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were much appreciated. Mr. Wansey Bayly said thatthis society stood for the principle that it is immoral towithhold a scientific truth from the people the knowledge ofwhich will diminish disease, pain, and sorrow. He there-fore made an appeal to each member not to consider hisobligations as ceasing with the payment of his annual sub-scription, but to act as a centre for the dissemination ofknowledge, the increase of membership, and the collectionof funds.

Sir JAMES CRICHTON-BROWNE and the Rev. HUGHCHAPMAN having spoken to the report, Dr. J. H. SEQUEIRAmoved that it be adopted. This was seconded by Dr.R. A. LYSTER, and the adoption of the report wascarried unanimously, the CHAIRMAN taking the oppor-tunity of testifying to the zeal and hard work of Mr.

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Wansey Bayly.The meeting closed with the usual votes of thanks.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Diffcclty of the Dnblin Hospitals.AT present nearly all the voluntary hospitals in

Dublin are handicapped by heavy debts. While theirexpenses have nearly doubled their subscriptions havefallen off. Eleven of them, therefore, are uniting in ajoint appeal to the public for the sum of 100,000 topay off their debts. Sir Henry McLaughlin, whoorganised Red Cross appeals with great effect in

Ireland, has taken on the duty of honorary organiser,and it is his intention to inaugurate and advertisetheappeal by a fete to be held at Bale’s Bridge in October.A public meeting was held in Dublin last week toelicit support for the hospitals, and the plans ofthe organisers were announced by the Lord Chancellor,and Sir Henry McLaughlin and others. It must beadmitted that the attendance at the meeting was dis-appointing, and so far there is little evidence of publicinterest being aroused. But from the point of view ofthe hospitals the situation is critical. They cannotkeep their doors open unless they get solid financialsupport. Even the liquidation of their debts will be atbest a temporary relief. Their normal expenditurecannot again be brought within their normal means.Some new source of income must be tapped, and it is aquestion for those concerned in hospital management todecide whether to seek voluntary, municipal, or State aid.

It is interesting to note that the question of amalga-mation of the Dublin hospitals, much discussed insidethe profession last winter, is now being raised in laycircles. In a recent speech the Provost of TrinityCollege app 3aled to the hospital physicians and surgeonsto give definite guidance to the public as to whetherthey were in favour of amalgamation or not,. and thereis no doubt an answer will have to be given. Theremay, indeed, be doubt as to whether amalgamationwould cause any saving in money, but there can be nodoubt that it would give greater efficiency.

<S’M’ William Taylor’s Kni,ghthood.The profession of Dublin has learned with much

pleasure of the bestowal of the K.B.E. on ColonelWilliam Taylor, formerly President of the Royal Collegeof Surgeons in Ireland. He has been for many yearsone of the most prominent and active surgeons inDublin. He was President of the College during twoof the most strenuous years of the war. He has beenconsulting surgeon to the army in Ireland since earlyin the war, and he served abroad in the Dublin (83)General Hospital, the personnel of which he hadorganised at the invitation of the War Office. For hisservices in France he was mentioned in despatches andawarded the C.B.

The Hoicsing Problem.As a result of a recent inquiry held in Belfast, in an

application from the city council for power to borrow2,000,000 for the erection of houses, the Local Govern-ment Board has replied giving the corporation sanctionto raise a loan of 500,000.

Health Exhibition.

The Health Exhibition organised by the Women’sNational Health Association and the Belfast Council

of Social Welfare visited, during the week commencingMay 24th, the west side of the city of Belfast,and was located at the Foresters’ Hall, Divis-street,where Dr. R. J. Rowlette (Dublin) lectured on

"Physical Degeneration," showing by statistical andother evidence the risk of deterioration in physique;Dr. Prudence Gaffikin on " Child Welfare," illus-

trating the value from the practical work of welfarecentres ; and Professor St. Cl. Symmers on "Milk,"emphasising the importance of clean dairying andof pure milk. During the week beginning May 31st theexhibition moved to the east side of the city, where itwas housed in the Mountpottinger Y.M.C.A. Lectureswere delivered on three nights by Dr. W. Calwell on" Health in the Schools," who pointed out the deplor-able state of the primary school premises in Belfast, andshowed that, according to the opinion of the medicalofficer of health of Belfast, there were, out of a total of286, only 17 first-class schools. Of the remainder, 99were classified as " good," 89 as second-class, and 81as third-class, and the medical officer declared that asregards the latter nothing could be done. Mr. W. J.Gilliland, F.R.I.B.A., gave an address on "Housing," inwhich he condemned the Irish Local Government Boardplans of housing, spoke of existing streets of workingmen’s houses as " interminable rows of unmitigatedugliness," and criticised severely the labour leaders fornot allowing enough output. It was, he said, "not theworkmen but the loud-mouthed demagogues who wereto blame." Dr. H. L. McKisack lectured on " TheImportance’of a Healthy Mouth."June 8th.

