1699NOTES FROM INDIA.—BIRMINGHAM.

prosecution (or shall I say persecution ?) and go for damagesin the civil court for defamation of character ? It is evidentthat if charges can be made to the Council by any irre-sponsible person no member of the profession is safe. I am

sorry to take up your valuable space but I think that this is amatter of great importance in the light of your report of themeeting of the Council last week.

I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,THOMAS MARSHALL, L.R.C.P. &S. Edin.,

London, June lst, 1903. L. F.P. & S. Glasg.’" *’ Our correspondent raises a most important question

and one upon which no ofE-hand opinion can be expressed.He is wrong, surely, in believing that a practitioner accusedbefore the General Medical Council of professional offencesremains in ignorance of the name of his accuser.-ED. L.

NOTES FROM INDIA.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

The Physical Unfitness of Volunteers in India.-The PlagueEpidemic.-Nursing Arrangements at the Jamsetjee Jeejee-bhoy Hospital.THE physical defects which would incapacitate so many of

the volunteers at home from active service appear to be stillmore marked among the volunteers in India. The 800 un-mounted volunteers who were at the Delhi durbar affordedto Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. Brooke an opportunityof showing in his report various particulars of the

general physical condition of the men under his charge.In all 333 men came on sick parade-a very large propor-tion out of 800 considering the short time during whichthey were on duty and the fact that their work wasalmost entirely ceremonial. 14 were sent home as totallyunfit for any service. Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Brookesays that the extremely weedy appearance of the volun-teers confirms him in the conviction that all volunteersshould be medically examined before being enrolled. Hehas no hesitation in saying that on field service fully35 per cent. of the men at Delhi would have been useless.In this connexion it must be remembered that the volunteersin India are largely composed of men of mixed blood-infact, the cry has gone up that in some corps there is verylittle distinction between the men and the natives, and eventhat in many cases typical natives have been admitted. Thisis a serious question, because the volunteers in India aremore likely to be called upon for duty than are those athome and physical unfitness in so large a proportion wQuldcause us to live (if the volunteers here are to be of anyuse) in a fool’s paradise. There are very few corps solelycomposed of men of pure British blood and these are thefew crack corps in the country.The mortality returns for Bombay city are now rapidly

returning to a more normal standard. The deaths from plaguehave rapidly declined in number during the past few weeks,but the extraordinary feature of the Bombay returns is thefluctuating mortality from pulmonary tuberculosis and diseasesof the respiratory organs. There is little doubt that plague isreported under the heading of chest complaints and thatthese fluctuating records are the fruit of inaccurate registra-tion. Plague seems, as it were, to leave Bombay by thenorth of the island as, while declining in the city, it attacksthe villages to the north very severely. The epidemic ofplague throughout India has been the subject of some generalinfluence. The outbreaks in various places have declinedrapidly during the past few weeks and although Karachiis still badly affected, as are some parts of the Punjab, thedisease is everywhere else subsiding. Very little inoculationwork is being done for plague, still less for cholera, andthat for typhoid fever is now, for the army at any rate,prohibited.

I reported to you a little while ago the unsatisfactory stateof the nursing arrangements at the Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoyand adjoining hospitals in Bombay. In only one-half of thewards of the Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Hospital, which werenearly always full, were the patients nursed at all, the re- mainder being left to the tender mercies of ward boys andayahs. Mr. and Mrs. Crowe took up the task of improvingthis condition of things and a large sum of money has beencollected. The nursing fund will now with Government

help be very little short of its requirements, but the nurses’

quarters being very badly wanted Mrs. Wadin (a wealthyParsee lady) has undertaken to build them. A serious

reproach to the present generation of Bombay citizens hasthus been completely removed.I May 23rd.

___________________

BIRMINGHAM.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The General -ffospital : Endowment of a Bed by a- -Football Club.

THE famous Aston Villa Football Club is well known to allpersons taking any interest in a sport which attracts theattention of so many during a large portion of each year. Itwill, however, be news to most that, in addition to taking ahigh place in the world of athletics, this club gives consider-able sums in aid of charities of various kinds, the sumactually contributed during the past 11 years amountingto about .620,000. The last exhibition of its generositytook place on June 5th, when a cheque for £1250 washanded over to the committee of the General Hospital forthe permanent endowment of a bed in the accident wardof that hospital. The history of the raising of this sum isof interest. In 1899 Mr. Margoschis, who had long beenone of the directors of the club, retired from that positionand in order to mark its sense of the services which hehad rendered it was decided to present him with a sum of100. Mr. Margoschis, instead of accepting the gift forhimself, expressed a wish that it should form the nucleusof a fund to be raised permanently to endow a bed in thehospital. The result of many efforts during the past fouryears has been that the sum has now been raised and a

deputation from the club was present at the meeting of thecommittee of the hospital held last week when a cheque, asabove stated, was handed to Mr. Hugh Smith, the chairmanof the committee, by Mr. Margoschis himself.

