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is more or less the centre. Their sheikhs, as also those ofthe other principal bedouin tribes, were concentrating atTebuk in order to meet the railway authorities and come toan agreement for guaranteeing the security of the line fromattack, and it was by a fortunate coincidence that thejourney of the Commission took place just at thismoment. On the return journey I had occasion to meet,

FiG. 6.

The Hedjaz Railway Hospital at Tebuk.

at Ma’an and in the desert between Ma’an and Petra,five of the principal sheikhs of the Howeitat tribe, whoinhabit the region between Ma’an and the Gulf of Akaba;and in Damascus one of the sheikhs of the Fakir tribe (thecousin of Mutlak, the chief) and Sheikh Hamud, the head ofthe Welad Ali tribe. The Fakir tribe live in the region tothe east and north-east of Medaini-Salih ; the Welad Ali inthat lying between Medaini-Salih and Medina. Practically

FzC. 7.

Interior of the Tebuk Hospita1.

the only tribe to be considered in connexion with the safetyof the future lazaret at Tebuk is that of the Beni Attiyeh,and the Commission made a provisional arrangement withSheikh Harb under which, in return for a small payment,his tribe would guarantee the security of the lazaret

and also furnish the required number of men to actas gardes sanitaircs. The railway has its principal hos.

pital for sick employees at Tebuk. It is a long, one-

storeyed building of stone, with roof of Marseillestiles. It contains one long ward 44. 5 metres (say 140 feet)in length and 6 metres wide, and two small rooms ateach end ; the baths and service rooms are in separate out.

buildings. A branch from the main line of the railway runsup to this hospital. At the time of our visit there wereabout 60 patients under treatment ; they were mostly Italianlabourers and Turkish troops who had been employed in

laying down the line. The exterior and interior of this

hospital are shown in the photographs reproduced here

(Fig. 6 and Fig. 7).There are practically no meteorological observations avail.

able at Tebuk. I have, however, noted that on June 8th,1908, the thermometer in the shade stood at 300 C. at10 A.M., at 340 at 1 P.M., and at 360 at 2.30 P.M. ; and thaton the 10th it rose to 370 C. at 1 P.M. and to 390 at 2.30.Meissner Pasha tells me that the day temperatures at Tebukare about the same as those at Medaini-Salih but that thenights are incomparably cooler. The nights, it may beadded, were always cool during our brief journey on the line,the thermometer sinking to 250 C. (77° F.) and even lower.Sandstorms are commoner at Tebuk than at Ma’an, but muchless frequent than at Medaini-Salih ; they occur at Tebukabout once every two months.

(To be continued.)

BIRMINGHAM.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The University.THE winter session commenced in Birmingham on the first

Monday in October and in the Medical Faculty it was in-

augurated in the usual way by a conversazione which was, ifanything, more than usually successful. The Dean of theMedical Faculty, Professor H. G. Barling, aided by ProfessorR. Saundby and Mr. John Humphreys, received thenumerous guests in the Founders’ Room of the UniversityClub, whence they wandered to the various laboratories,lecture rooms, and museums, where a series ofattractive exhibitions were displayed. Professor Barlinghad provided a most excellent concert, and the audience wasenthusiastic in its appreciation of Mrs. Ranalow’s songs andMessrs. Heath’s, Lloyd’s and Pickup’s instrumental music.Great interest was shown in the radiographs exhibited byMr. J. Hall-Edwards and Dr. A. Emrys Jones and in thepreparations of various types of tubercle and tubercle bacilli,and the photo-micrographs illustrating phases of the life-history of the malarial parasite, the fluid from a plague bubo,and the eggs of various parasites, which were exhibited inthe Pathological Laboratory.

