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West of England branch
284
PUBLIC
and was otherwise in a fit state to undertake milking. The fault of the farmer was that he omitted a general supervision of the condition in respect of health of his workers before they commenced work. In summing up, the Sheriff remarked " it may well be that many dairymen neglect their duty in respect of the supervision of the health of their workers," and said that he had not been able to discover any previous case of the kind in Scotland. H e kept that fact in view in dealing with the q.uestion of penalty. The degree of fault on the Respondent's part, his Lordship thought, would be met by the imposition of a modified penalty of One PoUnd, the alternative being seven days' imprisonment. EFFECTS
OF
BAD
VENTILATION
SIMULATING
FOOD P O I S O N I N G .
The following Notes have been received from Dr. Johnston, Deputy Medical Officer of Health, County of Dumbarton. A suspected out-break of Food Poisoning was reported from a House Boat on the River Leven, at Balloch, on the 9th April, 1923, involving five persons, four adults and a boy of ten years. A visit was made by the Medical Officer of Health, and the following facts elicited. 1. The symptoms, which began about 5130 a.m., consisted of severe general headache, nausea and bilious vomiting. These were severe in one case, moderate in three cases and slight in one case. There was no abdominal pain or diarhQea. 2. At 11.30 a.m. the only signs made out were marked congestion of the face in all patients except the one with the severe symptoms, whose face was pale. Slight tachycardia in all cases and marked somnolence in the moderate cases, who wet:e recovering. The slight case, who, alone of the five, had been outside, was quite recovered. 3. The only article of diet open to suspicion was some boiled ham which had been eaten by the five patients and two guests about 5 p.m. on the previous evening. The ham appeared to be perfectly fresh and wholesome. 4. The atmosphere within the houseboat was stifling; all windows had been tightly closed (because of rain) during the night, and in the central apartment of the boat a cast-iron stove had been burning coal all night through. The two guests of the evening before were at once visited and were found to have had no
JuLY
HEALTH.
symptoms whatever. All the patients had completely recovered by the evening, and there seems no doubt that the symptoms were due to the effect of bad, or rather, non-existent ventilation. THE
METROPOLITAN
BRANCH.
T
i DATE
OF A N N U A L M E E T I N G .
The Annual Meeting of the Branch will be held at the Society's house on Friday, July 6th, t923, the Council at 3.30 p.m. and the Branch at 4 p.m. Agenda papers will be circulated separately. ROYAL S A N I T A R Y I N S T I T U T E
CONGRESS.
The programme of the Sanitary Science Section of this Congress--the thirty-fourth of the series-to be held at Hull, is now completed and includes the following papers : - - F o r the first session, Tuesday, JuIy 3 1 s t . - - " T h e Detection and Prevention of Tuberculosis amongst Workers over 16 years," by Dr. James A. Raeburn, Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Cottingham, E a s t Yorks. ; " S o m e O b servations upon the Training and Employment of Tuberculosis Persons," by Dr. Noel Bardswell, M.V.O., London County Council ; and " The Use of Diathermy in Pulmonary T ubercutosm, " " by Dr. Percy Halt, Hull. For the second session, Wednesday, August 1st.--Papers on " T h e Prevention of Cancer," by Dr. \ ¥ . Allen Daley, M.O.H., Blackburn, and Dr. Alex. Theodore Brand, Driffield Poor L a w Infirmary, East Yorks, and one on " Diphtheria, with special reference to the Schick Test and Active Immunisation," by Dr. R. A. O'Brien, Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories. Sir William Hamer and Dr. Charles Porter, President and Hon. Secretary respectively of the Section, extend to all members who propose going to Hull a cordial invitation to take part in the discussions which will follow the reading of the various papers. \¥EST THE
SOCIETY
OF
ENGLAND
AND
THE
BRANCH.
ASSOCIATION.
Another step along the road which is leading towards a complete and effective co-operation between the Society and the British Medical Association was taken at Exeter on June 1st. A joint meeting of the West of England Branch and the loca[ Division was held at the Devon and County Hospital immediately after the business meeting of the Branch at the same place. The
1923 .
PUBLIC HEALTH.
President of the Division gave a very interesting historical retrospect of the growth and relationship of the two bodies concerned. A discussion then took place on the recommendations affecting the Public Health Services which are to be put before the Annual Representative Meeting of the Association at Portsmouth in July, and the representative of the Division was instructed to support them. i
THE NEXT MEETING.
