- Email: [email protected]
THE ROYAL SANITARY INSTITUTE.
185 acid, then the morphine cannot beanchored’ to the nerve tissues of the central nervous system and the resulting substance has nu effect at all. If the hydroxyl is only altered the an entrance of bv organic radicle, with the forma-
tion of substances such as methyl, ethyl, or acetyl derivatives, then the hypnotic effect is thrust into the background, while the action of the respiratory centres, produced by morphine to a slight extent, becomes much enhanced" and dominates the physiological effect (codein, heroin, &c.)." As another example we may quote the following : " In many cases physiologically active compounds show a degradation of the molecule, and these same substances, if they are made so resistant that they no longer suffer any alteration in the organism, then become inactive. For example, xanthine has no tonic action on the heart muscle, but theobromine (dimethyl-xanthine) has a slight tonic action and caffeine (trimethyl-xanthine) has a still more marked tonic action, from which it will be seen that the addition of methyl groups to the nitrogen of xanthine adds a special action on the heart to the ordinary physiological action of xanthine." Mr. May’s book is most interesting and suggestive, and the person who reads it carefully will not be left wondering why it is that of synthetic remedies there is no end.
THE HUMAN
DARK AND
DAMP DAY.
activity undoubtedly receives
check under the dispiriting conditions of the weather which has characterised the British Isles for the last week or so. The absence of direct sunlight is bad enough, but there has been also a dampness in the atmosphere which tends to interfere with the healthy functions of the skin. Normal transpiration is hindered when the air is saturated with moisture. Instead of passing away, perspired products remain as a stickiness which clogs the skin. When it is remembered that the amount of vapour passing from the skin in dry air at normal temperature may amount to 30 ounces per day, while in moist air the amount so transpired may only be from 7 to 8 ounces, it is clear that an important function is considerably hampered by excessive humid conditions. It is well known that human sweat has toxic properties, so that it is not surprising that under these meteorological conditions the vitality gets low and common ailments are prevalent. Amongst these, obscure muscular pains and chronic rheumatism are very generally complained of. The indication is in favour of increasing the application of warm water to the body so as to remove skin exhalations and compensate for the restraint put upon the skin by the continued presence of a humid air. It is, at any rate, a consolation that the absence of the feeling of well-being experienced under the present meteorological conditions is no sign of constitutional ill-health ; it is a local disturbance set up by an external physical condition which arrests freedom of action. It is to be hoped that the source of this depression and disturbance, the damp and darkness of the present season, will ere long pass away.
THE
a
ROYAL SANITARY INSTITUTE. THE fifty-third course of lectures and demonstrations for sanitary officers will be given from January to April at the Royal Sanitary Institute, 90, Buckingham Palaceroad, S.W. The course will begin on Monday, Jan. 29th, and will be continued on òuccessive Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays till April 19th, at 7 P.M. The fee for the complete course of 33 lectures will be E33s., or for the first part of the course, consisting of 26 lectures on elementary physics and chemistry, public health statutes, the duties of sanitary inspectors, and municipal hygiene, The fee for the second part, dealing - S212s. 6d. with food inspection and analysis, is £ls. Among
the lecturers are the names of Dr. G. F. McCleary, Dr. Charles Porter, and Dr. E. Petronell Manby. The demonstrations include visits to municipal buildings and works, factories and dairy-farms, the Metropolitan Cattle Market, and a knacker’s yard. In order to assist school teachers and other students entering for examinations in hygiene in it& bearings on school life, and to help women health visitors and school nurses, a course of lectures will commence on Feb. 16th at 7 P.M. and be continued at the same hour on Mondays and Fridays during February, March, and April. The fee for the course, which includes the privilege of attending certain of the lectures given to sanitary officers, will be ;E1 Is., and the subjects treated include general physiology and personal hygiene, the growth and development of the child, the sanitation of school buildings and dwellings, educational methods, and first aid. Among the lecturers are Dr. A. B. Kingsford, Mr. F. N. K. Menzies, Mr. E. H. T. Nash, Dr. Eric Pritchard, and Mrs. Marion HunterVaughan. Full particulars and forms of application for the examination can be obtained at the offices of the Institute, 90, Buckingham Palace-road, S. W. ‘
