753THE PRESIDENCY OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.

lately delivered to the cadets at Woolwich was both wiseand expedient in spirit and true in fact. He pointed outthat military discipline-which he likened to the spinal cordin the vertebrate organism, an injury to which weakened or

paralysed all the members of the body-could no longer bemaintained by fear alone, but by the development of a

spirit of confidence and sympathy.As to the health of the army, Mr. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

gave a most satisfactory report, and alluded to all that had

been done for soldiers of late years, more particularly underthe initiative of his predecessor. He specially cited, by wayof illustration, the new barrack accommodation provided forthe troops at Aldershot. There is no doubt that the im-

provements which have been effected at that station havebeen very great, and that what has been done for the

increased comfort of the soldier in other respects also hasnot been without its effect on the conduct and well-beingof the force stationed there ; but there is no finality in

barrack construction and hygiene, and good as the buildingsare, taken as a type, improvements in detail, or even in

design, will suggest themselves from time to time as newbarracks are built. While upon the subject of the health ofthe troops we wish that we could point to a decided andmarked improvement with regard to one source of in-

efficiency. The disablement of our soldiers from venereal

disease is largely in excess of that of continental armies,in which measures are taken to limit the spread of this

particular class of contagion.Speaking of the education of officers for the army, the

Secretary of State declared that "brain and nerve are whatwe require, and we should encourage them in whomsoever

they are found." Surely for a profession like that of armsanother quality is also necessary-physique. We hope that Ithe day may come when a competitive examination willbe competitive all round, and that the possessor of superior 1

physical qualities and robust health will score something on ]

that account; for, as it is at present, the country loses a great Imany young fellows who would make most capable officers 1by limiting the tests to "brain and nerve "-intellectual

acquirements-which are, after all, uncertain tests, and (

in themselves afford no indication of character or special I

fitness for the actual functions and practical duties of t

military life. The publication of the report of the committee 0

(

on the subject of these entrance examinations and the educa- -.tion of officers is awaited with much interest. With regard c

to what Mr. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN had to say about a

diminishing the expenses of army life most people are s

cordially in accord with him ; from start to finish, from fj

nthe military colleges onwards, the cost of living in the army, t

D

now that the service no longer taps exclusively the richer tclasses, is too great. F

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Annotations.

THE PRESIDENCY OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OFPHYSICIANS.

’" No equid nimie."

AFTER the transaction of the routine business at last

Monday’s meeting of the Royal College of Physicians, the

retiring President, Dr. Russell Reynolds, delivered theaddress customary on these occasions. In it he reviewed

the position of the College and gave a succinct accountof the proceedings of the past year. There are now onthe rolls 298 Fellows, 480 Members, and 5396 Licentiates,there having died during the past year 8 Fellows, 8 Mem-bers, and 35 Licentiates. The address referred in thefirst place to the transactions of the College with respect tothe Army Medical Department, and to the General MedicalCouncil ; allusion was also made to the changes introducedinto the curriculum for the examinations of the examiningboard in England-viz., the transference of pharmacology tothe third examination; the requirements of the Colleges asregards practical instruction in medicine, surgery, and mid-wifery ; and the practical examination in chemistry. TheJenks Memorial Scholarship had been established during theyear, the holders being preferably selected from among thosewho had been educated at Epsom College. The Presidentthen referred to the lectures delivered during the past year,to the regulations for the Membership Examination, andalluded with satisfaction to the honours that had beenconferred on Sir W. Broadbent, Sir W. 0. Priestley, and SirB. W. Richardson. The concluding part of his address con-sisted of obituary notices of the eight deceased Fellows-viz.,Dr. Wegg, Dr. Prance, Dr. Myers, Dr. Hitchman, Dr. GrailyHewitt, Dr. Hadden, Dr. Edis, and Sir Andrew Clark. Thetribute paid to the memory of his distinguished predecessor wascouched in graceful terms, and the sketch of his career wasnotable for its discrimination and for the appreciation of thecharacter of the late President. The Fellows must have feltthat the life-work of their active and energetic leader couldhardly have been more ably, justly, or eloquently reviewed.At the close of the address the ballot for President took

place, when it was found that 87 out of 89 votes had beencast for Dr. Russell Reynolds, who was thereupon inductedinto the office.

