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,child when stocking fetichism was normal. The phasewas a passing one, and it was best to take no notice.of the stealthy footsteps and whisperings that occurred.outside their bedrooms on Christmas Eve. He thoughta little innocent deception was here fully justified.In the same way he thought it best not to take tooseriously the habit of telling fairy stories. Assumingthat there was a limited place for phantasy, it hadbeen his practice quietly to ignore them while at thesame time to take every opportunity of bringing.about a more realistic attitude to life. Illustratinghis remarks by some delightful sayings of his own’mother, the lecturer went on to speak of the import-- ance of a good bedside manner. The winning smile,the cheerful goodnight, had in his own practice again.and again broken down the most stubborn resistance.

SOME PARTICULAR PROBLEMS

At the conclusion of the address a number of.questions were put to the lecturer.

Asked what he thought about the biological.approach to the difficult parent, he said that themethod had undoubtedly its uses. They could point-to the fact that the mother bird was constantlyfeeding her young. The almost entire absence innature of the father was very helpful. By keepingrabbits and other pets, parents,could readily recognisethat in a state of nature uncles and aunts did not.exist. He would refer them to his paper in the current- number of the Young Psychologist on Aunts andPseudo-aunts.

" When should they let their parents know that they"knew as much as they did ? " It was impossible, he;thought, to lay down any general rule. They shouldThe guided by circumstances, always remembering to.avoid all false modesty. The revelation should comeperfectly naturally.

" What did he mean by father fixation ? " Theterm perhaps was too loosely used, but he could bestillustrate it by the familiar picture of the father who,occupied the most comfortable chair and refused togive up the newspaper. It was an attitude of mindand body that had constantly to be combated.

" Is it ever justifiable to lie to the difficult parent ? ’’

XIe thought that raised an exceedingly difficult prob-lem. Undoubtedly a lie tended to undermine theparent’s confidence in the child. He instanced a casehe had published where a boy thought that he hadbeen seen to take one of his mother’s cigarettes from.a drawer. He very frankly admitted what he had beendoing, drew from the difficult parent a sharp reproof,but left her under the impression that he would not,do it again. Confidence was restored between parentand child with the result that the drawer in futurewas kept unlocked. A lie in this case would have.antagonised the mother, and the child would havebeen deprived of the innocent solace that tobacco-affords.

The lecturer said that before he came there he hadbeen asked by a number of children to say how hewould deal with parents who walked and talked in-their sleep. Every one of them knew what it was tohave their slumbers disturbed by loud conversations’in the drawing-room and the heavy footfall of the maleadult. The problem was one for analysis.

In conclusion, he hoped that his hearers would notgo away with the impression that he was unmindful.of the good that could be done through the ordinarychannels of physical therapy. Difficult parents hadbodies as well as minds. They often ate too much ;’often they took too little exercise. Did children doall they could to see that their’fathers were membersof the right type of club ? "Did they encourage aspirit of healthy independence by seeing that theygot away for week-ends in order to secure a completechange of environment ? It was all too rare to hear’of a father’s tonsils and adenoids being removed, but- there was often a hidden septic focus in the problem,parent.

.The meeting ended with a wate ’of thanks.W. F. H.

WILLIAM BABINGTON

April 29th was the centenary of the death ofWilliam Babington, M.D., who not only took a leadingpart in the formation of the Hunterian Society butwho also was mainly responsible for the formationof the Geological Society. Born at Portglenone, nearColeraine, in the county of Antrim, in 1756, he serveda medical apprenticeship in Londonderry and com-pleted his education at Guy’s Hospital, without,however, taking a degree at that time. He becameassistant surgeon at Haslar Hospital but after fouryears returned to Guy’s where he was appointedapothecary, lecturer on chemistry, and finallyphysician in 1795. Before this he received the M.D.degree from Aberdeen and in later life he becameF.R.C.P. Lond. as well as M.D. Dub. The Geo-logical Society owes its formation to a meeting whichBabington called at his house to raise subscriptionsfor the publication of Count Bournou’s work onCarbonate of Lime, and he was elected president ofthat society in 1822. He was also a Fellow of theRoyal Society. His practice in London was largeand lucrative and he continued to pursue it untila few days before his death during the influenzaepidemic of 1833. His son, B. G. Babington, was alsophysician to Guy’s, and his daughter married RichardBright.

