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THE MEDICAL WORK OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
THE MEDICAL WORK OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
268
suggest
that
definite
report as
to the dangers immediately.
of this mode
reporc snows, ana can only WI8il 1Jil1:tü n< may continue. Founders’ day was held on July 26th, when, in the unavoidable absence of Lord Lister, the Rev. T. N. Hart Smith, the head-master, presided. Among those FORMATION OF GALL-STONES ON SUTURES LEFT AFTER CHOLECYSTOTOMY. present were Sir Joseph Fayrer (Chairman of the Council), the Rev. E. W. Northey (deputy chairman), Dr. Constantine IN the Boston Medical and Sargioal Journal of July lst Holman (treasurer), Dr. Charles Browne, Dr. Charles Drage, Dr. J. Homans records the following case. Cholecysto- Mr. J. F. France, Dr. J. H. Galton, Mr. Reginald Harrison, tomy was performed on a woman and ninety-seven gall- Mr. Christopher Heath, Dr. F. Needham, Dr. A. E. Sansom, stones were removed. The gall-bladder was united to the Mr. L. Smiles, and Colonel Gordon Watson. The chairman peritoneum by silk sutures and drained. The patient made announced that during the year the College had exceeded a good recovery and remained free from symptoms until record in the distinctions gained by boys direct any previous twenty months after the operation, when they began to from the school. Addresses were delivered by Sir Joseph recur. Cholecystotomy was performed again and seven gall- Fayrer, Dr. Holman, and Mr. In the Heath. Christopher stones were removed; they were found to have crystallised course of the proceedings it was announced that a cheque round the sutures, which had become detached and had had been received from Lord Rosebery defraying the debt on dropped into the gall-bladder. Though cholecystotomy has the organ which had been erected in the new chapel. been now performed many times we do not know of any instance in which this accident has happened. a
of infection should be drawn up
tneir
I’
: long
THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM.
might have been anticipated, the members of this coma long time now, still find that their investigation is not complete. They were appointed to inquire into, and report upon, the sufficiency of the law relating to the keeping, selling, using, and conveying of petroleum and other inflammable liquids, and the precautions to be adopted for the prevention of accidents with petroleum lamps. It is regrettable that they have not yet As
TINNED FOOD. IT cannot be doubted that certain foods preserved in tins afford an auxiliary and convenient source of foodsupply which cannot well be dispensed with, and, that being so, any suggestion calculated to ensure the wholesomeness of the food so preserved is entitled to every consideration. We do not believe that the mischief that now and again arises from the consumption of tinned food is referable to the presence of metal. Tin is a comparatively harmless metal, while the iron over which it is veneered is quite free from risk. The lead in the solder employed may, however, give rise to poisoning, but we believe that so well is the sealing process done that cases of this kind are rare. The dangers of tinned food generally arise from an inherent change in the food itself, and there is no doubt that the longer the food is preserved the greater is the chance of its being unwholesome, while, as is well known, as soon as the food thus preserved is exposed to the air certain changes rapidly set in, and for this reason the food should be partaken of as soon as possible after the tin is opened. Dr. Sykes, the medical officer of health of St. Pancras, makes what would appear to be a useful and practical suggestion in his annual report, which is that the law should provide that all tins containing tinned food shall have stamped upon them the date of tinning. Assuming that the correct date of tinning were thus stamped upon the tin the public would be able to judge in some measure of the wholesomeness of the contents, since it is reasonable to suppose that the enclosed food would not improve on prolonged keeping. We trust that the suggestion will be brought before the notice and consideration of the proper
mittee, which has sat for
arrived at any definite conclusions or recommendations, especially in regard to that clause in their inquiry relating to dangerous lamps. But it must be admitted
legislation in relation to the sale of lamps and oil require the most serious consideration before any plan can be adopted. Then, again, there is considerable diversity of opinion as to whether any extension of the Petroleum Act should apply to the construction of lamps or to the raising of the flash point of the oil. However,at this late period of the session the committee are of opinion that it will not be in their power to conclude their investigation," so they have agreed "to report the evidence already taken to the House and to recommend that a committee on the same subject should be appointed early that will final
