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which there were 13 in 1920 and 11 in 1921, ascompared with (i in 1914. The pottery industry isone to which a particularly stringent code of regula-tions applies for the prevention of lead poisoning.Since this code was established in 1913 a decideddiminution in the number of cases notified hasresulted ; thus the annual average for the years1909-11 was 76, while there were only 21 cases in1919, and 24 in 1920. The cases fell even lowerduring the war, but this period was abnormal. Thecontinued occurrence of fatal cases, and indeed theirpronounced increase, is of special interest. Examina-tion of the length of employment of these workersbefore death showed that only one (in which there isdoubt whether nephritis, the cause of death, was ofindustrial origin) commenced work since the presentregulations came into force, while the average lengthof employment in the industry of nine victims was34 years ; a second case had been employed inanother industry for eight years before death. Thesecases show that for a chronic poison like lead manyyears must necessarily elapse before the benefit ofimproved conditions can find expression in mortalitydata. Since the paramount influence in the causationof lead poisoning was definitely determined, namely,that it is the inhalation of lead dust, an extremelysatisfactory reduction in cases of industrial originhas taken place, but as long as lead is used in industriesrisk must exist. The hope, however, may be expressedconfidently that steady application of the principles ofprevention, now well recognised, will continue to holdin check and further reduce the ravages of thisparticularly harmful industrial disease.

"THE RISK."

THE risk that a play recently produced under thisname could seriously undermine the confidence ofthe public in the medical profession need not. we think,disturb even the youngest and most sensitive of thosewho hope to enter its ranks. The characterisation-in the English version at any rate-is too exagger-ated to carry conviction, and the production makes itsmain appeal as good melodrama. " The Risk "has been adapted from " La Caducee," a play byAndre Pascal (Baron Henri de Rothschild), on whichwe commented when it appeared in Paris last year.The story is that of the rise and fall of a typicaladventurer of the professional classes, who happens inthis case to be a doctor. The successful treatmentof the well-connected victim of a street accident leadsto an introduction to a certain Leroux, and sub-sequently to an alliance with him which does littlecredit to either party. Leroux lends Dr. Revardmoney to set up as a consulting surgeon, and proceedsto make him the fashion by inspired press articles andmuch personal canvas among the women of the smartset. Unfortunately for the doctor, Leroux demandsquick returns, and in order to meet an ever-increasingdebt Revard is tempted to cast aside one by one thestandards which guide normal professional conduct.He consents to exhibit in his fine consulting-roomspurious antique furniture, which commands a readysale from such a setting. He offers general practi-tioners a commission on the fees of the patients theysend him, allows a personal element to enter intohis relations with women patients, and encouragespatients to continue their visits when they are quitewell. Eventually he admits to his private nursinghome a healthy, wealthy, and not very wise youngwoman, and operates on her for ’’peritonitis" solelyfor the sake of the fee he can extract. Peritonitisfollowing instead of preceding the abdominal section,the patient dies. Whereafter the surgeon, charactis-tically enough, chooses a method of suicide which will:give him the notoriety he loves, as a martyr to science.In this respect he appears successfully to have bluffedeven the dramatist who created him, since it does notseem clear that the new toxin could not equallywell have been tested on an experimental animal.

1 THE LANCET, 1921, ii., 28.

We found it, difficult to believe in this qualifiedadventurer, though Mr. Bourchier did his best tomake him a real person. Even more difficult toaccept was the pompous old gentleman, of the facultyof medicine, who apparently thought an evening partyan appropriate scene for a sermon on medical ethicscomplete with well-worn denunciations of the smartset. It is only fair to add that the audience seemed wellsatisfied with this indictment of the modern craze forsensation, and that some of them at least were able totake Dr. Revard seriously. They reminded each othera little uneasily that, after all, operations are seldomdecided on without consultations, and that few doctorshave any financial interest in nursing homes. It wasobvious, however, that the first visit from their ownwell-trusted family doctor would re-establish firmlyfaith in the integrity of a profession which is unlikelyto suffer loss of prestige from any dramatic misrepre-sentation. As a matter of fact, medicine escapes verylightly on the stage. The typical representatives of thelaw or the church are hardly flattering to those learnedprofessions. The unworldly, absent-minded clergy-man is too often used as comic relief ; the stage lawyeris fussy and ridiculously precise, if, indeed, he has notabsconded with the family fortune before the playbegins. The stage doctor is usually a dignified andtrustworthy figure, except in a few frankly artificialdetective plays which require a villain with schemes socunning that only misplaced scientific knowledge couldhave invented them. It would be ungrateful indeed toobject to an occasional picture of the doctor as rogue.

THE PLIGHT OF RUSSIAN DOCTORS.

THE plight of many Russian medical men and theirfamilies is severe and the appeal being made to theirEnglish colleagues by the British Medical Associationshould meet with sympathetic response. We publishin the front of this issue an account by Prof. V. A.Oppel, of Petrograd, of some experimental work whichis only a small section of the researches he has pursuedunder the most disheartening circumstances. Some ofhis colleagues are doing equally good work whileothers are reduced to such a condition of misery thatwork is impossible. Food and clothing are urgentlyneeded by 65 medical men whose names have beencollected by the American Relief Association. TheRussian medical societies have apparently made greatefforts on behalf of the local doctors, but they havereached the end of their resources. We trust that areal effort will be made to give help.

THE Lord Chancellor has appointed a committeeto report upon the changes which are desirable in theexisting law, practice, and procedure relating tocriminal trials where a defence of insanity is raised.The members of the committee are Sir Ernley Black-well, Sir Archibald Bodkin, Sir Richard Muir, SirErnest Pollock, Sir Leslie Scott, Sir Herbert Stephen,and Sir Edward Troup, with Lord Justice Atkin aschairman.

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A RECOMMENDATION has been addressed to thePrivy Council under Clause 1 (4) of the Dentists Act,1921, that this section shall come into operation onNov. 30th instead of on the expiration of one yearfrom the commencement of the Act, namely July 28th,1922. It is expected that the decision of the PrivyCouncil upon the matter will be announced in thecourse of a few days.

SMALL-POX IN YORKSHIRE.-There are now fivepatients in the Barnsley isolation hospital. They are allchildren who had not been vaccinated. The outbreak occurredat Wooley, near Barnsley.FELLOWSHIP OF MEDICINE AND POST-GRADUATE

MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.—The last post-graduate lectureof the session will be given by Mr. Victor Bonney, at thehouse of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1, Wimpole-street,London, W. 1, on July 19th, at 5 P.M., the subject being,Myomectomy as opposed to Hysterectomy.