1246 WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.—SCOTLAND.

destroyed by subjecting it to a heat of 480°, as had beensuggested. The Home Office had bad the matter under con-sideration for years and had revised rules for places dealingwith hides and skins. Dr. T. M. Legge had himself beenabroad to Italy and had seen the place where the anti-anthrax.serum was made. He had also studied the question, so thatit could be seen that the Home Office had been on the alert.He thought it was hardly fair to say that nothing had beendone in the matter. This is the third death due to anthraxwhich has been recorded in Liverpool during the year.Oct 30th.

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

Monmouthshire Water-supply.IT has been confidently predicted that before many years

have passed the Monmouthshire coalfields will employ asmany men as are now to be found working in the Glamorgan-shire colliery districts. The very rapid increase in someparts of the latter county, noticeably in the Rhondda andAberdare valleys, made it a difficult matter at first to

provide healthy surroundings for the inhabitants, for whenhouses are being erected at the rate of 500 or 600 each yearadequate provision must be made for supplying them withwater and for carrying away sewage. The sewering of alarge portion of the western valleys of Monmouthshireis now being carried out by means of a main trunksewer which will discharge into the Bristol Channel nearNewport. This undertaking is in the hands of the variousdistrict councils whose area it will serve. The water-supplyof the county is not by any means in a satisfactory state.A few localities are pretty well supplied but the majorityare dependent upon indifferent supplies, which means thatat any moment untoward circumstances may cause a serious

epidemic such as the recent outbreak of typhoid feverat Pontypool, Abersychan, and Panteg, which is only nowshowing signs of abatement. The county council of Mon-mouthshire has never been particularly active in connexionwith sanitary matters. It has resolutely refused to appointa county medical officer of health and has taken no steps inthe direction of providing isolation hospital accommoda-dation in the county. Notwithstanding this inertia, thecouncil is to be commended for the interest which it is now

taking in the water-supply of the county, as shown by thereport which it lately commissioned Mr. Baldwin Lathamto make upon certain proposals for impounding thewater in the upper part3 of the county. Mr. Latham’s

report was considered at a meeting of representatives ofthe county council and of the district sanitary authoritieswhich was held at Newport on Oct. 29th. He proposesto place three dams across a valley along which flows oneof the tributaries of the river Usk. The reservoir thusformed would hold 800,000,000 gallons and it is estimatedthat there would be a daily supply of water of 4,000,000gallons. The total cost of the scheme is put down at£730,000. The report did not receive the unanimousapproval of those present at the conference and after somediscussion a further meeting was arranged. The principalcriticisms upon the proposals were that it was unfair toexpect those districts where a sufficient supply of water hadalready been provided to contribute towards the cost of thescheme. The supporters of the scheme were of opinion thatit would cost the county an average rate of id. in the of.for six years, after which it would be self-supporting.

The Abolition of Imprisonment for Contravention ofBy-la7vs.

At the annual conference of the Discharged Prisoners’Aid Societies held at Cardiff on Oct. 22nd the chairman ofthe central committee (Sir Richard Harrington) said that onecould not help feeling that the number of offences for whichpersons could be sent to prison was continually increasing,though a very large proportion of these offences were not ofa criminal character. Many local bodies were now em-

powered to make by-laws for the contravention of which finescould be inflicted. He hoped to see the time when for non-payment of fines imprisonment was got rid of altogetherexcept where the offence was really of a criminal character.He suggested a scheme by which impecunious people whohad been fined for non-criminal offences could work out theamount of the fine in some way outside a prison. A man’s

wages might be impounded or he might be put to some workof public utility. Those who have to administer the PublicHealth Acts would doubtless be glad if Sir Richard

Harrington’s proposal could be acted on. Magistrates oftenhesitate to inflict fines when they know there is no possi-bility of payment being made, and, on the other hand, whenfines which have been levied are not paid it frequentlyhappens that no further notice is taken, so that in eithercase the delinquent is let off scot free.

TAe Housing Problem in Cornwall.At a meeting of the Traro Diocesan Conference, held on

Oct. 26th, Mr. William Hammond, surgeon to the LiskeardCottage Hospital, proposed a motion calling attention to thepresent unsatisfactory condition of the housing of the poor inCornwall, especially in country districts, and to the greatneed of more efficient sanitary inspection and larger powersof compulsion by county medical officers of health, inde-pendent of all local authorities. After some discussion, inwhich Mr. S. G. Vinter, M.R.C.S. Eng., suggested that theappointment of medical officers of health should be per-manent and not annual, the motion was carried.

Cornnall Co2cnty Asylum.At a meeting of the finance committee of the Cornwall

county council, held on Oct. 23rd, it was stated that theextension of the county lunatic asylum had already cost

101,296 and the future estimated liabilities in connexionwith the work amounted to £13,340.

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.In accordance with the ancient custom, the committee,

staff, and governors of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospitalattended service at Exeter Cathedral on Oct. 21st. Themembers of the corporation and other public bodies alsoattended in state. There was a large congregation andPrebendary Bird in the course of his sermon alluded to thefact that of the £3700 per annum required to maintain thehospital only £1700 could be raised in Exeter and thecounty of Devon.

Oct. 31st. ________________

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Sir Dyce Duckworth at the Royal Medical Society, Edinburgh,THE 170th session of the Royal Medical Society of

Edinburgh was opened on Oct. 26th by an addressfrom Sir Dyce Duckworth. The senior president of the

society, Dr. J. M. Graham, occupied the chair. Sir DyceDuckworth referred at some length to his early connexionwith the society and to the teachers and teaching in Edin-burgh nearly half a century ago. The special topic, how-ever, on which he dwelt was the Dignity of Medicine. Hethought it would not be maintained that their profession heldto-day the position that it did half a century ago in the esti-mation of the public. This was not due to any decadence orinefficiency in the art or service of the profession. The faultmust lie either with themselves or be the result of an altereddisposition towards them on the part of the public. Thedignity of medicine was evidenced by its beneficent work asa great social power in any community and by its spreadingeverywhere a wholesome influence. It was this influencewhich he thought had declined. In seeking an explanationfor this he thought that with respect to themselves theaverage modern physician was not, as formerly, a man ofgeneral scholarship and wide learning, and he recognised howdifficult it was to retain the former standard in view of theincrease of knowledge in all departments of medicine. Itmight also be said that some members of their calling failedto commend their profession or its dignity by their inflatedpretensions or manner of life or, perhaps, in not a fewinstances, by an inherent inaptitude to adapt themselves totheir varied social environments. He also referred to thefact that anything approaching extortion or greed seriouslyimpaired the regard in which their profession was held andthat they might damage their usefulness by embroilingthemselves as extreme partisans in political or ecclesiasticalmatters, forgetting that as physicians they lived in a highersphere and in a spirit of comprehensive catholicity andcharity. He also dealt with some of the aspects of histheme from the side of the public.