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the pharmaceutical industry in those countries from distri-

buting drugs without the most detailed clinical tests ? Why isit that our country, of all the Western countries, has failedto take any action to control this industry ?-Lord NEWTON: Ithink the noble Baroness has now got on to a rather different

question, because I think she is referring now to new drugs.Baroness SUMMERSKILL: No, I took this one as an example of

the lack of control of drugs which are being distributed, ofwhich people are suspicious and of which the most eminentpeople are suspicious.Lord NEWTON: We must distinguish between new drugs

and drugs which have been used and prescribed for some time.These oral contraceptives come into this latter category.

Viscount ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH: I understood theMinister to say just now that the Government had no powerto bring in an order to prevent the distribution of drugswhich are proved to be harmful. But surely there is a rangeof Statutes dealing with poisonous drugs, and in a matter

of this urgency both Houses of Parliament would pass all thatthe Government wanted within 48 hours.Lord NEWTON: I frankly am doubtful whether the Govern-

ment would be justified in seeking legislation.

Obituary

HAROLD ROBERT DEW

Kt., M.B. Melb., Hon. Sc.D. Cantab., F.R.C.S.,F.R.A.C.S., Hon. F.R.C.S.E.

Sir Harold Dew, whose death in Melbourne on Nov. 17we have already announced, was a surgeon who had wonreputation and friends in this country as well as inAustralia.He was born in 1891, and he was educated at Scotch College,

Melbourne, and Ormond College in the University of Mel-bourne. Soon after graduating in 1914, he joined the RoyalArmy Medical Corps and he served from 1915 to 1919 inFrance and Palestine. In 1922 he was appointed first assistantand acting director of the Walter and Eliza Hall ResearchInstitute in Melbourne, a post which he held until 1925. In 1923he was made an honorary surgeon to outpatients at the RoyalMelbourne Hospital, and he retained this post until 1930, whenhe was appointed first Bosch professor of surgery in the

University of Sydney. He held this professorship until hisretirement in 1956, and for the greater part of the time he wasdean of the faculty of medicine in the university. In 1930 hewas awarded a Hunterian professorship of the Royal Collegeof Surgeons of England, and he revisited Britain in 1953 as thefirst Australian Sims Commonwealth travelling professor. Hewas admitted as a fellow to the Royal Australasian College ofSurgeons in 1930. He was a member of its council for someyears, and served as president of the college from 1954 to 1955.In 1955 he was created a knight.

P. M.-B., one of his English colleagues, writes:" I had been close friends with Harold Dew since we met

on war service in Egypt and Palestine in 1917. There I foundin him an inspiring companion with a great zest for acquiringknowledge. It was a joy to collaborate with him, and by hiskeenness and perseverance he soon collected a fine series of

pathological specimens illustrating the various diseases withwhich we were then surrounded. Well-preserved specimensof amoebic and bacillary dysenteries and of both forms ofbilharziasis were collected both for the Imperial and theAustralian war museums. Some, and I am inclined to thinkthe best, were deposited in the Royal College of Surgeons,only to be destroyed by that fatal bomb. Harold Dew was sucha cheerful, friendly soul that he was welcomed everywhere, andhe cherished a pretty sense of humour."

An Australian colleague writes:" Sir Harold Dew was a fine surgeon and a surgical patholo-

gist of international reputation. His main interest was in the

incidence and clinical manifestation of hydatid disease, a topicon which he was a world authority. His book, published in1928, is still the most complete and authoritative work onhydatid disease. He did much to establish the neurosurgicaldepartment at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and encouragedmany young aspirants both in general surgery and in thespecialties. For years he was the chairman of the scientific

advisory committee of the National Health and MedicalResearch Council, and he occupied a myriad of other postswhose impact on medicine at all levels has been of tremendousimportance, but which is seldom recognised. He never con-sidered himself a brilliant operative surgical technician, but hisclinical sense and great understanding of surgical problemsmade him a most valuable consultant. He taught surgery witha vigour and clarity that was immensely impressive to students.The impact of his forthright integrity of thought and searchinghonesty of method on young minds was always stimulating andthought-provoking. He made a valuable contribution to

stabilising the clinical and graduate efforts of the school in theUniversity of Sydney, and he saw it successfully through themany vicissitudes of unrestricted entry in the Faculty and therecurring problems of war-time and post-war reconstruction.He left behind him limitless friends and admirers in Sydney,and his passing leaves us all with a sad sense of loss."

Sir Harold married Doreen Lawrance in 1925, andshe survives him with two daughters.

DAVID WRIGHT

D.S.O., O.B.E., M.B. Glasg., F.R.C.S.E.

Colonel David Wright, who died suddenly in Cypruson Oct. 11, had earned a great reputation as a militarysurgeon and administrator.Born in Lanarkshire in 1912, he was the son of a doctor; and

though his parents were anxious for him to do medicine, hisown inclination, from an early age, was towards the Army.So, soon after he qualified from Glasgow University in 1935,he took a short-service commission in the R.A.M.C. Surgicaltraining in Edinburgh made him a

"

graded " surgeon at theend of 1936. After four years’ service in the Punjab, he tooka regular commission in 1941; and a strenuous time in theMiddle East and Italy culminated in the award of the D.S.O. inJune, 1945. In 1947 he joined the R.A.M.C. senior officers’course at Millbank; and after a year’s study leave in Edinburghhe took the surgical fellowship there.The years that followed saw some of his finest work. As

adviser in surgery, British Troops in Austria, and later (duringthe Korean fighting) as commanding officer of the surgicaldivision of the British Commonwealth General Hospital inJapan, his surgical skill and kindly qualities were repeatedlydemonstrated. He was appointed O.B.E. in 1954. His experi-ences in Japan and Korea, and his astute analysis of them, werelater recorded in these columns. In 1957 he began a series ofadministrative appointments, which he fulfilled with his

customary ability and friendliness. At the time of his deathhe commanded the military hospital at Dhekelia in Cyprus.A colleague writes:" His enormous popularity was a tribute to the sympathy

and friendliness he gave abundantly to patients and colleagues,and to the imperturbable resource he brought to every situa-tion. His professional knowledge went far beyond the acceptedlimits of surgery, and his opinion was therefore widely sought.A diffident man, he used words feelingly: when he spoke healways had something to say. He enjoyed an argument andwould, in leisure moments in the mess, put up some startlingproposition just for the fun of it. By gentle questioning hecould encourage junior colleagues to re-examine and fortifytheir medical knowledge-and everyone, Wright most of all, Isuspect, enjoyed the process."

Colonel Wright leaves a widow and two sons, one inthe Army and one at Sandhurst.

1. Lancet, 1956, ii, 505.