The next meeting of the ]Branch has been provisionally arranged to take place at Bristol on July t2th. This will be the Annual General Meeting at which Officers for the ensuing Session must be elected. In addition to this there are other matters of considerable interest, the discussion of which will make the gathering an important one. The suggestion that meetings should be held on Saturdays did not find favour with members present at Exeter, and was not adopted. SMALL-POX.
Medical Officers in the VVest of England must have watched with growing concern how small-pox has been creeping nearer and nearer, by way apparently of Staffordshire and Herefordshire. The Branch area had been free for a long period until February, when a single case occurred in the latter county. By March it was in Gloucestershire where some scores of fresh cases have since been notified. There seems to be difficulties in checking the outbreak in Gloucestershire, which is one of the few counties where the precautions taken have so far failed to have the desired effect of cutting it short. This is, no doubt, accounted for in part by the mild nature of most of the attacks and their resemblance to Chicken Pox. The association of Gloucester with small-pox, however, has an interest which is not confined to events which were occurring there rather more than a hundred years ago, and we shall look forward to reports and statistics of the present outbreak which it is to be hoped will be issued in due course. H U L L ~ E D I C A L O F F I C E R OF H E A L T H .
Dr.
J. Wright Mason, for forty-two years Medical Officer of Health and Police Surgeon for the City of Hull, has been presented with a rose-bowl by the Chief Constable of Hull (Captain A. Woods), on behalf of 500 present and past members of the police force. Mrs. W r i g h t Mason was presented with a wristlet watch. Dr. Wright Mason, who is also Port Medical Officer to the Hull and Goole Port Sanitary Authority, is retiring in the near future.
285
SOCIETY
OF M E D I C A L OF HEALTH.
OFFICERS
ORDINARY M E E T I N G . An ordinary meeting was held at the house of the Society on Friday, May l l t h , 199.3. In the unavoidable absence of the President, Dr. W. J. Howarth took the ch:'ir. The minutes of the last meeting were approved and signed. The following candidates having been duly nominated were elected as members of the Society:-Blackburn, VVm. Howard, M.A., M.B., B.Ch., Cantab., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H.; Bonar, Thos. Mitchell, M.B., C.M., Glasg., D.P.H. ; Druitt, Arthur Edward, ~ff.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H. ; Falconer, Kinloch, M.B., Ch.B., Glasg., D.P.H. ; Munro, David, C.I.E., Air-Corn rnodore, D.M.S., R.A.F.M.S., M~k., St. And., M.B. Edin., F.R.C.S., Ed. ; Painton, George Richard, M.R.C.S L.R.C.P., D.P.H. ; Spencer, W-alter, L.R.C.P and S. Ed L.M. ; Sullivan, John, M.B., Ch.B., Edin. A number of candidates were nominated for election at the next meeting. Dr. G. F. Buchan, on behalf of the Home Counties' Branch, asked the chairman to accept a portrait of Lt.-Col. F. E. Fremantle, O.B.E., M.P., President of the Society, 1920-21, for inclusion in the gallery of past-presidents. Dr. Buchan said that the Society had reason to be grateful to Col. Fremantle, not only for his active share in their work during his long membership of the Society, but also for the fact that in spite of his Parliamentary duties he continued to be a regular attendant at their meetings They believed that Col. Fremantle was destined to reach exalted positions in the service of the State, and it was well that his portrait should hang in the house of the Society where his abilities had been quickly realised and so long appreciated. In accepting the portrait, Dr. Howarth expressed regret that the President could not be there to receive a gift that would always be valued by the Society. Election of President.--The chairman reported that the Council had nominated Dr. Thomas William Naylor Barlow, O.B.E., for election by that meeting as President of the Society for the Session 1928-24. Dr. Howarth said that no words of his were necessary to commend to their acceptance one who had for so many years rendered conspicuous service as Honorary Secretary and councillor of the Society. Dr. Barlow's election was carried by acclamation. Dr. S. H. Daukes, O.B.E., then read a paper on " The Bearing of Preventive Medicine in the Tropics on Home Problems." The paper with a report of the discussion will be published in an early issue of " Public Health." After a vote of thanks to Dr. Daukes the meeting adjourned.
