744

R. B. Wild to the Leech Professorship of Materia Medicaand Therapeutics was confirmed.

The Port oj Mane7tester.A meeting of the Manchester Port Sanitary Authority

was held on March 4th. The medical officer’s reportshowed an absence of serious sickness on the 93 vessels. which had entered the port since the last meeting. Dr.J. H. Crocker is leaving for Richmond, where he has beenappointed medical officer of health, and his resignation hasbeen accepted with regret. In this, his final report,he says that he " had never felt quite sure that somecases of plague or small-pox might not escape him

owing to his inability to be present at the arrival of everyvessel." Fortunately, no case of plague has escaped him,and, indeed, a most assiduous watch has been kept up. Hestated that it was advisable to appoint a medical officer whoshould devote the whole of his time to port sanitary work,and as his time would be fully occupied at Manchester itwould be necessary to arrange for deputies at other

parts of the port. Rats were mentioned as a greatsource of danger, and it was suggested that the shipsshould be kept four or six feet from the quay and the ropesguarded to prevent the rodents from swarming upon them.In all ships the rats should be exterminated and in thewarehouses, too. After some discussion it was agreed" to advertise for a medical officer to devote his whole timeto the work outlined in the report, the salary to be Z350 ayear." This gentleman must, of course, be well qualified,must have a diploma in public health, and must be always onthe alert, for his responsibilities will be great and constantlyincreasing with the increase of traffic, so that the salaryproposed does not err on the side of liberality.March 6th.

WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Cardiff Infirmary Local Public Spirit.THE annual meeting of the supporters of the Cardiff

Infirmary has of late years been a gathering at which thesingle story has been told of increasing expenditure andlessening income with the natural accompaniment of a

standing debt mounting higher and higher. Year afteryear suggestions have been made for lessening the expendi-ture or for increasing the income of the institution. Wardshave been closed and small economies have been effected,while bazaars, balls, and concerts have been organised forthe purpose of reducing the adverse balance. In spite, how-ever, of every effort the amount of indebtedness increaseduntil at the beginning of the year 1900 it stood at £10,700and although there was an increased income during the yearof .B825 and a decreased expenditure of £612 the executivecommittee managed to spend e633 more than they received.At the end of 1900, therefore, the standing debt was .611,333.The decrease in the expenses is attributed to the closingof the special gynaecological wards which contained30 beds and were opened three years ago. The reduc-tion of the number of beds in the infirmary constantlyavailable from 150 in 1899 to 120 in 1900 is said toaccount for the increase in the annual cost per bedfrom .B54 5s. in the former year to .663 15s. in the latter.It had long been felt that only by a great effort, and onewhich was supported by the leading men in the town, couldthe institution be cleared of its incubus, so that when thenewly elected mayor (Mr. T. Andrews) announced on

Nov. 9th last that he was determined to wipe out the debtbrighter prospects seemed in store. Although subscriptions,some of considerable sums, came in rapidly in response tothe mayor’s appeal it is doubtful if he could so speedily haveachieved his purpose without the assistance of one of theCardiff daily papers, the Western Mail, the managers ofwhich inaugurated a ’’ shilling fund" and placed at thehead of it their own munificent subscription of 500guineas. In a little over three months, at the annual

meeting on Feb. 27th, the mayor was able to hand over acheque for .611,272, a sum which was practically sufficientto extinguish the debt and which included .B5697 sent to themayor’s fund, .B5375 sent to the Western Mail, and Z200sent to a fund established by the Mayor of Oowbridge, asmall town which is joined to Cardiff for Parliamentarypurposes.

Refuse Destructors.The large towns in South Wales have been slow to adopt

the methods of refuse destruction which have for manyyears been employed in other parts of the United Kingdom,notably in the manufacturing towns of the north ofEngland. At Cardiff, at Swansea, and at Mertbyr houserefuse is still carted out to large "tips" " in the suburbs ofthose towns. In the Rhondda valley there is approachingcompletion a destructor of the type known as "Mason’sgasifier," which appears to have recommended itself to thesanitary authority in consequence of the small chimneywhich is required, a factor that can be appreciated in thoselocalities where the refuse to be destroyed cannot readily bebrought to a central depot, but has to be dealt with indifferent parts of the district. At Barry a destructor wasformally started on Feb. 27th and is actually the first to beerected in South Wales. It is of the Beaman and Deas typeand consists of two cells which are said to be capable ofburning 30 tons of refuse per day of 24 hours. The entirecost of the installation is £7500.

Pembrokeshire and Haverfordwest Infirmary.The annual report of this institution states that during the

year 1900 there were treated 99 in-patients and 673 out-

patients at a cost of .6869. The total income for the yearfrom interest upon investments and from subscriptionsamounted to £860. It is anticipated that the alterations inthe drainage, &c., which are now being carried out will becompleted and will permit of the wards being reoccupied bythe beginning of May.

The Medical Officers of Health of Haverford7vest.Mr. George Griffith has resigned his appointment as one

of the four medical officers of health for the Haverfordwestrural district. The population of the whole district is about32,000 and the area 160,000 acres. Each of the medicalofficers of health receives a salary of £20 per annum.

Public Health Labortory at Cardiff, The Cardiff and County Public Health Laboratory has beenestablished nearly three years, and the increasing usefulnessof the undertaking is demonstrated in the report of thebacteriologist (Dr. W. G. Savage) for the year 1900. Three

suspected cases of plague were bacteriologically investigatedduring the year-two with a positive and one with a negativeresult. For suspected diphtheria 243 specimens were

examined and in 72 instances Klebs-L6ffler bacilli werefound ; Widal’s reaction occurred in 73 specimens examinedand tubercle bacilli were demonstrated in 36 of the 86specimens of sputum examined. There were bacteriologicallyexamined 119 samples of wa’er and 198 additional sampleswere submitted to chemical examination. A small fee is

paid by medical practitioners or medical officers of healthwho forward material for bacteriological examination. butall samples of water sent by medical officers of health withinthe administrative county are examined both bacteriologicallyand chemically free of charge.Royal West of England Sanatorium, Weston-super-Mare.The annual meeting of the subscribers of this institution

was held on Feb. 23rd. The medical report stated that 2120patients had been admitted during 1900-an increase ofthree as compared with the previous year. 8462 hot and coldsea-water baths had been given and had afforded much reliefin rheumatism. The financial statement showed that the totalincome for the year was Z3788 and that the expenditureamounted to £3471. Mr. F. J. Fry was re-elected president.

Exeter Dispensary.The annual meeting of the governors of this institution

was held on Feb. 23rd. The medical report stated that 5571patients had been treated during 1900, against 6256 in 1899.The financial statement showed a favourable balance of £212.The chairman (Mr. S. Ward) said that by a rule of the dis-pensary members of clubs who were entitled to medicaltreatment and medicine were not eligible as patients.March 5th.

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Small-pox in Edinburgh.As was to be expected several fresh cases of small-poxhave shown themselves in Edinburgh. At the date of