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THE SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.
1603
safeguarding the interests of the inmates who would be disenfranchised if they were to be deemed to be lodgers. Mr. Slade decided against the vestry on the ground that the landlord did not reside on the premises and did not exercise any control over them either by himself or his servants, and therefore that the tenements could not be regarded as lodgings. It will be seen that Mr. Slade’s decision is capable of much wider application than to blocks of artisans’ dwelltoxemia. ings and that if sustained it may affgct the regulation of ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND. much tenemented property of a higher class. The vestry I,N addition to those whose names we have already given, have appealed and it is to be sincerely hoped that this appeal anagmia. No case recovered, though in remissions were seen. 20 cases were cases the duration of the disease was In 78 progressive. from one to three years. Treatment was negative, arsenic and bone-marrow had no effect, but in some cases laxative treatment seemed to have done some good. This seems to bear out Dr. W. Hunter’s idea that the disease is a those of
69
secondary
cases one or more
-
understand that Mr. Pearce Gould, Dr. J. Ward Cousins of Portsmouth, and Mr. Jordan Lloyd of Birmingham will be candidates for the vacancies upon the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. we
HOUSES LET IN LODGINGS. A CASE of much importance in connexion with the sanitary administration of London was heard last week by Mr. Slade at the Southwark Police-court. Experience of this administration has increasingly shown that the most effectual method of maintaining the houses occupied by the poor in proper sanitary condition and of the prevention of overcrowding is the regulation of houses let in lodgings. This regulation, indeed, is often an absolute necessity, and especially in the central districts where landlords are able more largely than in other districts to trade upon the necessities of the poor. The regulation of such houses not only controls the landlord but also the tenant who is expected to cooperate in the maintenance of cleanliness and proper ventilation of the rooms. The enforcement of the by-laws has served a useful purpose in those districts where the work has been undertaken, and the London County Council have persistently urged upon the authorities of other districts the adoption of a like course. The question has from time to time arisen as to what is a house let in lodgings. There has been no doubt that the ordinary tenement house which was originally constructed for one family but which has come to be occupied by several families, often or two rooms, is within this a family in every one definition. Where there has been doubt is in the case of blocks of artisans’ dwellings where each suite of two The or three rooms may claim to be a separate house. case to which we refer is likely to have a considerable influence in determining how far blocks of artisans’ dwellings are for the purposes of the Public Health Act to be deemed to be houses let in lodgings. The Gun-street dwellings in the parish of St. George the Martyr, the subject of the proceedings before the Southwark magistrate, have previously been a cause of anxiety to the sanitary authority and on the recommendation of Dr. F. J. Waldo, the medical officer of health, numerous rooms have been closed as unfit for human habitation. Repairs have been and the rooms alterations effected, made, re-let, but while in have been made the improvements buildings the inhabitants remaining have been, to use the words of the
vestry clerk, persons who
were often uncleanly in their essential that the sanitary authority should supervise. The vestry, therefore, acting on the advice of their medical officer of health, have wisely determined to bring these premises under regulation, and there seemed reasonable prospect that this could be successfully done because the tenements are not such as are known as self-contained," but the sanitary appliances on each floor were outside the dwellings and were used in common by the tenants. The contention of the vestry that each block was a separate house and ’that the rooms were lodgings was strongly contested by the owner who quoted a number of cases ranging from the time of Charles I. and urged that the registration law embodied in those cases must be regarded as
habits and whom it
was
will be successful and that it will be found that the definition of a lodger for the purposes of the public health law is entirely different from that for the purposes of the registration law. It is, indeed, difficult to believe that this will not be the result, for it would otherwise always be possible for an Act of Parliament dealing with one subject in effect to repeal another Act dealing with an entirely different subject which was not under consideration at the time the subsequent Act was passed. We shall await the final decision with much interest.
THE
SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.
OF
THE annual meeting of the council of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was held on May 15th under the presidency of Mr. W. H. Collingridge. The chairman was able to give the satisfactory information that notwithstanding a generally prevalent demand fqr war funds the income of the society during the past year showed an increase of .E 1.000. This gain, moreover, had resulted from an influx of ordinary subscriptions. On the other hand, a deficit of 7700 on account of expenses had to be met. This amount was covered by reserve funds. Among other business transacted at the meeting was the passing of a resolution in support of Lord James’s It was also decided to petiJuvenile Offender’s Bill. tion Parliament for the addition to the Bill of a clause requiring the presence of a medical practitioner during the infliction of
corporal punishment.
Such
an
arrangement
ought to strengthen the measure, and if sensibly carried out should not impair its punitive effect. Another resolution
strongly supported the Bill forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors to children. It is instructive to note that this resolution was approved by representatives from widely separated parts of England and from Ireland, and evidence was given proving that the proposed legislation is much desired by the working classes in the north. PILOCARPINE
AND WILLOW-BARK.