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PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Fixation of Cyanides by Tnberculin.Two Lyons doctors, MM. Cordier and Morenas, have

just discovered a new reaction of tuberculin, which mayhave an interesting bearing on the diagnosis of tubercu-losis. They have proved that tuberculin fixes cyanides.When 3 drops of a 1 per cent. solution of iron perchloride,and 25 drops of a 1 in 100 solution of tuberculin, areadded to a solution of 1 in 10,000 potassium ferrocyanide,the anticipated deep blue colour is not obtained. With10 drops of tuberculin the colour becomes grey, andwith 5, pale blue. No other human protein appears topossess this power. Applied to tuberculous individuals,this reaction would seem superior to the albuminreaction of the sputum. It would be very useful in theexamination of cerebro-spinal fluid in suspected tubercu-lous meningitis.

Researches on the Natitre of Cancer.Interesting progress appears to have been made in

the researches on the nature of cancer now beingcarried out in the laboratory of the College de Franceby M. Champy. Repeating the well-known experimentof Carrel, he has kept alive, and even in activemitosis, fragments of living human tissue in specialmedia, confirming the fact that the anatomical elementin cultivation reproduces indefinitely cells of the sametype, kidney cells producing kidney cells, epithelialcells producing epithelial cells, and so forth. However,on prolonging the experiment he has found thatafter passing through a large number of culturesthe new cells lose their specific characters andbecome young indifferent cells, such as those seenin cancer. Cancer would thus seem to be not a

parasitic disease, but a definite disturbance of thenormal mode of regeneration of cells, and this wouldexplain the frequent appearance of cancer at the siteof an old scar or of a chronic inflammatory process.M. Champy has been able to obtain cells of a malig-nant type after long cultivation of cells from a benigntumour. It would appear that in the normal statethis proliferation of new cells is controlled by an

inhibitory power which disappears with age or in

susceptible subjects.Antityphoid Vaccination of Children.

Professor Vincent, of the School of Military Studies atVal-de-Grace, to whom is due the use of antityphoid

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vaccine prepared by sterilisation of typhoid bacilli byether, organised during the war antityphoid vaccinationof the whole army with a brilliant success, for, from theyear 1918, the military typhoid mortality in France hasbeen practically nil among 8 to 9 million mobilised men.Even at the present time cases of typhoid fever arerarely seen in the civil hospitals, and then almostalways amongst the wives and children who havenot undergone vaccination. The malady, however,has not yet disappeared from France, and itflourishes still in the South, particularly in Provence.M. Vincent concludes that in order to bring aboutthe extinction of the scourge it is necessary to enforceantityphoid vaccination on the civil population, as hasbeen done for vaccination against small-pox; it is

necessary to vaccinate preferably in infancy, the infantbearing better the vaccination than the adult, with avery much slighter febrile reaction. The rule of re-vaccination at the end of three years should not betaken as absolute, as M. Vincent has been able tofollow up the cases of soldiers vaccinated in Moroccoin 1911 and who in 1920 still showed, at least half thenumber, an absolute immunity. When a person hasbeen properly vaccinated, says M. Vincent, it isefficacious for a considerable time, and those who havebeen long ago vaccinated and have not been revaccinatedwithin the recognised period, and who contract afreshtyphoid fever, only present a mild type of the disease.All children ought to be vaccinated, at least in districtswhere cases of typhoid fever still occur. !

Anaphylactic T7ogniting in an Infant Treated byInjections of Milk.

An interesting observation has just been reported atthe Societe de Pediatrie by M. Genevrier. A newly-borninfant exhibited an absolute intolerance to milk, whichhe vomited immediately. A dozen attempts to feedwith milk of various sorts (concentrated, butter-milk,whey, human milk, and so forth) led to more or lesssevere attacks of fever, vomiting, and diarrhoea. Thegeneral decline was very rapid, when it was decided togive three subcutaneous injections, one every other day,of 8,16, and 30 minims of sterilised cow’s milk. The thirdinjection was followed by a general and local reactionof the most violent description, with rigors, vomiting,and rapid alternations of temperature ; but from thismoment the infant tolerated milk by the mouth inprogressive doses of 5, 10, and 30 g. a day, eventuallyreaching 300 to 350 g. The resumption of milk feedingbrought about a rapid increase of weight of more than2 kg., and a notable amelioration in the general condition.At the moment the baby will tolerate any sort of milk.June 5th.

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Public Health.REPORTS OF SCHOOL MEDICAL OFFICERS.

