34

poetic temperament has disabilities tending to encumber the iphysician. The poet’s qualities are in constant strife with 1

reticence. The physician, it has been well said, must havenot only sense but reticence. Confidence in the inviolabilityof confidences is an essential element of a patient’s trust inhis medical man. Stern must be the control which the

poetic physician exercises over his natural tendencies, for

reticence and the poetic temperament are natural foes. Thematter-of-fact man may lay this balm to his soul, that if hecannot be a great physician at least he is much more easilya harmless one than his fellow with the great possibilities -and great disabilities-that accompany the poetic tempera-ment.

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THE BOARD OF TRADE AND THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS.

ON June 18th a deputation from the Institute of Elec-

trical Engineers was received by Mr. Gerald Balfour, Pre-

sident of the Board of Trade. The deputation, which in-cluded amongst its number Lord Kelvin and Sir Michael

Foster, urged that something should be done to remove

impediments which they stated stood in the way of theindustrial development of electricity. One of their chief

grievances appeared to be the fact that local authorities

possess the power to oppose, and do often actively oppose,electrical enterprises which they, rightly or wrongly, thinkwould be disadvantageous to the people who live in thedistricts which they represent, and the further fact that

Parliament frequently listens to the expression of opiniongiven by local bodies concerning local interests. Mr.

Gerald Balfour pointed out that the number of vestedinterests existing in an old country is necessarily greaterthan that in a newly-populated one and that for that

reason the rapid developments possible in a sparsely popu-lated area cannot take place in London. The President of

the Board of Trade was unable to promise that there wasany prospect of immediate legislation which would facilitatethe extension of the industrial application of electricity. A

delay in this question is not altogether a matter for regret.At the present time the risk to life to which those engaged inthe application of electricity to trade purposes are exposedhas not received sufficient attention. A committee appointedby the Home Office recommended that a number of regula-tions should be made for the protection of those engaged inthe work and the regulations advised were made chieflyon the opinion of Professor C. V. Boys and of other well-

known electricians. Since the report of the committeewas published experience has proved that exposure to a

current of electricity is a source of greater danger thansome professional electricians supposed. Mr. Hamilton P.

Smith, in his chapter on "Electric Generating Works,"which forms part of the book edited by Dr. Thomas Oliveron " Dangerous Trades," 1 deals fully with this question andgives examples of cases in which fatal results have occurredfrom exposure to electric currents which, according to theprevious teaching of electricians, should not have producedlethal results. On the other hand, from several papers readbefore the Institution of Electrical Engineers on Feb. 27th,1902, it would appear, according to their authors, that thedangers of electric shock are generally exaggerated. One

paper was published in our issue of March 8th, 1902, in whichthe author, Mr. F. B. Aspinall, made some valuable sug-gestions as to treatment in case of shock. In a leadingarticle in the same issue we pointed out that the question ofthe mode of death by electric shock was not fully settled,although there was much to support the view that the heartis the most susceptible of the vital organs and that death

I1 Dangerous Trades: the Historical, Social, and Legal Aspects of

Industrial Occupations as Affecting Health; by a number of Experts.Edited by Thomas Oliver, M.A. Durh., M.D. Glasg., F.R.C.P. Lond.London: 1902.

from electric shock is very often death from arrest of

the heart’s beat. Artificial respiration should therefore

always be made use of. Dr. Oliver’s recently-publishedbook has already been referred to in laudatory terms inthe columns of THE LANCET,2 and the chapter on ElectricGenerating Works will be found a most instructive one,

although it is somewhat full of technicalities. At the

present moment we are only concerned to point out thatit is necessary in the public interest that the dangers ofstrong electric currents should be appreciated and that

adequate precautions should be taken for the protection,not only of those engaged in the trade, but of all

those who might suffer from the absence of sufficient

protection from highly charged wires in the streets.

It is due to the medical department of the Board of Tradeto point out that the staff is thoroughly alive to the import-ance of the subject and it is satisfactory to note that Dr.Arthur Whitelegge in his recently issued report3 congratu-lates the Board on the appointment of an electrical inspector,Mr. G. S. Ram, M.Inst.E.E., whose term of office com-menced on May lst.

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THE DINNER OF THE OBSTETRICIANS AND

GYNÆCOLOGISTS OF THE EMPIRE.

