CHOLERA IN KOHAT

1515

tp re-house 42.000 people. But he pointed out thatPart I. of this scheme had cost B851.456, and " out of thatsum no less than E.282,l105 had gone into the pockets of menwho, instead of being compensated for their rotten property,should have been prosecuted." Then he inquired whybutchers, milkmen, and others who sold unwholesome foodshould be punished while landlords who let unwholesomedwellings should be allowed to go free. But it is not so

much the insanitary character of the dwellings as their

overcrowding which does the mischief. The London CountyCouncil use the best material and construct substantial dwell-

ings which will probably last from 200 to 300 years and theypay exorbitant compensation to the former owners, and allthis very great outlay has to be refunded in 60 years. As anatural result they are obliged to charge high rents, andtherefore their re-housing schemes do not bring anyrelief to the extreme poor. It is true that the new Amend-

ment Act will now enable the London County Council

to purchase land and to build houses outside the metro-

politan boundaries. There the rents will be lower,but from this advantage must be deducted the cost of

travelling and the loss of time which it involves. As a

remedy Mr. Steadman proposed that the Government shouldgive facilities for borrowing money at a cheaper rate ofinterest and that the repayment should be spread over aperiod of 100 instead of 60 years. But the great stumbliDg-block is the exaggerated compensation paid to the owners ofslum property. Nothing is more profitable than the lettingof houses to the extreme poor. The peorer the tenant the

higher the rent he pays in proportion to the space whichhe occupies; but the fact that a large income is obtained byallowing the overcrowding of tenements is not a sufficientreason for paying to the owner a proportionate compensation.In any case the present state of affairs can only be allowedto continue at the peril of the community. As Lord

Rosebery truly said: "There is not a close in the darkestquarters of Glasgow or a crofter’s cabin in the Hebrideswhich is not a matter of imperial concern," and he added :" In the great cities, in the rookeries and the slums whichstill survive, an imperial race cannot be reared."

CHOLERA IN KOHAT.

LAST July a serious outbreak of cholera occurred among thenative troops comprising the garrison of Kohat in the Punjab.This has formed the subject of a report by Major R. H. Firth,R.A.M.C., sanitary officer of the Rawal Pindi district. Thefirst cases showed themselves on July 3rd, and from that dayup to and including July 19th there were 314 cases and 151deaths. By far the greater number, both of attacks and

deaths, took place between July 3rd and July 13th, afterwhich date the disease rapidly declined. Of the 314 casesZ09 were in soldiers, either horse or foot, the remaining 105cases being among followers. Of the 151 deaths 106 were ofsoldiers and 45 were of followers. This was the severestoutbreak of cholera in any garrison of India which hadoccurred for many years and it presented three notable

features-viz., (1) that although during the period underreview there were some 60 Europeans resident in Kohatno single one of these was attacked by cholera; (2)that in one unit-the Punjab Garrison Battery-only onecase occurred; and (3) that in another unit-the19th Punjab Infantry-no less than 126 attacks with 56deaths were reported. Major Firbh and the medicalofficers of the garrison united in attributing the outbreakto choleraic pollution of the irrigation water which flowsfreely through Kohat. There was no reported case of

cholera either in the city or district of Kohat before July 3rd,but it was well known that cholera existed all over the

Punjab In June, and Kohat is the great centre to which

the roads lead. The 19th Punjab Infantry suffered most

heavily of all. This regiment arrived in Kohat on July 6thand camped on a grass farm near which irrigation water ran.They were free from cholera on arrival, but 26 cases with 11deaths occurred on July 8th, and 61 cases with 18 deaths onJuly 9th. It was found that the men had consumed largequantities of the irrigation water. The removal of the corpsto a camp away from all irrigation and to a water abovesuspicion rapidly checked the outbreak. The PunjabGarrison Battery used exclusively water from the fort

well and escaped with only one case of cholera, a man

who was known to have had close domestic relations withthe city. Among the recommendations made by MajorFirth with a view to the prevention of similar mishaps isone to the effect that British officers of native corps mightshow more energy than they do in disseminating ideas ofpersonal hygiene among their men.

GENERAL HOSPITALS AND MENTAL DISEASES.

OUT-PATIENTS suffering from mental disorders have beenfor long treated at St. Thomas’s Hospital and elsewhere.The results of experience have shown that good work hasbeen done in relieving many sufferers and in avoidingthe necessity for asylum care in not a few cases.

The quarterly court of governors of the Newcastle In-

firmary has decided to institute such a department, as

reported by the Neweastlo Evening Chronicle of Nov. lst.Dr. G. H. Hume, in bringing forward the motion, pleadedfor the fundamental ideas of prevention and cure, and it hasbeen decided that a physician, qualified as the rules requireand occupying an appointment in a public asylum in North-umberland or Durham, should attend at the infirmary oneday in each week and prescribe for the out-patients placedunder his care.

MEMORIAL TO THE LATE PROFESSOR JOSEPHCOATS.

AT a meeting held in the Hall of the Faculty of PhysiciansL and Surgeons of Glasgow on Feb. 7th, 1899, it was resolved

to raise a memorial to the late Dr. Joseph Coats, who firstoccupied the position of professor of pathology in theUniversity of Glasgow, and it was agreed that this memorialshould take the form of an endowment connected with his

name for the purpose of encouraging research in pathology.Intimation was sent to his colleagues, assistants, pupils, andfriends that this opportunity was afforded of testifying to their

! appreciation of his character and services, and of at the sametime forwarding the work to which so much of his life hadbeen devoted. A fund has now been raised amounting toL .&1243 and the committee representing the subscribers have.. arranged with the University Court that the University of! Glasgow shall found a ’scholarship therewith. This endow-i ment will be known as the " Joseph Coats Memorial Scholar-

ship in Pathology, founded by the friends of the lateProfessor Coats as a memorial of his distinguished servicesi to pathological science, and in recognition of the ability and! enthusiasm which he devoted to advance the teaching of ther subject in Glasgow." The scholarship will be for the en.t couragement of original research in pathology and will be) tenable for one year. It will be of the value of the freeincome of £1200 for the two preceding years and wille be awarded biennially. Candidates must be graduates ofB medicine in the University of Glasgow of not more thanJ three years’ standing, and the scholarship will be awarded

by the Senate on the results of a practical examination in. pathology conducted in the beginning of October of every

second year. The successful candidate must, for not lessthan six months following the award, pursue research in

e pathology in the Pathological Institute at the Western

h Infirmary or in a laboratory elsewhere approved of by thet Faculty of Medicine, and shall not engage in medical or