590

be woudered at if the public adopt some similar course untilthey have guarantees of effectual reform.

It is only right, to add tha.t since the above inquiry theother members of, the medical staff have passed a vote ofconfidence in the medical superintendent, and have ex-

preseed their opinion that the charges which have beenbrought against hiwlare unfounded. Under these circum-stances we do not see how the committee of inquiry canany longer withhold. their report. In fairness to Dr. Mac-

kenzie, and in the interest of the public, it is undesirablethat the evidence should be permanently suppressed.

SANITARY STATISTICS OF THE BIRMINGHAMGENERAL HOSPITAL.

THE committee of the Birmingham General Hospital havebeen aroused into a state of astonishment and indignationby the statements, made by Mr. Lawson Tait, as to thehealthiness of the hospital, both in his book on HospitalMortality, and in his paper read at the meeting of theBritish Association at Plymouth, and have therefore had aninvestigation into their correctness made by their registrar,Dr. Saundby. That gentleman has prepared a series oftables, which have been verified by Mr. Slocombe, theauditor of the hospital, which seem to prove that Mr. Taithas made two serious errors in his statistics of this in-;stitution.

11 First, in his table D, which he represents as the mostimportant, the death-rate, which he states to be 34’49 percent., is found, when worked out correctly from his ownngures, to be 27’72 per cent.

11 Secondly, he has committed the extraordinary statisti-cal blunder of comparing the death-rate of the several

hospitals, not only for different years, but for differentnumbers of years."

The committee call attention to the fact that, owing torecent sanitary improvements in the hospital, which havebeen effected at a cost of £20,000, there is now an almostabsolute immunity from pyæmia,, and erysipelas, and, con- sequent!y, that their mortality after operations has greatlydiminished. This is proved by the fact that the mortalityafter amputaiions in the General Hospital during the lastfive years (1872-77) has been 15.26.The investigation on which the statement of the General

Hospital Committee is founded seems to have been carefullyconducted, and the statistics to be reliable and worthy ofattentive consideration.

SCIENTIFIC SLAUGHTERING.

THE employment of dynamite as a means of slaughteringcattle may be an ingenious device, and kindly intended, butwe fear it is not likely to be approved. The recommenda-tion most strongly .urged in its favour would seem to bethat it may be used, by ordinary slanghtermen, whereas aepecial development of muscle and skill is required to makea rapid and, therefore, humane operator with the pole-axe.,As a matter of fact dynamite will never kill instantly andcompletely without so acting on the body as to render itsemployment undesirable. If a beast can be handled with such-ease as to admit of the charge being properly applied, thepresent mode of slaying may be most readily and effectivelyemployed. In the cases where, any difficulty is likely to arisewith the use of the pole-axe, the dynamite cannot be morereadily used. In short, the new process otfers no advantageover the old, and it opens the way for much unintentionalcruelty by the wrong placing of the charge, so that theanimal is tortured to death, or bas to be put out of itsmisery by the use of the axe. Any expedient for the reduc-tion of suffering intliotefi on the brute creation must claimsympathy, but in this instance we think zeal has outrunknowledge, and would augment the evil it aims to cure.

METROPOLITAN HEALTH DISTRICTS.

DR. JOHN DIXON has recently presented an annual reporton the sanitary condition of the parish of Bermondsey, hehaving succeeded Dr. Packer as medical officer of health.The population of the parish is estimated at 92,000, and itappears, as a consequence of the large increase by immigra-tion during the last twenty years, that the proportion ofchildren under five years of age is much higher than theaverage proportion in the metropolis generally, while thenumber living at sixty years of age and upwards is con-

siderably less. The seven principal zymotic diseases caused350 deaths, as compared with 452 in 1875. The infantile

mortality is below the average London rate, and the numberof deaths under five years- was in excess. A total of twenty-six deaths were uneertified by any registered medical prac-titioner, so that Bermondsey still has more than its shareof such cases.Mr. Samuel R. Lovett, medical officer of health for the

parish of St. Giles, reports a’total of 1102 deaths and1633 births in his district during the past year. A totalof thirty-one deaths from scarlet fever occurred either attheir own homes or at the fever hospitals, and it appearsthat this disease, which attacked the population with greatseverity, was aggravated in most cases by defective house.ventilation, deficient water-supply, and ill-trapped gulleysin the surrounding mews. Eighteen cases of small-poxoccurred, four of which were fatal, and one of the sanitaryinspectors caught the disease while in the performance ofhis duty in disinfecting clothing. Mr. Lovett calls theattention of the Vestry to the great need that exists of amortuary, with adequate accommodation for holdingcoroner’s inquests. During the year six deaths only wereuncertified.

