166 GEORGE RAINEY.-PRESENTATION TO LORD SANDHURST.

absolute failure. If so, the chief obstacle to their abolitionwill disappear. One grocer is mentioned as being ruinedafter he took out a wine and spirit licence. His customers

contracted drunken habits, opened quarterly accounts, whichthey often failed to pay, while his shop assistants drank hiswine and neglected their work. Another shop with two largewindows-one devoted to groceries, the other to wine andspirits-had ruined two successive proprietors. A third

purchaser presented himself, but only on the conditionthat the liquor was removed. This was done, thoughthought to be an act of madness ; but the resulthas been the creation of a prosperous and profitablebusiness. At a third grocer’s shop, where the liquor traffichad also been abandoned, the net profits had considerablyincreased. It would seem that among customers who buyliquors with their groceries the proportion of bad debts ismuch higher. If this experience is confirmed in other

quarters a great step towards the abolishing of grocers’licences will have been taken. Such questions should besettled purely on moral grounds ; but if it so happens thatthe material interests of the trade will not be as disad-

vantageously affected as was generally imagined, we shallbe all the better pleased. We have no reason and no desireto attack the interests of the grocery trade, but it is our

duty to denounce all that encourages or facilitates alcoholismand thus endangers public health.

GEORGE RAINEY.

ALL St. Thomas’s men whose recollection of the hospitalextends back for fifteen or twenty years preserve kindlymemories of Mr. George Rainey, the veteran demonstratorof anatomy. Unconventional in exterior, he was largelyendowed with sterling qualities of head and heart, acknow-ledged even by the light-hearted young men who learnedfrom him to trace out and understand the intricacies of

their "parts." Most teachers know how arduous a duty isthe unrelaxing effort to awaken and sustain a student’sinterest in his work, and to lead him to an intelligentcomprehension and recollection of it, especially in a field sowide and so full of details as anatomy. Rainey’s success inthis direction was recognised by all who came in contact withhim, including the dignified seniors who uphold the high posi-tion of St. Thomas’s Hospital among schools of medicine.In addition to his work as an instructor Rainey carried outmuch original investigation. THE LANCET in 1851 con-

tained an elaborate and thoughtful paper 1 written by him onthe adjustment of vision effected by the ciliary processes andthe pecten. Many other original memoirs by him appearedin the Annual Reports of St. Thomas’s Hospital, the Trans-actions of the Royal Medical and Chirurgicl Society, theTransactions of the Royal Society, &. His first importantpaper was on a botanical subject-the Ascent and Descent ofthe Sap. It was read before the Royal Society in 1842 andappeared in book form with some additions in 1847. Botanyand physics were combined in an investigation en the Forma-tion of Starch Granules, the results of which were readbefore the British Association in 1859. In conjunctionwith his duties as demonstrator of anatomy he held

a position as a practical microscopist which was at

that time almost unique. Fifty years ago the microscopewas in the hands of trained specialists only, and was farfrom being reckoned, as it now is, one of the ordinaryaccessories of a medical education. R3.Îney was an adeptin microscopical manipulation and demonstration as thenpractised. Transparent injections were not at that time inuse, but his specimens of tissues injected with opaquematerials were a marvel to his contemporaries, and are

1 THE LANCET, July 26th, 1851. On the Function performed by theCiliary Processes and by the Pecten in the Adjustment of the Eye toDistinct Vision at Different Distances.

valuable even now. By means of them he discovered thenature of those structures in the synovial fringes whichhave been called "Rainey’s bodies," and which are

now known to be the starting point of loose cartilagesin joints. The Qitarttrly’Jo?trnal of Microscopical Scienceand the Transactions of the Microscopical Society con-tain papers by him on the Cutaneous Follicles of the

Toad and on Methods of Illumination in Microscope Work.His laborious life was prolonged far beyond the usualterm. Born in 1801 in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, he came to.London in 1824, and became a student at St. Thomas’s

Hospital. In 1827 he qualified as M.R.C.S., and obtainedgreat success as a private teacher of anatomy. His tutorialconnexion with St. Thomas’s Hospital commenced about

1844, and continued for about forty years, being terminatedonly by his death in November, 1884, in the eighty-fourthyear of his age. For this sketch of his cajeer of activeusefulness we are indebted mainly to an appreciative articlecontributed to the St. Thomas’s Hospital Reports by hisfriend Mr. Wagstaffe, late senior assistant surgeon andlecturer on anatomy at the hospital.

