171

the outcome of "having gone through the mill" and ofexperience of " where the shoe pinches" ; nor can they fullygauge " the general medical requirements of the army theyare invited to consider" when deprived of the only meanscapable of eliciting the needs--the evidence of those who ihave "borne the burden and heat of the day." We have

cheard much lately of War Office reformation based on tbusiness principles, yet in respect of the medical section the c

primary essential to success-probing of the defects and c

laying bare the wants and opposing conditions to ,efficient work by interrogation of those having prac- ]tical knowledge and experience of details-is ignored. ]And this committee, on whom so much publicinterest is centred and on whose conclusions so muchof future army results depend for good or ill will work in

private and "the terms of reference" placed before them it is" not proposed to publish

" t

Well, Sirs, this committee is formed for the purpose of re-

dressing the past and preventing the recurrence of the com-plaints which have given it birth, yet it must be apparent toanyone who glances over the past 30 or 40 years that themilitary authorities might have retained the goodwill of theprofession which it had in 1860-61 and obtained an efficientbody of professional men by making the conditions palatableto men of good standing and such as would permit of efficientperformance of the duties placed upon them, and so haveobviated the present necessity for action ; but what do thefacts of the past 30 or 40 year:,> reveal but a condition ofaffairs, excluding from the purview the formation of the

Royal Army Medical Corps, calculated to alienate themen whom the country required and to oppose efficientorganisation and work. Any time during ,that perioda well-contented department would have advertised itself,and it would only have required the War Office tomake its numerical wants known to have met with the

response from the profession which it obtained in the early"sixties" ; but so far from this condition pertaining we knowthat the contrary was the fact and the results we see in thenecessity for the present committee. I venture to say that fewif any thinking members of the department during the periodmentioned had the faintest belief in the existence of awish on the part of the military authorities for a strong andefficient medical service-indeed, their acts negative such aconclusion ; and when the past and the present are takentogether the hope of a thoroughly well-organised and well-contented corps capable of performing satisfactorily the im-portant army duties placed upon it grows small indeed. Inthe past it is quite certain that the responsibility for thedefects of the department, including the shortcomings in thepresent war, rests with the War Office sections which havedetermined the conditions under which the work had to be,done, and it is to be desired that in the future it will be bornein mind in assessing responsibility how insignificant a partthe Army Medical Service played in the present in formulat-ing the conditions necessary for its vitality and efficiency.Incleed, the studied indifference to its wishes and voiceconstitutes the worst feature in respect to its future well-

being.I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

FRANCIS H. WELCH, F.R.C.S. Eng.,Lee, S.E., July 15th, 1901. Surgeon-Colonel, A.M.S. (retired).

THE GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCILELECTION.

To the Editors of THE LANCET. ISIRS,—The Council of the British Medical Association

having kindly permitted a meeting to be held at Cheltenhamduring the annual week it has been arranged to hold ameeting at St. Mary’s Hall on Friday morning-, August 2nd,at 9.15 A. M. All the Direct Representatives of the profession

will be invited to attend and to speak on medical politics,and the same courtesy will be extended to all gentlemenwho intend to become candidates. The meeting will be opento all members of the profession, whether members of theAssociation or not. As it is probable that many gentlemenwill desire to speak a time-limit will be fixed.

I shall be glad to receive communications from anymember of the profession who is desirous of taking part in themeeting. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

T. GARRETT HORDER.32, Windsor-place, Cardiff, July 16th, 1901.

VELDT SORES.To the -Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,--I am reported in THE LANCMT of July 13th, p. 82,in the account, of the meeting of the Pathological Societyof London held on July 3rd, as saying that the coccus ofthe veldt sore would grow in a moist heat of 86° C., in Ldry heat of 110° C., and it had retained all its virulence in adry film for 61 (lays." This should read the coccuswould survive and grow after being subjected for fiveminutes to moist heat of 86° C., dry heat 110° C., or

prolonged drying for 61 days.I am. Sirs. vours faithfully.

Middlesex Hospital, July 16th, 1901. N. BISHOP HARMAN.

"BRITISH MEDICAL MEN AND GERMANWATERING-PLACES."

Tu the Editors of THE LANCET.’ SIRS,-I read with a mixed feeling of interest your corre-spondent’s article about British Medical Men and German

Watering-places. I wonder how many of the gentlemen whocarefully inspected these watering-places have inspected inthe same manner the watering-places at home.

I also have paid visits to most of the German watering-places before I wrote my work on " Sea Sickness and HealthResorts," but I am glad I did not neglect to visit the

English watering-places first. I maintain that the

majority of cases sent to German watering-places woulddo much better if sent to watering-places at home, besidessaving themselves great fatigue, expense, and many of thesocial disadvantages associated with these German watering-places.The majority of the cases which are sent or go to Germany

for Schott’s treatment return without any benefit and wouldimprove much better under ordinary treatment at home onaccount of the cases being unsuitable for Schott’s treatment.

