PARIS

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operations are independent of, though working in z’’

close association with, the local medical and health ’Idepartment, and that public interest and sympathyare aroused by appropriate propaganda work. He

agrees with Balfour that the present malaria statisticsare entirely unreliable, that the recorded mortalityfrom malaria is fallacious, but that malaria isundoubtedly an important economic factor in thewelfare of the colony.

Jlauritius and Rodrigues.He contrasts Mauritius with Rodrigues. There is

no malaria in the latter for there are no anophelinesthere, and its inhabitants compare in general healthand physique very favourably with the malaria-saturated Creoles and Indians of Mauritius. Heexplains how the barrier coral reef by keeping vesselsoff shore has indirectly prevented anophelines reachingthe island, and he puts forward a strong plea againstthe project of building a jetty from Port Mathurinout to the edge of the reef. Such a development would Ialmost certainly abolish the immunity Rodriguesenjoys as regards both anophelines and malariaand would be a disastrous undertaking. It is tobe hoped Mr. MacGregor’s recommendation will notgo unheeded.There are many other matters of interest in this

valuable contribution to the literature of mosquitoesand malaria. It should be read and studied by allinterested in these kindred subjects and also by thosewho, in virtue of their official position, are chargedwith the double duty of safeguarding and benefitingthe public health of tropical communities.

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

" papa " Pinard.THE Chamber of Deputies has elected as its

President with great unanimity, Prof. Pinard, theveteran obstetrician, whose playful title of

"

papa "is in acknowledgment of his having brought morethan 20,000 children into the world. At the outbreakof hostilities in 1914 Pinard relinquished a brilliantuniversity career to coordinate all the child welfareagencies in Paris. A central office was instituted atthe Maternité, from which went out a band of devotedvoluntary workers ; and during the first four years ofthe war nearly 14,000 pregnant women were caredfor in municipal or private homes, and another13,000 nursing mothers in refuges where they couldremain until their infants were weaned. Pinard isregarded indeed as the founder of puericulture inFrance and as the one who saw clearly the fearfulthreat to child-life involved in the absorption ofmarried women into factories. Retiring in 1920under the age-limit from the chair of puericulturein the Medical Faculty, he became a deputy in thenew chamber and at once propounded there a schemefor an enormous nursery to accommodate 1500children with their mothers, a scheme which enlistedthe sympathy of the Minister of Hygiene, Mr. Breton.Prof. Pinard celebrates this year the eightiethanniversary of his birthday and his jubilee as a

member of the medical fraternity.

AnewrY8m of the Internal Carotid.Dr. Rouvillois, of the school of military health

service at Val-de-Grace, recently reported to theAcademy of Medicine a case of arterio-venousaneurysm in the intracranial portion of the internalcarotid artery. The formation of this aneurysm wasdue to a somewhat rare cause. The cause of arterio-venous aneurysm is usually a direct injury to thevessels, but in this case not even the slightest woundwas to be found either in the neck, mouth, or pharynxof the patient, who was 22 years old. He had beenflung forcibly to the ground by the bursting of alarge shell, and following this violent trauma thesigns of aneurysm appeared. It is therefore logical to

suppose that an arterio-venous communication wascaused by the violent contusion, an uncommon

occurrence. Complete recovery followed the operationof applying a quintuple ligature and completelyremoving the aneurysm. The aneurysm itself con-sisted of an arterial sac, in addition to the arterio-venous communication, which was adherent to thewall of the pharynx.

The Therapeutics of Long Sea-Voyages.In a recent communication to the Academy of

Medicine the port sanitary officer of Havre, Dr.Adrien Loir, recalled the large number of workspublished in England before 1890 dealing withthe therapeutics of long sea-voyages. At that timelong sea-voyages were widely advocated by Englishdoctors, and remarkable results were achieved.French doctors, Dr. Loir urged, should make themselvesfamiliar with the question which was so carefullystudied by Dr. J. Burney, Dr. A. Crosbee Dixon,l andothers, in particular Dr. Hermann Weber and Dr.A. Parkes Weber, while in 1892 further articles onthis subject had appeared in THE LANCET. While inEngland on a mission on behalf of the League ofNations Dr. Loir studied this literature and com-mends the investigation of the therapeutics of longsea-voyages to his colleagues.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

(FROM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.)

Bacterial Purification of Rivers.AN unusually interesting programme was enjoyed

by the Society of Hygiene of Johns Hopkins Universityon May 12th. Dr. W. H. Frost, professor of epidemi-ology, discussed bacterial purification in the Ohioriver, a study of which was undertaken by the U.S.Public Health Service some ten years ago. Amaximum bacterial count was found not at the seweroutfalls (of which there were six in the portion of riverstudied), but some 12 hours lower down the river.This may possibly be due to breaking up of clumps ofbacteria; Dr. Frost did not consider it probable thatthere was any multiplication of bacteria in the water.Attempts to fit curves to the observed decrease ofbacterial counts were most successful when the countsat the actual sewer outlets were disregarded. Curvesthen showed that purification takes place at a

diminishing rate. Observations in winter monthsshowed further that the purification takes place moreslowly at lower temperatures. These experimentalstudies are to be continued.

Experimental JI easles.Dr. Joseph M. Scott presented a report of the

experimental work on measles which he is doing incollaboration with Dr. Charles E. Simon. Filteredwashings of swabs from measles throats were injectedintravenously into a series of rabbits. Daily swab-bings were taken and an injection into rabbit madeeach day from each of six members of the family inwhich measles cases were occurring. Passage of thevirus through a series of rabbits gave a virus of fixedcharacter producing elevation of temperature, leuco-penia, relative decrease in polymorphs, and relativeincrease in basophils. Exanthems and enanthemswere not noted, nor was erythema. They considerit essential to make differential blood counts to deter-mine measles infection in the rabbit. Rabbits thathave had " measles " are found to be immune to thevirus. Three out of five rabbits contracted " measles "

from exposure in the same cage with experimentalanimals that had been infected intravenously.Attempts to obtain infective virus from the dust andair in the vicinity of measles patients gave negativeresults, but material from secretions of nasopharyngealmembranes of measles patients gave constantlypositive results. Even when the material had been

1 Sea Voyages for Health, THE LANCET, 1888, ii., 264.