THE PERAMBULATING ORGAN AND THE DECOY CHILD

457

THE PERAMBULATING ORGAN AND THEDECOY CHILD.

CHILDREN carried upon organs played in the streets are ) frequently an object of commiseration to passers-by, more particularly in weather as cold as that which has recentlyprevailed, and pity for the child no doubt often takes thesomewhat illogical form of pence bestowed upon the personsin charge, who are presumed to be destitute parents. The

practice is one which all must condemn on the child’s

account, and many will sympathise with the child and theconstable referred to in the recent newspaper reports of a

prosecution at the Marylebone police court. In this instance

it may be that the charge was not rightly framed, but theresult appears unfortunate. A constable arrested a man and

woman who were playing an organ in the street with theirchild, aged 21 months, with them, the child being describedby the constable as seated in a box and " shaking with cold."Mr. Plowden, before whom the parents were brought at

the Marylebone police court, observed that "there are anumber of people who derive pleasure from hearing anorgan," to which the constable replied by calling attentionto the presence of the child, when Mr. Plowden answered,"Well, there is no harm in people having a child withthem." The constable: "But it was cold." Mr. Plowden :"We all suffer from that. It is legal to play an organ if noone objects. There is absolutely no reason for charging thesepeople." It may be, as has been suggested, that the chargeon which the parents were brought before the magistrate Iwas one which could not be sustained, but it is difficult to

agree with the apparent meaning of the magistrate that thereis no harm in conduct such as that described. It would also

seem to come near to justifying a charge of exposinga child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffer-

ing or injury to health under the twelfth section of

the Children Act, 1908, or, perhaps, under the fourteenthsection of the same Act, for that children carried about byorgan-players are so treated, as a rule, in order to increasetheir " earnings " can hardly be questioned. The fourteenthsection is as follows :-

(1) If any person causes or procures any child or young person, orhaving the custody, charge, or care of a child or young person, allowsthat child or young person to be in any street, premises, or place forthe purpose of begging or receiving alms, or of inducing the giving ofalms, whether or not there is any pretence of singing, playing, per-forming, offering anything for sale, or otherwise, that person, shall onsummary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-fivepounds, or alternatively, or in default of payment of such fine, or inaddition thereto, to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, forany term not exceeding three months.

The people who derive pleasure from hearing an organpresumably enjoy the same sensations when the instrumentis played by a man unaccompanied by his wife and by aninfant " shivering with cold," and when he takes these withhim it is not unreasonable to suggest that he does so in orderto excite sympathy, or in other words to attract alms. It is

possible, however, that the fourteenth section is onlyintended to apply where the child takes a more active partin inducing the giving of alms than it does when it "sit’in a box," and that the pretence of playing must bf

made by the child itself and not by persons who accompany it.

-- .

PREVENTION OF PAIN AFTER AMPUTATION BYTHE INJECTION OF SOLUTION OF QUININE.

THE value of quinine as a local anxsthetic is only beginning to be recognised, and this is strange, for the drug Iitself has been known 90 years. In the January number ofthe American Jonrnal of Surgery occurs an article by Dr. V.Pleth and Dr. V. W. Pleth of Seguin, Texas, on the value ofa solution of quinine for preventing the pain in the stumpafter amputation. It is used as follows. When the

amputation is completed and the vessels tied the solu-

tion of quinine is injected into the main nerves and

around them, and after the wound is closed about ’

three ounces of the solution are injected into the tissues

composing the stump. The patient suffers no post-operativepain. The solution employed consists of a 0.5 per cent.solution of bisulphate of quinine. The treatment appears tohave no injurious influence on the tissues. ’ The applicationof the drug has also been extended to the treatment offractures. With a strong gold-plated needle the quininesolution is forced in between the fragments of the fractureand several syringefuls are also injected around the fracture,and in about 15 minutes reduction can be made without

causing pain. The writers have also used quinine in opera-tions on the rectum for fistula, haemorrhoids, and fissures.Severe pain following rectal operations is in this wayobviated. There are several advantages in using quinine forlocal anæsthesia ; it is non-toxic and therefore can be used

freely; it can be sterilised by boiling without losing itsefficacy ; and, lastly, it is cheap.

THE INTERNATIONAL HYGIENE EXHIBITION,DRESDEN, 1911.

AN organisation which aims at success must satisfy publicopinion in several respects. In the first place the promotersmust produce evidence of capability and earnestness. In the

second they must deliberate with care, and expend time,energy, and money in casting their mould and in laying theirfoundations. Next there must be proof of the importance tothe public of the undertaking, and, lastly, means must beadopted to inform the public of the details of the scheme.The administration of the International Hygiene Exhibition,Dresden, 1911, has fulfilled all these conditions, and wemay safely assert that success is assured. The promotersinclude the most eminent scientists in the German Empire ;each committee (and there are many) is doing real

earnest work, carefully planned and maturely developed,and expenditure is not begrudged in accomplishing thiswork. We have on previous occasions pointed out in

THE LANCET the educational and scientific importance ofthis undertaking to mankind. With regard to publicityalso the administration has left nothing to chance. For the

past 19 weeks a two-page pamphlet called " Hygieia " hasbeen issued widely, in which the reader is informed of the

progress of the exhibition preparations and in which his

interest in the various branches of hygiene and public healthis awakened and kept awake by skilfully penned populararticles. We have now before us the first issue of a more

enterprising publication which is to appear in monthlynumbers and which bears the title "Hygiene." The con-

tents of No. 1 are varied, interesting, and instructive, andinclude a brief historical account of the development of theexhibition ; an article on the architecture of the buildingsnow in the course of erection, which will reflect credit to the21 skilled architects who are devoting their time and

energies to the task ; a brief account of some of the con-gresses which are to be held in connexion with the

exhibition, and a number of illuminating essays on sub-

lects which will be dealt with. The publication is well gotJects wmcn win oe aeaic wnn. me puoncanon is well gobup and most excellently illustrated. Attention may be

directed to the picture of the Russian Government Pavilionwhich in true national architecture promises to be a greatfeature of the exhibition. Close to this building the FrenchGovernment is to erect the French National Pavilion, whilethe space between-the choicest site of all-is still beingreserved for the British Pavilion. It is a deplorable factthat our Government has not accepted as its duty the task oferecting and equipping this building, but thanks to the

conspicuous energies of the British National Committee,