PRESENTATION TO LORD SANDHURST.

THE important services rendered by the Right Hon. LordSandhurst to the Middlesex Hospital as chairman of the

weekly board for the last six years have been gracefullyacknowledged by his colleagues in the governing body, inconjunction with the medical staff and the resident officials.His lordhip, who has been appointed Governor of Bombay,necessarily vacates his official position at the hospital, andwas on the 12th inst. presented with an address together witha bowl and -four goblets in silver. An influential gathering ofthe subscribers to the testimonial assembled to meet his lord-ship, the presentation being made by Mr. J. Bell Sedgwick,deputy-chairman of the board, supported by Mr. J. W.

Hulke, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Englandand senior surgeon of the hospital. Mr. Sedgwick delivered avery complimentary speech, to which Lord Sandhurst repliedin appropriate terms, assuring the company of the regretwith which he retired from his congenial duties at the

hospital. -

INFANT NEGLECT, INSURANCE, AND MORTALITY.

THE more closely we examine the practice of child ineur-ance the less there appears to commend it. Notwithstandingthe fact that disease is much more prevalent during the earlyyears of life than later, it by no means follows that death isan equally certain factor in the table of probabilities. Well

tended, well nourished, and within reach of prompt and skilfulmedical service qualified by no exorbitant fee, the prospectsof infant life even among the poor, if they be careful also,are hopeful in a high degree. Life, not death, is the natural

outlook, and the necessity for insurance is proportionatelyless. The social status of so young a child, moreover, as arule is absolutely trivial. Compensation for its de’ith

argues a loss which is incalculably small. We cannot,therefore, find in such reasons as these facts afford

any real justification of the system of insurance. Noris the position of those who would advocate this systemgreatly improved when we pass to the question of ways andmeans as connected with the event of an infant’s death.

Simple in the extreme are all the needful arrangements for a.funeral. Their cost would not overtax the slender means ofalmost ary family which is maintained by honest work andthrift, so that even from this point of view insurance hassomewhat the aspect of a superfluity. It is to be noted alsothat very many of those parents who pay their weekly contri-butions in token of their prudent fears are at the same timedistinguished by a neglect of their offspring and a self-

indulgence which are not less than criminal. Among 629

167THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF LEPROSY.

children subjected to cruel treatment during the past monthit is reported by the organ of the National Society fortheir protection that 1237 were known to be insured. So,too, was an unfortunate infant whose death was recentlyinvestigated by the coroner for the West Middlesex district.The parent could not afford medical aid (which he might Ihave had for a mere pittance), but he did not neglect to payhis insurance premiums. Facts like these tend to sicken the

public conscience. They strongly suggest a necessity for

drastic reforms in a system of somewhat doubtful and limitedadvantage. Among such reforms we should, for our own

part, insist upon two at least-namely, that the sum insuredshould no more than discharge the bare cost of funeral

arrangements, and that evidence of such criminal neglect ormismanagement as might account for a child’s death shoulddisqualify for the receipt of the sum insured. Medical

practitioners have a special duty in this connexion, andought to be scrupulous in refusing to grant the customarydeath certificates in cases where they believe that such mis-management has occurred.

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CONSERVANCY AND WATER CARRIAGE SYSTEMSFOR THE REMOVAL OF EXCREMENT.

DR. BOOBBYER has presented to the health committee ofthe town council of Nottingham a valuable contribution tothe literature bearing on the important subject of excrement disposal in large urban centres. The report is primarilyintended to aid the committee in considering their futureattitude towards the existing pail system in the borough ; butit seems to be suited to the necessities of many towns wherea like system obtains and where the sanitary authority aredesirous of securing for their town competent advice givenas the result of knowledge of the methods in vogue in

a wide variety of places and circumstances. Dr. Boobbyer’sreport covers a wide area, being based on informationobtained from seventy-eight towns (including the " greattowns ") of Great Britain and Ireland, a comprehensivetabular statement making his deductions all the more useful.Briefly stated, there is a general discontent with the con-servancy system-the midden privy, pail closet, cesspool,and so on-only four towns openly advocating it-namely,Darwen, Hull, Warrington, and Rochdale-the latter for

many years famous for the system " to which it has given itsname; but the opinion of these towns is far outweighedby the general condemnation resulting from experiencein the other towns where the air, soil, and water-

