WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION.

43 the process has a tendency to lessen production and so to decrease wagesi and such are the difficulties which stand in the way of alteration. Apparently, however, two Preston inventors-Dr. H. A. Murphy of Fulwood and Mr. J. T. Simpson, the engineer of the Preston tramways-have brought out a machine which obviates the sucking of the end of yarn by the mouth. A detailed description of this machine is not before us, but we gather from an article in the Ootton Factory li-nacs of Dec. 23rd, 1910, that it is a pneumatic sucker to which the eye of the shuttle can be applied. A representative of the journal in question saw the machine tried "about eight times and it acted perfectly upon seven occasions." Here, then, may possibly be the solution of the problem. If the use of this machine, after its virtues have been confirmed, were made compulsory in all mills within a reasonable time-limit-say, two years (for we learn that that period is the life of a shuttle)-supposing that any alteration in the present style of shuttle had to be made, neither masters nor workmen could complain of any serious grievance, if, indeed, of any at all. The initial cost of setting up the apparatus would not, we understand, be heavy, and it is asserted that it does not in any way lessen the rapidity of production.

rapidity of

-

THE BACTERIOLOGICAL STANDARDISATION OF DISINFECTANTS. IN the January number of the Journal of Infectious Diseases two members of the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, Dr. John F. Anderson and Dr. Thomas B. McClintic, describe "a method for the bacteriological standardisation of disinfectants," a method they recommend on the ground that ’’there is no question but that great fraud is practised in the exploitation of many of the socalled disinfectants that are offered for sale upon the market and are constantly being used by the credulous public....... Even physicians and health officers are frequently imposed upon by the manufacturers or vendors of so-called disinfectants As the result of experience of the various 01 germicides." methods of testing antiseptics, they, as others who have worked at this subject, are not satisfied wholly with the Rideal-Walker method, which was designed to meet the need of standardisation, even when used under proper conditions

competent

The conclusions of these workers are the objections noted, we believe the Lancet method to be a distinct improvement over any other that has been proposed up to this time, and that with it constant results can be obtained by different workers. After doing considerable work with both the Rideal-Walker and the Lancet method, we came to the conclusion that, on account of the great variation in results that may be obtained with the former method, it was not a method to advise for the examination of disinfectants. While consistent results can be obtained with the Lancet method, we believe, on account of the objections we have stated in the discussion of that method, that this method can be so modified as to greatly increase its usefulness. With this object in view, we have taken up in detail each step and factor concerned in the successful carrying out of the test, and propose the following method, to be described later for the determination of the germicidal efficiency of disinfectants as compared with pure phenol. In proposing this method we desire to make full acknowledgment of onr use of the Rideal-Walker and the Lancet methods, especially the latter, as a basis for our work." The factors involved in the examination of disinfectants by these observers are the following: A 24-hour culture of bacillus coli is used ; the experiments are always carried out at a temperature of 200 C. ; the proportion of culture to disinfectant is 0 -1 cubic centimetre of culture to 5 cubic centimetres of disinfectant ; the amount of inoculation into subculture tubes is measured by loops instead of by spoons ; the medium for subculture is prepared from beef extract according to the American standard and has a reaction of + 1 5, the titration being carried to a point where the pink colour is distinctly perceptible ; instead of the wheel a block containing four or six grooves is used. Other minor details are given, including a table of dilations. Finally they carry out experiments from 2½ to 15 minutes, and state that in determining the co-efficient "after a large number of experiments we have concluded that the method employed by the Lancet Commission, with certain modifications, is the best one for determining the co-efficient-i.e., the mean between the strength and time co-efficients." The whole question has been approached in a very fair and openminded manner and we welcome the-criticisms of our work. workers.

