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Proxy Votes In The Elections At The Royal Medical Benevolent CollegeAuthor(s): Edward BarberSource: The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 19 (May 9, 1857), p. 398Published by: BMJStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25191286 .

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BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL.] ASSOCIATION INTELLIGENCE. [MAY 9, 1857. "

cso c iEati' n Ijnteti vrvt c BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:

ANNUAL MEETING.

THE Annual Meeting of the BRITISII MEDICAL ASSOCIATION will be holden at Nottingham, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and

Thursday, the 28th, 229th, and 30th of July next.

PHILIP H. WILLIAMS, General Secretary. Worcester, May 1857.

BRANCH MEETINGS TO BE HELD.

NAME OF BRANCH. PLACE OF MEETING. DATE.

METROP. COUNTIES. 37, Soho Square, Tues., May [Ordinary Meeting.] London. 12, 4 P.M.

SOUTH MIDLAND. George Hotel, Thurs., May [Annual Meeting.] Northampton. 21, 2 P.M.

EAST ANGLIAN. Norfolk Hotel, Friday, June [Annual Meeting.] Norwich. 12, 1 P.M.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR.

ALL letters or communications for the JOURNAL should in future be addressed to Dr. WYNTER, Coleherne Court, Old

Brompton, S.W. Letters regarding the business department of the JOURNAL,

and corrected proofs, should be sent to 37, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C.

ADM1ISSION OF MEMBERS, AND PAYMENT OF SUBSCRIPTIONS.

THE General Secretary of the British Medical Association

begs to call the attention of members to the Laws regarding the ADMISSION of MEMBERS, and the PAYMENT of their SUB SCRIPTIONS.

" Admission of Members. Any qualified medical practitioner, not disqualified by any bye-law, who shall be recommended as eligible by any three members, shall be admitted a member at any time by the Committee of Council, or by the Council of any Branch."

"' Subscriptions. The subscription to the Association shall be One Guinea annually; and each member, on paying his sub

scription, shall be entitled to receive the publications of the Association of the current year. The subscription shall date from the 1st January in each year, and shall be considered as due unless notice of withdrawal be given in writing to the

Secretary on or before the 25th of December previous." Either of the following modes of payment may be adopted: 1. Payment by Post-Office Order to the Treasurer (Sir C.

Hastings, M.D., Worcester), or to the undersigned. 2. Payment to the Secretary of the Branch to which the

member belongs. 3. Members residing in the Metropolis and vicinity can make

their payments through the publisher of the BRITISH MEDICAL

JOURNAL, Mr. Thomas John Honeyman, 37, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W. C.

PHILIP H. WILLIAMS, General Secretary. Worcester, May 1857.

(b9xtfr's rte JUT* DISEASES OF FILE-CUTT E S.

LETTER FROM T. H. JACKSON, M.D.

Sm,-In November last, I had the honour of corresponding with Dr. J. Law, of Sheffield, on the subject of plumbism. A

portion of his excellent remarks I think worthy of a place in

your JOURNAL. I am, etc., THOMAS HAYES JACKSON.

Darlington, April 13th, 1857.

Dr. Law states: " My experience in this matter is derived chiefly from the

treatment of file-cutters, who use lead in their trade-a piece of this metal being interposed between the anvil and the file.

At every stroke of the hammer, a little dust is seen to arise; which, on chemical examination, is found to consist of metallic lead and lead in the state of oxide.

" The file-cutters have occasionally, but only very seldom, colicaplumbariorunm; but they suffer from very partial para lysis, chiefly of the fingers, wrist, and sometimes of one arm.

The condition of plumbism in these artisans is almost always indicated by the dirty-blue line on the free edge of the gums,

which show a tendency to leave the teeth. They are generally cured, and always much benefited by ceasing for a time to

work, by blisters, and tonics, particularly the sulphuric acid. " The men employed at our lead-works are obnoxious to

fearful paroxysms of colic, which is relieved by large doses of

opium; but is always aggravated and apt to be associated with

mania, if, unhappily, venesection be employed. Even the con

stipation, depending, as it does, on spasms, is best treated with

opium. "The best prophylactic treatment consists, I think, in the

strictest observance of cleanliness, always eating with clean

hands, and in drinking, ordinarily, water, to each gallon of which two or three drops of sulphuric acid have been added."

PROXY VOTES IN THE ELECTIONS AT THE ROYAL

MEDICAL BENEVOLENT COLLEGE.

LETTER FROM EDWARD BARBER, ESQ.

SIR,-The approach of the annual election of pensioners and scholars to the Royal Medical Benevolent College offers an

opportunity to direct the attention of the subscribers to the

practice of transferring votes on the day of election by means of proxies.

For instance, A having promises of votes more than sufficient to ensure his own success, a negociation is commenced with the friends of c, and as many proxy votes as possible are

obtained, and placed in the hands of a friend who attends the election. As soon as it is quite certain that A is safe, the

superfluous votes are handed over to c, whose election is

perhaps thus gained, to the exclusion of B, who, but for this kind of traffic, might have been successful. I think it will be

generally admitted that such a practice is subversive of a fair and open election by the subscribers at large; and places in the hands of a few of those who are able to attend on the day of election a power which is likely to be prejudicial to the interests of those candidates especially whose friends are few and uninfluential-those, in fact, who have the greatest claim

upon the sympathy and care of the society. I think the remedy is not difficult.

Proxy votes only can be dealt with in this way. Why not

require 'that every balloting-paper shall be returned by post directly to the secretary, or be delivered personally by the voter on or before the day of election?' This would allow the attendance of all who might wish to be present at the election, and would prevent the undue influencing of the elections to

which I refer. For ladies, proxies are quite unnecessary, where the voting is by balloting-papers.

We all know how soon abuses are established in all cha ritable institutions, and how they are strengthened by age. If the practice is not checked, proxy votes will be more and more

sought after, all fair competition will soon be at an! end, and the chances of success of the comparatively friendless will be diminished from year to year, and finally extinguished.

I am, etc. EDWARD BARBER.

Stamford, May 1st, 1857.

THE PRETUBERCULAR STAGE OF PHTHISIS.

LETTER FROM EDWARD SMITH, M.D., LL.B.

SIR,-I fear that your readers will think that there is " some

thing wrong" both "here" and " there " when I state that the

very case which Dr. Markham adduced at the Pathological Society, as opposed to the theory of a pretubercular stage of

phthisis, was diagnosed by Dr. Markham himself to be one of

phthisis. This was not stated by him at the Pathological Society, as I think, in fairness, it should have been; neither

does it appear in the abstracts furnished (by himself, I pre. sume) to the journals; but it is distinctly stated in the detailed

statement of the case in your number of April 4th. He there

writes that, "taking into consideration the general condition of

the child, the peculiar situation of the bruit, the absence of all

symptoms of cardiac disease, and the possible presence of a

left clavicular dull percussion-sound, I formed the diagnosis 398

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