-Education Committee.In a previous letter I mentioned that the education com-

mittee had advertised for a superintendent of special schoolswho might either be a medical woman or a person withspecial knowledge of this particular class of schools and Iexpressed the hope that a member of the medical professionmight be selected for this post. At the last meeting of thecommittee this hope was realised by the appointment ofMiss Caroline E. O’Connor, M.B., Ch. B. Edin., at a com-mencing salary of £150 per annum. In proposing her

’ election, Mrs. Pinsent, who is chairman of the subcom-’ mittee charged with the care of these schools, said that a

few years ago it was supposed that there were compara-, tively few children in Birmingham who could be regarded

as mentally deficient. Inquiries, however, revealed the fact’ that there were many mentally defective children in the

schools whose presence therein had not been generally known.It was estimated that whilst there were between 8000 and9000 such children in London there were between 800 and

’ 900 in Birmingham. At the end of April, 1902, only 118were on the register of special classes in this city and itbecame apparent to the late school board that every effort

’ must be made to trace out the children of this class who were" in the ordinary schools. The duties of superintendent were’ undertaken by the members of the committee but it soon

became evident that a special officer must be appointed totake charge of this work ; hence the appointment which hasjust been made. Dr. O’Connor was for some time medicalofficer of Eday, one of the Orkney islands.

Li Health of Birmingham during 1902.s The last report-that for the year 1902-which the presenti medical officer of health, Dr. Alfred Hill, will issue has1 recently been made public. From this it appears that the, death-rate during the past year is the lowest that has ever

been recorded in Birmingham and that, as regards the3 sanitary condition of the city, considerable advance has been

made in different directions. The estimated population ofe the city was 528,521 and the number of inhabited houses wase about 110,500. The births recorded during the year were- equal to a birth-rate of 31’9 per 1000 of the population.i This is a very low figure, in fact, only once-viz., ing 1894, when the birth-rate fell to 31’6-has such a small11 ratio been recorded. The number of marriages regis-t tered was 5120, equal to a rate of 19-1 1 per 1000.!’ The death-rate was 18.0, this being 2-2 per 1000

1700 BIRMINGHAM.-LIVERPOOL.

below the average of the past ten years. If the ratehad been the same as the average of the past ten years-20’2 per 1000-there would have been 10,844 deaths, whereasthe actual number was 9672, a saving of 1172 lives. Dr.Hill calls attention to the great mortality amongst infantswhich he states is more than ten times as great as thatof the population as a whole. Last year, however, theinfantile mortality of Birmingham was unusually low, beingat the rate of 157 infant deaths per 1000 births, against anaverage of 189 in the previous ten years. The deaths fromthe seven principal zymotic diseases numbered 1397,equivalent to a death-rate of 2 ’6 per 1000. The deaths werethus divided : diarrhoea, 412 ; scarlet fever, 293 ; whooping-cough, 269 ; measles, 189 ; diphtheria, 130 ; enteric fever, 100 ; and small-pox, 4. There were notified duringthe year 5044 cases of scarlet fever, 787 of diph- Itheria, 544 of enteric fever, 69 of small-pox, and 1548of chicken-pox. Dr. Hill calls special attention to the valueof vaccination and revaccination and insists that it is onlysince vaccination became more general that small-pox hastaken the mild and not very fatal form with which weare now acquainted. The number of cases of scarlet feverwas far greater than in any other year since compulsorynotification was introduced. The deaths, however, were notvery numerous, amounting only to 5’8 per cent. of the cases.During the year there was an increase in the number ofcases of diphtheria from 533 to 787 and there were 130deaths as compared with 85 in the former year. Dr. Hillthinks that the increase in this particular kind of disease isin some way connected with the great prevalence of scarletfever. From consumption there were 874 deaths and fromother forms of tuberculosis there were 219, giving, for casesof consumption, a death-rate of 1-63 per 1000. The death-rates, as on previous occasions, show that consumption is

principally a disease of the less sanitary portions of the city,where both the hygienic and social conditions are of aninferior character. The number of houses declared to beunfit for human habitation by the medical officer during theyear was 450 and all these are being dealt with by the healthcommittee. The report also contains a statement of thenumber of cases in which sanitary improvements wereinsisted upon and carried out during the year.June 9th.

