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Notes and News

JUST as a cook might, by accident or design, improve on astandard recipe, so the laboratory worker makes adjustmentsto textbook methods. He may rush to publish the dramaticnews of a modification, but usually the new way graduallybecomes the routine way, and never gets into print. AsSir James Howie says of the Public Health LaboratoryService: " Cyclostyled sheets, handwritten manuscripts,and even oral traditions have been exchanged amongDirectors within the Service, hopefully but dubiouslyconveying the favoured methods actually used in theirlaboratories ". The objectives of the P.H.L.S. MonographSeries are to draw attention to the more successful of thesemodifications and to make generally known unpublishedscientific work which had previously been taken for grantedin the Service. The first three of these-LaboratoryDiagnosis of Venereal Disease, the Use of Chemical Dis-infectants in Hospitals, and Anaerobic Infections-werepublished earlier this week by H.M. Stationery Office, at50p each. 1-3

MORE FROM THE CONTENTS PAGES

To the five editions of that much-valued informationaid Current Contents is to be added, from Jan. 3, a sixth-Current Contents/Clinical Practice. Like its predecessorsthe new edition will appear weekly, and the aim is for acoverage of 700 clinical medical journals, including 300handled by Current Contents/Life Sciences. The presentclinical coverage of Life Sciences will continue, so the choicebefore medical libraries which do not want to subscribeto both is the extra clinical interest of Clinical Practiceat the cost of losing the contents pages of journals, such asNature and Science, which publish papers on the basicmedical sciences. A weekly subject index, a$60 op-tional extra to Life Sciences, will be routinely included inthe weekly Clinical Practice.

Current Contents/Clinical Practice is published by the Institutefor Scientific Information, 325 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania 19106, U.S.A. The annual subscription is$135in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and$165 elsewhere.

FAMILY GUIDE TO MEDICINE

WHETHER the latest layman’s guide to medicine 4 will addimmeasurably to enjoyment of life, as the publisher claims,is open to doubt; but it will not quickly turn idle curiosityinto blind panic-a hazard of some popular works. Thetone is carefully reassuring throughout. The first sectionis mostly on normal anatomy and physiology, and includeshints on home nursing and preventive medicine-stoppingsmoking, self-examination of breasts, and so on. Part 11 is amedical encyclopaedia, with clear and uncontroversialdefinitions. (The B.M.A. is allotted 2i column inches, theG.M.C. none.) The last two sections are short but excellent—a pictorial guide to first aid and home safety, and an ac-count of medical practice in Britain which includes com-plaints procedures (here the G.M.C. does get a mention).Finally, there is a useful list of patients’ associations. Thereare many illustrations, and most are clear; but the child withmeasles appears to have undergone a dire transmutation

1. Wilkinson, A. E., Taylor, C. E. D., McSwiggan, D. A., Turner,G. C., Rycroft, J. A., Lowe, G. H. Publ. Hlth Lab. Serv. Monogr.Ser. 1972, no. 1.

2. Kelsey, J. C., Maurer, I. M. ibid. no. 2.3. Willis, A. T. ibid. no. 3.4. Family Health Guide. London: Reader’s Digest. 1972. Pp. 599.

£5.70.

and may cause alarm in some households. With theincreasing interest, in Britain, in the mechanics of health,patients may well ask for a medical opinion on this guide.It can be recommended-with the reservation that muchof its value will be lost outside Britain.

University of LiverpoolDr. James Williamson has been appointed to the new

chair of geriatric medicine.Dr. Williamson, who is 52, received his early schooling in

Lanarkshire and obtained his M.B. from the University of Glasgowin 1943. From 1943 to 1949 he held successive hospital postsin Glasgow, with a brief spell in general practice from 1946 to1948. In 1949 he became senior registrar at the Red CrossSanatoria of Scotland, Glen O’Dee and Tor Na Dee, Aberdeen,and from 1951 to 1954 was assistant chest physician at the EastFortune Hospital near Edinburgh. He became a consultantchest physician in Edinburgh in 1954 and physician-in-charge,Royal Victoria Dispensary for Diseases of the Chest, Edinburgh.Since 1959 he has been physician in administrative charge of thegeriatric unit, Eastern General and Royal Victoria Hospitals,Edinburgh, and since 1954 has also held academic appointments,first as honorary lecturer in the department of respiratorydiseases and tuberculosis, University of Edinburgh, and from1959 to 1969 as clinical teacher in medicine. Since 1969 he hasbeen part-time senior lecturer and head of the sub-department o’geriatric medicine at the Western General Hospital, Universityof Edinburgh. In 1959 he was given the task of initiating a geriatricservice for half of the City of Edinburgh and the County ofMidlothian; he was involved in the planning of a new geriatrichospital complex at the Royal Victoria Hospital site, Edinburgh,and has played a central part in the establishment of a newpsychogeriatric service for part of Edinburgh.

