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THE SANITARY CONDITION OF MELBOURNE.
1311 the coming election will three fresh councillors of the old pattern enhance the position of the College? Can their admission into the Council do more than prolong a civil war ? Fellows of independent thought and judgment recognise that the continued prosperity of the College rests very much upon the broadening of the basis of its govern-
two more of the domestics, at sight of whom the man took to flight, presently joined by others of what appeared to be a gang lying in wait hard by. The questura, or police office, at which information of the attempted robbery was given, is now showing an activity in pursuit of the aggressors which would have been better put forth a little earlier, so as to protect from possible violence, or worse, a citizen whom, of all others, Rome would find it most difficult to or
ment ; and the transactions of the Council of any College must be submitted to the criticism of the body corporate, its Fellows and Members. Men of strong character and clear insight are now needed, and for many a year will be wanted on the College Council.
THE SANITARY CONDITION OF MELBOURNE. THE final
report of the Royal Commission which was into and report upon the sanitary coninquire appointed dition of Melbourne, and which was presided over by Professor H. B. Allen, deals essentially with the questions of noxious trades, abattoirs, and the treatment of refuse; it also contains some appendices dealing with the bacteriological examination of samples of the Xan Yean water, of the residues in filters through which this water had passed, and with certain experiments as to the typhoid bacilli. The commissioners, in concluding their work, say they look to the establishment of a Metropolitan Board of Works which shall deal with the pressing matter of a complete system of sewerage and drainage for the capital; they regard, as of great importance, the improved position which the central sanitary authority have acquired by reason of the amendment of the law relating to public health; but they urge that in order to secure efficiency in the action taken by these bodies it will be necessary that there shall be a general and thorough realisation of the evils now existing, which cause a dreadful loss of life by preventable disease, as well as a serious pecuniary loss. In short, representative government is, in so far as public health is concerned, on its trial in the colony ; and since the education of the public is so essential to its success, we are glad to record our conviction that the report of the commission, which has been submitted to the governor and his advisers, has been so compiled as to form one of the best methods of bringing to the notice of the public in a forcible manner the grave sanitary evils which have prevailed in the past, and the need for comprehensive measures of amendment. Steps are already being taken to deal with the matters under consideration, and Professor Allen, who is now in England, has for some time past been actively employed in availing himself of experience which we have gained in order that he may secure for Melbourne that the city may so organise its sanitary work as to avoid our errors, and profit by that which has been attended with to
success
replace."
-
MORPHINE AS AN ANTIDOTE TO ATROPINE. A CASE of considerable interest occurred at Chadarghat in Hyderabad recently, and is reported in the Medical Record of Calcutta. A medical student, who was a great sufferer from neuralgia, for which he was accustomed to take antipyrin, went to indulge in his customary dose, but hit upon the wrong bottle and took six grains of atropine instead. In a few moments he became unconscious and fell. He was seen by a brother medical student, who instantly ran off and called SurgeonMajor Edward Lawrie. An emetic was speedily given, and the stomach pump used to wash out the contents of the stomach. The patient, however, seemed to be rapidly sink. ing from the effects of the drug. The pupils were dilated to their fullest extent, there were foaming at the mouth, stertorous respiration, and a rapid intermitting pulse. The condition seemed hastening towards the end, when Dr. Lawrie thought he would resort to the antagonistic effects of
in the mother country.
ASSAULT ON DR. BACCELLI. FROM Rome a correspondent writes : " The professor of clinical medicine at the Sapienza, president of the Accademia Medica di Roma, and the acknowledged head of the profession in Italy, was rudely reminded the other evening that distinguished public services and a liberality by which none profit more than the poor give no exemption from the importunity and violence of the skulking malefactor. Dr. Baccelli, in company with a friend, had driven home in an open fiacre, and having alighted at the portone, or gateway, by which his house in the Via del Monte della Farina is approached, was about to let himself in with the latch-key, when a rough-looking man seized him by the collar of his coat, with the words,Dammi dei quattrini, ho fame !’ (Give me money, I am hungry). The doctor, shaking off his assailant, called out to his servants to come to him, and in another minute his cook appeared with one
morphine, and injected one grain of this drug subcutaneously, with no apparent effect. He then injected another grain, but with no decided result. The patient, though still alive, seemed hovering in the balance between life and death. From eight o’clock in the morning till three in the afternoon artificial respiration was resorted to with varying intervals of rest. Dr. Lawrie now determined to try the hypodermic injection of a third of a grain of morphine, and this seemed to be the determining antidote, for in an hour the pulse im. proved, thebreathing gradually resumed its normal standard, and consciousness returned.
CAUSES OF DIPHTHERIA. IT is very difficult to decide how far a given condition can be held responsible for the production, or for aiding the spread, of diphtheria ; and yet there are occasions when extraneous aid is asked for with a view to the removal of some condition, or to the abatement of some sanitary cir. cumstance, on the ground that its existence must be regarded as having induced diphtheria. Two instances which indicate this difficulty are now before us. A man living in the North Bierley Local Board District has within three years lost three children from diphtheria, and another child close by has also died of the same disease. Near to the affected dwellings is the town " tip" for refuse, and cause and effect being thus looked upon as obvious, and this especially by the sufferers, an urgent demand is made for the removal of the tip. In the other case, a fatal attack of diphtheria occurs in Ascot, and there is found on the premises affected a well the contents of£ which are unfit for consumption, besides other defective sanitary arrangements. Were the tip and the well water the causes of the diphtheria ; did they tend at least to its assuming a fatal form; or are they to be regarded as mere coincidences? These are questionswhich it is difficult to answer; but they certainly could not be answered one way or the other unless many other circumstances such as the existence of prior attacks of some throat ailment, the chance of infection at school or otherwise, the coexistence of the disease in some animal, and in such form as to bring the animal disease into some relation with the children, &c.,
two more of the domestics, at sight of whom the man took to flight, presently joined by others of what appeared to be a gang lying in wait hard by. The questura, or police office, at which information of the attempted robbery was given, is now showing an activity in pursuit of the aggressors which would have been better put forth a little earlier, so as to protect from possible violence, or worse, a citizen whom, of all others, Rome would find it most difficult to or
ment ; and the transactions of the Council of any College must be submitted to the criticism of the body corporate, its Fellows and Members. Men of strong character and clear insight are now needed, and for many a year will be wanted on the College Council.