Aberdeen.&mdash;In the City of Aberdeen the number ofchildren attending the public schools of all kinds duringthe year ending June 30th, 1919, was 30,879, of whom26,093 were pupils at the 28 primary schools. Of these,9335 were systematically examined in detail. Aninteresting table is given by Dr. George Rose, theschool medical officer, showing the average heights andweights of the children in the year under review ascompared with similar observations in 1912-13, beforethe war. Amongst boys, in two of the three age-groups(5 and 7 years), there was found in 1918-19 to be anincrease in the average height as compared with thecorresponding groups in 1912-13, the increases in thesegroups averaging 0’4 and 0’2 inch respectively at theearlier ages of 5 and 7 years; while at 13 years old theaverage height wa’5 0’2 inch less than in the pre-waryear. Among girls there was a decrease in averageheight in the 5 and 7 year age-groups, the averagedecrease being 0’2 inch in each group ; while in the

13-year children the average height was exactly thesame as in the pre-war year. As regards weight,among the boys there was an improvement in eachgroup, the increase being 0’4, 0’3, and 0’4lb. respec-

tively. - The girls, on the other hand, showed a lessenedweight in each group, the average drop being 0’1, 0’2and 0’5 lb. in the three age-periods respectively. Theseobservations apply to 9261 children examined in 1919,and presumably a somewhat similar number in 1913.If similar comparisons were made throughout thecountry valuable data would be obtained as to theinfluence of war conditions on the nutrition of thejuvenile population." There seems no reason for believing that the diminished con-

sumption of sugar has been prejudicial to health, or that themargarine, which contains a certain amount of animal fat, is not asatisfactory substitute for butter. As the present heights andweights of children compare favourably with those of pre-wartimes, we may conclude not only that the food allowance forchildren was sufficient in the amount of proteids, carbohydrates,and fats, but that there was in it a sufficient amount of vitamine,which is imperative for the health, nutrition, and growth of theyoung." The condition as regards nutrition was considered to beeither " average " or " above the average " in 94’5 percent., and this in spite of the fact that from one to fourdecayed teeth were present in 60’2 per cent., and in27’9 per cent. there were as many as five or more

decayed. Delicate children, such as those suffer-

ing from malnutrition or anaemia, or non-infectioustuberculous disease, have been sent to the LinnmoorHome, where they have a wide expanse of moor inwhich to play, and also to find shade and shelter. Itwas found that a stay of four to eight weeks generallyadded between 3 and 4 lb. weight to each child-asgood a result as may be obtained by a six months’ stayin an ordinary open-air home. Great improvement hastaken place in the cleanliness of the Aberdeen school-children, which formerly had been very defective; andnot only the children, but the parents and the homeshave been brought up to a decent level in this regard.The number of verminous children in the group of poorerschools has been reduced from 15’3 per cent. to 1’5 percent., and actual dirtiness of the skin has fallen from15’7 to 0’9 per cent. It is evident that the educationaland medical authorities of Aberdeen have effectedimmense improvements in the last few years, and thereis good reason to believe that these improved conditionswill continue.

Bootle.-The county borough of Bootle has 12,993children on the roll in the council and denominationalschools, with an average attendance of 11,320. Duringthe calendar year 1919 3683 children were inspected atthe routine examinations. The number with some

physical defect reached the very high percentage of72’7, the most numerous ailments found being defectivevision and squint (13’4), enlarged tonsils (7’2), lungdisease (7’1), malnutrition (6’8), adenoids (2’2), andorganic heart disease (2’2). The total percentage ofdefects, high as it is, was less than in any of the

preceding four years, when it varied between 80’1 in1918 and 87’5 in 1916 ; but was more than in 1914,when it was only 66’5. Dr. Allen Daley, the schoolmedical officer and medical officer of health, drawsattention in this report to what he very rightly calls" the alarming increase in the number of unvaccinatedschool children." The entrants found to be unvac-cinated in 1914 were 9’7 per cent. of the total numberexamined; the proportion has increased to 12’6 in 1918and 14’1 in 1919. The responsibility for this neglectlies in the first instance upon the parents ; but thelocal vaccination authority cannot escape some share inthis. Ultimate responsibility rests with the legislature.A comparison of the heights and weights of the childrenin the year under report with similar observations,before the war, in 1913 shows that amongst boys therewas a very slight increase in the average height in the5-year old group (103’8, compared with 103’6 centi-metres), that of the 12-year old group (135’5) beingslightly less than in the former year (136’1). Amonggirls there was a similar but larger increase in the5-year olds (103’3, compared with 102’4 centimetres),but a decrease in the 12-year olds (137’3, compared with138’0 centimetres). As regards weight, the 5-year oldboys averaged 17’5 kilos (compared with 17’7 in 1913),but the 12-year old boys averaged 31’6, compared with31’1 kilos in 1913. Among girls, the 5-year olds averaged17’2 (compared with 17’1) and the 12-year olds 32’2