polluting conservancy methods find tolerance. One interest-

ing fact given is that the nightsoil from the 40,000 pailclosets and the 500 privies in Nottingham amounts annuallyto 500 tons, these figures permitting of an estimate forother places in like circumstances. Replies from forty-two large towns were strongly in favour of waterclosets bothfor in-door and out-door use ; but the question of frost is notoverlooked in regard to the latter use of waterclosets, thoughthe damage so caused seems to be less than is popularlysupposed. Dr. Boobbyer treats also of slop-water and troughclosets, in favour of which Dr. Parsons has already sometime back reported to the Medical Department of the LocalGovernment Board, although the advantages of theseforms of closet are not without some counter draw-

backs, choking and difficulty of cleansing being amongthe latter. But, again, slop-water closets admit of beingreadily converted into waterclosets. At any rate, twenty-three towns look upon these forms of excrement re-

moval very favourably, extended adoption leading to morepronounced views in their behalf, the tipping basin being themost generally adopted form of flush, and a three-gallon fluslbeing regarded as a desirable minimum. One importantpoint touched upon is that several towns offer a subsidy iraid of the conversion of dry to water carriage systems

Stafford proposing to offer as much as f.3 in regard to eachobsolete closet so converted. There is satisfaction in

learning that in only three towns is the objectionable cess-pool in wide use’; but what is of very serious moment.is the fact elicited that no fewer than fifteen of the largertowns-excluding London-with an aggregate populationof some 2,750,000 inhabitants, discharge the bulk of theirsewage in a practically crude state into inland waterways.Truly the Rivers Pollution Prevention Acts have been any-thing but that which their name implies, in so far as

only too many of our populous towns are concerned.The matter calls for the earnest attention of countyand parish councils and for the formation and sustainedaction of joint committees for the suppression of the-

pollution of our rivers. For the rest, Dr. Boobbyer showsthe superiority of the watercloset for general indoor useand the desirability of automatic slop- or waste-water closetsin poorer neighbourhoods and for outside use, though theselatter, equally with trough closets (which, by the way, areliable to injury by frost), call for supervision by a staff ofmen attached to the Health Department. Trough closets,.however, require a special (clean) water-supply, unlike theslop closet, which is self-feeding from the liquid waste ofhouses. We commend Dr. Boobbyer’s report to all sanitarybodies interested in the question of excrement disposal. It.

is written in a lucid style and contains valuable standing,matter fcr reference in its tables and summary.

THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF LEPROSY.

AN interesting article on the above subject appears in theAmerican Journal of the Medical S‘azeace,, by Dr. R. H. L.Bibb, who has examined thirty cases of tuberculous

and five cases of macular leprosy with reference to the

presence of bacilli, and has never failed to find them insections of tubercles, in blood drawn directly therefrom, indischarges from leprous ulcers, and occasionally in the-

sputum and the secretions from the nose ; but he has neverfound them in the fasces, urine, or blood, except when thelatter was taken directly from a tubercle, although other

investigators—Kobner, according to Thoma and Cantlie-claim to have found them in the blood current. After

referring at some length to the opinions of differentwriters as regards the nature of the bacillus and the

question of heredity and mode of spread of the disease,Dr. Bibb discusses the treatment of leprosy. He has duringthe past ten years employed a great many drugs in treatinga great many lepers ; and while he has seen some trulymarvellous results-results he was in nowise prepared towitness-follow the use of certain measures, he is not pre-pared to assert positively that he has brought about aradical cure of a single case of leprosy in either of its.

stages. Preparations of arsenic, mercury, and iodinewhen the disease was not associated with syphilis-it is

often thus associated-he has found to be worse than use-

less; but he has seen very marked improvement in all threestages of leprosy follow the systematic use of Chaulmoogra,oil internally and locally (associated with an improved dietaryand personal hygiene), and this in a sufficient number of casesto induce the belief that while in no sense a specific, asregarded by Berg6, if commenced early in the disease and con-tinued long enough and unintermittingly and associated withproper food and hygiene, it will cure the patient in manyinstances. Of course, there are many cases it will not

benefit, probably a large majority, but Dr. Bibb hasnever seen it properly used without notable improvementensuing, especially in the tuberculous stage. He has seentubercles absorbed, ansesthesia removed, eruptions dis-

appear, ulcers heal, pains quieted, suppleness and elasticityof the skin restored, and hope take the place of despairunder its use. He begins treatment with ten drops of the