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THE ROYAL MEDICAL BENEVOLENT COLLEGE.
THE ELECTION OF CORONER FOR NORTH-EAST LONDON.
to the unprotected community, it would perhaps have been wiser had the ages, as set forth in the Order of the Local Government Board of Feb. 3rd, 1888, been taken as a basis. This order enacts that one of the conditions under which revaccination may legally be performed by a public vaccinator is that the applicant shall have attained the age of twelve years, or in case there be any immediate danger of small-pox, the age of ten years.
followed by paralysis of the same side of the face. Three weeks later, similar pains were experienced on the left side, and these were followed by paralysis on the corresponding side, so that there was established a condition of complete double facial paralysis. There is also stated to have been paralysis of both sides of the palate, more marked on the right side, and the articulation was indistinct and nasal. This case also In the course of four had a favourable termination. return of moveor five months there was already a ment in all the paralysed muscles. The complete paralysis of the palate in this case certainly places it in a different category from ordinary cases of facial paralysis, and we should be inclined to think that there was something more in the case than merely a peripheral affection of the facial nerve on each side.
side of the neck, and these
were
MR.
___
THE ELECTION OF CORONER FOR NORTHEAST LONDON. AT a meeting of the London County Council on Tuesday ’last Dr. W. Wynn Westcott was elected coroner for the north-eastern district at a salary of ;&1150 a year. There
THE ROYAL MEDICAL BENEVOLENT COLLEGE.
wete originally forty- nine candidates, from whom the Public Control Committee of the Council recommended the names of Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Dr. Charles Gross, and Dr. F. H. Daly-Dr. Westcott, as we have said, being finally appointed. We are pleased to see that the London County Council recognise the importance of the selection of medical coroners, and trust that the other elective bodies will follow their -
LEAFLETS ON VACCINATION. THE
may be said of them, by desultory propagation of their sentiand we are ments, extremely pleased to see that in the matter of popular literature the Public Health Committee of Islington have determined to carry the war into the enemy’s camp, and to cause to be distributed leaflets drawn up by the medical officer of health of the district, setting forth in plain language some of the facts in regard to vaccination and small-pox. In this leaflet Mr. Harris deals first with smallpox among the unvaccinated, and draws attention to the terrible mortality occasioned by the disease in pre-vaccination times. He refers to the ravages of the disease in Mexico and among the North American Indians, and quotes a passage from Lord Macaulay’s writings as to the effects of the disease in the seventeeth century on those who survived an attack, ’, that it left "in those whose lives it spared, the hideous traces of its power, turning the babe into a changeling at whom the mother shuddered, and making the eyes and I cheeks of the betrothed maiden objects of horror to the lover." In discussing the power of vaccination in its relation to small-pox, Mr. Harris quotes Dr. Gayton’s well-known tables in reference to the protective value of one and more vaccine cicatrices ; and in dealing with revaccination the facts as regards the army and navy are given, as also are hose as to the immunity of the nurses and attendants at the London Small-pox Hospital and the hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board. Finally Mr. Harris urges the public to have their vaccination marks, both on themselves and their children, examined by their medical attendant, in order that those with defective or too few cicatrices may be immediately revaccinated. This advice will, we hope, be widely followed in Islington, and if it results in gradually educating the public as to the necessity of multiple as opposed to ?g!e cicatrices, it will have additional value. Mr. Harris o recommends revaccination of all persons over fifteen years old, when small-pox is present. Having regard, however, to the danger which very mild and abortive attacks of small-pox, consisting only perhaps of a few papules, present are
how
anti-vaccinators, whatever else
no means
GLADSTONE’S HEALTH.
WE are glad to be able to state that Mr. Gladstone has so far made an uninterrupted progress towards recovery. He has been able to take carriage exercise since the 3rd inst., and is downstairs for as much of the day as he likes. The eye is as well as possible. It is needless to say that every possible precaution has been taken ; in fact, the details of treatment and management of the case have, we believe, been carried out unusually strictly.
’
example.