SIR JAMES GRAHAM, lecturer on midwifery at the Uni-versity of Sydney, made some interesting remarks uponBritish obstetric medicine at the dinner of the Obstetriciansand Gynaecologists of the Empire held on June 24th at theHotel Metropole, London. The first passage in his speechwhich excited the admiration of the audience was a referenceto the fact that the dinner had taken place at a time whenthe Angel of Peace had again visited our shores, smoothingthe wrinkled front of war and turning the horrors of a

stupendous campaign into a joyful season of delightfulpleasure. He then proceeded to draw a comparison betweenthe history of British obstetric medicine and the history ofthe British Empire. British obstetric medicine, he said,appeared first as a small speck on the map of British medi-cine but at the present time it stood out as a strong branchof the science of medicine. It had attracted during itsprocess of growth a large body of eminent men and of

distinguished investigators who had been fired by theenthusiasm of scientific research. He declared that it

was with a sense of just pride that he drew their attentionto the fact that among the distinguished men who hadadorned obstetric medicine the names of Simpson and Listerwere acknowledged as the foremost by the whole world.Loud applause greeted the orator after this sentence and hegained still further plaudits by saying that those leaders ofthought had made experiment possible. A large field of

enterprise to the scientific worker had been opened up andit bad brought British obstetric medicine to its presentposition of honour and esteem, decorated with garlandswhich many a joyous mother and living child had wovenaround it. Professional men who worked in distant parts ofthe empire found difficulty in adequately expressing whatthey owed to the teaching of the British obstetricians.

Nothing made them feel their comparative national youth inthe lands beyond the sea more than the fact that theyhad contributed so little to the common stock of obstetricmedicine. Not only did the dwellers in those far landslove the old country with passion but there had been

transplanted into their midst, in addition to the old

laws, customs, language, and religion, an intense love forthe aspirations and ideals of those at home which theyhumbly and earnestly were seeking to follow. The lives and

examples of the famous men who had adorned British

2 THE LANCET, June 21st, 1902, p. 1785.3 Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops

for the year 1901, Part I., Reports, 1902.

35.

obstetric medicine were beacon lights on the professionalpath of thohe on the other side of the world, and those liveswere rendered sacred by the memory of their character, oftheir labours, and of their genius. Their professional trials,their doubts and difficulties, their temptations, and theirhonours were all separate strands which, woven together,constituted the bond which kept them together. Sir James

Graham in concluding remarked : ’’ Sir, may it be our goodfortune to maintain the high traditions of our calling and, ifpossible, to add to its history, and to hand down to those whofollow even a better record than we ourselves have received." "

Dr. (now Sir) J. Halliday Croom (President of the British

Gynaecological Society), who was one of those who respondedto the toast proposed by Sir James Graham of " British

Obstetric Medicine, prophesied that in the course of thenext generation gynascology would have become part of

general surgery and gynaecologists would have become

absorbed in the ranks of general surgeons. Mr. Alban H. G.Doran proposed " The Guests" and a speech by Dr. F. H.Champneys giving the company the toast of " The Chairman" "

was followed by a reply from Sir John Williams in whichhe earnestly sought to interest the profession beyond the seain the study of comparative human pathology. He pointedout that the British Empire contained many different racesand the study of comparative human pathology must becarried on at the present time because the tendency of raceswas to mix and to result in a type representing no definitecharacteristics. Beyond that there was much work to doin the way of coordinating the work of gynaecologists andobstetricians.

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THE "TURNING" EFFECT OF A THUNDER-STORM ON FOODS SUSCEPTIBLE TO

CHANGE.

DuRING serious electrical disturbances in the atmosphereit is well known that beer may become "hard," milk

may go sour, and meat may frequently "turn." Con-

siderable speculation has arisen as to the cause of this

change. It has been suggested that an ozonised state of

the air due to electric discharge has something to do withit or that the formation of nitrous acid in the air is respon-sible for the change. It is, however, not probable that theatmosphere undergoes any chemical change sufficient to

account for the extent to which certain foods turn. "

