1645KING EDWARD’S HOSPITAL FUND FOR LONDON.

impurities had sunk to the bottom, leaving pure white solidsalt at the top. The impure portion of the block is separatedeasily by a blow with a chisel. The pure salt may then

be ground to any degree of fineness required. The new

method is said to be much cheaper than the old one andmuch more economical of time, taking hours only while theold one required days. Another advantage is that by the fireprocess the salt is freed from water and in this anhydrouscondition is very slow in absorbing moisture from the

atmosphere, so that no ingredients need be added to preventit from "caking." Some hundreds of tons have been

refined, tested, and analysed with, it is said, quite satis-

factory results, and works on a large scale are to be erectedwhere the new method can be carried on.

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KING EDWARD’S HOSPITAL FUND FOR LONDON.

IT will be remembered that in Lord Mount-Stephen’s letterto the Prince of Wales which accompanied his recent

splendid donation to King Edward’s Hospital Fund he

expressed a hope that the friends of the fund would unitein raising the further capital sum required to increase thepermanent income of the Fund to .B75,OOO a year, the incomefrom subscriptions being now estimated at the like sum. His

Royal Highness has now contributed .B500 himself and hasreceived from Lord Revelstoke a gift of £500, from Mr.Frederick M. Fry .6250, and from an anonymous donor £1000as contributions to this object.

THE DALRYMPLE HOME FOR INEBRIATES: ANINTERESTING REPORT.

THE annual report of the Dalrymple Home for 1907 showsa continuance of the steady progress which has marked thehistory of this institution under the management of its

present medical superintendent, Mr. F. S. D. Hogg. Duringthe year 36 patients were received and 39 were discharged.With regard to the patients received Mr. Hogg notes withregret that only ten were inebriates certified under the Act,the other 26 being private patients, over the duration ofwhose stay under treatment the physician can exercise nolegal control. It is an extremely gratifying fact that, evenunder these very unfavourable conditions, the after-historyof traceable cases should show so high a proportion as

62 per cent. under the rubric " doing well," while only22 per cent. are returned as "not improved." It is interestingto note that Mr. Hogg’s wide experience has satisfied himthat the sudden and complete stoppage of alcohol is notattended by any of those risks to the health of habitualdrunkards which many people, and, as Mr. Hogg drilyobserves, especially many patients, attribute to this drasticmethod. On the contrary, he has found that appetite andnatural sleep are restored very much sooner when this modeof treatment is followed than when the use of alcohol is

gradually discontinued. A matter on which Mr. Hogg laysvery special stress and regarding which he speaks with excep-tional authority, is the pre3ent unsatisfactory state of the lawwhich so deplorably hampers the application of institutionaltreatment to drunkards who do not possess the further

qualification of being criminals. As matters stand, a manmay be in a condition of chronic alcoholic or drug poisoningor may be periodically in an unfit condition for decent

society, but so long as he avoids criminal acts and is notpersistently in such a state that he may be classed as insane,he is free to squander his capital, to ruin himself and hisfamily, and to drink or to drug himself to death ; and unlesshe decides to place himself under treatment nothing can bedone to save him. The remedy which Mr. Hogg advocatesis that inebriates of this class should be certified much in thesame way as lunatics are certified and that they should beplaced compulsorily under treatment before they have

financially, mentally, and physically foundered. We find

this simple plan reasonable ; something of the sort shouldcertainly be adopted when the Government fulfils its

promise of introducing legislation to amend the InebriatesActs.

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THE MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLCHILDREN.

THE following are particulars of the course of lecturesand demonstrations which have been arranged to take placeat the rooms of the Incorporated Society of Medical Officersof Health in London during Whit-week :-

Tuesday, June 9th.-3 P.M.: Opening Meeting in the roomsof the Society, 1, Upper Montague-street, Russell-square,London, W.C. Address by Dr. James Kerr, chief medicalofficer of the London County Council Education Department.

Wednesday, June 10th.-11 A.M. : Lecture on "MedicalInspection," by Dr. C. J. Thomas (L C.C. Education Depart-ment). 2 P.M. : Visit to schools. 5.30 P M. : Lecture,"Anthropometry," Dr. F. C. Shrubsall ; Physical Exercises,Dr. Shrubsall.

Thursday, June llth.-10.30 A. M. : Demonstration ofSpecial Cases, Dr. Kerr (L.C.C. Education Offices).11.30 A M. : Office Routine; Ringworm Examination, &c.,Dr. Thomas (L.C.C. Education Offices). Visits to Schools.2 30 P.M. : Lecture, " Eyes and Ears," Dr. Kerr. 3.30 P.M. :Lecture, "School and Home; Infectious Diseases," Dr. H.Meredith Richards. 5.30 P.M.: Lecture, "School Clinics,"Dr. A. H. Hogarth.Friday, June 12th.-10.30 A.M.: Demonstration at London

County Council Education Offices, Dr. Kerr. Visits to Schools.Further arrangements are in contemplation.An exhibition of appliances, outfits, record systems, office

requisites, and so on, will be open daily from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.All desirous of attending the lectures are requested to com-municate with Mr. W. A. Lawton, at the offices of the

Incorporated Society of Medical Officers of Health, 1, UpperMontague-street, Russell-square, London, W.C.