1463
in the
I
WE have received a copy of the Act to Amend the Constitution of the Royal Medical Benevolent College. For many years a scheme proposed by Dr. Holman, which has received the hearty support of the members of the medical profession, has been steadily advancing towards realisation. All who have had the interest of Epsom College in view and have desired the extension of the sphere of its usefulness must be greatly gratified to learn that the Council have obtained an Act amending the conditions under which the College was originally established in 1855. The buildings so long occupied by pensioners can now be legally used for educational purposes and the College is now under no obligation to provide asylum for the pensioners. Further, the new Act empowers the College to make rules for the pensions by the provision of annuities or occasional pecuniary All that now remains to be done in order assistance. to carry out what is known as the " Pension Scheme " is the collection of the necessary funds. When this has been accomplished the poor aged recipients of this charity will be enabled to reside with their friends and receive, in place of asylum accommodation, an increase in the amount of their pension. These changes were, in the first instance, necessitated by the rapid growth in the numbers of the College scholars and its continually increasing reputation as an education centre. The new Act places Epsom College on the footing of the great English public schools, enabling it to present an open door to pupils of all classes. It is a matter of experience that but small success waits upon class schools of any sort. Moreover, all the privileges which Epsom College, by reason of its medical foundation, had to bestow upon its foundationers are by this new Act carefully maintained, and the sons of medical men will, as heretofore, receive an education at as near prime cost as possible, so long as this is consistent with
efficiency.
-
THE INFLUENCE OF MOISTURE ON CHEMICAL ACTION. IN a remarkable series of experiments Mr. Brereton Baker has shown that when moisture is removed as completely as possible certain substances-for example, carbon, sulphur, phosphorus-can be heated in an atmosphere of oxygen without undergoing visible combustion. Continuing the study of this interesting branch of investigation, he subsequently found that dry ammonia gas and dry hydrochloric acid gas refused to combine-that is, no ammonium chloride fumes were produced when the dried gases were mixed ; but on introducing a small quantity of moist air union of the two, with formation of ammonium chloride, instantly takes place. Further investigations were made
to the unprotected community, it would perhaps have been wiser had the ages, as set forth in the Order of the Local Government Board of Feb. 3rd, 1888, been taken as a basis. This order enacts that one of the conditions under which revaccination may legally be performed by a public vaccinator is that the applicant shall have attained the age of twelve years, or in case there be any immediate danger of small-pox, the age of ten years.
followed by paralysis of the same side of the face. Three weeks later, similar pains were experienced on the left side, and these were followed by paralysis on the corresponding side, so that there was established a condition of complete double facial paralysis. There is also stated to have been paralysis of both sides of the palate, more marked on the right side, and the articulation was indistinct and nasal. This case also In the course of four had a favourable termination. return of moveor five months there was already a ment in all the paralysed muscles. The complete paralysis of the palate in this case certainly places it in a different category from ordinary cases of facial paralysis, and we should be inclined to think that there was something more in the case than merely a peripheral affection of the facial nerve on each side.
side of the neck, and these
were
MR.
___
THE ELECTION OF CORONER FOR NORTHEAST LONDON. AT a meeting of the London County Council on Tuesday ’last Dr. W. Wynn Westcott was elected coroner for the north-eastern district at a salary of ;&1150 a year. There
THE ROYAL MEDICAL BENEVOLENT COLLEGE.