interesting : "However, notwithstanding

as only approxias to temperature, organisms, media, &c., mately constant results are obtained by different workers familiar with the technique, considerable dexterity, which WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION. can only be obtained by practice, being necessary to obtain A THOUGHTFUL and suggestive article on the medical these results. They point out that far too great latitude is given in so far that the operator, they believe, can aspect of workmen’s compensation was published in the Times arbitrarily select the result that will most advantageously of Dec. 29th, 1910. It is obviously the outcome of a wide suit the purpose of the experiment, and this without in any experience o this difficult problem, and is well worth careful way departing from a strictly honest statement of the results. consideration. The writer maintains that while the principle These observers approve of certain modifications made by of the compensation of workmen for accidents is now too THE LANCET Commission, and state that the Lancet firmly established to permit of any change except in the way method, on the whole, seems to be a distinct advance over of further extension, the matter cannot long continue in its the Rideal-Walker, but, nevertheless, it appears to have present developmental stage. He proceeds to point out a - certain rather serious faults." One of these faults, the number of directions in which improvement is possible both lack of a standard scale for making dilutions, has already from the standpoint of the employer and of the workman. been corrected in practice. It was, indeed, an obvious fault He affirms that the medical question is the key to the whole as soon as the whole of the material collected by the Comsubject, a view from which there would be few to dissent. mission was considered. The second fault is the use of He then discusses four points which he regards as essential the bacillus coli communis as a test organism involving the to the proper management of compensation cases-viz., use of special media for subcultures. They object also to efficient diagnosis, treatment which should be adequate and the use of special apparatus, particularly the spoons, and continuous, the provision of certain accessories of treatment recommend the use of pipettes graduated in tenths of a cubic which the workman may be unable to secure, and a ’centimetre. Those who have used the spoons and special mechanism for dealing with permanent or chronic cases. In apparatus are satisfied that with very little practice quantities regard to diagnosis, the suggestion is made that the injured as accurately measured as those to be obtained with a pipette man should be examined by a well-trained surgeon or at a so graduated can be obtained. However, that is a matter of hospital as soon as possible, and that certificates of his state minor importance, and we are glad to find this question of should be obtainable both by the employer and himself. standardisation being taken up with such energy and by such It is probable that this would prevent many doubtful

44

claims, and that it would exclude many cases of gross when present in certain proportions which satisfy the requiredisease present at the time of the accident which under ments of chemical affinity, prove satisfactory to the palate. the present system are often made the subject of claims The probability is that this balance is also of physiological as

resulting from the accident. The writer of the article is very insistent in urging the importance of immediate treatment, since he believes that many cases of

importance,

comparatively trifling injury are greatly prolonged owing to defective treatment from ignorance, carelessness, semi-

ceivable that in tea the tannin favourably modifies the effect of this alkaloid. Caffeine in its turn practically negatives the astringent action of the tannin ; caffeine tannate, at any rate, is useless for the purposes of an astringent. It would therefore appear that when the taster decides upon the quality of a sample (apart altogether from its flavour) he is guided largely by the fact that in a good tea the caffeine and tannin are present in proportions which mutually extinguish the bad qualities of each other, and these bad qualities refer not only to taste but to physiological effect.

since free caffeine is a poison and free tannin an astringent. Tannin is well known to form insoluble compounds with alkaloids, of which caffeine is one, and it is con-

or even from deliberate neglect of treatment in order to secure greater compensation. He is of opinion that if the employer were compelled to provide efficient treatment for injured employees, and they were equally compelled to submit to it, there would be a decided diminution in the sums paid for compensation. The provision of accessories, of treatment, such as apparatus, change of air, and good feeding, it is possible might be met by the establishment of some special fund. A useful suggestion is als:) made in regard to the chronic or permanently damaged cases-namely, that operative and other treatment should be made available if this is likely to lessen or remove the disability from which the injured man suffers. Lastly, it is urged that the crippled workman should be educated and trained so as to utilise his remaining faculties to some useful and productive purpose, so that he may again become partly or wholly self-supporting. The writer of the article does not claim that his suggestions are yet necessarily within the realm of practical politics, but they are certainly well worth discussion. There can be no doubt that the present system is far from satisfactory, that it tends to encourage malingering, and by its tardy methods is a fruitful cause of neurasthenia and of what has been euphemistically called ergophobia. In any modification it is only fair that the position of the employer should be taken into consideration as well as that of the workman, and the suggestion to which brief reference is made in the article under consideration, that the workman might also contribute to an insurance fund, is one which ought to be carefully weighed, more especially if the employer is made responsible for treatment as well as for compensation.

starvation,

1

"THE

CHEMISTRY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND ÆSTHETICS OF A CUP OF TEA."

