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the cause. The part of the father in the child’s lifemust not be forgotten.

Dr. E. A. HAMILTON-PEARSON said that whetheror not a child would become a problem child dependedlargely, if not wholly, upon its attitude to life, theproduct of its whole practical experience at any givenmoment. Attitude, moreover, determined almostexactly the experience of the immediately ensuingperiod ; it caused the results of future experience tobe similar to those of the past. Character was theoutcome of recurring experience ; therefore, if a childwas to be able to form a strong character, it muststart with a right attitude to life, and for this it mustbe able to learn right values for its thoughts andactions. An important environmental factor in thecausation of wrong attitude was the lack of right.understanding discipline. Parents were too apt toallow children to make decisions for the making ofwhich they had neither the data nor the mentalapparatus for fear of repressing their personality.This was a chase after a false ideal ; real freedomcould only be a psychological state. Stable disciplineimplied complete freedom between known limitsimposed for the good of the majority. The childproduced by complete freedom of expression over-valued the importance of its own desires, and therestriction of school life bewildered it, so that oftenthe seeds of neurosis were sown. The educationalsystem created problem children by confining theeager, urgent, and turbulent interest of the youngwithin a rigid and monotonous system, so that workcame to be regarded as something unpleasing and tobe avoided as much as possible. A rigid contrastingdistinction between work and pleasure was a badattitude for life. The educational system also createdproblem children by its adherence to a purely intel-lectual ideal in education. There were several typesof mind, and each group of types required a differenteducational approach. Under the uniform systemmany children were committed to a dull routine,which daily emphasised their inferiority ; they lostresolution, initiative, and confidence, and became thedrifters in life. Adequately stimulated interests werethe vitamins of the mind ; if mental scurvy were to beprevented, the whole educational system must berecast. The refusal of the budding adolescent togrow up was becoming more and more common.Before the war there had been a sharp line betweenchildhood, with its occasional treats and strictobedience, and adulthood with its relatively boundlessfreedom of action and conduct. It had been worthwhile to grow up. The average child of to-day hadthe same amusements as the average adult, andrelatively greater freedom. Personally or vicariously-through the cinema-it experienced practically allthat would be possible for it, and adulthood had fewadditional pleasures to offer in compensation for itsgreater responsibility. There was little in the con-ditions of modern industry to capture the imaginationof a boy. Children who at this period becameproblem children nearly all suffered from atrophy ofthe sense of adventure, a sense which could be keptalive only if the child’s lines of interest were keptclear.

INDUSTRIAL HEALTH EDUCATIONSOCIETY.

A 1,LTNTCHEON was given by Lord Melchett at theCarlton Hotel on Thursday. Oct. 31st, to afford anopportunity to those interested in the objects of thisSociety to meet and to hear an exposition of the aimsand position of the movement. Lord Melchett,who was supported by Sir Humphry Rolleston(hon. president of the Society), Lord Dawson of Penn.,Sir John Rose Bradford, and Sir Arbuthnot Lane,in a brief speech welcomed a representative group ofindustrial employers and medical men. He pointedout that splendid work had already been done amongindustrial populations by the medical profession. but

that much remained to be done owing to the funda-mental ignorance of the bulk of the operatives and ofno inconsiderable number of their employers. Inregard to pit-head baths, he said, England, Wales,and Scotland were far behind the Continent and theUnited States, in which latter country the workman,after hours, was never seen in his work-soiled clothes,having had opportunity for washing and changing.