THE SIXTEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF

MEDICINE AT BUDAPEST, 1909.

A MEETING of the National Committee for Great Britainand Ireland of the Sixteenth International Congress ofMedicine was held at the rooms of the Medical Society ofLondon on May 28th, Dr. F. W. Pavy, F.R.S., being in thechair. The National Committee was reconstituted by in-corporating 22 new members with the former committee. Itwas proposed by Mr. W. H. H. Jessop, seconded by Mr.L. Eliot Creasy, and carried unanimously, that the officersof the new committee should be Dr. Pavy, President, and Mr.D’Arcy Power and Dr. Clive Riviere, honorary secretaries.Letters were read from the general secretary of the Congressstating that it would be held at Budapest from August 29thto Sept. 4th, 1909, under the patronage of his Imperial andApostolic Royal Majesty Francis Joseph I. It was further

reported that certain changes had been made in the methodof obtaining scientific communications; no members or

societies had been invited directly to contribute but all

papers and discussions had been left to the initiative of

individuals. In these circumstances the National Committee

felt that it was necessary to urge those who proposedto read papers to send in the titles to the general secretary(Professor Emil Grósz, Esterhazy-utcza. 7, Budapest VIII.) assoon as possible, because it is very desirable that the medicalprofession in the United Kingdom should be adequately repre-sented at the Congress. The work of the Congress is dividedinto 21 sections of which the sixteenth section, Otology, is tobe held simultaneously with the Eighth International Congressof Otology. The remaining sections are Anatomy and Embryo-logy, Physiology, General and Experimental Pathology, Micro-biology (Bacteriology) and Pathological Anatomy, Thera-

peutics, which includes Pharmacology, Physical Therapeuticsand Balneology, Internal Medicine, Surgery. Obstetrics andGynaecology, Ophthalmology, Diseases of Children, Diseases of

1646 AMERICA’S TRIUMPH IN PANAMA.

-the Nervous System, Psychiatries, Dermatology and Venereal’Diseases, Diseases of the Urinary Tract, Laryngology, Otology,Stomatology, Hygiene and Prophylactic Medicine, MedicalJurisprudence, Military and Naval Hygiene, and TropicalDiseases. There will probably be the usual reduction in

faitway fares for those who attend the Congress but no

details are as yet forthcoming. Should a sufficient numberf members from Great Britain and Ireland signify theirintention of attending it may be possible to obtain a specialthrough train from Boulogne to Budapest. The cost of

membership is 25 crowns (which is approximately £1 sterling)for each member and half that amount for members’ wivesand daughters. The money can be remitted by post-officemoney order payable to Professor Dr. Elischer, treasurer ofthe Congress, at the current rate of exchange.

THE death is announced of Dr. Prior Purvis of Blackheathat the great age of 95 years. Dr. Parvis obtained the

degree of M.D. London in 1842.

THE President of the Board of Education has appointedMiss Janet M. Campbell, M.D. Lond., to the Medical Depart-ment of the Board.

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THE annual banquet of the Coroners’ Society of Englandand Wales will be held at the Holborn Restaurant, London,on Thursday, June 18th, at 6.45 for 7 P.M. The honorarysecretary is Mr. Walter Schtoler.

THE Hunterian Society has decided to award a silver

medal annually for the best essay by a general practitionerembodying the results of original observations. Intendingcandidates can obtain full particulars from the senior

honorary secretary, Dr. W. Langdon Brown, 37A, Finsbury-square, London, E.C.

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THE annual Bolingbroke lecture will be delivered on

Friday, June 12th, at 9 P.M., before the South-WestLondon Medical Society, at the headquarters of the 4th’Volunteer Battalion East Surrey Regiment (opposite ClaphamJunction Station), by Dr. David Ferrier who has taken ashis subject " Hysterical Paralysis." Medical men other thanmembers of the society are cordially invited.

THE Harben lectures (1908) of the Royal Institute ofPublic Health will be delivered in the lecture theatre of theinstitute on Wednesday, June 10th, 17th, and 24th, at

5 P.M., by Professor George H. F. Nuttall, M.D., D.Sc.,F.R.S., Quick Professor of Biology in the University of

Cambridge, on the following subjects :-Lecture 1, Ticks,their Biology and Structure ; Lecture 2, Spirochætosis inMan and Animals.; and Lecture 3, Piroplasmosis. To

these lectures all who may be interested are cordiallyinvited.

