815

bracket, which has, of course, the surprising effect of

suggesting that any attempt to make cheese out of cow’smilk is foredoomed to failure. Happily, my two otheranalyses of goat’s and cow’s milk show that I am not

ignorant of the proteid value of cow’s milk. (The Stevensonand Murphy figures are, proteid in cow’s milk, 3’ 55, as com-pared with 4’29 in the case of goat’s milk).The appreciative review in THE LANCET has given me

much pleasure. If goat keeping is to make the progress inthis country which it has made on the continent, withremarkable benefit to the health of children, it must be

largely due to the good word of the medical profession.Doctors, on looking into the case for the goat," realise atonce how unanswerable it is.Especially in rural districts, where so many labourers’

families have mach less milk than they ought to have,medical patronage of ’’ the poor man’s cow must haveconsiderable effect on the stamina of children.May I just refer to the prejudice against goat’s milk due

to an alleged taste ? A medical man lately made thisobjection to goat’s milk in my presence. I found that hisexperience of goat’s milk had been gained in Egypt andItaly. I sent him a bottle of milk from my goats and he andhis wife were at once converts to goat’s milk, drinking it intea and coffee or alone. Goat’s milk never tastes exceptwhen the animal which yields it is ill, has had access togarlic, ivy, or some other strong-flavoured food, or has beenmilked into a foul vessel.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,Feb. 29tb, 1908. "HOME COUNTIES."

LIVERPOOL.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Milk-supply of the City.THE reports of the public analysts and the medical officer

of health under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts for thequarter ended on Dec. 31st, 1907, showed that whilst themilk from shippons in the city was free from tuberculosis, onthe other hand 20 per cent. of the milk coming into the cityfrom the country was contaminated with tuberculosis. Thiswas eloquent testimony to the administration of the healthcommittee and to the work of the medical officer of health,and was the best possible testimonial to the health of the cowshoused in the city, as pointed out by the chairman of theinfant life preservation subcommittee of the health com-mittee. Great credit was due to the Liverpool cow-keepersfor the manner in which they had responded to the healthcommittee’s requirements. He also advised householders tovisit personally those shippons from which they obtaintheir milk and until the milk-supply from the countrywas free from disease to insist that milk from Liverpoolshippons only was supplied to them, even though morepayment were required. The public might be reassuredto know that joint action was being taken by several of thegreat cities in this matter. There was a meeting held inManchester on Feb. 28th of representatives of Birmingham,Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, and Liverpool, and resolutionswere unanimously agreed to calling the attention of theLocal Government Board to the matter with a view to legis-lation in a Bill which Mr. John Burns was about to bringbefore the House of Commons. In view of the fact that20 per cent. of the milk which came into Liverpool from thecountry was proved to be tuberculous every cow should belicensed. The causes of the country cow being diseasedwere threefold : first, in consequence of the want of appre-ciation of their responsibility by landlords in not providinghealthy shippons for country cattle ; secondly, by a want ofcleanliness on the part of farmers ; and thirdly, by the ruraldistrict councils not putting into force the powers which theypossessed in connexion with this matter. The Liverpoolcity council had led the way in the matter from the firstand the chairman was satisfied that the council would notrest until the milk-supply from the country sent into the citywas as pure as that supplied by Liverpool cow-keepers.

Liverpool Maternity Hospital.The annual meeting of the subscribers to the Liverpool

Ladies’ Charity and Lying-in Hospital, henceforth to beknown as the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, was held onMarch 2nd, at the town hall, under the presidency of theLord Mayor (Dr. Richard Caton). The report stated that

the number of patients in the outdoor department was 1673as against 1649 in the previous year The number of

patients attended in the hospital was 357, as against 295during the year 1906. In the school of midwifery 54 pupilswere trained during the year 1907 ; 24 of these pupils were,in addition, trained in the hospital as monthly nurses andreceived certificates of proficiency. The managing committeecordially cooperated in reducing the infant mortality in thecity. The matron and midwives sent prompt notification ofevery birth attended to the medical officer of health, and byarrangement with the Liverpool Ladies’ Sanitary Associationit was intended that the name and address of eachapplicant in a specified area should be sent to thatassociation so that the " mother’s visitors" attached toit may visit the women and give them timely instructionon health and domestic matters, and endeavour toinfluence the home conditions for good. The financialcondition of the charity showed a deficiency of B660.The Lord Mayor, in moving the adoption of the report, saidthat the charity was one of the oldest and most valuable inthe city. He believed that the staff attended one-eleventhof the total births in Liverpool and they saved an immenseamount of suffering and prevented much mortality. He