PUBLIC
and was otherwise in a fit state to undertake milking. The fault of the farmer was that he omitted a general supervision of the condition in respect of health of his workers before they commenced work. In summing up, the Sheriff remarked " it may well be that many dairymen neglect their duty in respect of the supervision of the health of their workers," and said that he had not been able to discover any previous case of the kind in Scotland. H e kept that fact in view in dealing with the q.uestion of penalty. The degree of fault on the Respondent's part, his Lordship thought, would be met by the imposition of a modified penalty of One PoUnd, the alternative being seven days' imprisonment. EFFECTS
OF
BAD
VENTILATION
SIMULATING
FOOD P O I S O N I N G .
The following Notes have been received from Dr. Johnston, Deputy Medical Officer of Health, County of Dumbarton. A suspected out-break of Food Poisoning was reported from a House Boat on the River Leven, at Balloch, on the 9th April, 1923, involving five persons, four adults and a boy of ten years. A visit was made by the Medical Officer of Health, and the following facts elicited. 1. The symptoms, which began about 5130 a.m., consisted of severe general headache, nausea and bilious vomiting. These were severe in one case, moderate in three cases and slight in one case. There was no abdominal pain or diarhQea. 2. At 11.30 a.m. the only signs made out were marked congestion of the face in all patients except the one with the severe symptoms, whose face was pale. Slight tachycardia in all cases and marked somnolence in the moderate cases, who wet:e recovering. The slight case, who, alone of the five, had been outside, was quite recovered. 3. The only article of diet open to suspicion was some boiled ham which had been eaten by the five patients and two guests about 5 p.m. on the previous evening. The ham appeared to be perfectly fresh and wholesome. 4. The atmosphere within the houseboat was stifling; all windows had been tightly closed (because of rain) during the night, and in the central apartment of the boat a cast-iron stove had been burning coal all night through. The two guests of the evening before were at once visited and were found to have had no
JuLY
HEALTH.
symptoms whatever. All the patients had completely recovered by the evening, and there seems no doubt that the symptoms were due to the effect of bad, or rather, non-existent ventilation. THE
METROPOLITAN
BRANCH.
T
i DATE
OF A N N U A L M E E T I N G .
The Annual Meeting of the Branch will be held at the Society's house on Friday, July 6th, t923, the Council at 3.30 p.m. and the Branch at 4 p.m. Agenda papers will be circulated separately. ROYAL S A N I T A R Y I N S T I T U T E
CONGRESS.
The programme of the Sanitary Science Section of this Congress--the thirty-fourth of the series-to be held at Hull, is now completed and includes the following papers : - - F o r the first session, Tuesday, JuIy 3 1 s t . - - " T h e Detection and Prevention of Tuberculosis amongst Workers over 16 years," by Dr. James A. Raeburn, Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Cottingham, E a s t Yorks. ; " S o m e O b servations upon the Training and Employment of Tuberculosis Persons," by Dr. Noel Bardswell, M.V.O., London County Council ; and " The Use of Diathermy in Pulmonary T ubercutosm, " " by Dr. Percy Halt, Hull. For the second session, Wednesday, August 1st.--Papers on " T h e Prevention of Cancer," by Dr. \ ¥ . Allen Daley, M.O.H., Blackburn, and Dr. Alex. Theodore Brand, Driffield Poor L a w Infirmary, East Yorks, and one on " Diphtheria, with special reference to the Schick Test and Active Immunisation," by Dr. R. A. O'Brien, Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories. Sir William Hamer and Dr. Charles Porter, President and Hon. Secretary respectively of the Section, extend to all members who propose going to Hull a cordial invitation to take part in the discussions which will follow the reading of the various papers. \¥EST THE
SOCIETY
OF
ENGLAND
AND
THE
BRANCH.
ASSOCIATION.
Another step along the road which is leading towards a complete and effective co-operation between the Society and the British Medical Association was taken at Exeter on June 1st. A joint meeting of the West of England Branch and the loca[ Division was held at the Devon and County Hospital immediately after the business meeting of the Branch at the same place. The
1923 .
PUBLIC HEALTH.
President of the Division gave a very interesting historical retrospect of the growth and relationship of the two bodies concerned. A discussion then took place on the recommendations affecting the Public Health Services which are to be put before the Annual Representative Meeting of the Association at Portsmouth in July, and the representative of the Division was instructed to support them. i
THE NEXT MEETING.
