383

never seen and no precautions are taken regardingdisposal of napkins or feeding, since there is a greatshortage of nurses. I feel, however, that cortisone shouldbe given an adequate trial in a gastrointestinal unit.

B. E. BARSBY.General Hospital,Taiping, Perak, Malaya.

1. Lancet, 1957, ii, 1129.

AMAUROSIS FUGAX

ANDREW MAKAI.

SIR,-Sir Philip Livingston’s very interesting article 1brings to mind a striking case.A woman, aged about 50, had a large painful ulcer on the

right side of her neck, following X-ray and radium treatmentfor a supposedly malignant tumour. The ulcer was larger thana man’s pahn, with a hard sloughing base. Its upper edge was1-2 cm. below the mandible. Biopsy showed no malignantcells.

I began treatment with injections of her own blood (40 ml.,not altered by citrate) under the edges of the ulcer-a treatmentwhich I had found successful in previous cases when healingwas slow. After two injections the pain was less. At the thirdtreatment, when about 5 ml. of blood had been injected underthe superior edge, she suddenly became blind in the right eye;her right eyeball was protruded, and the pupil dilated andinsensitive to light. The left eye was unchanged. I stopped theinjection; sight returned to the right eye, and was normal in4-5 min.

War-time conditions prevented me from investigatingthis case further. I have seen no similar event in over fiftyyears of practice, and I cannot explain it except as a reflexresponse. Stimulation of the carotid body was unlikely foranatomical reasons.

Budapest. ANDREW MAKAI.

THE LIONEL WHITBY MEMORIAL FUND

W. K. C. GUTHRIEGORDON GORDON-TAYLORHAROLD BOLDEROE. C. DODDSR. W. SCARFF

JOHN KIRK.

SIR,-We should appreciate your assistance in callingattention to a fund being raised by the Master and Fellowsof Downing College, Cambridge, in memory of their lateMaster, Sir Lionel Whitby, regius professor of physic inthe University.The Lionel Whitby Memorial Fund was established

at the suggestion of the Downing College Associationand an Appeal has been sent out to its members. It is

proposed to use the fund to found Whitby MemorialScholarships in the college, an object which, it is felt,would have met with his warm approval.As an undergraduate of the college he was a Scholar,

and later became successively Honorary Fellow, Profes-sorial Fellow, and finally Master, and the college was oneof the chief interests of his life. It has been suggested tothe Master and Fellows that among his wide circle offriends in the medical world there may be many, in adai-tion to members of the college, who would like to contri-bute to this Memorial Fund.The Master and Fellows would very much welcome

such contributions, as the resources of the college areamong the most limited of those of the Cambridge col-leges. Although the college now spends from its generalresources nearly E4000 annually on scholarships and

exhibitions, only about El 000 of this is provided fromspecific endowments. It was the heavy demand thusmade on the general endowments of the college, togetherwith a wish to keep alive the memory of Whitby in theminds of future generations of undergraduates, whichled the Association to allocate the present fund to thefoundation of scholarships bearing his name.

Contributions should be sent to the Bursar, DowningCollege, Cambridge, and if so desired, may be made by

seven-year covenant, forms for which will be supplied onrequest.

Parliament

Children of Broken MarriagesON some of their most important recommendations the

members of the Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorcewere divided. Not unnaturally these recommendations led tocontroversy and discussion among the public. But the groupof recommendations urging that the children of broken

marriages should be offered more protection and securitywas readily accepted on all sides, and on Feb. 7 Mr. ARTHURMoYLE introduced, as a private member, the MatrimonialProceedings (Children) Bill which will give legislative shapeto the Commission’s suggestions.

In his opening speech Mr. Moyle said that each year theparents of over 20,000 children were parted in divorce, whichmeant that 1 child in 20 was deprived of a normal home.That was not the kind of basis on which children could buildwell for their future lives. One main provision of his Billwas to ensure that no final decree, either in divorce or judicialseparation, could be made final until the court was satisfiedthat as far as practicable satisfactory arrangements had beenmade for the future of the children. A second importantprovision was to set up a court welfare service to assist thejudge in reaching decisions about the custody of the children.Mr. DAVID RENTON, joint under-secretary of State for the

Home Department, in welcoming the Bill on behalf of the

Government, said that the lives and happiness of a consider-able number of children were affected by the disputes of theirparents and it was right that the courts should pay regard totheir welfare. If the Bill became law he was sure that thosewho administered the law would welcome the new powers and

responsibilities which it would give them.

Shrimps, Prawns, and Pickled OnionsOn Feb. 10 Mr. FREDERICK WILLEY prayed against the

proposed amendment to the Food Hygiene Regulations (S.I.1957, no. 2157) which, subject to safeguards, would exceptshrimps, prawns, and pickled onions from the embargo onthe processing of food in the homes of outworkers. Most ofthe debate rightly centred round the shrimps and prawns, forunlike the onions, they are peeled in the workers’ homesafter and not before they are boiled, and no form of sterilisation,however informal, comes between them and the consumer.Many members were clearly uneasy about their preparationin the home. Time must elapse between preparation and sale,children must be cared for, babies must be changed, andconstant supervision by the manufacturer or the local authorityis impossible.Mr. RICHARD THOMPSON, parliamentary secretary to the

Ministry of Health, said that, though there was no reason whyfood could not be prepa,red in domestic premises in as cleana way as in a food factory, absence of supervision couldadmittedly permit lower standards than people nowadaysexpected for the preparation of food. But the present regula-tions offered some safeguards. They laid down that out-

workers’ premises must be registered with the local authorities.Outworkers must also observe the ordinary provisions laiddown in the food and hygiene regulations to ensure the

personal cleanliness of the worker and the protection of thefood from contamination. (These standards do not, however,seem too exigent, for in response to questions Mr. Thompsonagreed that an " adequate supply of hot water " did notrequire a water heater, but could be met by water boiled in