’ A German doctor in conversation once said to me that thel English doctors were always grumbling about the professiont being so poor, yet, he said, "you send all your rich patientsabroad and keep all the poor ones at home." There is aL good deal of common sense in this remark. I think a medical1 man should always consider whether there is not an English

-

watering-place where he can send his patient in preference-

to sending the patient abroad; further, if he is not acquainted1 with the properties of any springs, let him write to one ofe the local men and he will be sure to receive a courteous replye giving him every information.e I should very much like to see the faces of a number ofe German doctors if it was proposed to them to come and visiteour watering-places with a view of learning their advantagestand sending their patients. I am sure it would be a study.ê- There are, I know, certain diseases that are more benefited

’

’. by certain German waters, and I further know that there aree a certain class of people who will go to German watering-1- places, but I protest against sending our patients over whole-

sale and forgetting we have watering-places at home.I am. Sirs. vours truly.

I Manchester-square, W., July 15th, 1901. J

THOMAS DUTTON.

"THE CONTAMINATION OF POST-OFFICES."

To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,-With reference to the letters which have recentlyappeared on this subject in THE LANCET it cannot be tooclearly understood that it is maintained by those who areopposed to the present action of the Postal Telegraph Clerks’Association that if the course suggested by that associationwere adopted it could supply no guarantee that any needfulsanitary alterations in post-office buildings would be carriedout.

Before, however, the assertions made by your corres-

pondents can be accepted as evidence of their aptitude tomould publit opinion on these matters it would be well thatthe public should be enlightened in the very numerousinaccuracies with which their letters abound. InMr. Belderson’s letter a very strong point is endeavouredto be made from Mr. Balfour’s statement on June 7th in theHouse of Commons that every one of the Tweedmouth recom-dations had been carried out. A careful perusal of his letter

172 - -. - ’oJ ..... - --.- - ----.- --,

discloses most extraordinary confusion on the part of iiwriter who in his numerous references to the proceedingbefore Lord Tweedmouth’s Committee has apparently entirelfailed in distinguishing between the report of that corrmittee and the evidence which was submitted to it. LoriTweedmouth’s Committee did not in its report state tha"much still requires to be accomplished before the postoffice buildings of the country will be placed in a universall;satisfactory condition as regards their sanitation," nor didit ’’ lay down several canons for the guidance of the officials.’On the contrary, the following was its report and so im

portant is this matter that I trust you will pardon me foquoting it in extenso :-Sanitary arrangements.-A good deal of evidence was given as to the

alleged insanitary condition of certain post-offices. No doubt in somefew cases owing to the rapid development of post-office work and tll(

consequent increase of the staff the offices may not he in all respect:satisfactory, but the Post Office appears to us to take all possible step;to remedy such cases, and it is kept acquainted with the actual con.dition of the large post-offices throughout the United Kingdom by annual reports from its local medical officers. A large number of theseofficers have furnished us with reports on the offices which they inspect,and these reports appear to us to be on the whole very satisfactory..

Again, as further evidence of the want of accuracy onthe part of those who are pioneering this movement for thePostal Telegraph Clerks’ Association, reference is made byMr. Belderson to the knowledge of Dr. Ransom of the

unsatisfactory condition of the new Nottingham post office.I am in a position to state that it is known that inquiry wasmade of Dr. Ransom in connexion with certain statementswhich he had seen fit to make and that it was found he hadabsolutely no personal knowledge of the condition of that

building beyond the very limited one of the public office,upon which evidence it transpired he had based his assertions.

Again, with regard to Mr. Garland’s allegations inTHE LANCET of June 29th, p. 1860, as to the ex-

cessive prevalence of tubercle amongst telegraphists andhis attributing it to the insanitary conditions of post-office buildings, it is worthy of note that the medicalofficers have for years interested themselves in this subjectand only recently have collected statistics concerningit. These statistics just issued reveal that this diseaseexists only to a very limited degree amongst all grades ofpostal employes, and that its greatest incidence is found tobe not on the telegraphists but on the letter-carriers. Afeature exhibited by these statistics which in the presentagitation should not be lost sight of is that in a con-

siderable number of cases the faulty dwellings andhabits of the men have been held to have been provocativeof the disease, and in conclusion this impels me to raise thequestion, Do these men who are now making such urgentdemands of the Government and on the public purse striveto maintain as high a standard in the hygienic conditions oftheir homes and home life as that they now insist upon asessential when engaged in their work for the public ? .’ I fearnot. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,July 13th, 1901. _____________’ P. INI. 0.