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THE COMPOSITION OF SEWER AIR.

MR. J. PARRY LAWS, :H’. 1. C., has presented to the maindrainage committee of the London County Council tworeports embodying the results of his investigations, under-taken at their instance, on the composition of sewer air. Herefers briefly to the experiments on the same subject con-ducted by Dr. Carnelly and Dr. Haldane, whose observationswere made in the main sewer of Westminster Palace and invarious sewers in Dundee. Their conclusions were that theair of sewers was much better than might have been

expected ; that the proportion of carbonic acid gas in sewerair was about twice, and that of organic matter about threetimes that in the outside air ; that the number of micro-

organisms was less in sewer air than in the outsideair at the same time ; that, as regards the impuritiesjust mentioned, the air of sewers was in a much bettercondition than the air of naturally ventilated schools,and, except as regards the organic matter, in a betterstate than that of mechanically ventilated schools; and,finally, that sewer air contained a much smaller number of

micro-organisms than the air in any class of house on whichthey had experimented. Mr. Parry Laws made his observa-tions on the King’s Scholars’ Pond Sewer, which runs fromPiccadilly to Buckingham Palace-road under the Green Park.He found that the micro-organisms of sewer air are relatedto the micro-organisms in the air outside, and not to those inthe sewage. In the air, both within and outside the sewer,the forms of micro-organisms present are almost entirelymoulds and micrococci, whereas, on the contrary, the micro-organisms of sewage are for the most part bacilli. Mr.Laws is of opinion that, in the absence of violent splashing,there is little or no reason to think that the micro-organismsof sewage become disseminated in the sewer air. In afurther series of experiments the conclusions alreadyarrived at were confirmed. He also investigated the

question as to whether an increase in the velocity of

754

the air current through the sewer affected the number ofmicro-organisms found in the sewer air; it was foundthat a considerable increase in the velocity of the air currentdid not produce an increase in the number of micro-organismsfound in the sewer air. He also found that the results of

experiments on large sewers hold good for small sewers. In

regard to the actual kinds of micro-organisms in sewer air,Mr. Laws supplies a table of those he identified. It is, heconsiders, specially noteworthy that two organisms present insewage in large numbers-the bacillus coli communis and themicrococcus ureas—were not found in sewer air; and he notesthe fact that organisms capable of liquefying gelatine were alsoalmost entirely absent. It is remarkable that all the micro-

organisms found in sewer air belonged to the non-pathogenicclass. It will be seen that Mr. Laws’s observations tend toshow that the organisms found in sewer air probably do notconstitute a source of danger to the health of human beings.He admits, however, that the evidence of sewer air havingsome causal relation to disease cannot be ignored, and sug-gests the possibility that the danger of sewer air may beindirect; that, for instance, it may contain some poisonouschemical substance capable of producing serious effects in

the presence of a large excess of carbonic acid.

VOICE PRODUCTION.THE Council of the British Medical Association have lately

directed a certain " Memorial on Voice Training " to be for-warded to public schools, universities, and other public insti- 1

tutions, at the instigation of the Section of Laryngology at .the meeting of the Association at Nottingham last year.One unfortunate consequence of this is that the memorial is

being largely used as an advertisement by the practitionersof a remarkable form of quackery, who, however, so farbelieve in themselves and their work that each is mainlyintent on teaching the only method of the old Italian schoolof singing, and denying that his fellow worker has any claimto similar privileges. Even we are favoured with communi-cations from professors of elocution, &c., teeming with

remarkable scientific justifications for their systems. Theyinstruct us how people should be taught to speak and sing bymeans of physiology, amplified with theories evolved from theprofessors’ own vocal experiences. As soon would one teach aboy to run with the help of an anatomical text-book ! We cannotrefrain from quoting a text-book on elocution recently placed inour bands:—’’ Physiologists tell us that those ventricles [of thelarynx] communicate with the brain ...... and they communi-cate with the spinal cord, and have for their function theexpansion and condensation of air ! " Far be it from us to

deprecate the proper training of the voice in all, whetherlikely to become professional voice-users or not. Nothing willtend so surely to the preservation of the beauties of the

language. But we would affirm that correct production is tobe taught on common-sense principles, such as using thelungs and making the lips, tongue, and teeth bear the onus ofarticulation. Teach the boys and girls to read aloud as wasdone in our parents’ days, and they will not need voice-trainers when they grow up. Speech is common-sense

science, thanks to the teachings of Graham Bell, AlexanderEllis, and others. Song is a pure art, which science has asyet failed to demonstrate. Yet what matter when every sing-ing master knows all about it, and that every other master iswrong. -

THE LIFE-SAVING SOCIETY.

