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military service without hiding behind such statements as" not legally binding," the tolerance of the BritishGovernment, and any emotion he may elicit from the ill-or mis-informed public. If at the end of his service he sodesired he could return to England as an immigrant if thecountry would still accept him.As to his immediate future I am sure that between the

American embassy and the Home Office justice will beobtained. The press would do well to stick to the officialannouncements of these bodies.

AN AMERICAN DOCTOR IN ENGLAND.

1. See Lancet, 1952, ii, 1187.2. Barnet Press, June 15, 1954.3. Quarterly Return of the Registrar-General, Scotland: Births,

Deaths, and Marriages registered in the quarter ended March 31,1954. H.M. Stationery Office. Pp. 32. 2s. 6d.

ROSE SIMMONDS MEMORIAL FUND

DOROTHY S. RUSSELLH. G. WIMBUSHW. R. S. RITCHIE

E. P. SKINNERChairman.

E. M. GAGEHon. treasurer.

British Dietetic Association.

SiR,-In December, 1952, you published an appeal forcontributions to the above fund’! The object was toprovide an educational fund which, through the BritishDietetic Association, would offer scholarships to studentsto train as dietitians, or prizes to students in training.A sum of 9370 has now been contributed. This money

has been invested, and the trustees have decided thatprizes shall first be available in the autumn of 1955.

Medicine and the Law

Death after TonsillectomyAT an inquest on a 7-year-old girl at Barnet on June 14

the coroner criticised the emergency arrangements ata local hospital.2The child’s tonsils were removed on May 26 at St. Stephen’s

Hospital ; there were no complications at operation but somefour or five hours later, at 8.45 P.M., haemorrhage was noticed.The surgeon, who was at Barnet General Hospital, was keptinformed ; he ordered an injection which was given at9.15 P.M., and after a further message went to see the childat 10 P.M., when he ordered her removal by ambulance toBarnet General Hospital. There he operated to stop thehaemorrhage and gave blood-transfusions, but the child died.The bleeding was noticed at a time when day staff was

handing over to night staff, and the surgeon was not availableon the premises. As there were no facilities at St. Stephen’sfor the operation and blood-transfusion, the child had to beremoved by ambulance, all of which caused delay.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure thecoroner said that the arrangements were perhaps inade-quate for an emergency of this sort and he would bringthe matter to the attention of the authorities responsible.

Public Health

First Quarter in ScotlandIN the quarter ended March 31 this year 3 the birth-rate

in Scotland was 18-6 per 1000 population, which was0-5 above the rate for the corresponding quarter of 1953and 0-1 above the average in the previous five years.Stillbirths amounted to 25 per 1000 total births. Thedeath-rate was 14-3 per 1000 population-0-6 more thanin the corresponding quarter of 1953 but 0-8 below thefive-year average. The infant-mortality rate was 38 per1000 live births, and the neonatal-death rate 24 per 1000live births. Deaths from tuberculosis amounted to 31(respiratory 28) per 100,000 population, compared with32 (27) in the first quarter of 1953 and a five-year averageof 56 (49).

ObituaryCHARLES COLGATE HOLMAN

M.A., M.B. Camb., F.R.C.S.

Mr. C. C. Holman, emeritus surgeon to NorthamptonGeneral Hospital, died on June 17 at the age of 69.He was born at East Hoathly, where his father and

his grandfather were both in general practice. FromEastbourne College he went to Caius College, Cambridge,where he took the natural sciences tripos in 1905. Follow-ing a family tradition he finished his medical educationat Guy’s, qualifying in 1908 and graduating M.B. in1909. After serving as house-surgeon at Guy’s he heldother resident appointments at Addenbrooke’s Hospital,Cambridge, at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, andat Brighton and Hove Hospital for Women. In 1912he took his F.R.c.s., and the same year he began his longassociation with Northampton when he received a

house-appointment at the General Hospital. Soonafterwards war broke out and he joined the R.A.M.C.,serving for a year in Mesopotamia.On his return to Northampton he became assistant

surgeon to the General Hospital in 1919, and he laterjoined the staffs of the Manfield Orthopaedic Hospitaland the Kettering and District General Hospital. Whenhe retired from the staff of the Northampton GeneralHospital in 1952 he was appointed emeritus surgeon.During his too short retirement he continued his habitof contributing cogent and incisive letters to our

columns, and earlier this year he began his last articlewith the characteristic words : " After forty years’work I am still seeking the answer to the followingquestions about cancer of the breast...."

R. 0. L. writes : "Charles Holman was a modestman who shunned publicity except when he had some-thing of real importance to say. For this reason hismerit as a surgeon may not have received full recognitionoutside his own area, and only those who worked besidehim came to know and appreciate his true worth. Thirty-three years of consulting work gave him a vast experiencewhich encompassed the whole range of general surgeryand at one time included gynaecology and orthopaedics.In 1939 he formed the first fracture unit at NorthamptonGeneral Hospital, and from then until 1946, in additionto his general work and with the aid of one houseman,he dealt with all fractures coming to the hospital. Hiscapacity for work was enormous : holidays meant timelost from work and it was an exception for him to beaway more than ten days in any year. In operating hewas sound and generally conservative ; in judgment sure,and in criticism generous.

" A quiet thoughtful man, he kept meticulous records ;he also read widely in the medical journals, and his con-tributions to them were always well balanced andvaluable since they were based on his own wide experi-ence. His recreations were simple; lawn-tennis atwhich, despite a disability resulting from poliomyelitisin childhood, he was an enthusiastic performer and adifficult man to beat, and bridge which he enjoyed andtook not too seriously.

" His name was a household word in Northampton-shire and North Bucks and he is mourned by all whoknew him."

Mr. Holman is survived by his second wife, Miss V.Lewis, whom he married in 1924. Of the two sons ofhis first marriage to Miss V. E. Foxell, who died in 1921,one is a doctor.

EDWARD JAMES BOOMET.D., M.B. Birm., M.R.C.P.

Dr. E. J. Boome, consultant in speech therapy to theLondon County Council, died on June 12 while on holidayin Devon.He graduated M.B. from the University of Birmingham

in 19 07. After holding house-appointments in Birming-ham at the General Hospital and the Queen’s Hospital,he took the D.P.H. in 1912, and the following year he joinedth e public-health service of the London County Council.During the 1914-18 war he served in France as a Terri-tor ial medical officer, reaching the rank of major andb eing mentioned in despatches. On demobilisation he