in the next session of Parliament." We regret that the committee have lost an excellent chairman in the person of the late Mr. Mundella. ___
THE MEDICAL WORK OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
THE address on the report of the London County Council for 1896-97 is of special interest to us on account of its being the first one delivered by the first medical chairman that authorities. body has elected. The works of the Council are so many and various that we have only space to mention those which more EPSOM COLLEGE. especially concern ourselves as medical journalists. And WE are glad to note from the annual report of the Royal first on the list comes the Asylums Committee. The number of persons of unsound mind coming within the jurisdiction Medical Benevolent College for the year ending May, of the county of London is 13,526, as compared with 10.104 the is that institution shows steady progress. There an in in increase the sum received from annual subscriptions ; the 1890, and a new county asylum with 2000 beds is being erected donations is a at Horton Manor. Dr. Collins expressed a hope amount of satisfactory, seeing that festival not in on school that before another year or so Londoners may expect held account was 1896; and the sum received A of the "excrescence of Holywell-street to be com-picuous is larger than it has been for many years. legacy L300 will its fund under the of absence." We do not see the use of pulling down for the endowment has been received by and unless the two churches of St. Mary-le-Strand the late Dr.Henry Fearnside, of Bournemouth, the Holywell-street and estate to the for St, Clement residue of the te3tator’s is Danes are sacrificed too, and even then College pass to Fleet-street the of Fearnside. The and the the same object after decease Mrs. Strand will be far too narrow for the is traffic. Some of of the with. Four the host of omnibuses ought to be made to go being proceeded re-building chapel exhibitions or scholarships have been won by students of along the Embankment and so relieve the congested streets. the College. The health of the boys has been, on the The Drainage Committee report that during the past year whole, excellent, and the school has been quite full 2,184,500 tons of sludge were taken out to sea from Barking throughout the year. We are glad to be able to con- and Crossness and discharged into Barrow Deep, and we are gratulate the council upon the continued prosperity which glad to see that dredgings made at this spot gave no ___
1897,
CANCER CURERS-HEALTH OF THE ARMY IN INDIA.
269
evidence of sewage pollution. The Public Control Committee Pollution, presided over by Major L. Flower, sanitary report that cases of glanders have fallen continuously from engineer, Lee Conservancy Board ; Municipal Representa2336 in 1892-3 to 867 in 1896-7, which is very satisfactory, as tives, presided over by Councillor B. Womersley, chairman a number of such cases have been reported by the use of of the sanitary committee, Leeds City Council; Medical Officers of Health, presided over by Edward Seaton, M.D., mallein as a diagnostic. The committee on inquests, &c., has been doing very useful work. In the words of the F.R.C.P. Lond., F.C.S. ; Municipal and County Engineers, chairman, "arrangements have now been made, or are presided over by Thomas Hewson, M.Inst.C.E.; Sanitary approaching completion, throughout all the districts in Inspectors, presided over by Peter Fyfe, F.R.S. Edin. ; and London, which will practically obviate the necessity for Domestic Hygiene. In connexion with the congress a health holding any inquest amid the desecrating surroundings of exhibition of apparatus and appliances relating to health the public-house. In coöperation with the various sanitary and domestic use will be held, and excursions to places of authorities good mortuary accommodation has now been interest in connexion with sanitation will be arranged. provided in nearly all districts. Such mortuaries are These local arrangements are in the hands of an influential increasingly used for the reception of bodies awaiting committee, presided over by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, with interment in other than inquest cases. The public are Dr. J. Spottiswoode Cameron, medical officer of health of the of the of dead bodies, the city, Mr. A. E. Pearson, M.R.C. S , L.R C.P. Edin., and removal recognising advantage the and interval between death interment, from Mr. W. Spinks, Assoc. M.Inst.C.E , as honorary secretaries. during crowded houses to decent mortuaries, where sentiment is We understand that there are good reasons for expecting a respected and sanitation satisfied." This is good news to us, large attendance. for it is a point upon which we have insisted for years. We shall deal later with the report as a whole, and must CANCER CURERS. congratulate Dr. Collins upon the successful work of the MR. WILLIAM LENNOX WATSON is a lucky man. He is great body over which he has been called to preside. in possession of a receipt for the cure of cancer handed