Dr. A. J. Radford has been appointed senior lecturer intropical community health and Dr. D. R. Bell seniorlecturer in tropical medicine.The following have been appointed lecturers: Dr. P. M.

Reilly (general practice); Mr. G. S. Martinez (ophthal-mology) ; Mr. I. H. Emery (orthopaedic surgery); Mr. J. H.Rogers (otorhinolaryngology); Mr. Peter McArthur

(surgery).

University of ReadingThe honorary degree of D.SC. is to be conferred on Sir

Richard Doll, F.R.S.

University of AberdeenDr. R. J. Taylor has been appointed lecturer in general

practice and Mr. C. B. Lunan lecturer in obstetrics andgynaecology.

Royal College of PathologistsThe following honorary officers have been elected:

Prof. J. V. Dacie (president); Prof. D. N. Baron, Dr. A. J.McCall, Prof. R. A. Shooter (vice-presidents); Prof. R. C.Curran (registrar); Prof. R. D. Teare (treasurer); Dr.B. S. Cardell (assistant registrar). The following newmembers of council have been elected: Dr. Robert Blowers,Prof. J. P. Duguid, Prof. C. H. Gray, Dr. A. G. Marshall.

Group Occupational Health ServiceA new group occupational health service will operate

from Dec. 1 from the Chalkhill Health Centre, Wembley.It has been established with the help of the King EdwardVII Fund for Hospitals and the cooperation of the Boroughof Brent and local medical practitioners. It is aimed pri-marily at serving the host of small industries in the WembleyStadium Industrial Estate, and for the first year will beunder the management of the Central Middlesex IndustrialHealth Service Ltd.

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M.R.C. Dunn Nutritional LaboratoryDr. R. G. Whitehead, director of the Medical Research

Council Child Nutrition Unit, Mulago Hospital, Kampala,Uganda, has also been appointed director of the DunnNutritional Laboratory, Cambridge, in succession to Dr.E. H. Kodicek. It is intended that the dual appointmentwill be accompanied by a close association between thetwo establishments.

Dr. Whitehead, who is 39, graduated B.sc. in biochemistryfrom the University of Leeds in 1956 and PH.D. in 1959. In thesame year he was appointed to the staff of the Dunn NutritionalLaboratory and three years later he became director of theM.R.C. Child Nutrition Unit in Uganda. His main research hasbeen on the progressive effects of malnutrition on body structureand function, and this work has been applied to the developmentof better ways of assessing the nutritional status of children andimproved methods of treatment.

Centre for Individual Learning Materials inMedical Education

A grant of E36,000 from the Nuffield Foundation hasmade it possible to establish a centre for individual learningmaterials in medical education. The centre is guided by anacademic council under the chairmanship of Sir BrynmorJones, chairman of the National Council for EducationalTechnology. The centre assists medical teachers in thedesign, production, and evaluation of individual studyprogrammes. Facilities are also offered for research andtraining in specific aspects of the effective design and useof such materials. Funds can be made available for thesecondment of academic staff to the centre. Inquiries maybe directed to Charles E. Engel, Director, Department ofAudio Visual Communication, British Medical Association,Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9JP.

Joint Consultants’ CommitteeSir Kenneth Robson has been elected chairman of the

Joint Consultants’ Committee in succession to Sir JohnRichardson. Mr. Alan Parks succeeds Sir Kenneth as

joint secretary of the committee.

A series of lectures forming the first part of a postgraduatecourse on the basic sciences of the musculoskeletal system is

being held on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings (up toDec. 16) at the Nuffield Orthopedic Centre, Oxford OX3 7LD.Details may be had from Mr. George Bentley at the Centre.The Brighton and Sussex Medico-Chirurgical Society cele-

brates its 125th anniversary this year. Since its foundation onMay 24, 1847, the society has held regular meetings and anannual dinner, and its membership has increased from 40 to 267.

Appointments

Sheffield Regional Hospital Board:BARDHAN, K. D., M.B.Madras, M.R.C.P.: consultant physician,

Rotherham and Mexborough hospital group.FAwCETT, A. N., M.B.Cantab., F.R.C-S.: consultant general surgeon,

Nottingham General Hospital.MouNFiELD, P. A., M.B.Lond., M.R.C.O.G.: consultant obstetrician and

gynaecologist, Grimsby hospital group.MULDOON, M. J., M.B.Glasg., M.R.C.O.G.: consultant obstetrician and

gynaecologist, Grimsby hospital group.

