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PROGRAMME OF THE NINTH INTER-NATIONAL CONGRESS OF HYGIENE

AND DEMOGRAPHY.- i

IT will be remembered that the Ninth Internatlonal’Congress of Hygiene and Demography was to have met last i

year at Madrid. The disturbed condition of Spain, due more,particularly to the insurrection in Cuba and the Philippine 3’Islands, rendered a postponement of the Congress inevitable.,It is now announced, however, that the Congress will meet Ithis year at Madrid from the 10th to the 17th of April. A

preliminary programme has been drawn up by the I I GeneralCommittee of Propaganda and Organisation." Dr. Amalio’Grimeno, professor of the Madrid Faculty of Medicine,senator, and member of the Academy of Medicine, is the.general secretary of the Congress. All communicationsshould be addressed to Dr. Amalio Grimeno, at theMinistry of the Interior, Madrid. Papers that are tobe read to the Congress must be written either in Spanish,Portuguese, Italian, French, English, or German, as

these are to be the official languages of the Congress. Inall cases these papers must be accompanied by a shortsummary either in Spanish or in French. It is further saidthat such papers should have been sent in by Jan. lst ; butconsidering the shortness of the notice it is anticipated thatsome exceptions will be made, at least for the more distantcountries. Of course no paper that has already been com--municated to any other society will be accepted.The Congress is open to the delegates of governments,

municipalities, and other local authorities, universities,- academies, scientific societies, and special schools.. Further,all persons who are specially engaged in the study of questionsrelating to hygiene or demography and who apply to theorganising committee, may take part in the labours of theCongress. But the committee reserves the right of refusingdmission where such admission does not seem justified bythe circumstances of the case.

Ladies, wives or relatives of the members of the Congress,will not be considered as members unless they can producea medical diploma or some other official title connected withthe science of hygiene or demography. Those ladies whocannot fulfil these conditions will nevertheless be able toenjoy all the advantages given to the members of the Con-gress, such as journeys, excursions, invitations, and enter-tainments, on payment of a subscription of 10 pesetas (8s.).The subscription for full members of the Congress is25 pesetas (1) and should be sent to the treasurer, S6norPablo Ruiz de Velasco, president of the Chamber of Com-merce, Madrid.There will be an exhibition in connexion with the Congress

to be divided into ten classes-namely, didactic hygiene, theprophylaxis of transmittible diseases, town hygiene, homehygiene, the hygiene of exercise and of work, military andnaval hygiene, the hygiene of schools and of childhood, thehygiene of food and of clothing, demography and statistics,and miscellaneous.The Congress is divided into ten sections for hygiene which

in a great measure correspond with those of the exhibitionand in three sections for demography. The first sectionwill deal especially with bacteriology-the culture, classi-fication, &c., of pathogenic bacteria. There is to be adiscussion on the most recent discoveries with regard to thepropagation of enteric fever, cholera, &c., on the means ofsecuring immunisation, on bubonic plague, yellow fever, &c.The second section will deal with prophylactic measures-

the action of the State ; compulsory vaccination ; the preva-’lence of leprosy in Spain; pellagra, its cause and pre-vention ; sanitary services on the frontiers ; disinfection, &c ,- in times of epidemic ; the prophylactic effects of cremation ;and the most economic methods of domestic disinfection.The third section will discuss medical topography and

climatology and afford a good opportunity of obtaining-information as to the climatic advantages of the winterstations on the Spanish coast of the Mediterranean. Thequestion will be raised as to whether there is a higher death-rate in rice-growing countries. The connexion of the dura-tion of life with climate and the geographical distribution oftuberculosis will likewise be submitted to this section.The fourth section will deal with town sanitation-the

disposal of sewage, sewage farms, the pathogenic influence

of sewer air, filters and public fountains, cheap but healthyhouses, public slaughter houses, the microscopic examinationof meat, &c. There are two questions somewhat out of thecommon ; the first is an inquiry whether the watering ofstreets does harm or good and the second as to whether,by the use of chemicals and a system of subsoil drainageit would be possible to disinfect old cemeteries which inconsequence of the growth of towns are now surrounded bydwellings.The fifth section, devoted to alimentary substances, should

give rise to interesting debates, for the Spaniards as a greatwine-producing and yet a particularly sober people promiseseveral papers on the various processes of preparing andpreserving wines, together with the more recent methods ofdiscovering impurities in alcohol. A paper will also be readsuggesting that the method of giving prizes at agriculturalshows should be altogether altered. The prizes, it will beurged, should be given not for the size and breed of thecattle but for the wholesomeness of the meat.The sixth section, dealing with the hygiene of childhood,

will debate school colonies, maratime sanitoria, the boarding-school as opposed to the day-school, the prophylaxis ofophthalmia, infant mortality, &c.The questions of physical exercise and labour come

up in the seventh section. The labour of women andchildren in factories, workshops, and mines, Factory Acts,explosions, the sanitary police of mines, the classification ofunwholesome industries and kindred subjects are down fordiscussion. Then there will be papers on sport and cycleriding and the question will be raised at what age can dis-ciplined exercise or gymnastics be substituted for natural,untrained exercise ?