down from his father, and he gives his advice and the cure freein which respect we must say he differs from the ordinary THE VENOMS OF THE TOAD AND SALAMANDER. tribe of quacks. Like another celebrated benefactor, he does IT has long been known that both the toad and salamander "good"by stealth, and blushes to find it fame, for, in are of a venomous nature. Shakespeare, as everyone knows, explanation of his using the name of Hudson, he handed in refers to the toad as a source of ingredient in the mystical a statement saying that he used and assumed the name mixing of a charm-producing preparation, and in one instance because he was not proud of his connexion with the business. to a tad which had" sweltered venom sleeping got." Pliny The cure consists of a plaster, in which the active ingredient also says of the salamander that of all venomous beasts is arsenic, and the plaster is to be applied to the skin there is none so hurtful and dangerous." In a very interesting after the epidermis has been removed by a blister. It is paper on this subject in the July issue of Science Progress to remain on for fourteen Miss Blacker, for whose days. Dr. Hewlett shows that the employment of preparations manslaughter Watson was indicted, against his instrucof the toad as remedies for dropsy is not so absurd as may tions, kept the plaster on from May l3th until June 3rd, when at first appear, for, as he has shown, a substance is she died from, as the post-mortem examination showed, secreted by the skin very like digitalin, and hence arsenical poisoning. Absorption of the poison must have possibly having a favourable effect in cases of cardiac been rapid, for evidence was given that when in the train, dropsy. It would appear that the active principles returning to York on the day of application of the plaster, of the venoms of the toad and salamander are totally Miss Blacker was attacked with sickness and diarrhoea, different substances from those of snake venom, the former which the accused stated in the letter was quite the usual being alkaloidal, while the latter are proteid in nature. thing with the plaster." Mr. Justice Grantham summed up Curiously enough, the venom of the toad and salamander is strongly in favour of the prisoner, and the jury returned a fatal to the animal which secretes it, only in comparatively verdict of ’’ Not guilty "-a verdict which appears to us to large amounts. The salamander appears to be remarkably be absolutely wrong. Miss Blacker, we notice, was lured to refractory to certain poisons ; it is only completely her death by an advertisement in a religious paper. We "curarised" by forty-three milligrammes of curare, while have frequently commented before upon the way in which morphine is apparently quite inactive. It was demonstrated the so-called religious papers insert advertisements of quack by actual experiment that the salamander’s blood and blood remedies and those calculated to produce abortion, and we serum act as an antitoxin towards curare. The paper is a must say it is a disgrace for any paper, and especially a very interesting one, not only as tending to throw light upon " religious " one, to prostitute its columns to such purposes. the action of poison, but in also showing that the belief of We can only express a hope that Mr. I Hudson " will not the ancients in the venomous nature of the toad and feel ashamed of his business, but will give it up for merely salamander was not altogether devoid of foundation. the future. ,
THE
CONGRESS OF THE TARY INSTITUTE.
FORTHCOMING
SANI-
-
HEALTH OF THE ARMY IN
INDIA.
WE think that all reasonable people may be congratulated the altered tone which has of late characterised the discussion regarding the measures that should be adopted for limiting the spread of "the most serious, insidious, and lasting of all the contagious diseases that affiict humanity." As to the moral and religious aspect of the question, we have always contended that whatever might have been with (1) Sanitary Science and Preventive Medicine, presided urged against the Contagious Diseases Acts, the benefit over by T. Pridgin Teale, M.A., M.B. Oxon., F.R.C.S. Eng., they conferred on the unfortunate women in this direction F.R S. ; (2) Engineering and Architecture, presided over by was very great. Detention in hospital gave an opporLewis Angell, M.Inst.C.E., F.R.I.B A. ; and (3) Chemistry, tunity of their being reached by kindly moral influences Meteorology, and Geology, presided over by Wm. Whitaker, and afforded them time for rest and reflection while B.A., F.G.S., F.R.S.; and six special conferences, River their physical ailments were being treated. We know
THE preliminary programme of the Sixteenth Congress to be held in Leeds from September 14th to 18th, has now been issued. The President of the Congress is Robert Farquharson, M D Edin , LL.D. Aberd., F.R C.P. Lond., M.P., D.L., J.P. The congress will include three general addresses and lectures ; three sections, meeting for two days each, dealing
on
268
suggest
that
definite
report as
to the dangers immediately.
