THE USE OF THE ROENTGEN RAYS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.

1500 that your letter is laid before the Board the correspondence that has taken place between us to the press for publication. In doing so we wish to remind you P. MICHELLI, Secretary. that we have performed the medical and surgical work of the J. Curnow, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.P., 9, Wimpole-street, W. Dreadnought Hospital for eighteen, ten, and seventeen years We are, Sirs, yours faithfully, respectively. Oct. 10th, 1898. JOHN CURNOW. DEAR SIR,-Referring to the proposed School for Tropical J. ANDERSON. Medicine at the Victoria and Albert Docks and Mr. Michelli’s G. R. TURNER. T[-RNI’R. letter of July 14th, we think our letter to the Times of To the Committee, ])r(’(fdnO/!.[fhl Scamou’H Hospital, Urcenwich. July 20th was a plain statement of facts. We see nothing to regret on our part, and if there is any meaning in plain English, Sir Henry Burdett’s words can have but one interpretation, i.e., that the senior staff of the Dreadnouyht were to be on the teaching staff of the proposed school. THE USE OF THE ROENTGEN RAYS On July 15th he wrote Dr. Anderson that his ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. letter to the Times was written under instructions from the committee of the ]J1’earlnought.. a committee, would remind you, who had not had the courtesy we THERE was a large attendance at the Camera Club, to let us know that such a scheme was on foot, still less to on the evening of Monday, Nov. 28th, ask for our cooperation until some five days after the vice- Charing Cross-road, in when simple language suited to a lay audience Major president’s letter appeared in the lay press and he had been asked for explanation by Dr. Anderson. Beevor, R.A.M.C. (Surgeon-Major, Royal Scots Guards), We beg to ask the committee, as Dr. Curnow has twice demonstrated before the members of the club and their already asked the secretary, whether they have decided to friends the result of x-ray work during the Afridi campaign. concentrate the cases of tropical diseases at the Branch There never existed, he said, a braver set of men or more Hospital and have done this without consulting the visiting skilful artists with modern firearms than the Afridis, and physicians of the parent Dreadnollght Hospital. there was no lack of wounds fur the surgeon’s It is impossible for us to give any answer to a request for consequently attention. It was not only bullets, however, that these cooperation until we have been put in full possession of the men used as messengers of death, but, as Major Beevor details of the proposed school.-Believe us, yours faithfully, pointed out in a previous lecture, all sorts of objectsJ. CURNOW. pieces of telegraph wire, buttons, and, in fact, anythingzn J. ANDERSON. hard. The lecturer dwelt on the difficulty which attended R. TURNER. TURNER. G. R. the localisation and finding of foreign bodies in the animal The Chairman of the Dread?zotig7)t Hospital Committee. organism, and remarked that though modern surgery had progressed greatly and chloroform had done a great deal Dl’cad’/1oll[1ht Seameu’s Hospital, towards the alleviation of human suffering he humbly main1898. Greenwich, S.E., 17th Oct., tained that of late years no invention had come to the fore DEAR SIRS, -1 am instructed to acknowledge the receipt in this respect so forcibly as that which was known as the of your letter of the 10th inst, which was laid before the To be able to localise, to find the size, and to x rays. general committee at their meeting on Friday last. directly upon a foreign body in the human organism The committee regret that you still feel aggrieved by Sir operate means of this invention was an incalculable benefit to by Henry Burdett’s letter which was published in the Times of both surgeon and patient. July llth. The lecture took the form of a commentary on a They also much regret that you do not feel able to signify series of radiograms exhibited byrunning means of the electric yonr wish to cooperate with them in carrying out the scheme lantern, and without reproducing these pictures it is difficult of H.M. Secretary of State for the Colonies for the establishto make the cases intelligible to our readers, but Surgeonment in connexion with the society’s Branch Hospital of a Major Beevor’s remarks embodied some information of value school for the study of tropical diseases. to the medical profession and we pick out such items of The details of the scheme must necessarily remain open for interest as may have a useful bearing upon x-ray work and consideration by the committee which will be appointed to surgery. manage the school. In one case a bullet was shown embedded in the tissues of I am, dear Sirs, yours faithfully, the popliteal space. This injury caused a great deal of P. MICHELLI, secretary. Secretary. swelling and irritation around the knee-joint. The bullet John Curnow, Esq., M.D., &c. after striking the tibia lodged in the popliteal space a little John Andersen. Esq., M.D., &e. G. Robertson Turner, Esq., Ji’.R.C.S., &c. above the condyles of the femur and could not be discovered by means of a probe. By the x rays it was found within an inch of the surface of the skin. Had not these rays 9, Wimpole-street, Cavendish-square. W., been used it would probably have been necessary to amputate. 23th Oct., 1898. DEAR SiR,—Wo beg to acknowledge the receipt of your The swelling was very marked and the radiogram showed to what an extent bones can be pushed apart and the letter of the 17th inst. It is true we are aggrieved by the entirely unauthorised supporting ligaments stretched by inflammation and irritastatement contained in Sir Henry Burdett’s letter published tion of a joint. The space between the femur and the tibia ithe Times of July llth last ; but we are still more so by was greatly exaggerated and the patella was high up above the committee’s want of courtesy in not asking the opinion the condyle of the femur, notwithstanding the fact that the of the senior medical staff of the Ilrearlnot7tt Hospital at leg was flexed. As showing the conditions under which any time during the inception of their scheme before the operations have to be performed on the battlefield, the temletter was written, and for which lack of courtesy no apology perature at this time was about 110° F. in the shade, and there were about 400 men to look after and some 110 dead has been offered or regret expressed. Another radiogram showed a bullet The question as to the concentration of tropical cases at men to be buried. the Branch Hospital and consequent starvation of the parent which had entered the inner side of the biceps. This coulil hospital at Greenwich in its one distinctive feature has not not be found by a probe, as it had slipped down into yet been answered, although three times asked, and we press the sheath of the tendon and become embedded. So incorvour committee for a definite reply upon this point, after the porated was it with the fibrous material that an hour and receipt of which we will not trouble them with further a half were occupied in dissecting it out. The superiority of the x rays over the probe in some cases was shown by the cc -respondence. We are, dear sir, yours faithfully, case of a man from whose instep four pieces of telegraph JOHN CURNOW. wire were removed. A small piece of flint was afterwards J. ANDERSON. extracted and it was thought that the patient would recover. G. R. R. TummR. TURNER. The Secretary, DrertdnorarJht Seamen’s Hospital, Three months later the man was about on crutches but he Greenwich. complained that he could not put his heel to the ground. On examination with the fluorescent screen it was found that a Seamen’, piece of bone was impacted in the periosteum beneath Dreadito?tri7it Hospital, Nov. 28th, 1898. the heel. This could not possibly have been found with StRS,—Not having received any reply to the question we a probe. Another case shown was that of a sergeant of Sikhs, pressed upon you in our letter of Oct. 29th last we are sending who was struck in the elbow while wearing a poshteen-a