Moreover, any important quantity of ozone or nitrous acidwould be calculated to exert a preservative effect, as bothare powerful antiseptics. It may be urged, again, thatthe phenomenon is due to oxidation by means of ozone,but this can hardly be the case in view of the large quantitiesof beer and milk that are soured in relation to the very small

quantity of ozone which a thunderstorm produces. In -thecase of meat, at any rate, the "turning" " can scarcelybe attributed to the action of ozone or of oxygen. The

change is probably due not directly to chemical agenciesbut purely to a disturbance of the electric equilibrium.It is well known that an opposite electrical state is set

up by induction, so that an electrical condition of the

atmosphere induces a similar condition, though opposite incharacter, in the objects on the earth. Persons near whom

a flash of lightning passes frequently experience a severeshock by induction though no lightning touches them, and inthe celebrated experiment of Galvani he showed that a

skinned frog in the neighbourhood of an electrical machinealthough dead exhibited convulsive movements every timethat a spark was drawn from the conductor. In the case

of milk "turning" or of beer "hardening" or of meat

becoming tainted it is probably, therefore, an instanceof chemical convulsion or, it may be, of a stimulus givento bacteriological agencies set up by an opposite electric Icondition induced by the disturbed electrical state of the (

atmosphere. Although these changes are most marked

during a thunderstorm, yet undoubtedly they occur at other-times, though not to the same degree, when there is no-

apparent electric disturbance. But even when the sky isclear the atmosphere may exhibit considerable electricaltension. The electroscope constantly shows that a con-

ducting point elevated in the air is taking up a positivecharge (as a rule) of electricity, the tension rising withthe height of the point. This effect increases towards day-break until it reaches a maximum some hours after sunrise.It then diminishes until it is weakest a few hours before>

sunset when again t rises and attains a second maximum

value some hours after sunset, the second minimum

occurring before daybreak. There are accordingly constantchanges of electrical tension going on, changes, however,which are more rapid and much more marked during athunderstorm and which are quite powerful enough to exert.an evil influence on certain articles of food or drink sus-

ceptible to change, notably meat, milk, and beer or cider.There is no doubt that the unfavourable effects on the feelingof well-being experienced by many individuals, such as head-ache and oppression and nervous distress, on the advent ofa thunderstorm have a similar foundation and are due to thesame electrical differences of potential, the effects passingaway as the disturbed condition of the atmosphere or thestorm subsides.

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THE EGYPTIAN MEDICAL CONGRESS.

A YEAR ago it was decided to hold a congress of medicinein the buildings of the Government Medical School in Cairo-during the third week of next December, and we under-stand that the preliminary arrangements for its success arenow fairly advanced. The Khedive and his Ministers have-

warmly accepted the scheme and will not be lacking inshowing hospitality to visitors and in giving Governmentaid in various ways, of which printing the proceedings is animportant item. Already 300 medical practitioners residentin Egypt have joined the congress, and 250 from Europe andother parts have announced their intention of being present.Steamship companies will carry members of the congressat a reduced rate to Egypt, and once arrived there-

they will find special facilities while staying in the hotels

and while making excursions in the country. The comingwinter, in addition to the usual attractions of Egypt, willallow foreigners to see for the first time the finished dam atAssouan and the new Egyptological Museum with all its

assorted treasures. In every European country some

honorary presidents have been appointed, those for GreatBritain including Sir William Chuich, Bart., K.C.B., Sir-Frederick Treves, Bart., K.C.V.O.. C.B., Sir ChristopherNixon, Sir W. Taylor, K.C.B., Director- General of the ArmyMedical Service, Dr. Patrick Manson, C.M.G., and ProfessorA. E. Wright of Netley. Delegates have already beenappointed to represent various bodies, such as the RoyalCollege of Physicians of London, the Royal College ofSurgeons of England, the Royal College of Physicians ofIreland, the Clinical Society of London, the LaryngologicalSociety of London, the Royal Medical and ChirurgicalSociety, the Rontgen Society, and other societies. The

work of the congress is to be divided among only foursections : Medicine, with Dr. F. M. Sandwith as one of thevice-presidents ; Surgery, with Mr. H. M. N. Milton as

president and Mr. F. C. Madden as a vice-president; Oph-thalmology, with Dr E. C. Fischer as vice-president; andTropical Diseases presided over by Dr. M. A. Ruffer. An

English committee under the presidency of Sir FrederickTreves has been formed to forward the interests of the con-

gress, and Sir Thomas Smith, Bart., K.C V.O , Dr. Stephen

Mackenzie, Sir Lauder Brunton, Dr. Savage, Sir Victor

Horsey, Dr. James Taylor, and Mr. W. Watson Cheyne, C.B.,