of this mode
reporc snows, ana can only WI8il 1Jil1:tü n< may continue. Founders’ day was held on July 26th, when, in the unavoidable absence of Lord Lister, the Rev. T. N. Hart Smith, the head-master, presided. Among those FORMATION OF GALL-STONES ON SUTURES LEFT AFTER CHOLECYSTOTOMY. present were Sir Joseph Fayrer (Chairman of the Council), the Rev. E. W. Northey (deputy chairman), Dr. Constantine IN the Boston Medical and Sargioal Journal of July lst Holman (treasurer), Dr. Charles Browne, Dr. Charles Drage, Dr. J. Homans records the following case. Cholecysto- Mr. J. F. France, Dr. J. H. Galton, Mr. Reginald Harrison, tomy was performed on a woman and ninety-seven gall- Mr. Christopher Heath, Dr. F. Needham, Dr. A. E. Sansom, stones were removed. The gall-bladder was united to the Mr. L. Smiles, and Colonel Gordon Watson. The chairman peritoneum by silk sutures and drained. The patient made announced that during the year the College had exceeded a good recovery and remained free from symptoms until record in the distinctions gained by boys direct any previous twenty months after the operation, when they began to from the school. Addresses were delivered by Sir Joseph recur. Cholecystotomy was performed again and seven gall- Fayrer, Dr. Holman, and Mr. In the Heath. Christopher stones were removed; they were found to have crystallised course of the proceedings it was announced that a cheque round the sutures, which had become detached and had had been received from Lord Rosebery defraying the debt on dropped into the gall-bladder. Though cholecystotomy has the organ which had been erected in the new chapel. been now performed many times we do not know of any instance in which this accident has happened. a
of infection should be drawn up
tneir
I’
: long
THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM.
might have been anticipated, the members of this coma long time now, still find that their investigation is not complete. They were appointed to inquire into, and report upon, the sufficiency of the law relating to the keeping, selling, using, and conveying of petroleum and other inflammable liquids, and the precautions to be adopted for the prevention of accidents with petroleum lamps. It is regrettable that they have not yet As
TINNED FOOD. IT cannot be doubted that certain foods preserved in tins afford an auxiliary and convenient source of foodsupply which cannot well be dispensed with, and, that being so, any suggestion calculated to ensure the wholesomeness of the food so preserved is entitled to every consideration. We do not believe that the mischief that now and again arises from the consumption of tinned food is referable to the presence of metal. Tin is a comparatively harmless metal, while the iron over which it is veneered is quite free from risk. The lead in the solder employed may, however, give rise to poisoning, but we believe that so well is the sealing process done that cases of this kind are rare. The dangers of tinned food generally arise from an inherent change in the food itself, and there is no doubt that the longer the food is preserved the greater is the chance of its being unwholesome, while, as is well known, as soon as the food thus preserved is exposed to the air certain changes rapidly set in, and for this reason the food should be partaken of as soon as possible after the tin is opened. Dr. Sykes, the medical officer of health of St. Pancras, makes what would appear to be a useful and practical suggestion in his annual report, which is that the law should provide that all tins containing tinned food shall have stamped upon them the date of tinning. Assuming that the correct date of tinning were thus stamped upon the tin the public would be able to judge in some measure of the wholesomeness of the contents, since it is reasonable to suppose that the enclosed food would not improve on prolonged keeping. We trust that the suggestion will be brought before the notice and consideration of the proper
mittee, which has sat for
arrived at any definite conclusions or recommendations, especially in regard to that clause in their inquiry relating to dangerous lamps. But it must be admitted
legislation in relation to the sale of lamps and oil require the most serious consideration before any plan can be adopted. Then, again, there is considerable diversity of opinion as to whether any extension of the Petroleum Act should apply to the construction of lamps or to the raising of the flash point of the oil. However,at this late period of the session the committee are of opinion that it will not be in their power to conclude their investigation," so they have agreed "to report the evidence already taken to the House and to recommend that a committee on the same subject should be appointed early that will final
in the next session of Parliament." We regret that the committee have lost an excellent chairman in the person of the late Mr. Mundella. ___
THE MEDICAL WORK OF THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.