and I will take at their next

care

meeting.-Yours faithfully,

1501

garment made

of goat-skin. If the weather is fine this coat recommended as the date on which to hold Hospital Sunday with the hair next the body, but if the weather is in 1899. The annual general meeting of the constituents of damp it is turned inside out and the hair worn outside so as the Fund was fixed for Monday, Dec. 12th. to protect the leather from the wet. In this case the bullet .carried into the muscles a mass of leather and hair, blood poisoning supervened, and the joint swelled to such an "extent (some 12 in. in circumference) that it was impossible PUBLIC VACCINATORS AND THE NEW to find a foreign body with a probe. By the use of the x rays, VACCINATION ACT. however, the foreign body was located and finally removed. ’The man made a good recovery. The radiogram of an officer’s hand was shown to demonstrate the fact that small quantities AN I11ZPORTABT MEETING OF PUBLIC VACCINATORS of a compound of lead, such as that incorporated in the AT MALTON. material used for lead plaster, offer resistance to the x rays. ON last a meeting of public afternoon ’The radiogram was taken while the hand was bandaged and Wednesday the strips showed as distinct rings around the fingers. A vaccinators was held at Malton to take into consideration radiogram of the leg of General Woodhouse was shown to the remuneration which should be granted in urban and rural illustrate the fact that not only bone but fibrous material districts. Dr. William Colby, J.P., of Malton, was voted to It is interesting to note that will break up a bullet. while the bullet in this case was being extracted thirteen the chair and there were also present Mr. Malvin (Scarbullets passed through the tent in which the operation was borough), Mr. Scott (Thornton Dale), Mr. Stuart (Great Ayton), Mr. J. T. R. Miller (Malton), Mr. W. S. Sprent being performed. An interesting discussion followed in which Mr. Cadett, (Slingsby), Mr. Comber (Pickering), Dr. Glen and Dr. Mr. H. H. Massey, M.R.C.S.Eng., Mr. Inwards (late president Fulton (Middlesbrough), Mr. Norris (Sherburn), Dr. of the Meteorological Society), the chairman, Mr. Wilson Gramshaw (Stillington), Mr. Hine (South Cave), Mr. Todd Noble, Mr. A. A. Campbell Swinton, Mr. Godfrey (the secre- (Selby), ]BIr. Wetwan (Bridlington), Mr. Haworth (Filey), tary of the Camera Club), and others joined. In this discussion Dr. Hope (Hutton-Buscel), Dr. Dougall (Welburn), Dr. it was suggested that light dynamos to be worked by hand McCracken (Coxwold), and Dr. Adams (Rillington). power should be constructed for use on the battle-field and in Mr. SPRENT, who had convened the meeting, said that the military operations, that in some cases electric power might result of his communication had been to get replies from be obtained from ships of war ; that chemists should direct union in the North and East Ridings, while of 127 their attention to the manufacture of sensitive plates more every vaccinators in the two Ridings he had received public suited to x-ray work than the ordinary photograph plates, that from 118 entering into details on the points to be replies the Wimshurst machine might be used, and that the Govern- discussed at the meeting. In cases where there was no ment should be asked to facilitate in every possible way the the unions were in perfect accord with the representation tise of the Roentgen rays in military campaigns. object of that meeting and gave him authority for In his reply Major Beevor spoke of the uselessness of their support in certain resolutions. 