SOME excellent work is evidently being done in the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories judging from the important contributions published from time to time in the Transactions of the Chemical Society. This kind of work should receive every encouragement, since it is devoted to the throwing of further light upon the pharmacology of the materia medica. We are glad to see that these communications as they appear from time to time are being published in separate pamphlet form. Not very long ago we received an interesting paper of this kind on some gold salts of hyoscme, hyoscyamine, and atropine by H. A. D. Jowett, D.Sc., and more recently we have received two further papers For on the substances quoted in the title of this annotation. some time considerable obscurity has surrounded the nature of pilocarpine and the number and kind of specific alkaloids contained in jaborandi leaves. Although the experiments are still in progress some interesting results have been obtained. A base, for instance, isomeric with pilocarpine, is produced from it by the action of heat or alkali and it is
safeguarding the interests of the inmates who would be disenfranchised if they were to be deemed to be lodgers. Mr. Slade decided against the vestry on the ground that the landlord did not reside on the premises and did not exercise any control over them either by himself or his servants, and therefore that the tenements could not be regarded as lodgings. It will be seen that Mr. Slade’s decision is capable of much wider application than to blocks of artisans’ dwelltoxemia. ings and that if sustained it may affgct the regulation of ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND. much tenemented property of a higher class. The vestry I,N addition to those whose names we have already given, have appealed and it is to be sincerely hoped that this appeal anagmia. No case recovered, though in remissions were seen. 20 cases were cases the duration of the disease was In 78 progressive. from one to three years. Treatment was negative, arsenic and bone-marrow had no effect, but in some cases laxative treatment seemed to have done some good. This seems to bear out Dr. W. Hunter’s idea that the disease is a those of
69
secondary
cases one or more
-
understand that Mr. Pearce Gould, Dr. J. Ward Cousins of Portsmouth, and Mr. Jordan Lloyd of Birmingham will be candidates for the vacancies upon the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. we
HOUSES LET IN LODGINGS. A CASE of much importance in connexion with the sanitary administration of London was heard last week by Mr. Slade at the Southwark Police-court. Experience of this administration has increasingly shown that the most effectual method of maintaining the houses occupied by the poor in proper sanitary condition and of the prevention of overcrowding is the regulation of houses let in lodgings. This regulation, indeed, is often an absolute necessity, and especially in the central districts where landlords are able more largely than in other districts to trade upon the necessities of the poor. The regulation of such houses not only controls the landlord but also the tenant who is expected to cooperate in the maintenance of cleanliness and proper ventilation of the rooms. The enforcement of the by-laws has served a useful purpose in those districts where the work has been undertaken, and the London County Council have persistently urged upon the authorities of other districts the adoption of a like course. The question has from time to time arisen as to what is a house let in lodgings. There has been no doubt that the ordinary tenement house which was originally constructed for one family but which has come to be occupied by several families, often or two rooms, is within this a family in every one definition. Where there has been doubt is in the case of blocks of artisans’ dwellings where each suite of two The or three rooms may claim to be a separate house. case to which we refer is likely to have a considerable influence in determining how far blocks of artisans’ dwellings are for the purposes of the Public Health Act to be deemed to be houses let in lodgings. The Gun-street dwellings in the parish of St. George the Martyr, the subject of the proceedings before the Southwark magistrate, have previously been a cause of anxiety to the sanitary authority and on the recommendation of Dr. F. J. Waldo, the medical officer of health, numerous rooms have been closed as unfit for human habitation. Repairs have been and the rooms alterations effected, made, re-let, but while in have been made the improvements buildings the inhabitants remaining have been, to use the words of the
vestry clerk, persons who
were often uncleanly in their essential that the sanitary authority should supervise. The vestry, therefore, acting on the advice of their medical officer of health, have wisely determined to bring these premises under regulation, and there seemed reasonable prospect that this could be successfully done because the tenements are not such as are known as self-contained," but the sanitary appliances on each floor were outside the dwellings and were used in common by the tenants. The contention of the vestry that each block was a separate house and ’that the rooms were lodgings was strongly contested by the owner who quoted a number of cases ranging from the time of Charles I. and urged that the registration law embodied in those cases must be regarded as
habits and whom it
was
will be successful and that it will be found that the definition of a lodger for the purposes of the public health law is entirely different from that for the purposes of the registration law. It is, indeed, difficult to believe that this will not be the result, for it would otherwise always be possible for an Act of Parliament dealing with one subject in effect to repeal another Act dealing with an entirely different subject which was not under consideration at the time the subsequent Act was passed. We shall await the final decision with much interest.
THE
SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.
OF
THE annual meeting of the council of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was held on May 15th under the presidency of Mr. W. H. Collingridge. The chairman was able to give the satisfactory information that notwithstanding a generally prevalent demand fqr war funds the income of the society during the past year showed an increase of .E 1.000. This gain, moreover, had resulted from an influx of ordinary subscriptions. On the other hand, a deficit of 7700 on account of expenses had to be met. This amount was covered by reserve funds. Among other business transacted at the meeting was the passing of a resolution in support of Lord James’s It was also decided to petiJuvenile Offender’s Bill. tion Parliament for the addition to the Bill of a clause requiring the presence of a medical practitioner during the infliction of
corporal punishment.
Such
an
arrangement
ought to strengthen the measure, and if sensibly carried out should not impair its punitive effect. Another resolution
strongly supported the Bill forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors to children. It is instructive to note that this resolution was approved by representatives from widely separated parts of England and from Ireland, and evidence was given proving that the proposed legislation is much desired by the working classes in the north. PILOCARPINE
AND WILLOW-BARK.
SOME excellent work is evidently being done in the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories judging from the important contributions published from time to time in the Transactions of the Chemical Society. This kind of work should receive every encouragement, since it is devoted to the throwing of further light upon the pharmacology of the materia medica. We are glad to see that these communications as they appear from time to time are being published in separate pamphlet form. Not very long ago we received an interesting paper of this kind on some gold salts of hyoscme, hyoscyamine, and atropine by H. A. D. Jowett, D.Sc., and more recently we have received two further papers For on the substances quoted in the title of this annotation. some time considerable obscurity has surrounded the nature of pilocarpine and the number and kind of specific alkaloids contained in jaborandi leaves. Although the experiments are still in progress some interesting results have been obtained. A base, for instance, isomeric with pilocarpine, is produced from it by the action of heat or alkali and it is