THE address on the report of the London County Council for 1896-97 is of special interest to us on account of its being the first one delivered by the first medical chairman that authorities. body has elected. The works of the Council are so many and various that we have only space to mention those which more EPSOM COLLEGE. especially concern ourselves as medical journalists. And WE are glad to note from the annual report of the Royal first on the list comes the Asylums Committee. The number of persons of unsound mind coming within the jurisdiction Medical Benevolent College for the year ending May, of the county of London is 13,526, as compared with 10.104 the is that institution shows steady progress. There an in in increase the sum received from annual subscriptions ; the 1890, and a new county asylum with 2000 beds is being erected donations is a at Horton Manor. Dr. Collins expressed a hope amount of satisfactory, seeing that festival not in on school that before another year or so Londoners may expect held account was 1896; and the sum received A of the "excrescence of Holywell-street to be com-picuous is larger than it has been for many years. legacy L300 will its fund under the of absence." We do not see the use of pulling down for the endowment has been received by and unless the two churches of St. Mary-le-Strand the late Dr.Henry Fearnside, of Bournemouth, the Holywell-street and estate to the for St, Clement residue of the te3tator’s is Danes are sacrificed too, and even then College pass to Fleet-street the of Fearnside. The and the the same object after decease Mrs. Strand will be far too narrow for the is traffic. Some of of the with. Four the host of omnibuses ought to be made to go being proceeded re-building chapel exhibitions or scholarships have been won by students of along the Embankment and so relieve the congested streets. the College. The health of the boys has been, on the The Drainage Committee report that during the past year whole, excellent, and the school has been quite full 2,184,500 tons of sludge were taken out to sea from Barking throughout the year. We are glad to be able to con- and Crossness and discharged into Barrow Deep, and we are gratulate the council upon the continued prosperity which glad to see that dredgings made at this spot gave no ___
1897,
CANCER CURERS-HEALTH OF THE ARMY IN INDIA.
269
evidence of sewage pollution. The Public Control Committee Pollution, presided over by Major L. Flower, sanitary report that cases of glanders have fallen continuously from engineer, Lee Conservancy Board ; Municipal Representa2336 in 1892-3 to 867 in 1896-7, which is very satisfactory, as tives, presided over by Councillor B. Womersley, chairman a number of such cases have been reported by the use of of the sanitary committee, Leeds City Council; Medical Officers of Health, presided over by Edward Seaton, M.D., mallein as a diagnostic. The committee on inquests, &c., has been doing very useful work. In the words of the F.R.C.P. Lond., F.C.S. ; Municipal and County Engineers, chairman, "arrangements have now been made, or are presided over by Thomas Hewson, M.Inst.C.E.; Sanitary approaching completion, throughout all the districts in Inspectors, presided over by Peter Fyfe, F.R.S. Edin. ; and London, which will practically obviate the necessity for Domestic Hygiene. In connexion with the congress a health holding any inquest amid the desecrating surroundings of exhibition of apparatus and appliances relating to health the public-house. In coöperation with the various sanitary and domestic use will be held, and excursions to places of authorities good mortuary accommodation has now been interest in connexion with sanitation will be arranged. provided in nearly all districts. Such mortuaries are These local arrangements are in the hands of an influential increasingly used for the reception of bodies awaiting committee, presided over by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, with interment in other than inquest cases. The public are Dr. J. Spottiswoode Cameron, medical officer of health of the of the of dead bodies, the city, Mr. A. E. Pearson, M.R.C. S , L.R C.P. Edin., and removal recognising advantage the and interval between death interment, from Mr. W. Spinks, Assoc. M.Inst.C.E , as honorary secretaries. during crowded houses to decent mortuaries, where sentiment is We understand that there are good reasons for expecting a respected and sanitation satisfied." This is good news to us, large attendance. for it is a point upon which we have insisted for years. We shall deal later with the report as a whole, and must CANCER CURERS. congratulate Dr. Collins upon the successful work of the MR. WILLIAM LENNOX WATSON is a lucky man. He is great body over which he has been called to preside. in possession of a receipt for the cure of cancer handed down from his father, and he gives his advice and the cure freein which