The Provident Dispensaries Scheme.The scheme for the establishment in Birmingham of a series

of provident dispensaries, to which I drew attention in mylast letter, was carefully and fully expounded to a meeting ofthe Birmingham and District General Medical Practitioners’Union on Sept. 29th by Mr. Neville Chamberlain. Themain objects of the scheme are to relieve the out-patientdepartments of the hospitals, to supplement the existingprovident agencies, and to secure to the medical professionsome remuneration from patients who are able to pay some-thing for the work done for them. Mr. Chamberlain pointedout that he and those who had been working with himrecognised that hospitals competed with each other for out-patients and in their reports pointed with pride to thenumber of cases treated. The General Hospital was certainlytrying to break through the system which had been estab-lished and after giving first aid to certain cases it requestedthem not to attend again but to go elsewhere for furthertreatment. One hospital alone, however, could do little, forthe people turned away from it could go to some similarinstitution. Therefore, cooperation between the hospitalswas essential if success was. to be obtained. To securesuch cooperation it was necessary that the staffs of the hos-pitals should be convinced that the patients turned awaycould secure satisfactory treatment elsewhere, and theobiect of the new scheme was to provide the necessary

1107

treatment under proper conditions. The cooperation of tthe hospitals and the General Dispensary being gained 1

. it was still necessary that the aid of the general members of sthe medical profession should be secured and if this was obtained the scheme offered great hopes of success. After Mr. Chamberlain’s exposition was concluded the scheme was discussed and though a certain amount of opposition was apparent a motion deprecating the revival of any suggestionfor the establishment of a public medical service was lostby a large majority, and Mr. M. Hallwright, Dr. J. A. H.White, Mr. J. Neal, Dr. G. Bryce, Mr. J. W. Ensor, Dr.H. W. Pooler, and Mr. F. A. L. Burges were appointed to actupon the committee which is dealing with the new scheme.

The Encouragement of Personal G’lcccnlrness.

The city council seems to have faith in the old saying thatcleanliness is next to godliness and with the object of

encouraging an agreeable virtue it has decided to establish anumber of cottage bathing establishments where a bath maybe obtained for the sum of ld. and a piece of soapfor 2d. The first establishment was opened on Oct. lst inDigbeth where cleanliness is not usually too obviouslyintrusive. The experiment will be watched with interest andif the. establishments succeed and pay their way perhaps noone will have any cause to complain except the heads offamilies who may have been induced to squander on a singlebath a sum of money which, had it been judiciously expendedon coal and soap, would have served not only to provide hotwater and lather for the whole family but also heat for cook-ing purposes and warmth for the house. Apparently the cityfathers think much water better than a little thrift.

The BirminghaJn District N1frs’ing Society.The new home of our District Nursing Society in Summer

Hill-road was opened ’on Oct. 2nd by Mrs. WilliamKenrick. It is thoroughly up-to-date in arrangement andequipment and will provide accommodation for a super-intendent, an assistant superintendent, and 16 nurses.

The building has cost £5000. To meet this the com-mittee has provided .62,500, and it appeals to the publicfor the remaining half and also for additional subscrip-tions of R450 per annum to maintain the present staff andto provide extra nurses for the Saltley district, where theyare urgently needed. The furnishing of the new house andthe laying out of the garden have been more than provided forby the generosity of the Right Hon. William Kenrick andMrs. Kenrick, who have initiated, stimulated, and helped somany useful projects in Birmingham.

Medical Appointments at Bilston.Some three months ago Dr. T. R. Bailey, the medical officer

of health to the Bilston council, received three months’notice to terminate his appointment at the infectious hos-pital, on the ground that all the medical appointments in thecontrol of the council should not be in the hands of one man.At a meeting of the council on Sept. 23rd the clerk reportedthat in accordance with his instructions he had advertisedthe appointment but no applications had been received, andafter some discussion an unfortunate incident was terminated

by the reappointment of Dr. Bailey.The Birmingham Hospital Sunnday Fund.

At a recent meeting of the general committee of the

Hospital Sunday Fund a subcommittee reported that it hadconsidered applications from the Jaffray Hospital, the

Hospital for Skin and Urinary Diseases, the MidlandCounties Asylum for Feeble-minded Children, and the

Crippled Children’s Union. The decision arrived at with

regard to the various claims was that they could not beacceded to unless other charities with equal claims weresimilarly treated, and it was resolved that the usual appealshould be made to the clergy and ministers of the city onbehalf of a collection to be made on Oct. 25th next and thatthe proceeds of the collection should be distributed in thesame proportion as last year.