LIVERPOOL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. )

The New University of Lizerpool.THE clerk of the Privy Council has issued the draft charter

incorporating the University of Liverpool. One of theconditions of the constitution of the University is that thereshall be no religious tests imposed on either teachers orstudents and that no theological teaching shall be given by,or under the authority of, the University. Colleges and institu-tions in which theological teaching is given may, however,be recognised by affiliation. Women are to be eligible forany office in the University and for membership of any of itsconstituent bodies, and all degrees and courses of study inthe University are to be open to women, subject to suchconditions and regulations as the statutes of the Universitymay prescribe. The court will include, in addition tomembers of the University, five persons appointed by the citycouncil, one by the House of Keys of the Isle of Man, two bythe county council of Lancashire, one each by the counties ofCheshire, Cumberland, Shropshire, and Westmorland, one

each by the boroughs of Barrow-in-Furness, Birkenhead,Bootle, Chester, Crewe, Lancaster, Leigh, Preston, St.Helen’s, Southport, Warrington Widnes, and Wigan, andone by the district councils of Runcorn and Wallasey, theMembers of Parliament for Liverpool and Birkenhead, andnot less than ten Members of Parliament for the boroughsand divisions of counties or boroughs in the counties ofLancaster and Cheshire to be nominated by the court, theGovernor of the Isle of Man, the Lords Lieutenant of thecounties of Lancaster and Cheshire, the Lord Mayor of

Liverpool, the chairmen of the Lancashire and Cheshirecounty councils, the Vice-Chancellor of the Duchy ofLancaster, the Bishops of Liverpool, Chester, and Sodorand Man, the Roman Catholic Bishops of Liverpooland Shrewsbury, and representatives of the PresbyterianChurch of England, of the Congregational Union, of the

Wesleyan Methodist Church, of the Baptist Church, of the-Presbyterian and Unitarian ministers, and various officials ofpublic bodies in Liverpool, Lancashire, and Cheshire ; also-representatives of various educational institutions in thesedistricts. The court will be the supreme governing body ofthe University but the executive will be a council ; there-will also be a senate which, subject to the control of thecouncil, will regulate and superintend the education and

discipline of the University. The senate is to consist of the-vice-chancellor, the deans of all the faculties, all the pro-fessors of the University, and the librarian. Principal Daleof University College is nominated as the first vice-chancellor.

The Gradual Subsidence of Small-pox in Liverpool.At the meeting of the health committee held on June 4th

Dr. E. W. Hope, the medical officer of health, reported that33 fresh cases of small-pox had been notified during thepast week, as against 49 during the previous week. Therewere 198 cases in hospital, compared with 231 and 253 inthe previous two weeks. The cases in hospital had de-creased from 335 on March 19th to 198 on June 4th. Therehad been four deaths from small-pox during the week.

University College, -Liverpool : New Efetitreships.The council of University College, Liverpool, has made

the following appointments to lecture,hips in the faculty ofmedicine : Specific diseases, Dr. A. Bernard ; experimentalmedicine, Dr. A. S. F. Griinbaum; and comparative patho-logy, Dr. H. E. Annett.

Meeting of the Anatomical Society in Liverpool.The Anatomical Society will hold its summer meeting at

University College, Liverpool, on June 19th and 20th. Theprogramme is an interesting one and includes meetings forthe exhibition of specimens and the reading of papers. Dr.A. N. Walker is the local secretary of the society. The

society’s dinner will take place at the Adelphi Hotel onJune 19 Mi. The Manchester Edinburgh University Club hastaken advantage of the meeting of the Anatomical Societyat Liverpool to invite Sir William Turner and ProfessorD. J. Cunningham to a complimentary dinner at the AdelphiHotel on June 18th. All Edinburgh graduates are invitedto be present and may bring guests. Tickets (10s. 6d. each,exclusive of wine) may be obtained from the local secretary,Dr. R. C. Dun, 6, Rodney-street, Liverpool.

The Health of BootZe: : Mr. T. W. N. Barlow’s AnnualReport.

Mr. Barlow (the medical officer of health of Bootle).in his annual report for 1902 emphasises the protectionafforded by vaccination and revaccination against small-pox. During the year there were 15 distinct outbreaksof small-pox-25 cases in all. Not one of the patientshad been revaccinated and seven had never been vaccinated.There were four deaths and with the exception of one

woman, aged 45 years, all were among the unvaccinatedclass. A further proof of the value of revaccination isafforded by the fact that while several of the nurses andward-maids during the year had been attacked with scarletfever, two with typhoid fever, one with diphtheria, andone with typhus fever, not one of the staff had contractedsmall-pox. All had been living under the same conditionsand had been exposed to the same danger of contractingthis disease as the others, but revaccination was insistedupon for every member of the hospital staff, with theresult that not one had contracted the disease. Dr. Hope’sexperience at the Liverpool Small-pox Hospital coincideswith that of Mf. Barlow, and it is inconceivable how theanti-vaccinationists can ignore such remarkable facts. The-birth-rate of Bootle for 1902 is the highest recorded for sixyears. The death-rate was 18’9 per 1000 of the population.The zymotic death-rate was 2-7 per 1000. 46 children haddied from measles ; 14 had died from scarlet fever out of 321cases notified. Infantile mortality, although still high,shows a gratifying decline, as also does the number of deathsfrom summer diarrhoea. The appointment of a veterinaryinspector to inspect periodically the cattle in shippons hasbeen attended by distinctly beneficial results. The healthcommittee has agreed to Mr. Barlow’s recommendation toremove the small-pox hospital to an isolated place further inthe country.June 9th.