Sir William Milligan then described the great servicesrendered to public health by the Industrial HealthSociety, under whose auspices a number of indefati-gable lecturers had submitted to varied and interestedaudiences the methods for the prevention and remedyof accidents incidental to their employment. TheSociety was formed in 1925, during which year 118health-talks were delivered ; in the following year thenumber increased to nearly 200, in 1927 to nearly300, in 1928 to practically 400, while in the firstthree-quarters of the current year more than thatnumber had already been given. He concluded bypointing out that the pecuniary resources of theSociety had been strained to the utmost by the workwhich they had already undertaken and this at thetime when openings for the development of that workwere obvious. All the organisations of operatives inEngland, Wales, and Scotland had shown willingnessto cooperate, recognising the obvious importance ofthe movement. He quoted figures to show that in1928 the work of over half a million weeks was lostin England and Wales through sickness and invalidity,while the approved societies during that period paidout 15,000,000 in sickness and disablement benefits.While the Society, he said, had as yet made no appealto the employers of labour for assistance, the timehad come when it must be pointed out that morefunds were required if the work was to go on, and hehoped that the whole movement would receivesympathetic consideration from those around him whodirected important industrial businesses, and also .

from insurance companies.Mr. Ren Tillett. M.P., proposed Lord Melchett’s

health in eloquent terms from personal knowledgeof the chairman’s qualities of leadership andgenerosity. He went on to point out that educationon health matters in connexion with particularindustries should be directed as much to the employersas to the employed, as the last thing the averageemployer thought about was the sanitary convenienceand the necessities of human workers. He spoke asa non-party man, and with a real desire to see amongthe British an appreciation of the factor of efficiencyin the matter of health. He held that the employingclass had not considered with proper care the workingof the finest machine they possessed-namely, thatmade by God Almighty.Lord Melchett briefly replied.

GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL.ELECTION OF TWO DIRECT REPRESENTATIVES FOR

ENGLAND AND WALES.

Two names were selected last July by Englishand Welsh deputies at the annual meeting of theBritish Medical Association for nomination onbehalf of the Association as Direct Representativesof the registered medical practitioners of Englandand Wales on the General Medical Council. Thesewere Dr. H. B. Brackenbury, who has alreadyserved on the Council, and Mr. N. Bishop Harman.On their behalf the following election address hasbeen circulated :-We offer ourselves as candidates for election to the General

Medical Council as direct representatives of the registeredmedical practitioners of England and Wales. One of us hasbeen such a representative for the past five years and, as amember of the Education and Public Health Committeesof the Council, has taken an intimate part in that review ofmedical education and of the needs of the public healthservice in which the Council has recently been engaged andwhich is not yet concluded.

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We regard it as of great importance that advantage shouldbe taken of the method of direct representation to secure thepresence on the Council of additional members who haveconsiderable experience of private practice (including specialas well as general and insurance practice) in order that theconditions of such practice may be fully weighed in connexionwith any disciplinary proceedings. In this regard, one of ushas been in active general practice and insurance practicefor many years, while the other, in addition to a longexperience in private practice and as a member of a hospitalstaff, has held for a considerable period an important office inthe School Medical Service of the London County Council.Both of us have been members of the Hospitals Committeeof the British Medical Association and of the Insurance ActsCommittee for a number of years, and so are familiar withthose hospital problems which are so important at thepresent time and with the special conditions attached toinsurance practice. Each of us has been, and is, in a positionwhich brings him into contact with all varieties of medicalpractice and enables him to familiarise himself with generalprofessional opinion ; and we may claim in this way to beable to appreciate and to voice that opinion to an altogetherexceptional degree.

In connexion with medical education it is important, wethink, that the point of view of those who are the taught andthe examined should be prominently considered along withthe point of view of the teacher and examiner. The conditionsof actual practice, general or special, are not always asprominent in the mind of the teacher as they well might be.The position of special branches of practice should not belost sight of in prescribing the medical curriculum or inregulating training and examination-whether such specialpractice be followed exclusively or cultivated in associationwith a more general practice, especially perhaps in relation toextended or additional insurance benefits and to the clinicalservices of local authorities. In the administrative andlegislative aspects of these matters as well as in theireducational aspects, the position of the General MedicalCouncil is one of increasing influence and importance. In ouropinion -such influence should be exercised in the direction ofmaintaining the best traditions and methods of privatepractice, and we claim that our familiarity with suchadministration and its problems will be a valuable qualifica-tion for such service as we may be able to render should ourcandidature be successful.

If opportunity should arise we should strongly advocateand support an increase in the number of direct representa-tives on the Council.

