edin., re-appointed M.O.H. for the Quarry Bank U.S.D.
T H E POWERS OF THE METROPOLITAN ASYLUMS BOARD,--The London County Council, after receiving an elaborate report from a special committee, have p a s s e d t h e following r e s o l u t i o n : " T h a t all central m e t r o p o l i t a n powers in regard to public h e a l t h s h o u l d b e in the h a n d s o f a b o d y c o m p o s e d o f e l e c t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f the ratepayers, a n d that t h e L o n d o n C o u n t y Council, being the central m e t r o p o l i t a n he/dth authority, t h e powers o f t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n A s y l u m s Board, relating to the a c c o m m o d a t i o n for t h e infectious sick a n d the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f i n f e c t i o u s hospitals, c h o l e r a nursing, etc., a n d o f the a m b u l a n c e services s h o u l d b e t r a n s f e r r e d to the C o u n c i l . "