IN less than one month of the summer of last year over400 verdicts of "accidentally drowned" were recorded inEngland alone, and the annual loss of life in the UnitedKingdom attributable to this cause is over 6000. Under

these circumstances a society that has for its object thepromotion of technical education in life-saving and resusci-tation of the apparently drowned should receive the cordial

support of the public. The Life Saving Society, of whichthe Duke of York, K.G., is honorary president, was estab-lished in 1891 with this main object in view, and theannual report for 1892-93 is a most satisfactory one. The

society has made every effort to induce schools, swim-

ming clubs, athletic clubs, the police, her Majesty’sforces, and the public generally to make the subject oflife-saving one of paramount importance and to widelydisseminate a knowledge which at any moment may prove ofinestimable value; and various national institutions and

organised societies, not only throughout the United King-dom, but also in India, Australia, and New Zealand, haverecognised the praiseworthy aims and objects of the

society. The illustrated poster containing detailed instruc-tion for the rescue and resuscitation of the apparentlydrowned, issued by the society, ought to be exhibited in

every public place of the English-speaking world, and theadmirable practical handbook on the methods of rescue,

release, and resuscitation drills should be in the hands of

every lover of the useful art of natation. The report, whichcontains valuable information respecting the formation of

classes, particulars of the national life-saving competitionfor 1894, &c., can be obtained at the offices of the society,3, Clarendon-square, London, N. W.

EPILEPSY AND ERRORS OF REFRACTION.

THE paper on this subject by Mr. Work Dodd recently readbefore the Ophthalmological Society, and which subsequentlyappeared in the winter number of Brain, is of such im.

portance and suggestiveness as to deserve more than the

passing notice which it has already received at our hands.lBriefly stated, it may be said to be a plea for the carefuexamination of the refraction in all cases of epilepsy and theprescription of suitable glasses in the cases in which con-siderable error is present. The plea is founded upon the resultsobtained by Mr. Work Dodd in 100 cases of epilepsy in whichthe plan has been followed. Precautions seem to have beentaken to obtain a physician’s diagnosis in each case, but evenwith such precaution it might have been well to furnish someparticulars as to the characters of the fits themselves,especially with reference to the important diagnostic signs oftongue-biting and relaxation of sphincters in order that

readers might see for themselves that the patients were reallysuffering from epilepsy. Everyone who has much experienceof "fits" knows what an extremely difficult thing it is in

certain cases to say whether they are epileptic or hysteroid,and for the purposes of such an inquiry as this it wouldhave been desirable to see that no doubtful case had creptin. We have raised this point, not in any spirit of carp-ing or unnecessary criticism, but because it behoves us, incircumstances in which the issues are so important, to pointout not only the strong points of the case but also its weak-nesses. Granting, however, that Mr. Work Dodd’s 100

patients were epileptics, he has at least clearly indicatedsome interesting points in which they differ as regards theirrefraction from normal individuals. Thus, in 50 "normal" "

patients it was found that 6 per cent. were emmetropic,70 per cent. simply hypermetropic, 2 per cent. simplymyopic, 16 per cent. astigmatic, while 6 per cent. sufferedfrom other errors of refraction. In the 100 epileptics,on the other hand, the corresponding percentages were 7, 42,6, 42, and 3. The prominent points brought out in comparingthese numbers are : (1) that among epileptics hypermetropiais present in 20 cases per cent. less than among normal

individuals, and (2) that astigmatism of all kinds occurs in26 cases per cent. more of epileptics. These, it will be seenso far as numbers are concerned, practically compensateeach other, so that refractive errors do not seem to be morecommon among epileptics than others, but only to be

1 THE LANCET. Feb. 17th. 1894.