H. B. BRACKENBURy, LL.D., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. IN. BISHOP HARMAN, M.A., M.B., F.R.C.S. ,

As an independent candidate for one of the twovacant places, Dr. Arthur Haydon offers himself forelection. His address is as follows :-

I offer myself as a candidate for election to the GeneralMedical Council as a direct representative of the registeredmedical practitioners of England and Wales.

In 1911 I was a candidate for election to the GeneralMedical Council, while in practice at Henrietta-street, W.,and was fortunate in receiving 1000 votes, though I was notelected on that occasion. As a proof of my interest ineducation, I may say that I have been president and secretaryof the Brussels University Medical Graduates Associationfor 21 years, during which time, I was in constant com-munication with candidates for the scientific degree all overthe world. I have travelled, both professionally and other-wise, more than 65,000 miles in many parts of the world, andhave studied medical practice in all climates and under allconditions. If within the province of the General MedicalCouncil, taking the excellent example from the Dominions,I would recommend that a Bill might be promoted beforeParliament to secure the complete abolition of unqualifiedpractice, which is undermining legitimate medical practice,and making it nearly impossible for newcomers into theprofession to make a living. If my candidature should besuccessful, it will be my endeavour to adopt a progressivepolicy, and to urge revision of the formula whereby medicalpractitioners are penalised for so-called infamous conduct ina professional sense, and perhaps to be able to modify anyundue severity on the part of the General Medical Council ina disciplinary sentence on medical practitioners for trivialoffences. I am not in favour of the nationalisation ofhospitals. I should also be strongly in favour of an increasein the number of direct representatives on the Council, as Iconsider the number at present to be quite inadequate.

ARTHUR HAYDON, M.D., M.R.C.S., F.R.G.S.

CLATTERBRIDGE ISOLATION HOSPITAL.-A new wingof this hospital, erected under the auspices of the Wirral(Cheshire) Joint Hospital Board, has recently been opened.It contains a large ward for women and children, a smallerone for men, and two private wards, with a total of 22 bed,.

Public Health Services.

REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALT]IT.

THE following are some 1928 statistics of fourcathedral cities, three boroughs, and one urbandistrict :-

The proportions of stillbirths notified per 100 live births, were rYork, 2’6 ; Lincoln, 5’5 ; Carlisle, 4’8 ; Chester, 5’0 ; and Shrews-bury, 2’9.

Ealing.Dr. Thomas Orr gives the population as 100,250 at

the end of the year, after the inclusion of Northolt,when the area of the borough became 9135 acres andthe density 11 persons per acre. The extension hasbrought many problems. The Greenford and Northoltwards get their water from the Rickmansworth andUxbridge Company, and many new mains are needed.The rest of the area is supplied by the MetropolitanWater Board. The stream through Greenford, whichcaused a nuisance, is now reasonably pure. Manycesspools in the added area need abolition, involvingthe laying of new sewers. Of the five sewage works,two are efficient. A sludge-pressing plant is beinginstalled at Hanwell, and chlorine treatment has keptin abeyance the nuisance from the Greenford works.Greenford and Northolt are scavenged by privatecontract, and are to be brought into the generalscheme. New maternity and child welfare centresare being provided for the added area, and thelatest school is to be of the Derbyshire type, a trueopen-air school, in which the class-rooms can be keptopen in winter and summer, yet sheltered from thewind and adequately warmed.

Ealing applied to the Middlesex County Councilfor delegated powers for the supervision of maternityand nursing homes, but was refused, and the appli-cation is to be reconsidered by the Ministry underthe Local Government Act, 1929. Successful pro-ceedings were taken against a retail milk purveyorfor trading without being registered, against a milkman for filling bottles not in registered premises, andagainst a retail milk purveyor for selling designatedmilk without a licence. Many dairy premises havebeen improved, and an incentive to this result hasbeen provided by the greater interest taken by thepublic in the source of their milk-supply. Of 12samples of ordinary milk, three were found to betuberculous, and in two of the three cases the Middle-sex County Council was successful in finding andcondemning the offending cow. There were 6S