EASTBOURNE WORKHOUSE.-It is not at allsurprising to learn that the Local Government Board will not,permit of any further extension of the old workhouse

premises at Eastbourne. The guardians had hoped to

provide for their increasing indoor poor in this way butmet with a prompt refusal. The present buildings, originallycavalry barraoks, were all very well when workhouses werechiefly for the relief of the able-bodied and not the sick, theaged, and the infirm, who now greatly preponderate, and inview of the great changes that have come over Poor-lawadministration, particularly as regards the nursing of the

’’

sick, it seems a wonder that the guardians were not calledupon to build new premises some years ago. The board has now decided to build a new workhouse on its estate at

’Willingdon to accommodate 550 inmates at a cost of £50 perbed for the able-bodied, and £100 per bed for the infirmaryinmates. This decision was only arrived at by a very ’.narrow majority, several guardians favouring delay until the.report of the Poor-law Commission was issued. Of the represent inmates 102 are over the age of 70 years.

AMERICA’S TRIUMPH IN PANAMA:THREE YEARS’ MEDICAL AND SANITARY RECORD

IN THE CANAL ZONE.

BY JOHN GEORGE LEIGH.

IT was my privilege some three years ago to contribute tothe pages of THE LANCET a series of articles 1 explanatoryof certain climatic and hygienic problems then facing theUnited States Administration in the inaugural stages of thestupendous enterprise which it had undertaken and pledgeditself to achieve in the Central American isthmus. In theseI expressed a firm conviction that, despite some initial errors(not, I trust, unkindly criticised), and many visible and yetundisclosed difficulties, success would crown its efforts;basing my confidence-not upon the feasibility of the

project, the skill of modern engineers, or the command ofimmense monetary resources-but upon the probability of asatisfactory reply being forthcoming to the followingquestion : Can the health conditions of the isthmus be so

ameliorated as to prevent, during the period of canal con-struction, a recurrence of the appalling mortality among thelabourers which accompanied the building of the Panamarailroad and the work of excavation along the canal route inthe days of the de Lesseps Company ? In the course of myremarks I referred at considerable length to the eventfuland usually lugubrious history of the isthmus, the latter’sevil reputation as a hotbed of malaria and yellow fever;and the misgivings with which sincere well-wishers ofthe enterprise regarded a then threatened radical modi-fication in the design of the canal. Superficially, it seemeda matter of little moment, from the standpoint of healthconditions, whether the canal were built with a summit leveland locks or excavated throughout the entire distance to 35or 40 feet below the mean level of the ocean. It is happilyunnecessary to-day to recall the arguments with which Isought to controvert this assumption and to demonstrate, onthe contrary, that the question was of paramount importance,for the sea-level canal-thanks to the strenuous opposition ofthe few rather than the good sense of the many-has gonethe way of the Nicaragua, Darien, and other more or equallyspecious projects for uniting by an artificial navigable high-way the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

It may, however, be pointed out that the fear expressed inJune, 1905, was amply justified, for early in the followingyear a majority (including all the foreign members) of theBoard of Consulting Engineers, to whom had been delegatedconsideration of all the plans, decided to recommend, for finaladoption by President Roosevelt and Congress, a waterwayeverywhere brought down to sea-level. This result was hailedwith satisfaction from two quarters : by the men whohonestly believed that such a canal, when completed, wouldoffer superior advantages to commerce, and by others in-terested in the trans-continental railroads, who remainedfaithful to the tradition of supporting that rival enterprisewhich promised to be most difficult and dangerous and costlyin time and money. Their joy, however, was but short-lived,for, side by side with the recommendation to which I havereferred, the President and Secretary of War were able toconsider reports from the minority of the Consulting Boardand the then Isthmian Canal Commission and chief engineer,each strongly favouring adherence to the high-level project asnot only more desirable from technical and economic stand-points but also as promising superior efficiency. The argu-ments advanced in these documents seemed, and indeedwere, so conclusive that Congress, after some months ofuseless talk, abandoned its earlier and newly revived pre-dilections and decided to vote the required appropriations,leaving to the President, his advisers, and nominees unfettereddiscretion in determining and building such type of canal asappeared to them desirable.In my first article, referring to the impending conflict, I

wrote: " It seems not unreasonable to suggest that, beforebhe fateful decision, the last word should be spoken not bybhe aspiring engineer but by the profession which will beheld mainly responsible should the prophecies of ill be justi-fied by events." Fitting regard was, of course, given by theExecutive and Congress to engineering and commercial con-siderations, but no one will deny that both in committeeand open debate the really determining arguments were

1 Sanitation and the Panama Canal : the Solution of CertainClimatic and Hygienic Problems, THE LANCET, June 3rd (p. 1530), 10th(p. 1597), and 24th (1726), 1905.