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THE WORLD'S FOOD
745 survived the dangers of the years of war. They pause in front of the tomb of Rahere, who appears to them, and tells them of its foundation and how St. Bartholomew himself had promised that it should be protected by The fourth episode returns to 1546 with his wings. King Henry, now himself a very sick man, eager to
restore the-hospital by granting a royal charter, though he cannot bear to listen to the tedious reading of its terms by the clerk. He finally signs it and staggers out, soon to die, the accomplishment of the refoundation being signalised by a fanfare of trumpets echoing through the Norman arches of the most splendid choir in London. In bald recital the brief pageant may sound too slight to be distinguished ; but it was in fact a beautiful and
moving spectacle. King Henry was finely represented by Mr. Robert Morley, the Queen by Miss Viola Lyel, Rahere by Mr. John Byron, and St. Bartholomew by Sir Lewis Casson. The episodes were followed by a short commemoration service, which included an address by the Very Rev. Garfield Williams, M.B., dean of Manchester, who was himself a student of the hospital. Dr. Williams made many interesting observations on the part likely to have been played by Thomas Vicary, the King’s surgeon, in the refoundation, and the reasons which may have influenced the King in undertaking it. Prayers were offered by the hospitaller, the Rev. D. F. Donne, by Canon E. S. Savage, and by the rector of the Priory Church, the Rev. N. E. Wallbank. The musical programme was directed by the organist of the church, Nicholas Choveaux. At the end of the service the company dispersed ; but the hospital had not concluded its celebrations. It was commemorating also the 600th anniversary of View Day, when the whole hospital is thrown open to visitors, the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Abernethian Society, the 100th anniversary of the introduction of chloroform into the hospital, the jubilee of the use of X rays in the hospital, and the first anniversary of victory in Europe. During the afternoon hundreds of friends and old students of the hospital visited the wards and departments, which have mostly survived the destruction of the war years, and enjoyed an exhibition in the college library of some of the hospital treasures, including King Henry’s charter bearing his signature, and dated 1546, a deed witnessed by Rahere in 1137, and the celebrated cartulary written by brother John Cok in the reign of Henry VI. There was also an exhibition of books and documents connected with John Abernethy, including a lovely miniature portrait lent by the Royal College of Surgeons, and " side shows " illustrating the history of anaesthesia and X rays. It had not been possible to clear away all the dirt and rubble accumulated during the war years, but it was evident that the Ancient and Royal Hospital is again raising its head after its years of service as a casualtyclearing station. The only regret was that the moving spirit of the whole occasion, Mr. McAdam Eccles, was himself lying ill in the wards of the hospital and was unable to take part in the proceedings. THE
WORLD’S
FOOD
THE April issue of the Nutrition Bulletin 1 analyses the world food situation. It says that Russia has expanded her grain production in the areas that were not occupied, but the last harvest in the liberated areas amounted at best to 80% of the pre-war average. There has been a serious shortage of tractors and draught animals, as well as fertilisers of animal origin. Russia is transferring 1-2 million tons of grain to Poland, the Danubian countries, and France. Britain, which is not a food-exporting country, has surrendered only a few thousand tons of potatoes ; the 900,000 tons of 1. From
the
Children’s
Harpenden, Herts.