The next meeting of the ]Branch has been provisionally arranged to take place at Bristol on July t2th. This will be the Annual General Meeting at which Officers for the ensuing Session must be elected. In addition to this there are other matters of considerable interest, the discussion of which will make the gathering an important one. The suggestion that meetings should be held on Saturdays did not find favour with members present at Exeter, and was not adopted. SMALL-POX.
Medical Officers in the VVest of England must have watched with growing concern how small-pox has been creeping nearer and nearer, by way apparently of Staffordshire and Herefordshire. The Branch area had been free for a long period until February, when a single case occurred in the latter county. By March it was in Gloucestershire where some scores of fresh cases have since been notified. There seems to be difficulties in checking the outbreak in Gloucestershire, which is one of the few counties where the precautions taken have so far failed to have the desired effect of cutting it short. This is, no doubt, accounted for in part by the mild nature of most of the attacks and their resemblance to Chicken Pox. The association of Gloucester with small-pox, however, has an interest which is not confined to events which were occurring there rather more than a hundred years ago, and we shall look forward to reports and statistics of the present outbreak which it is to be hoped will be issued in due course. H U L L ~ E D I C A L O F F I C E R OF H E A L T H .
Dr.
J. Wright Mason, for forty-two years Medical Officer of Health and Police Surgeon for the City of Hull, has been presented with a rose-bowl by the Chief Constable of Hull (Captain A. Woods), on behalf of 500 present and past members of the police force. Mrs. W r i g h t Mason was presented with a wristlet watch. Dr. Wright Mason, who is also Port Medical Officer to the Hull and Goole Port Sanitary Authority, is retiring in the near future.
285
SOCIETY
OF M E D I C A L OF HEALTH.
OFFICERS
ORDINARY M E E T I N G . An ordinary meeting was held at the house of the Society on Friday, May l l t h , 199.3. In the unavoidable absence of the President, Dr. W. J. Howarth took the ch:'ir. The minutes of the last meeting were approved and signed. The following candidates having been duly nominated were elected as members of the Society:-Blackburn, VVm. Howard, M.A., M.B., B.Ch., Cantab., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H.; Bonar, Thos. Mitchell, M.B., C.M., Glasg., D.P.H. ; Druitt, Arthur Edward, ~ff.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H. ; Falconer, Kinloch, M.B., Ch.B., Glasg., D.P.H. ; Munro, David, C.I.E., Air-Corn rnodore, D.M.S., R.A.F.M.S., M~k., St. And., M.B. Edin., F.R.C.S., Ed. ; Painton, George Richard, M.R.C.S L.R.C.P., D.P.H. ; Spencer, W-alter, L.R.C.P and S. Ed L.M. ; Sullivan, John, M.B., Ch.B., Edin. A number of candidates were nominated for election at the next meeting. Dr. G. F. Buchan, on behalf of the Home Counties' Branch, asked the chairman to accept a portrait of Lt.-Col. F. E. Fremantle, O.B.E., M.P., President of the Society, 1920-21, for inclusion in the gallery of past-presidents. Dr. Buchan said that the Society had reason to be grateful to Col. Fremantle, not only for his active share in their work during his long membership of the Society, but also for the fact that in spite of his Parliamentary duties he continued to be a regular attendant at their meetings They believed that Col. Fremantle was destined to reach exalted positions in the service of the State, and it was well that his portrait should hang in the house of the Society where his abilities had been quickly realised and so long appreciated. In accepting the portrait, Dr. Howarth expressed regret that the President could not be there to receive a gift that would always be valued by the Society. Election of President.--The chairman reported that the Council had nominated Dr. Thomas William Naylor Barlow, O.B.E., for election by that meeting as President of the Society for the Session 1928-24. Dr. Howarth said that no words of his were necessary to commend to their acceptance one who had for so many years rendered conspicuous service as Honorary Secretary and councillor of the Society. Dr. Barlow's election was carried by acclamation. Dr. S. H. Daukes, O.B.E., then read a paper on " The Bearing of Preventive Medicine in the Tropics on Home Problems." The paper with a report of the discussion will be published in an early issue of " Public Health." After a vote of thanks to Dr. Daukes the meeting adjourned.