Medical Inspcction at King’s Norton.At a recent meeting of the King’s Norton education com-

mittee Dr. Jones reported that the inspection of 1946children had revealed that 69 per cent. had defective teeth,25.7 per cent. had enlarged tonsils and adenoids, about18 per cent. had dirty heads, 4’ 4 per cent. had spinalcurvature, 3 - 6 per cent. had heart disease, 2 ’ 3 per cent. hadlung disease, 1’ 5 per cent. had bad ears, and of 735 cases

tested 7’ 2 per cent. had defective vision. The schoolhygienic subcommittee recommended the appointment of a,

school nurse at a salary not exceeding .E50, to assist the,school medical officer, and although the council had pre-viously refused to make such an appointment the obviousnecessity caused an alteration of opinion and the appoint-ment was sanctioned.

Oct. 6th.

LIVERPOOL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Pctreroell Dinner to Mr. George Gibson .Hamiilton,F.R. C. S. Eng

A FAREWELL dinner was given to Mr. George G. Hamilton,late honorary surgeon to the Royal Infirmary, at the AdelphiHotel on Oct. 2nd, by friends and colleagues, on theoccasion of his leaving Liverpool to reside in Boscombe,Bournemouth. For the past 25 years Mr. Hamilton had beenengaged in surgical practice in Liverpool. His first appoint-ment was at the Children’s Infirmary, thence he passed on tothe David Lewis Northern Hospital as honorary surgeon,whilst for the last 15 years he had been on the staff of theRoyal Infirmary, in the first instance as assistant surgeon,and afterwards succeeding the late Sir William MitchellBanks as honorary surgeon in 1902. The Lord Mayor(Dr. Richard Caton) presided and in felicitous terms

spoke of the good work accomplished by Mr. Hamiltonin Liverpool, and of the loss that the city, the RoyalInfirmary, and the medical school will sustain throughhis departure. In reply to the toast of his health, proposedby Dr. E. W. Hope and supported by Mr. Charles Lancaster,Mr. Hamilton said he felt flattered that so many colleaguesand friends were with him that night, notably the Lord

Mayor who with all his numerous engagements had foundtime to be present. He also remembered that Dr. Hope, nowthe esteemed medical officer of health, had been a housesurgeon with himself, somewhat over a quarter of a centuryago. In those days house surgeons were appointed to theLiverpool hospitals from all parts of the country. He hopedto see soon arrangements made by which house surgeons shouldbe regularly interchanged between the large teaching hospitals

.

as had been the custom in Germany for a considerable time.LMr. Edgar A. Browne then proposed the health of Mrs.

George Hamilton in a charming and humorous speech. Mrs.Hamilton and a few other ladies were present to hear thespeeches. Covers were laid for about 60 gentlemen.

Liverpool Royal Iitflriiiary.At a meeting of the election committee of the Royal

Infirmary held on Sept. 30th Mr. F. A. G. Jeans was appointedhonorary assistant surgeon in succession to Mr. WilliamThelwall Thomas, promoted honorary surgeon on August 10th.

Cost nf the Civic Hospitals for Infcctio2cs Diseases.In the recent report of the medical officer of health on the

Liverpool city hospital accommodation it is shown that over40 per cent. of the total accommodation is provided inbuildings of a temporary nature, and as recent experiencehas proved that the present accommodation is only barelysufficient for actual requirements it is of the greatestimportance that the existing buildings, whether of a per-manent or temporary character, should be maintained in athoroughly satisfactory condition, otherwise the situation

might become serious at any time. The cost of maintenanceof the city hospitals for 1907 was: north hospital, .69224;south, E5570 ; east, .68250; Parkhill, .612,188; Fazakerley,£11,244 ; and Fazakerley annexe, E4080; making a grandtotal of £50,556.

Oct. 6th. _______________

LEEDS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Presentation of Portraits of Sir T. Clifford Allbutt and Mr.T. Pridgin Teale to the General Infig-niapy.

SOME time ago it was decided by the numerous friends ofSir Clifford Allbutt and Mr. Teale that they should berequested to sit for their portraits in order that there shouldbe preserved in the city with which they had been so long