-

LONDON CAS.

PROFESSOR FRANKLAND has. done good service in drawing,

attention to the defective illuminating power of the gassupplied by the Metropolitan Gas Companies. In 1851

.

Professor Frankland found the average light-giving valueof the London gas was 7’01, and last year Mr. Humpidge,

using the same method of analysis, found the average to be7.02, or nearly stationary for a period of twenty-fiveyears, notwithstanding the illuminating power has beenraised by Acts of Parliament from twelve candles to

sixteen. The way in which the gas companies have beenable to elude the statute has been by an alterationof the testing power, for Mr. Humpidge found that theburner at present in use gives less light by two candlesthan that employed from 1860 to 1861, when a fourteen-candle standard was in force. In order to prevent anyfurther shortcomings by the gas companies in this respect,Professor Frankland suggests either the adoption of a astandard burner by Government, or the abandonment ofthe present photometric test and the employment ofchemical analysis for determining the exact illuminatingpower of the gas supplied to consumers.

"CAUTIONED AND DISCHARGED."

IN a remarkable case of thieving investigated at the

Mansion House on Wednesday last, the Lord Mayor re-3 cogaised the person charged as a highly respectable man1 who had been a corn factor, and was favourably known in; the City. The prisoner was seventy years of age, ands having snstained great reverses, his mind had been im-. paired, and kleptomania developed as a symptom. Iti appeared that he has been in the habit of purloining knives.

The nature of the case seems to have been a matter ofnotoriety, and it was speedily settled by the discharge of

591

the acc11sed. What further S’teps wiH be taken for the pro-tection of thia poor man? There is something almostgrotesque in the absurdity of dismissing an individual—who is clearly perceived to be "not accountable for hisactions"-from surveillance "cautioned and discharged."It would be reasonable to assume that something willbe done in the matter but that in more than one

instance, no precaution having been taken, a smalloffence of this class has been followed by an act of

greater moment. Cases of this nature, with untowardconsequences, will occur to the recollection of our readers.If it be legally possible, which we take leave to

doubt, to dismiss a charge of felony on the ground ofinsanity, without taking security for the safe custody of theaccused, it is obviously imprudent and unfair to do so. The

poor old man, who was happily recognised by the LordMayor, may repeat his offence where he is not known, orthe next "impulse" he fulfils may be of a nature moreserious to himself or those around him. There should bea rigid rule applicable to these cases; at present the prac-tice is ill-defined by law, and the precedents-are confessedly,unsatisfactory. The discretion exercised in dealing withkleptomaniacs is too often unwise.

A SANITARY DEADLOCK.

ONE way in which the drainage of a plaoe may bedelayed, to the imminent danger of the inhabitants, is

typically exemplified at St. Columb, a small market town’in the north of Cornwall, where drainage has been mootedas far back as 1873, and where, instead of having noscheme, the ratepayers are on the horns of a dilemma withtwo rivals for their favour. The Local Government Boardhas approved of a deep drainage system., which is rathercostly, whilst the’resident medical officer of health proposes,as an alternative, the deepening and inclining of the pre-sent drains, with periodical flushings, and this has the greatmerit in the eyes of the inhabitants of being very much lessexpensive. The Local Government Board refuses its sanctionto the latter plan, and the local sanitary authority will notundertake the deep drainage. An inquiry is threatened,and may shortly be held, and this will probably result inthe dissolution of the present local authority, and the townwill then perhaps be merged in the rural sanitary district.As the rural sanitary authority is the board of guardiansof the district, it is difficult to see in what manner this willimprove matters. Probably an epidemic of typhoid. feverwill take npon itself to solve the difficulty, but we canhardly imagine that the residents will all be satisfied toawait its coming with due unanimity, rather than takeenergetic measures to remove a deadlock which is at presentsuch a satire on the boasted excellence of our local adminis.tration.

