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hence, even as their coming hither : Ripeness is all."When a colleague recently said he would like to discuss acase with me the patient’s doctor, querying the good of it,asked what contribution I could possibly make to thesolution of the problem; " only judgment, old man, onlyjudgment " was my colleague’s reply.

Ripeness is bound up with prestige, which also comesat last. But that, like some of the other happeningsto which I referred just now, isn’t an unmixed blessing.It brings a certain amount of publicity, for which, quiteunfairly, blame is attached,-not infrequently by thosewho haven’t got prestige themselves. I have more thanonce said that you cannot have prestige without a

certain amount of publicity, but you can have a largeamount of publicity with very little prestige.... Then,again, if you have prestige you must watch your step ;there are, for example, certain jokes which you mustn’tmake. I was introduced to a plethoric-looking manrecently, a fellow guest at a small dinner-party. Patting-an expansive chest he said " well you see I don’t needyou, doctor ". To which I replied " what makes youthink you are as well as you feel " And we sat downto dinner. That was Monday evening. On Wednesdayhe came to see me, looking, I thought, much older.It seemed an odd coincidence. When I told him that hisdoctor, in a brief letter, said that he didn’t know whyI was being consulted, my friend said, " but surely younoticed something the other evening ’I I haven’t hada moment’s peace since you said what you did. Itried to, get this appointment yesterday". I tried toreassure him and apologised for my feeble joke, but onlya careful overhaul would convince him, and, as I couldn’ttake a fee without risking a charge of touting for patients,I had wasted 40 minutes because of a thoughtlessremark....

ANOTHER TOAST

I mustn’t continue these meanderings. I once heardAlmroth Wright congratulate himself that his friendshad never found him out. I am in an even luckier

position : you, my friends, have found me out but haveforgiven me. I said that this evening was for me veryembarrassing. But it is also extraordinarily pleasant.For there is a better thing even than Medicine,-yes,MINISTER, even than Politics,—and that is Friendship.Without it life is a barren tree ; with it there is

" Winewhich never grew in the belly of the- grape ". It is notwithout significance that Cicero wrote his essay on

Friendship iri the same year that saw his Old Age....GENTLEMEN, I also have a toast; it is " Blessed be

Friendship, world without end

FEEDING THE OLD AND AILING

MANY people admitted to hospital need only rest,good food, and medical supervision, which could be givenat home if their circumstances permitted.

Dr. F. AVERY JONES, speaking on Jan. 18 at a confer-ence on special forms of catering for the aged, invalid,and infirm, arranged by the London Council of SocialService, put the proportion as high as 10 % of all admis-sions to a general hospital. Most of these people areold and-because they have no-one to help them preparemeals and look after themselves-neglected. Homehelps are scarce and shopping difficulties great in manyparts of the country. He suggested that a deliveryservice of cooked meals should be provided in everyborough, and that feeding-centres should be set up forthose in need of special diets : a preliminary survey inLondon factories, he said, showed that over half the menworking in them have, or have had, gastric or duodenalulcer. The Invalid Kitchens of London will advise works’canteens on the feeding of those who need special diets.

This is not such a difficult feat as might be supposed,for, as Miss ROSE SIMMONDS, dietitian to the BritishPostgraduate Medical School, pointed out, light fare

can be prepared from the food served to ordinarycustomers-the meat being minced, the vegetables sieved,and the steamed pudding served with sauce instead offruit. Simple adjustments can also be made, she claimed,to suit the needs of diabetics, the old, and the obese.She made several other practical suggestions : communalrestaurants might, for example, pack up snack lunchesfor young people short of time and money ; and pleasantrest-rooms might be provided where old and lonelypeople could meet and rest after their meal. Infirm orconvalescent people with no help in the home couldbe helped in two ways. Specially equipped coffee-stallsmight serve hot meals in side-streets near the homes ofsuch people ; and school buses, after delivering thechildren at school in the mornings, might be used atlunch-time to take old and infirm people to communalrestaurants. Vans equipped with thermostatic con-

tainers might take meals daily from the communalcentres to maternity cases, convalescents, and thechronic sick in their own homes-.At present-the costs of such services where they exist

are borne by voluntary bodies. The Invalid Kitchens ofLondon, for example, serve meals in six London boroughs,in only one of which the local authority gives help.The Council of Social Service, the Old People’s WelfareCommittee, the Red Cross, and the Women’s VoluntaryServices provide mobile services in eight other boroughs.Miss KATHLEEN PROUD, assistant secretary of theLondon Council of Social Service, said that in one boroughwhere the council runs a mobile service two-course inealsare sold for 8d. ; but the cost of maintaining the vansand the drivers’ wages come to more than the cost ofproviding the meals themselves. The van can onlyserve 25-30 lunches daily and the rest of the time it isidle. At least one metropolitan borough is providinga mobile meals’ service under its domestic- and home-helpscheme, and she suggested that if powers were moreclearly defined others would follow.

Mr. FRED MESSER, M.P., agreed that the expense ofthese services should be borne by local authorities,though he was in favour of keeping the valuable personalservices of voluntary workers as well.Lord AMULREE, who took the chair, remarked on the

great shortage of hospital beds; any arrangementwhich helps to keep people out of the hospitals just now,he said, is a valuable service to the community.

Medicine and the Law

Overdose of ParaldehydeANOTHER fatal accident has occurred through an

overdose of paraldehyde administered as a sedativeto patients in a mental hospital. Misunderstandingapparently arose because the dispensing departmenthad issued a bottle filled with pure paraldehyde andno instructions were contained on the label or were

otherwise issued to indicate that the bottle did notcontain a dilute solution. A medical officer was informedthat 4 drachms had been inadvertently given to twoof the patients. It later transpired, however, that themessage had been wrongly delivered: 2 fl. oz. had beengiven ; and, despite gastric lavage, artificial respiration,and oxygen, both patients died.The accident took place at a Lanarkshire hospital.

At the inquiry, which is the Scottish equivalent to theEnglish inquest, the fiscal said that by accident the twopatients had been given a dose 16 or 17 times largerthan the normal diluted dose. From the evidence itwas difficult, he said, to decide whether the bottle wasproperly labelled or not. The sheriff gave a formalverdict that death was due to accidental poisoning ;he agreed that the evidence was insufficient to establishwhether or no anyone had been at fault.A somewhat similar fatality from the use of paralde-

hyde occurred at a hospital in the west of England notmany weeks ago. There is no need to reiterate thataccidents of this kind can be averted only by constantcare and properly enforced system.