THE SANITARY CONDITION OF MELBOURNE. THE final
report of the Royal Commission which was into and report upon the sanitary coninquire appointed dition of Melbourne, and which was presided over by Professor H. B. Allen, deals essentially with the questions of noxious trades, abattoirs, and the treatment of refuse; it also contains some appendices dealing with the bacteriological examination of samples of the Xan Yean water, of the residues in filters through which this water had passed, and with certain experiments as to the typhoid bacilli. The commissioners, in concluding their work, say they look to the establishment of a Metropolitan Board of Works which shall deal with the pressing matter of a complete system of sewerage and drainage for the capital; they regard, as of great importance, the improved position which the central sanitary authority have acquired by reason of the amendment of the law relating to public health; but they urge that in order to secure efficiency in the action taken by these bodies it will be necessary that there shall be a general and thorough realisation of the evils now existing, which cause a dreadful loss of life by preventable disease, as well as a serious pecuniary loss. In short, representative government is, in so far as public health is concerned, on its trial in the colony ; and since the education of the public is so essential to its success, we are glad to record our conviction that the report of the commission, which has been submitted to the governor and his advisers, has been so compiled as to form one of the best methods of bringing to the notice of the public in a forcible manner the grave sanitary evils which have prevailed in the past, and the need for comprehensive measures of amendment. Steps are already being taken to deal with the matters under consideration, and Professor Allen, who is now in England, has for some time past been actively employed in availing himself of experience which we have gained in order that he may secure for Melbourne that the city may so organise its sanitary work as to avoid our errors, and profit by that which has been attended with to
success
replace."
-
MORPHINE AS AN ANTIDOTE TO ATROPINE. A CASE of considerable interest occurred at Chadarghat in Hyderabad recently, and is reported in the Medical Record of Calcutta. A medical student, who was a great sufferer from neuralgia, for which he was accustomed to take antipyrin, went to indulge in his customary dose, but hit upon the wrong bottle and took six grains of atropine instead. In a few moments he became unconscious and fell. He was seen by a brother medical student, who instantly ran off and called SurgeonMajor Edward Lawrie. An emetic was speedily given, and the stomach pump used to wash out the contents of the stomach. The patient, however, seemed to be rapidly sink. ing from the effects of the drug. The pupils were dilated to their fullest extent, there were foaming at the mouth, stertorous respiration, and a rapid intermitting pulse. The condition seemed hastening towards the end, when Dr. Lawrie thought he would resort to the antagonistic effects of
in the mother country.
ASSAULT ON DR. BACCELLI. FROM Rome a correspondent writes : " The professor of clinical medicine at the Sapienza, president of the Accademia Medica di Roma, and the acknowledged head of the profession in Italy, was rudely reminded the other evening that distinguished public services and a liberality by which none profit more than the poor give no exemption from the importunity and violence of the skulking malefactor. Dr. Baccelli, in company with a friend, had driven home in an open fiacre, and having alighted at the portone, or gateway, by which his house in the Via del Monte della Farina is approached, was about to let himself in with the latch-key, when a rough-looking man seized him by the collar of his coat, with the words,Dammi dei quattrini, ho fame !’ (Give me money, I am hungry). The doctor, shaking off his assailant, called out to his servants to come to him, and in another minute his cook appeared with one
morphine, and injected one grain of this drug subcutaneously, with no apparent effect. He then injected another grain, but with no decided result. The patient, though still alive, seemed hovering in the balance between life and death. From eight o’clock in the morning till three in the afternoon artificial respiration was resorted to with varying intervals of rest. Dr. Lawrie now determined to try the hypodermic injection of a third of a grain of morphine, and this seemed to be the determining antidote, for in an hour the pulse im. proved, thebreathing gradually resumed its normal standard, and consciousness returned.
CAUSES OF DIPHTHERIA. IT is very difficult to decide how far a given condition can be held responsible for the production, or for aiding the spread, of diphtheria ; and yet there are occasions when extraneous aid is asked for with a view to the removal of some condition, or to the abatement of some sanitary cir. cumstance, on the ground that its existence must be regarded as having induced diphtheria. Two instances which indicate this difficulty are now before us. A man living in the North Bierley Local Board District has within three years lost three children from diphtheria, and another child close by has also died of the same disease. Near to the affected dwellings is the town " tip" for refuse, and cause and effect being thus looked upon as obvious, and this especially by the sufferers, an urgent demand is made for the removal of the tip. In the other case, a fatal attack of diphtheria occurs in Ascot, and there is found on the premises affected a well the contents of£ which are unfit for consumption, besides other defective sanitary arrangements. Were the tip and the well water the causes of the diphtheria ; did they tend at least to its assuming a fatal form; or are they to be regarded as mere coincidences? These are questionswhich it is difficult to answer; but they certainly could not be answered one way or the other unless many other circumstances such as the existence of prior attacks of some throat ailment, the chance of infection at school or otherwise, the coexistence of the disease in some animal, and in such form as to bring the animal disease into some relation with the children, &c.,