Nutrition
Council, 6,
East
Common,
food sent to the Continent in 1945 was stock from overseas that was built up here for the purpose of relief. The two main factors that have produced the world food shortage are war destruction and drought, but the position has been further complicated by floods in China, New Zealand, and Queensland. Apart from these unpredictable adversities, however, we have failed to estimate the yields and the probable demand for grain. Estimates of stocks had to be drastically revised downwards at the end of last year ; the error seems to have been due partly to miscalculation of the amount of wheat likely to be fed to livestock in the North American countries, and partly to weakness in the statistical methods. No serious measures were taken to replenish the reserves of grain, which were rapidly diminishing throughout 1945. In Britain the policy of ploughing up the land was reversed, more grain was fed to stock, and the extraction of flour was lowered from 85% to 80%. In the great wheat-producing countries the acreage under wheat was ’about 16% below what it had been in 1938. Governments and farmers in these countries hastened to reduce their large reserves, which they considered might be unmarketable after the end of hostilities ; much was either fed to stock or converted into commercial alcohol for the manufacture of rubber ; and in the Argentine a large amount was used for fuel. We are paying today for the restrictionist farming policy which was accepted by all the main producing countries before the war. The only possible solution would have been the establishment, after the Hot Springs conference of 1943, of a supreme inter-allied council to decide the programme of foodproduction. As it was, the Combined Food Board in Washington continued to represent only Britain, Canada, and the U.S.A. At no time did UNRRA have any decisive voice in cropping and production programmes or in allocation. The new International Food and Agriculture Organisation was not in existence at the end of the war, and control passed virtually into the hands of Canada and the U.S.A. ; since September last, probably threequarters or more of the exportable surplus of wheat has lain in the North American continent. The U.S.A. is endeavouring to conserve grain, and to apply to relief all that is available. The next three months will be among the most difficult in the world’s history ; after that everything will depend on the harvest. An attempt to pass on the blame from one country to another would be fatal. We must accept the warning that the food economy of the world is now so far integrated that it must be studied as a single problem in production and distribution.
probable
,
AN INTERNATIONAL PHARMACOPOEIA
THE
healing
art of
Hippocrates
may
recognise
no
distinction of race or nationality, but the reluctance of civilised man to depart from medieval standards of sovereignty still_ denies the world an international pharmacopoeia. It is over eighty years since the feasibility of compiling such a work was first discussed at the International Congress of Pharmacy ; but it was not until 1902, that a conference called by various interested governments was convened at Brussels. conference drew up the " First International Agreement for the Unification of the Formulae of Potent Drugs," which was signed by the representatives of 18countries and was finally ratified in 1906. A second international agreement was drawn up at a conference in Brussels in 1925 and was signed by the representatives of -26 countries ; but only 15 governments ratified it, and of these 10 did so with reservations. Among the 41 articles was one designed to provide for an international organisation, under the segis of the League of In Nations, for the unification of pharmacopoeias. 1937 the Health Organisation of the League set up a Technical Commission of Pharmacopoeial Experts under
This
restore the-hospital by granting a royal charter, though he cannot bear to listen to the tedious reading of its terms by the clerk. He finally signs it and staggers out, soon to die, the accomplishment of the refoundation being signalised by a fanfare of trumpets echoing through the Norman arches of the most splendid choir in London. In bald recital the brief pageant may sound too slight to be distinguished ; but it was in fact a beautiful and
moving spectacle. King Henry was finely represented by Mr. Robert Morley, the Queen by Miss Viola Lyel, Rahere by Mr. John Byron, and St. Bartholomew by Sir Lewis Casson. The episodes were followed by a short commemoration service, which included an address by the Very Rev. Garfield Williams, M.B., dean of Manchester, who was himself a student of the hospital. Dr. Williams made many interesting observations on the part likely to have been played by Thomas Vicary, the King’s surgeon, in the refoundation, and the reasons which may have influenced the King in undertaking it. Prayers were offered by the hospitaller, the Rev. D. F. Donne, by Canon E. S. Savage, and by the rector of the Priory Church, the Rev. N. E. Wallbank. The musical programme was directed by the organist of the church, Nicholas Choveaux. At the end of the service the company dispersed ; but the hospital had not concluded its celebrations. It was commemorating also the 600th anniversary of View Day, when the whole hospital is thrown open to visitors, the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Abernethian Society, the 100th anniversary of the introduction of chloroform into the hospital, the jubilee of the use of X rays in the hospital, and the first anniversary of victory in Europe. During the afternoon hundreds of friends and old students of the hospital visited the wards and departments, which have mostly survived the destruction of the war years, and enjoyed an exhibition in the college library of some of the hospital treasures, including King Henry’s charter bearing his signature, and dated 1546, a deed witnessed by Rahere in 1137, and the celebrated cartulary written by brother John Cok in the reign of Henry VI. There was also an exhibition of books and documents connected with John Abernethy, including a lovely miniature portrait lent by the Royal College of Surgeons, and " side shows " illustrating the history of anaesthesia and X rays. It had not been possible to clear away all the dirt and rubble accumulated during the war years, but it was evident that the Ancient and Royal Hospital is again raising its head after its years of service as a casualtyclearing station. The only regret was that the moving spirit of the whole occasion, Mr. McAdam Eccles, was himself lying ill in the wards of the hospital and was unable to take part in the proceedings. THE
WORLD’S
FOOD
THE April issue of the Nutrition Bulletin 1 analyses the world food situation. It says that Russia has expanded her grain production in the areas that were not occupied, but the last harvest in the liberated areas amounted at best to 80% of the pre-war average. There has been a serious shortage of tractors and draught animals, as well as fertilisers of animal origin. Russia is transferring 1-2 million tons of grain to Poland, the Danubian countries, and France. Britain, which is not a food-exporting country, has surrendered only a few thousand tons of potatoes ; the 900,000 tons of 1. From
the
Children’s
Harpenden, Herts.