SIR THOMAS BROWNE AND THE WITCH-TRIALS A VINDICATION. PERHAPS the only place where we meet the name of Sir Thomas Browne without pleasurable associations is in the account of the trial of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender for It has frewitchcraft before Sir Matthew Hale in 1664. quently been stated, and it is widely believed, that Sir Thomas Browne was responsible for the hanging of these two women. He made a statement in op3n court which is alleged to have carried great weight with the jury and to have influenced the judge against the prisoners, with the result that they were convicted and hanged. This is the view frequently adopted by writers on the subject. One of Sir Thomas Browne’s biographers, Mr. Elmund Gosse, goes so far as to state that the blood of the two women was on his head. It is now suggested in two articles published in the Nm/oZk CMoniole of Dec. 23rd and 30th, 1911, that the facts connected with this trial have been greatly misrepresented, and that the suggestion that Sir Thomas Browne was responsible for the death of these two women is not in accordance with the facts of the case as recorded at the time. Mr. Malcolm Letts in the articles referred to examines the account of this incident as related by Sir Thomas Browne’s most recent biographer, and compares it with the contemporary report of the trial (taken in court by the judge’s marshal and published in 1682), with interesting results. It is shown that Browne had very little to do with the proceedings. He was present in court, and at an early stage he was appealed to by the judge and thereupon made a statement as to his belief in the reality of witchcraft, an expression of belief in which ninety-nine out of every hundred of his educated contemporaries would have concurred, but there is nothing more against him. It is probable that the witches were convicted on the evidence adduced by the prosecution without reference to Sir Thomas Browne’s opinion. We recommend all who are interested in. the.great Norwich physician to read this vindication. AT the
meeting of the Ninth International Otological is to be held in the new buildings of the which Congress, medical department of Harvard University, in Boston, U.S.A., during the week beginning August 12th, 1912, the distribution of three prizes will be awarded by the International Jury to whom the adjudgment has been committed. These are the Lenval p ize, the Adam Politzer piize, and the Cozzolino prize ; the two former for the best published work on the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the organ o
tion of substances such as methyl, ethyl, or acetyl derivatives, then the hypnotic effect is thrust into the background, while the action of the respiratory centres, produced by morphine to a slight extent, becomes much enhanced" and dominates the physiological effect (codein, heroin, &c.)." As another example we may quote the following : " In many cases physiologically active compounds show a degradation of the molecule, and these same substances, if they are made so resistant that they no longer suffer any alteration in the organism, then become inactive. For example, xanthine has no tonic action on the heart muscle, but theobromine (dimethyl-xanthine) has a slight tonic action and caffeine (trimethyl-xanthine) has a still more marked tonic action, from which it will be seen that the addition of methyl groups to the nitrogen of xanthine adds a special action on the heart to the ordinary physiological action of xanthine." Mr. May’s book is most interesting and suggestive, and the person who reads it carefully will not be left wondering why it is that of synthetic remedies there is no end.
THE HUMAN
DARK AND
DAMP DAY.
activity undoubtedly receives
check under the dispiriting conditions of the weather which has characterised the British Isles for the last week or so. The absence of direct sunlight is bad enough, but there has been also a dampness in the atmosphere which tends to interfere with the healthy functions of the skin. Normal transpiration is hindered when the air is saturated with moisture. Instead of passing away, perspired products remain as a stickiness which clogs the skin. When it is remembered that the amount of vapour passing from the skin in dry air at normal temperature may amount to 30 ounces per day, while in moist air the amount so transpired may only be from 7 to 8 ounces, it is clear that an important function is considerably hampered by excessive humid conditions. It is well known that human sweat has toxic properties, so that it is not surprising that under these meteorological conditions the vitality gets low and common ailments are prevalent. Amongst these, obscure muscular pains and chronic rheumatism are very generally complained of. The indication is in favour of increasing the application of warm water to the body so as to remove skin exhalations and compensate for the restraint put upon the skin by the continued presence of a humid air. It is, at any rate, a consolation that the absence of the feeling of well-being experienced under the present meteorological conditions is no sign of constitutional ill-health ; it is a local disturbance set up by an external physical condition which arrests freedom of action. It is to be hoped that the source of this depression and disturbance, the damp and darkness of the present season, will ere long pass away.