NOTES FROM INDIA.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

Yhe Plague Epidemic.-The Famine.-An Invasion of Locusts.THE mortality from plague for the whole of India has

further declined from 847 in the previous week to 683 forthe past seven days. The Bombay districts seem to remainstationary. In Bengal the disease has rapidly subsided and inthe affected districts only a very few cases are now reported.In Calcutta the deaths are only about 20 per week. In Bombaycity also there is a distinct improvement. I have previouslyremarked on the similarity of course pursued by the severaloutbreaks in these two cities, but Calcutta has never been soseverely attacked as Bombay. With each year, however,there has been an increase in Calcutta. In the 1889outbreak there were 1336 seizures and 1223 deaths inaddition to 835 suspicious cases. In the 1900 outbreakthere were 7897 seizures and 7373 deaths. This year’soutbreak has brought 8135 seizures with 7410 deaths.The deaths from plague have almost entirely ac-

counted for the excess in the general mortality, showingthat’the system adopted for discovering and reporting plaguedeaths must be fairly accurate. This result has not been

arrived at by calling every case plague which cannot be putdown to any definite disease, as has been done in manyplaces visited by the epidemic, but by detailed examination

.

L_ _ _ _

-, _,.-.

of the reports of the medical oflicers into the history of everydeath.

’

I

The famine returns for last week show an increase of

14,000, of which 12,700 were in the British districts ofBombay. The total under relief at the present time amountsto 520,000 persons.A large part of India has recently been subjected to

an invasion of locusts. Swarms have been seen fromBeluchistan on the west to Assam on the east. In somedistricts they have merely passed over without doing anydamage ; in others slight injuries to the crops haveresulted ; and in a few places considerable destructionhas been experienced. The danger is not so muchfrom the mature insect as from the young. The

places where the swarms settle and lay their eggs are

always the chief sufferers. The plan generally adopted isto plough the land and thus to bury the eggs, but wherethese have hatched and the young, wingless hoppers havecommenced by their voracious feeding to clear every eatableplant, it is necessary to dig trenches, to drive the immatureinsects into them, and then to bury them, or to strew theaffected land with straw soaked in petroleum and to set fire toit. It is anticipated that unless this is done on an extensivescale for the present visitation enormous destruction of cropswill result. Some of the papers are already calling forGovernment help in the matter. In some districts numbersof dead locusts have been discovered, and they appear tohave died from a worm (?) disease, as the thoraces of theinfected insects are infested with maggots. These specimenshave been sent to Calcutta for examination. Perhaps, afterall, nature will provide a remedy.June 29th.

__________________0

MANCHESTER.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Electric Wire Fatality.

THE electric tramways in Manchester have claimed theirfirst victim. The deceased, a man in the employ of thecorporation, was assisting in the changing of an "anchorwire." He went up a ladder, which was not part of his

duty, and touched a "live wire. ’I His fellow workman hearda cry and looking round saw deceased with fire comingout of his hands in the act of falling from the top ofthe post," which he had reached by climbing the ladder.He fell about 22 feet, alighting on his head. He wastaken to the infirmary where he died soon afterwards.The point that was brought out at the inquest which washeld on July 12th was that ignorance often, and careless-ness far too often, bring about these accidents. It is theold story, familiarity with danger inducing disregard of it.As regards warnings, there was some uncertainty as to theman having had any warning of danger. The electrical

engineer for the overhead electrical equipment said that theman had not been personally warned by him. He left it to theforeman. In this case the foreman left it to another man,who in his turn almost certainly failed to warn the deceased.The engineer said that he should ’’ accept the coroner’srecommendation to warn all the workmen specifically."The invisibility of the danger makes caution the more

needful, so it is to be hoped that the coroner’s recommenda-tion will be carried out. Overhead-wire dangers were

well illustrated in another wav at Bolton on July 22nd." The trolley-head of a car got fast in the span-wireand the force swung round the bracket-arm of a street-

pole, with the result that over 100 yards of overheadequipment fell with a terrific crash and illuminated the street.There were some miraculous escapes from the live wires."The system which allows of such incidents as these isnot perfect.

Meeting of the Dwellings Improvement Society.On July llth a meeting was held of the newly formed

Citizens’ Committee for the Improvement of UnwholesomeDwellings and Surroundings of the Poor," Mr. T. C. Horsfallpresiding. In spite of its cumbrous title the society maydo good, for its objects are unexceptionable. But the multi-

plication of societies may go too far, and the strength ofthe forces opposed to the disease-producing conditions ofour towns may be weakened by their being broken up intoguerilla bands. The objects of this society are all embracedby the Manchester and Salford Sanitary Association, of