Nutrition
Council, 6,
East
Common,
food sent to the Continent in 1945 was stock from overseas that was built up here for the purpose of relief. The two main factors that have produced the world food shortage are war destruction and drought, but the position has been further complicated by floods in China, New Zealand, and Queensland. Apart from these unpredictable adversities, however, we have failed to estimate the yields and the probable demand for grain. Estimates of stocks had to be drastically revised downwards at the end of last year ; the error seems to have been due partly to miscalculation of the amount of wheat likely to be fed to livestock in the North American countries, and partly to weakness in the statistical methods. No serious measures were taken to replenish the reserves of grain, which were rapidly diminishing throughout 1945. In Britain the policy of ploughing up the land was reversed, more grain was fed to stock, and the extraction of flour was lowered from 85% to 80%. In the great wheat-producing countries the acreage under wheat was ’about 16% below what it had been in 1938. Governments and farmers in these countries hastened to reduce their large reserves, which they considered might be unmarketable after the end of hostilities ; much was either fed to stock or converted into commercial alcohol for the manufacture of rubber ; and in the Argentine a large amount was used for fuel. We are paying today for the restrictionist farming policy which was accepted by all the main producing countries before the war. The only possible solution would have been the establishment, after the Hot Springs conference of 1943, of a supreme inter-allied council to decide the programme of foodproduction. As it was, the Combined Food Board in Washington continued to represent only Britain, Canada, and the U.S.A. At no time did UNRRA have any decisive voice in cropping and production programmes or in allocation. The new International Food and Agriculture Organisation was not in existence at the end of the war, and control passed virtually into the hands of Canada and the U.S.A. ; since September last, probably threequarters or more of the exportable surplus of wheat has lain in the North American continent. The U.S.A. is endeavouring to conserve grain, and to apply to relief all that is available. The next three months will be among the most difficult in the world’s history ; after that everything will depend on the harvest. An attempt to pass on the blame from one country to another would be fatal. We must accept the warning that the food economy of the world is now so far integrated that it must be studied as a single problem in production and distribution.
probable
,
AN INTERNATIONAL PHARMACOPOEIA
THE
healing
art of
Hippocrates
may
recognise
no
distinction of race or nationality, but the reluctance of civilised man to depart from medieval standards of sovereignty still_ denies the world an international pharmacopoeia. It is over eighty years since the feasibility of compiling such a work was first discussed at the International Congress of Pharmacy ; but it was not until 1902, that a conference called by various interested governments was convened at Brussels. conference drew up the " First International Agreement for the Unification of the Formulae of Potent Drugs," which was signed by the representatives of 18countries and was finally ratified in 1906. A second international agreement was drawn up at a conference in Brussels in 1925 and was signed by the representatives of -26 countries ; but only 15 governments ratified it, and of these 10 did so with reservations. Among the 41 articles was one designed to provide for an international organisation, under the segis of the League of In Nations, for the unification of pharmacopoeias. 1937 the Health Organisation of the League set up a Technical Commission of Pharmacopoeial Experts under
This