75 per cent. of photographic films in hot climates and the difficulties the public vaccinators seemed to be very strongly in favour attending transport of the apparatus. He mentioned that a of a mileage fee and against the minimum fee laid down dynamo for use by hand had been used in the Soudan and by the Local Government Board. The Aysgarth Union had proved fairly satisfactory. The Government of India suggested that the Is. fee should be 2s. 6d., while they had afforded him every facility for carrying on the work. the 5s. fee and suggested Is. per mile after the accepted Hearty votes of thanks to the lecturer and to the chairman first mile. At Helmsley and Pickering there was a feeling in terminated the proceedings. Credit is due to Mr. Godfrey favour of Is. per mile. He had received private intimation for his success in organising this gathering which greatly that the committee of the Malton and Norton Boards were exceeded in numbers the ordinary attendance at the lecture an offer of 2s. instead of Is. and 10s. instead of making wenings of the Camera Club. 5s., to be inclusive of all claims and to cover what might be termed abortive visits. As far as he could gather this was the most generous offer made hitherto by any board of guardians in England. In the Marylebone Union the fees THE METROPOLITAN HOSPITAL agreed upon were 2s. 6d. and 7s. 6d. In Leyburn the minimum fee was suggested with Is. mileage; Middlesbrough was SUNDAY FUND. quite in accord with this meeting, as also was Easingwold. A debate followed, in the course of which it was freely A MEETING of the Council of this Fund was held at the stated that the 5s. fee for successful vaccination at home Mansion House on Monday, Nov. 28th. In the unavoidable was too small, that the Is. fee for the statutory visit was absence of the Lord Mayor, the Bishop of Southwark ridiculous, and that some system of payment by mileage was the only fair one. Mr. SPRENT moved the following presided. resolution :the the for Oct. The report of Council 31st, year ending That the fees of public vaceinators should be 2s. 6d. and 5s. in 1898, stated that the twenty-sixth year of collecting this urban districts and 2s. 6d. and 10s. 6d. in the rural districts, these fees Fund had resulted, under the presidency of the Right to cover all duties. Honourable Sir Horatio D. Davies, K.C.M.G., M.P., He thought in this way a settlement could be arrived Lord Mayor, treasurer, in a total of .640,397 2s. 10d. In rural districts the loss on long journeys would be at. of Christ C. J. The Rev. Church, Ridgeway, M.A., Lancaster Gate, headed the list of contributions with equalised by the cases nearer home. The motion was seconded by Dr. GRAMSHAW and carried .61,367; the Rev. Canon Fleming, B.D., of St. Michael’s, Rev. collected the J. unanimously. M.A., S1268; Storrs, Chester-square, of St. Peter’s, Eaton-square, .6681; the Rev. Prebendary PUBLIC VACCINATORS AT NANTWICH AND THEIR FEES. Eardley-Wilmot, M.A., of St. Jude’s, South Kensington, At the last fortnightly meeting of the Nantwich Board of .6623 ; and the Rev. F. E. Ridgeway, D.D., of St. Peter’s, Guardians held on Saturday, Nov. 26th, a motion was Cranley Gardens, .6501. Sir Saville Crossley, Bart., again forward to confirm certain minutes of the finance most generously contributed .6500, a like sum of .8500 being brought which minutes stated that after hearing Mr. committee, sent by him to "The Prince of Wales’s Hospital Fund" ; William Thomson and Mr. A. E. Vaughan as a deputation ae.300 were received from A. G. P. ; "Delta" sent his twen- the board decided that the minimum fees under the new tieth donation of .6200 ; and Mr. George Herring sent .8200. Act should be the scale of payment for the public On the motion of Sir HENRY BURDETT the following vaccinators of the union. resolution passed in committee was added to the report. Mr. THOMSON, who was present, regretted this decision Resolved unanimously :but said that the matter could not be settled by the public That before proceeding to business and having this day heard of the vaccinators or by the guardians except by mutual agree<1eath of their much-esteemed colleague Sir Stuart Knill, Bart. the ment. The vaccinators would not be satisfied with public and the desire to to ’committee record their regret request secretary convey to Lady Knill and her family their sincere sympathy and the report of the finance committee if it were adopted by - condolence. the board and in that case they would be obliged to bring Alderman Sir H. D. DAVIES, the late Lord Mayor, was the matter before the Local Government Board to decide. selected to fill a vacancy on the Council. June llth was Among the reasons why the public vaccinators thought that is

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