UNDER the above title we publish this week a special article which throws a new light, we think, upon the chemistry of tea. In an experimental inquiry which has occupied the attention of our Laboratory Commissioners for some months an interesting relationship appears to exist between the chemistry of the cup of tea and the views of the expert taster in regard to the quality of the Until now chemical tea used in making the infusion. analysis of tea has been directed to a mere determination of the amount of caffeine and tannin present in the tea, without regard to the question of their probable existence in a state of combination. The work in our laboratory shows that a strong affinity exists between caffeine and tannin, and that probably the good tea, classed as such by the expert taster, is good because the caffeine and tannin occur together as a definite neutral compound, practically neither caffeine nor tannin being present in the free state. On the other hand, the cheaper commoner classes of tea, according to the expert’s category, did not in the experiments we record show evidence of this equilibrium being preserved between the two substances, one or the other being in excess. In the common tea it appears probable that the bitterness of free caffeine is evident to the taster’s palate, or the astringency of the free tannin, as the case may be. The good tea is classed as such because there is a definite balance of the two constituents, which,

THE

MEDICAL LANGUAGE OF THE THIRD GOSPEL.

THERE may be doubt as to the authorship of the Third Gospel-for what limits can be put to the scepticism of the "higher critic," especially if he be a German ?-but there can be none at all as to the medical language that gives character to its style. The great exegetes of the eighteenth

century, Bengel and Wetstein,

were convinced that only a trained for the profession, could have written it, and that conviction gained in strength till 1882, when Dr. Hobart of Dublin collected and reinforced the evidence in a special treatise, which would have been still more convincing had he, in citing his authorities, used the recensions of Littre and Ermerins, instead of the uncritical text of Kiihn. Since thenthe question has increased rather than diminished in interest," to quote from a treatise in which it has just been re-discussed,l and settled on the traditional lines ; settled, moreover, in terms not less emphatic than those of the great German theologian Dr. Harnack:"Isubscribe to the words of Zahn [an equally sound authority] that Hobart has proved for everyone, for whom anything can be proved, that the author [of the Third Gospel] was a man acquainted with the technical language And of Greek medicine-in fact, a Greek physician." what is true of the Third Gospel is also true of the Acts, written, as this latter book undoubtedly was, by the same hand. In the ’’We"sections Dr. Knowling finds, with Dr. Harnack, the same medical language as in the rest of the Acts. Let us take the famous passage (xxviii., 8-10) : " And it was so that the father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery ; unto whom Paul entered in and prayed and laying his hands on him healed him (Mo-aro). And when this was done, the rest also which had diseases in the island came and were cured, who also honoured us with many Two points are noteworthy in this passage, honours." first, as indicated by Sir W. M. Ramsay, the word I I cured" should be replaced by" received medical treatment(è8Epa:TrEÚOllTo), ’the latter Greek word being in contrast to the former (Mo-ctT-o) and in keeping with the careful use of medical terms in the passage ; second, the contrast between St. Paul’s healing power and the physician’s modest description of his own medical attention to his numerous patients from all parts of the island justifies the same scholar, with Dr. Harnack, Dr. Zahn, and Dr. Knowling, in rejecting the supposition that only prayer, and not professional treatment as a means of healing, was employed. Dr. Knowling discusses many other points as to the language of the Third Gospel, the author of which, as also of Acts, he holds to have been

physician,

or one

1 Messianic Interpretation and Other Studies. By R. J. Knowling, D.D. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1 vol. 1910. Price 3s.