South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board:CORY, C. C., M.B.Cantab., F.R.C.S., D.o.: consultant ophthalmologist,

Redhill and Netheme and Royal Earlswood hospital groups.HOLT, D. I., M.B.Durh., D.P.M.: consultant child psyclriatrist, Hamp-

shire Child Guidance Service and Farnham and Brookwoodhospital groups.

Moorr, C. J., M.B.Lond., F.F.A. R.C.S., D.OBST.: consultant anesthetist,Redhill and Netheme hospital group.

SCHWEITZER, F. A. W., M.s.Lond., F.R.C.S.: consultant surgeon witha special interest in urology, Guildford and Godalming hospitalgroup.

Ralli International Ltd. is offering a surgical fellowship worthE2500 (plus travel expenses) to enable a medically qualifiedperson from Bangladesh to spend a year of postgraduate studyand research in Britain. Details may be had from Mr. J. K.Oglethorpe, Ralli International Ltd., 43 Berkeley Square,London W1 5DB.

Diary of the Week

DECEMBER 3 TO 9

Monday, 4thROYAL POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL, Hammersmith Hospital, Du

Cane Road, London W.124 P.M. Dr. A. S. Tavill: Metabolism of Plasma Proteins.

Tuesday, 5thBRITISH POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL FEDERATION

1.15 P.M. (Channel 7, I.L.E.A. Closed Circuit Television System.)Prof. John Landon: Some Applications of Radioimmuno-assay. (Repeated on Wednesday at 12.15 P.M. and onFriday at 1.15 P.M.)

LONDON MEDICAL GROUP5.45 P.M. (King’s College Hospital Medical School, S.E.5.) Prof.

Ivor Mills: Human Sexuality in Theory and Practice.MEDICINE TODAY

1.15 P.M. (B.B.C.-1) Dr. David Pyke, Mr. Harry Gordon: Diabetesin Pregnancy.

Wednesday, 6thUNIVERSITY OF LONDON

5.30 P.M. (Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, WC1N IEH.)Prof. A. E. Boyo: Hasmoglobulin Biochemistry and Erythro-cyte Pathology.

INSTITUTE OF DISEASES OF THE CHEST, Brompton, London S.W.35 P.M. Dr. M. C. Pearson: Radiological Procedures and the Clinician.

INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGY, The National Hospital, Queen Square,London WC1N 3BG

6 P.M. Dr. Alan Ridley: Glioma Immunology.7 P.M. Mr. J. S. Garfield: Aspects of the Treatment of Gliomas.

INSTITUTE OF ORTHOPEDICS, 234 Great Portland Street, LondonWIN 6AD

6 P.M. Mr. G. C. Lloyd-Roberts: Congenital Disorders of Tibiaand Femur.

8.15 P.M. Mr. Denys Wainwright: Congenital Flat Foot.INSTITUTE OF UROLOGY, 172 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC28 8JE

5 P.M. Mr. J. E. A. Wickham: Surgery of Urinary Calculi.ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, Gray’s Inn Road, London WCIX 8LF

5.15 P.M. Dr. J. A. Nadel (San Francisco): Current Concepts inAsthma.

LIVERPOOL MEDICAL ImTITUTION, 114 Mount Pleasant, L3 5SR8 P.M. Prof. J. P. Blandy: Testicular Tumours.

MANCHESTER MEDICAL SOCIETY5 P.M. (New Medical School.) Medicine. Dr. T. B. Stretton: Asthma

and Pulmonary Eosinophilia.UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE, DD1 4HN

1 P.M. Prof. James Crooks: The Application of Radioisotopes inMedicine-The Changing Pattern.

Thursday, 7thROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, 11 St. Andrew’s Place, London NWI

4LE8.30 P.M. Dr. E. A. Underwood: The Evolution of Hasmatology.

(FitzPatrick lecture.)ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND, Lincoln’s Inn Fields,

London WC2A 3PN5 P.M. Dr. Julian Bruner: Contributions of Sir Archibald McIndoe

to Surgery of the Hand. (Mclndoe lecture.)ROYAL POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL

6 P.M. Dr. Michael Rosen: Some Problems of Pain Relief in Labour.ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL MEDICAL SCHOOL, London W2 1PG

5.15 P.M. Prof. E. M. Symonds: The Medical Responsibility inTeaching Human Reproduction. (Aleck Bourne lecture.)

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH5 P.M. (Royal Infirmary, EH3 9YW.) Prof. C. T. Dollery: Is There a

Rational Basis for Drug Therapy ? (Honyman Gillespielecture.)

Friday, 8thUNIVERSITY OF LONDON

5 P.M. (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, ECIM 6BQ.) Dr. M. M. Elk nd:Damage-repair Studies of Sublethal Radiation and DrugEffects in Mammalian Cells.

ROYAL POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL11 A.M. Surgeon Vice-Admiral James Watt: Burns of Sea Battles.