____

STARVATION OR THE WORKHOUSE.

THE case of a poor aged womltu who died of want a fewdays ago, after the discontinuance of 11 out-dogr relief," isof a nature to demand very grave consideration. The factswill be familiar to our readers through the public news-papers. There is nothing especially notable about the oc-currence, except as supplying an effactive illustration. of theway in which the improved method of administration works.Probably many individuals and families which under theold system received only partial assistance from the ratesare now wholly maintained at the public cost. In so far asthis can be considered a triumph of policy, the advantaga.has been gained. On the other band, doubtless, aged andstubborn persons, who " will not" go into the house, either

rely on other resources, to the proportionate relief of the

rates, or they die. The poor old woman whose case-,

has attracted some attention, unfortunately; succumbed.Looked at from the Poor.law point of view, the event hasbeen regrettable, and some will think it is to be deplored onwider grounds. However that may be, collateral benefit islikely to accrue to the cause of humanly if the practicalconsequences of stoutly refasing "out-door relief" are

carefully investigated. We are fully prepared ta concedethat persons who cannot support their lintes without publicassistance have no "right" to such feelings of affection asmay have ampetled a woman of ninety years to face deathfrom want rather than consent to be separated from herdaughter. Meanwhile the strict law of social prudencemight possibly be relaxed, at least, in cases where thealternative of leaving a sick pauper to starve is the allow-ance of a pittance so small as two shillings’ and a loaf perweek. The course pursued may have beeB sagacious, but itwas shortsighted. -

DEATH FROM CHLORAL.

A DEPLORABLE case of poisoning by chloral, which hasjust taken place in Dublin, again calls- attention to the needof especial caution in handling this drug. The deceased, awife, while in a state of partial intoxication, is believed tohave taken a bottle from her husband’s portmanteau, andswallowing a, large quantity, died. The husband, a medicalofficer in the army, had occasionally administered a dose ofthe drug to the deceased, but she was unacquainted withthe proper quantity. There is no room for reflection on thecase, Every care seems to have been taken. Meanwhile,it is important that every occurrence of the class should benoted. There is great reason to fear that the domestic useof this powerful and dangerous medicine is not yet discon-tinued, in spite of the many 11 misadventures " which haveoccurred ’

____

ABERYSTWITH WATER-SUPPLY.

WE have received communicaticns which show that the

water-supply of that popular and much-frequented health-resort, Aberystwith, is drawn from polluted sources, andconsequently dangerous to the health of the commumity.It appears that the water has been sucked from stag..nant ditches in the neighbourhood of the pipes leadingfrom the, well to the pumping-station; independently of thiasource of impurity, the condition of the well is not what itshould be’. It is sufficienb to state that. cattle have bad freeaccess, to the springe which in times of flood considerablyoverflows its limits’; in addition to this source of impurityis the disgusting fact of the close proximity of the cemetery.Such a. water-supply is a disgrace to a first-class watermg-place, and, when the fact becomes fully known, cannot failto affect its fortunes most injuriously. In these days, whensuch elementary sanitary requirements as good; drainageand pure water are thoroughly appreciated by the public,no place can long hold its position that fails to supply them.One of the first questions asked by patients of their medicalman before starting for a health resort is generally as toits sanitary conditions, and the selection is usually de-termined by his advice. Already we hear that the valueof some of the houses has fallen considerably duringthe last few years, and it will fall much further unlessameans are taken to provide the town with pure water, andfrom sources which are entirely free from suspicion. Weunderstand a meeting of ratepayers will be convened inNovember to determine what action is to be taken with

respect to obtaining a better and purer supply, and it is tobe hoped that the consideration that the interests and theprosperity of the town depend on their decision will leadthem to insist on vigorous measures being adopted to remove