AppointmentsO’SHAUGHNESSY, LAURENCE, M.D. Durh., F.R.C.S. Eng., has

been appointed Surgeon to British Legion Sanatorium,Preston Hall.

Ross, A. G., M.B., B.Ch. Belf., Resident Medical Officer, KingEdward Memorial Hospital, Ealing.

Leicester City General Hospital: BRAITHWAITE, J. V. C.,M.D.Lond., M.R.C.P. Lond., and CAIRNS, R. MoD.,M.D. Edin., Consulting Physicians; LAWSON, D. FORBES,M.A., B.Chir. Camb., D.M.R.E. Camb., Consulting Radio-logist ; DAVIES, D. JUSTIN, M.B. Lond., M.R.C.S. Eng.,and JONES, OLIVE M. G., M.R.C.S. Eng., Visiting Anæs-thetists ; and MACQUEEN, A. M., M.D.Glasg., SeniorR.M.O. and Deputy Medical Superintendent.

Surgeons under the Factory and Workshop Acts : BROOKES, H.,M.B., Ch.B. Sheff. (Tideswell, Derby); DOUGLAS, A. S. M.,L.R.C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S. (Brixworth, Northampton);LATHAM, W. C., L.R.C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S. (Newton-le-Willows, No. 2 District, Lancaster); and STEVENS, N.,L.R.C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S. (Woolpit, Suffolk).

Births, Marriages, and Deaths .BIRTHS

ALABONE.—On April 26th, at " Brent Tor," Dyke-road, Hove,the wife of Leslie Alabone, L.D.S. Eng., of a son.

FINCH.-On April 24th, the wife of Dr. 0. E. Finch, of Addis-combe-road, Croydon, of a daughter.

STEVENSON.—On April 25th, at Wilbraham-place, Sloane-square, S.W., the wife of F. Harwood Stevenson, M.D.,M.R.C.P. Lond., of a son.

MARRIAGESMACLEOD—RONALDSON.—On April 26th, at St. George’s,

Campden-hill, Douglas Hamilton Macleod,M.S., F.R.C.S.,to Lesley Frances Ronaldson.

DEATHSINNIS-SMITH.—On April 28th, at his residence, " Wyvenhoe,"

Totley Brook-road, Sheffield, William Innis-Smith, M.D.LAURENCE.—On April 22nd, Herbert Arthur Laurence, L.D.S.,

of Craven-court, Uxbridge-road, Ealing. SHEEHY.-On April 27th, 1933, at a London nursing-home after

a long illness, William Henry Patmore Sheehy, M.R.C.S. *L.R.C.P., governor of St. Bartholomew and Christ’s Hospi-tals, late of Montebello, Totteridge.

SMITH.—On April 30th, at Frederick-road, Edgbaston, Birming-ham, Joseph Priestley Smith, F.R.C.S., LL.D., &c.,Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology, University ofBirmingham, in his 88th year.

TURNER.-On April 22nd, at Epsom, Mary, wife of PercivalTurner, and daughter-in-law of the late Dr. W. H. Turner,of Bermondsey, after a long and painful illness.

WILSON.—On April 16th, at Willow House, Penistone, in his81st year, Arthur Cobden Jordan Wilson, L.R.C.P. Edin.,M.R.C.S. Eng., J.P. for the West Riding of Yorkshire,beloved husband of the late Ada Beatrice Wilson andyoungest son of the late George Wilson, of Manchester.

N.B.—A fee of 7s. 6d. is charged for the insertion of Notices ofBirths, Marriages, and Deaths..