wete originally forty- nine candidates, from whom the Public Control Committee of the Council recommended the names of Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Dr. Charles Gross, and Dr. F. H. Daly-Dr. Westcott, as we have said, being finally appointed. We are pleased to see that the London County Council recognise the importance of the selection of medical coroners, and trust that the other elective bodies will follow their -
LEAFLETS ON VACCINATION. THE
may be said of them, by desultory propagation of their sentiand we are ments, extremely pleased to see that in the matter of popular literature the Public Health Committee of Islington have determined to carry the war into the enemy’s camp, and to cause to be distributed leaflets drawn up by the medical officer of health of the district, setting forth in plain language some of the facts in regard to vaccination and small-pox. In this leaflet Mr. Harris deals first with smallpox among the unvaccinated, and draws attention to the terrible mortality occasioned by the disease in pre-vaccination times. He refers to the ravages of the disease in Mexico and among the North American Indians, and quotes a passage from Lord Macaulay’s writings as to the effects of the disease in the seventeeth century on those who survived an attack, ’, that it left "in those whose lives it spared, the hideous traces of its power, turning the babe into a changeling at whom the mother shuddered, and making the eyes and I cheeks of the betrothed maiden objects of horror to the lover." In discussing the power of vaccination in its relation to small-pox, Mr. Harris quotes Dr. Gayton’s well-known tables in reference to the protective value of one and more vaccine cicatrices ; and in dealing with revaccination the facts as regards the army and navy are given, as also are hose as to the immunity of the nurses and attendants at the London Small-pox Hospital and the hospitals of the Metropolitan Asylums Board. Finally Mr. Harris urges the public to have their vaccination marks, both on themselves and their children, examined by their medical attendant, in order that those with defective or too few cicatrices may be immediately revaccinated. This advice will, we hope, be widely followed in Islington, and if it results in gradually educating the public as to the necessity of multiple as opposed to ?g!e cicatrices, it will have additional value. Mr. Harris o recommends revaccination of all persons over fifteen years old, when small-pox is present. Having regard, however, to the danger which very mild and abortive attacks of small-pox, consisting only perhaps of a few papules, present are
how
anti-vaccinators, whatever else
no means
GLADSTONE’S HEALTH.
WE are glad to be able to state that Mr. Gladstone has so far made an uninterrupted progress towards recovery. He has been able to take carriage exercise since the 3rd inst., and is downstairs for as much of the day as he likes. The eye is as well as possible. It is needless to say that every possible precaution has been taken ; in fact, the details of treatment and management of the case have, we believe, been carried out unusually strictly.
’
example.
1463
in the
I
WE have received a copy of the Act to Amend the Constitution of the Royal Medical Benevolent College. For many years a scheme proposed by Dr. Holman, which has received the hearty support of the members of the medical profession, has been steadily advancing towards realisation. All who have had the interest of Epsom College in view and have desired the extension of the sphere of its usefulness must be greatly gratified to learn that the Council have obtained an Act amending the conditions under which the College was originally established in 1855. The buildings so long occupied by pensioners can now be legally used for educational purposes and the College is now under no obligation to provide asylum for the pensioners. Further, the new Act empowers the College to make rules for the pensions by the provision of annuities or occasional pecuniary All that now remains to be done in order assistance. to carry out what is known as the " Pension Scheme " is the collection of the necessary funds. When this has been accomplished the poor aged recipients of this charity will be enabled to reside with their friends and receive, in place of asylum accommodation, an increase in the amount of their pension. These changes were, in the first instance, necessitated by the rapid growth in the numbers of the College scholars and its continually increasing reputation as an education centre. The new Act places Epsom College on the footing of the great English public schools, enabling it to present an open door to pupils of all classes. It is a matter of experience that but small success waits upon class schools of any sort. Moreover, all the privileges which Epsom College, by reason of its medical foundation, had to bestow upon its foundationers are by this new Act carefully maintained, and the sons of medical men will, as heretofore, receive an education at as near prime cost as possible, so long as this is consistent with
efficiency.
-
THE INFLUENCE OF MOISTURE ON CHEMICAL ACTION. IN a remarkable series of experiments Mr. Brereton Baker has shown that when moisture is removed as completely as possible certain substances-for example, carbon, sulphur, phosphorus-can be heated in an atmosphere of oxygen without undergoing visible combustion. Continuing the study of this interesting branch of investigation, he subsequently found that dry ammonia gas and dry hydrochloric acid gas refused to combine-that is, no ammonium chloride fumes were produced when the dried gases were mixed ; but on introducing a small quantity of moist air union of the two, with formation of ammonium chloride, instantly takes place. Further investigations were made