In the eighth section military and naval hygiene, themanagement of troops in tropical climates, their clothing,&c., will be debated. Then there is to be a paperon asepsis under fire and in field ambulances and ondisinfection and hygiene on board transport and war ships.Finally, the sanitation of the stoke-hole will claim theattention of the congress.The ninth section is devoted to the means of preventing

the spread of tuberculosis among domestic animals and itstransmission to human beings. This is the section forveterinary surgeons and all that relates to animals andcattle.The tenth is the architectural and engineering section.

Here the construction of penitentiaries, asylums, hospitals,creches, &c., will be investigated and there will be debateson the disposal of town refuse, ventilation and warming ofbuildings, and the accidents arising from the transmission ofelectric force.

In the first section of the division devoted to demographythe simple, rapid, economical collection of statistics andinformation is to be-discussed. The best methods of draw-ing diagrams and of teaching demography as applied tohygiene, labour statistics, longevity in connexion with alloccupations, the rational and scientific classification ofdiseases and the unity of such classification are also amongthe subjects on the programme.The second section deals with the results to be deduced

from available statistics-do they prove an average increaseof the duration of human life during the present century? 2Among the other subjects to be debated are the consequencesof marriages between those of near kin, the statistics ofprostitution as compared with the frequency of marriages,

, fecundity in its relation to the age of the parents, statisticsas to the average measurement of conscripts, the prevalenceof mental diseases and epilepsy in different epochs andcountries, &c.The third section will discuss the migration of populations

, and its effects on public health; the laws that cause the, exaggerated increase of urban populations and how this c’ n

be checked; Spanish emigration, its causes and dangers; he, evils of absentee rural landowners, their effects on population

and public wealth; and the influence of sanitary measures on, the physical quality of the populations and the consequences. that may arise therefrom. This last question will supply the. pessimists with an opportunity of arguing that good sanita-I tion, by securing the survival of the unfit, tends to deteriorate. the human race.

Altogether it will be seen that even the preliminary,

programme suffices to indicate that there will be no lack ofinteresting subjects for discussion. We trust that Great

I Britain will be better represented on this than on formerI occasions. Holding a leading position in the practical

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progress of sanitary science Englishmen should make it a

point of honour and duty to spread far and wide the know-ledge which they have been able to acquire. Great Britain,by reason of its wealth, the absence of crushing militaryburdens and its political freedom, has been able to do morefor practical sanitation than most continental countries. Theknowledge we have acquired from actual experience is themost valuable of all knowledge and should not be kept toourselves. On the other hand, it would be a great mistake toconclude from this that we have nothing to learn on thecontinent. Though behind us in many respects there arenumerous instances where even in regard to sanitationcontinental nations can set us a good example.

THE INDIAN FRONTIER CAMPAIGN.

THERE is not much to be chronicled in connexion withthe Indian frontier war. With the concentration of thefirst division in the Khyber Pass the active military phaseof the expedition closes. The campaign as planned by SirWilliam Lockhart has been carried out, but the ultimateresults of it have not yet been manifested. It is quite truethat the Afridi tribes have not after all submitted, but itstill remains to be seen whether the neck of their oppositionhas not been broken and whether they are capable, even ifdesirous, of engaging in further hostilities on any largescale. They have not yet had time to realise the extent oftheir losses and what must be the ulterior effects of them,and it is possible that they will submit to terms ratherthan run the risk of a threatened re-invasion of their countryin the spring. Meanwhile the complete submission of theOraksais has been accomplished, the Khyber Pass has beenre-opened, and the whole of the Afridi country has beenvisited and its defences destroyed. It is clear, however,from the latest operations in the Khyber Pass that the tribesare not sufficiently subdued to desist from attackingus and pursuing their usual tactics. Apart from thegreat geographical and topographical difficulties of thecountry, which are all in favour of a defensive and harassingguerilla warfare, these mountain tribes are among the finestmarksmen in the world and how they procured their largesupplies of modern rifles and ammunition has not yetbeen satisfactorily explained. The Anglo-Indian papersare naturally full of military dispatches and informationregarding this war on the frontier. It is impossible todeal with voluminous reports, but we may refer to a fewpoints of medical interest. Sir Bindon Blood’s dispatchescontain a reference to I I the gallantry of Surgeon-CaptainJ. Fisher, Indian Medical Service, who made a most deter-mined, though unsuccessful, attempt to take medical aid tothe wounded of Captain Ryder’s detachment through hotfire." The commissariat transport and medical arrangementswere excellent.The special correspondent of the Times of India with the