respect we must say he differs from the ordinary THE VENOMS OF THE TOAD AND SALAMANDER. tribe of quacks. Like another celebrated benefactor, he does IT has long been known that both the toad and salamander "good"by stealth, and blushes to find it fame, for, in are of a venomous nature. Shakespeare, as everyone knows, explanation of his using the name of Hudson, he handed in refers to the toad as a source of ingredient in the mystical a statement saying that he used and assumed the name mixing of a charm-producing preparation, and in one instance because he was not proud of his connexion with the business. to a tad which had" sweltered venom sleeping got." Pliny The cure consists of a plaster, in which the active ingredient also says of the salamander that of all venomous beasts is arsenic, and the plaster is to be applied to the skin there is none so hurtful and dangerous." In a very interesting after the epidermis has been removed by a blister. It is paper on this subject in the July issue of Science Progress to remain on for fourteen Miss Blacker, for whose days. Dr. Hewlett shows that the employment of preparations manslaughter Watson was indicted, against his instrucof the toad as remedies for dropsy is not so absurd as may tions, kept the plaster on from May l3th until June 3rd, when at first appear, for, as he has shown, a substance is she died from, as the post-mortem examination showed, secreted by the skin very like digitalin, and hence arsenical poisoning. Absorption of the poison must have possibly having a favourable effect in cases of cardiac been rapid, for evidence was given that when in the train, dropsy. It would appear that the active principles returning to York on the day of application of the plaster, of the venoms of the toad and salamander are totally Miss Blacker was attacked with sickness and diarrhoea, different substances from those of snake venom, the former which the accused stated in the letter was quite the usual being alkaloidal, while the latter are proteid in nature. thing with the plaster." Mr. Justice Grantham summed up Curiously enough, the venom of the toad and salamander is strongly in favour of the prisoner, and the jury returned a fatal to the animal which secretes it, only in comparatively verdict of ’’ Not guilty "-a verdict which appears to us to large amounts. The salamander appears to be remarkably be absolutely wrong. Miss Blacker, we notice, was lured to refractory to certain poisons ; it is only completely her death by an advertisement in a religious paper. We "curarised" by forty-three milligrammes of curare, while have frequently commented before upon the way in which morphine is apparently quite inactive. It was demonstrated the so-called religious papers insert advertisements of quack by actual experiment that the salamander’s blood and blood remedies and those calculated to produce abortion, and we serum act as an antitoxin towards curare. The paper is a must say it is a disgrace for any paper, and especially a very interesting one, not only as tending to throw light upon " religious " one, to prostitute its columns to such purposes. the action of poison, but in also showing that the belief of We can only express a hope that Mr. I Hudson " will not the ancients in the venomous nature of the toad and feel ashamed of his business, but will give it up for merely salamander was not altogether devoid of foundation. the future. ,
THE
CONGRESS OF THE TARY INSTITUTE.
FORTHCOMING
SANI-
-
HEALTH OF THE ARMY IN
INDIA.
WE think that all reasonable people may be congratulated the altered tone which has of late characterised the discussion regarding the measures that should be adopted for limiting the spread of "the most serious, insidious, and lasting of all the contagious diseases that affiict humanity." As to the moral and religious aspect of the question, we have always contended that whatever might have been with (1) Sanitary Science and Preventive Medicine, presided urged against the Contagious Diseases Acts, the benefit over by T. Pridgin Teale, M.A., M.B. Oxon., F.R.C.S. Eng., they conferred on the unfortunate women in this direction F.R S. ; (2) Engineering and Architecture, presided over by was very great. Detention in hospital gave an opporLewis Angell, M.Inst.C.E., F.R.I.B A. ; and (3) Chemistry, tunity of their being reached by kindly moral influences Meteorology, and Geology, presided over by Wm. Whitaker, and afforded them time for rest and reflection while B.A., F.G.S., F.R.S.; and six special conferences, River their physical ailments were being treated. We know
THE preliminary programme of the Sixteenth Congress to be held in Leeds from September 14th to 18th, has now been issued. The President of the Congress is Robert Farquharson, M D Edin , LL.D. Aberd., F.R C.P. Lond., M.P., D.L., J.P. The congress will include three general addresses and lectures ; three sections, meeting for two days each, dealing
on