THE
a
ROYAL SANITARY INSTITUTE. THE fifty-third course of lectures and demonstrations for sanitary officers will be given from January to April at the Royal Sanitary Institute, 90, Buckingham Palaceroad, S.W. The course will begin on Monday, Jan. 29th, and will be continued on òuccessive Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays till April 19th, at 7 P.M. The fee for the complete course of 33 lectures will be E33s., or for the first part of the course, consisting of 26 lectures on elementary physics and chemistry, public health statutes, the duties of sanitary inspectors, and municipal hygiene, The fee for the second part, dealing - S212s. 6d. with food inspection and analysis, is £ls. Among
the lecturers are the names of Dr. G. F. McCleary, Dr. Charles Porter, and Dr. E. Petronell Manby. The demonstrations include visits to municipal buildings and works, factories and dairy-farms, the Metropolitan Cattle Market, and a knacker’s yard. In order to assist school teachers and other students entering for examinations in hygiene in it& bearings on school life, and to help women health visitors and school nurses, a course of lectures will commence on Feb. 16th at 7 P.M. and be continued at the same hour on Mondays and Fridays during February, March, and April. The fee for the course, which includes the privilege of attending certain of the lectures given to sanitary officers, will be ;E1 Is., and the subjects treated include general physiology and personal hygiene, the growth and development of the child, the sanitation of school buildings and dwellings, educational methods, and first aid. Among the lecturers are Dr. A. B. Kingsford, Mr. F. N. K. Menzies, Mr. E. H. T. Nash, Dr. Eric Pritchard, and Mrs. Marion HunterVaughan. Full particulars and forms of application for the examination can be obtained at the offices of the Institute, 90, Buckingham Palace-road, S. W. ‘
SIR THOMAS BROWNE AND THE WITCH-TRIALS A VINDICATION. PERHAPS the only place where we meet the name of Sir Thomas Browne without pleasurable associations is in the account of the trial of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender for It has frewitchcraft before Sir Matthew Hale in 1664. quently been stated, and it is widely believed, that Sir Thomas Browne was responsible for the hanging of these two women. He made a statement in op3n court which is alleged to have carried great weight with the jury and to have influenced the judge against the prisoners, with the result that they were convicted and hanged. This is the view frequently adopted by writers on the subject. One of Sir Thomas Browne’s biographers, Mr. Elmund Gosse, goes so far as to state that the blood of the two women was on his head. It is now suggested in two articles published in the Nm/oZk CMoniole of Dec. 23rd and 30th, 1911, that the facts connected with this trial have been greatly misrepresented, and that the suggestion that Sir Thomas Browne was responsible for the death of these two women is not in accordance with the facts of the case as recorded at the time. Mr. Malcolm Letts in the articles referred to examines the account of this incident as related by Sir Thomas Browne’s most recent biographer, and compares it with the contemporary report of the trial (taken in court by the judge’s marshal and published in 1682), with interesting results. It is shown that Browne had very little to do with the proceedings. He was present in court, and at an early stage he was appealed to by the judge and thereupon made a statement as to his belief in the reality of witchcraft, an expression of belief in which ninety-nine out of every hundred of his educated contemporaries would have concurred, but there is nothing more against him. It is probable that the witches were convicted on the evidence adduced by the prosecution without reference to Sir Thomas Browne’s opinion. We recommend all who are interested in. the.great Norwich physician to read this vindication. AT the
meeting of the Ninth International Otological is to be held in the new buildings of the which Congress, medical department of Harvard University, in Boston, U.S.A., during the week beginning August 12th, 1912, the distribution of three prizes will be awarded by the International Jury to whom the adjudgment has been committed. These are the Lenval p ize, the Adam Politzer piize, and the Cozzolino prize ; the two former for the best published work on the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the organ o