2nd Division of the Tirah expeditionary force, after advertingto the difficulties and dangers connected with the carryingof the wounded, remarks that the total losses of the 2ndDivision for the month ending Nov. 18th have been 462 irkilled and wounded alone, not counting sick-a very heavcasualty list ; with the sick the numbers amount to 908With regard to the requirements of a force in the fielehe mentions the excellence of nearly all articles suppliedby the Commissariat Department. "The warm clothingsupplied to the troops would indeed be hard to beat. Water.proof sheets, boots (the sewing might be a little better),socks, warm coats, Balaclava caps, Cardigan jackets, warnpyjamas, are one and all just as good as you could possiblehope or wish to get from anywhere and are good enough to]anybody and are practically universally worn by officer,and soldiers alike. The food-supply, too, is very goodthe tinned beef and muttcn excellent, as also is the breadwhich is made almost immediately we arrive in camldaily. The chocolate, too, is good and most necessaryWe notice, on the other band, that according to the Pionee,ffail there was a great deal of grumbling among th.medical officers in Tirah with regard to the quality of th.stores of tinned milk and articles like arrowroot for ttutreatment of patients suffering from fever and dysenterythere were often, it is alleged, so bad as to be unfit foconsumption.

Early in December last there were about 700 sick in thePeshawar Hospital, and these numbers will be augmentednow that the expeditionary force is beginning to be con-cent :ated at stations along the Khyber and Peshawar becomesthe base of operations.

Brigadier-General Elles’s despatch regarding the engage-ment near Shabkadr in August last has been received at theIndia Office and published in the gazette. Among the officers,brought to favourable notice is Surgeon-Captain T. H. J. C..Goodwyn of the Army Medical Staff.The sad death of Sir H. Havelock-Allan, V.C., M.P., wh(

was killed in the Khyber Pass, removes a notable personagewho had in his time shown himself a very brave and dis.tinguished soldier. We regret also to hear that Major-General Yeatman-Biggs, C.B., has died from dysentery.

Public Health and Poor Law.LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH.

Lancashire County Distriet.-Mr. Edward Sergeant, themedical officer of health of this district, is of opinion that in.order to enforce the carrying out of the statutes relating topublic health county councils should possess powers similar tothose by which, under Section 299 of the Public Health Act,1875, the Local Government Board are empowered to appointsome person to perform the neglected duty of a sanitaryauthority. The parish councils in Lancashire do not appearto be very energetic in matters touching the public health asduring 1896 one complaint only was received by the countycouncil, under the Local Government Act, 1874, as tounwholesome water supplies, and this in spite of the factthat there is much room for improvement in this particular.In referring to the question of infantile mortality Mr.Sergeant points out that although under Section 17 of theFactory and Workshop Act, 1891, the employment of a womanin a factory within four weeks of her delivery is prohibitedthera ’is no one whose duty it is to enforce the section. Aninstance of the resistant power of the small-poxvirus is to be-found in the contraction of the disease through the un-packing of a trunk belonging to a man who had died fromsmall-pox on his way home from South Africa. Isolationhospital provision does not, it is regrettable to notice, makemuch headway in the county, and there are still no lessthan thirty-three districts without such provision. Two

appeals were made to the Local Government Board duringthe year against the grouping of districts by the countycouncil under the Isolation Hospitals Act, 1893, but in bothcases the decision of the county council was upheld bythe Board. As with hospital provision so with means ofdisinfection, more than half the districts in the countybeing without a proper apparatus. House-to-house inspectionis not taken sufficient advantage of in many districts, andthe subject of common lodging-houses seems well-nighneglected. The smoke nuisance is not one upon which muchimprovement can be recorded and Mr. Sergeant observesthat by allowing the emission of black smoke for more thanten minutes per hour the nuisance referred to is practicallysanctioned; in Barnley the limits are twenty minutes perhour and in Lancaster two minutes. Mr. Sergeant advises,that county councils be given concurrent power with districtcouncils for carrying out Section 91 of the Public HealthAct, 1895. There is much to be said for the proposal, as itis obvious that district councils are not sufficiently removedfrom local influences to deal adequately with this matter.In respect to sewerage considerable progress has been madeduring 1896, but in only a few instances has improvementbeen made in the water-supplies.

14’en;ezrk Urban JJistritt.-A noticeable feature in this dis-trict is the marked fall in the incidence cf enteric fever sincethe introduction of a new water-supply. The notificationsof this disease during each year from 1890 to 1893 were53, 125, 69, and 78. In 1893 the new water-supply wasintroduced and since that time the notifications have been10, 8, and 7 for 1894. 1895, and 1896 re.pectively. Therehas, too, been a marked drop in the number of deathsattribute to tuberculous disease, and Mr. Charles Wills,the medical officer of health of the district, thinks this