VEHICLES FOR CHEMICAL CONTRACEPTIVES.

375 culture and a complete bacteriological examination CANCER-PRODUCING SUBSTANCES. made in every case of continued fever, which is the To the Editor of THE LANCET. point which Dr. Ryle and I are both trying to insist SiR,—In view of certain statements which have upon. If Dr. Ryle objects to my utilising the Guy’s appeared in the press, the authorities of the Cancer Hospital figures of six recoveries out of 21, because Hospital (Free), Fulham-road, wish to state that no some of the patients had other grave diseases, I announcement of any kind referring to cancerwould refer him to the statement in his own article, producing substances has been issued from this that, after elimination of the five cases in which hospital since their official report to the British septicaemia complicated another ,disease, two-thirds Empire Cancer Campaign, which was presented at of the remaining group .died. This was enough to the annual meeting of the Campaign on July 20th. warrant the only conclusion we drew, viz., the high In this report (pp. 33-42) no claim is made that the fatality-rate of streptococcal septicaemia. Obviously, cancer-producing substance present in tar has been the death-rate in a large hospital gives a more identified.-I am, Sir, yours faithfully, accurate representation of the .death-rate generally J. COURTNEY BUCHANAN, than does a series of nine cases taken from a Cancer Hospital, Fulham-road, London, S.W., consulting practice. Dr. Ryle now states that his conclusions with regard *** Recent work at the Cancer Hospital on carcinoto sera were mainly in respect of the ordinary poly- genetic substances was noticed in an annotation on valent serum. If by this he means the unconcentrated p. 197 of our issue of July 25th.-ED. L. .serum, it should be made quite clear that his warning with regard to crippling serum-sickness was only SERVICES meant to refer to this unconcentrated serum, and does not apply to the concentrated sera which are now ROYAL NAVAL MEDICAL SERVICE. available, and which, with ordinary precautions, can Surg. Lt.-Comdrs. G. Kirker to Durban; J. Hamilton be given, and are given, in large _doses without to Britannia;and J. Cussen to Sanduich.

THE

,deleterious effect.

I am,

Sir,

yours

faithfully, A.

Public Health Offices,

H. G. BURTON.

Ilford,

Surg. Lt.-Comdrs. (D.) A. MacPherson to Victory, for Haslar Hosp. ; A. Lawrey to Ganges;and R. R. Adams and R. S. Ward to President, for three months’ dental post-

graduate course. Surg. Lt. (D.) H. V. Pell to Victory XI., for R.N. Hosp., Portland, tempy. ; F. J. Goldsworthy (actg.) to Vivid, for Devonport Barracks ; and J. C. Benson (actg.) to Victory,

for Portsmouth Barracks.

VEHICLES FOR CHEMICAL CONTRACEPTIVES. To the Editor of THE ,LANCET.

SiR,-Your annotator on chemical spermicides - (p. 257) would find much about the effects, knowledge of which he considers desiderata, in my book, " ConAraception : Its Theory, History, and Practice." "While something was said therein of the value of the creasy vehicle in contraceptives in the earlier edition, much more has been added in the greatly enlarged and reset edition, which appeared at the beginning of July, and to which it is extraordinary no reference is made either by your annotator or in Dr. Baker’s better. Dr. Baker suggests that " the superiority of cocoala as a vehicle for chinosol is evident." Is this" a new fat," as Dr. Baker states ? If this is the proprietary preparation which has long been known to those ,concerning themselves with the practical side of .contraception, a sad disillusionment awaits the members of the medical profession who take Dr. Baker’s assumption of its superiority without clinical test.-I am, Sir, yours faithfully, MARIE C. STOPES, President of the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress.

*** A review copy of the third edition of Dr. Marie Stopes’s book (London : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, pp. 487, 15s.) reached us on July 15th. A considerable

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS. and Bt. Lt.-Col. T. J. Mitchell retires on retd. pay and is granted the rank of Lt.-Col. Maj. (temp. Lt.-Col.) F. Casement to be Lt.-Col. Maj. E. M. Middleton to be temp. Lt. -Col. Lt. J. W. Kendall to be Capt. (prov.).

Maj.

ROYAL AIR FORCE.

Flying Officer E. W. B. Griffiths of Flight-Lt.

is

promoted

to the rank

_______________

INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN ENGLAND AND WALES DURING THE WEEK ENDED AUGUST 1ST, 1931.

Notifications.-The following cases of infectious were notified during the week :--Small-pox, 26 (last week 36) ; scarlet fever, 1416 ; diphtheria, 831 ; enteric fever, 60 ; pneumonia, 464 ; puerperal fever, 37 ; puerperal pyrexia, 114 ; cerebro-spinal fever, 34 ; acute poliomyelitis, 13 ; acute polioencephalitis, 1 ; encephalitis lethargica, 14 ; dysentery, 24 ; ophthalmia neonatorum, 109. No case of cholera, plague, or typhus fever was notified during the week. disease

The number of cases in the Infectious Hospitals of the London County Council on August 4th-5th was as follows : Small-pox, 54 under treatment, 2 under observation (last week 58 and 2 respectively) ; scarlet fever, 1216 ; diphtheria, 1481 ; enteric fever, 12 ; measles, 147 ; whooping-cough, 379 ; puerperal fever, 35 (plus 4 babies) ; encephalitis lethargica, 211 ; poliomyelitis, 1 ; "other diseases," 130. At St. Margaret’s Hospital there were 15 babies (plus 6 mothers) with ophthalmia neonatorum.

Deaths.-In the aggregate of great towns, including amount of matter,, devoted in the earlier editions there was no death from small-pox -or London, -to propaganda, has been omitted from this edition, and enteric fever, 18 (2) from measles, 4 (1) from scarlet much interesting information is added upon recently fever, 16 (3) from whooping-cough, 22 (4) from popularised contraceptive methods. The author diphtheria, 41 (10) from diarrhoea and enteritis adheres to her original view that the best available under two years, and 11 (0) from influenza. The method for normal and-healthy women is the rubber figures in parentheses are those for London itself. Four of the deaths from measles were reported from cervical cap. For women suffering from uterine Barnsley ; 4 of those from whooping-cough from Liverpool. and abnormalities of the cervix she displacements Diarrhoea was credited with 5 deaths at Liverpool; 4 at recommends a flat.rubber sponge, some three-quarters Manchester. of an inch thick, soaked in dlive oil, which the woman The number of stillbirths notified during the week is advised to boil for two minutes. in salt water after was 275 (corresponding to a rate of 40 per 1000 use.-ED. L. births), including 57 in London. -