regretted that the charity was not better supported andwished some way could be seen of increasing the income.In the matter of maternity provision Liverpool, with its onehospital containing only 19 beds, compared badly with suchtowns as Glasgow, which had 80 beds; Manchester, 140beds; and Dublin, with only one-half the population ofLiverpool, 126 beds. Liverpool was making an effort toreduce its high infant mortality and one such means wasthat charity. On the motion of Professor Wilberforce,seconded by Dr, Henry Briggs, it was decided to adopt infuture the name " The Liverpool Maternity Hospital andLadies’ Charity " in the place of the old name, as more ex-

pressive of the work of the institution.The Liverpool Country Hospital for Chronic Diseases of

Children.The annual meeting of the friends of this charity was held on

March 3rd at the town hall, the Lord Mayor presiding. As thepriority of the hospital would seem to have been challenged,the committee in its report goes to some pains to prove theposition of the institution. The report begins with anexcerpt from a speech delivered by Sir Edward Russell atthe opening ceremony of the institution on Nov. 4th, 1899,in the small ward at West Kirby where the work has beencarried on ever since, awaiting the opening of the new hos-pital at Heswall. Sir Edward Russell’s words were: " The

hospital, he believed, would be looked upon as a great experi-ment to be followed in other parts of the country, and hewas convinced that if they kept their principle in view itmight be the beginning of a national undertaking and thatthe country at large would realise the importance of so

teaching the rising generation that nothing of which sciencecould make a certainty should be left to chance." The

prophecy has been truly realised during the year 1907,for London has now followed in Liverpool’s footsteps anda home for children suffering from tuberculous diseases hasbeen established in Hampshire, mainly through the en-

deavours of the ex Lord Mayor of London (Sir WilliamTreloar), who, however, in his appeals which were sent farand wide throughout the country, claimed that no institu-tion for the care of children suffering from tuberculousdiseases existed in this country. It is to justify the claimsof the founders of this hospital and of the appeals that havebeen made from time to time that special prominence isnow given to the fact that there has been in existence forsome eight years such an institution as the Liverpool CountryHospital for Children, comprehensive in its scope, dealingwith every form of chronic ailment, tuberculous or otherwise,requiring prolonged treatment, whether medical or sur-

gical, in the fresh air of the country. The committeehad the satisfaction of acknowledging two handsome dona-tions of .E5000 each from Mr. Holbrook Gaskell andMr. Andrew Gibson, besides smaller gifts, including 300for a memorial cot from Mrs. and Miss Mitchell Molyneux.The number of endowed cots is six; there are besides sixannual appropriated cots. The splint fund has proved mostvaluable. The report of the honorary medical staff showedthe satisfactory nature of the work done during the pastyear, and the time is looked forward to when, withthe accommodation which the new hospital will afford, alargely increased number of cases will be benefited andthe present state of affairs, whereby so many children are

816

kept waiting for months before they can be admitted, willbe rectified. The balance on the hospital erection fundstands at 37,809 and the cot endowment fund at 4345.

The late -?’. -E’. 72. Bickersteth.The death occurred on March 7th of Mr. Edward Robert

Bickersteth, F.R.C.S. Eng., consulting surgeon to the Liver-pool Royal Infirmary, in his eightieth year. Mr. Bickerstethhad been in bad health for several months. It is a strangecoincidence that Mr. Bickersteth should only have survivedhis former colleague the late Mr. Reginald Harrison oneweek.March 10th.

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LEEDS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Appointm.ents at the University.CONSEQUENT on the resignation of the late Professor 0. J.

Wright the council of the Universitv has appointed Dr.John B. Hellier as professor of obstetrics. Dr. Hellier hasbeen connected for many years with the school of medicineand with clinical teaching in Leeds. Himself a student ofLeeds, he was at one time teacher of materia medica andmore recently has been lecturer on gynaecology. His pro-motion to a professorship will add to the Senate of theUniversity a man of sound judgment, and his position ashonorary obstetric physician to the infirmary will enable himto correlate the instruction to the students which comes onthe one hand from lectures and on the other from practicalwork. Dr. E. 0. Croft, who was formerly honorary demon-strator of midwifery, has been appointed to succeedProfessor Hellier as lecturer on gynaecology. Dr. R. VeitchClark, who was formerly demonstrator of physiology andwho was recently appointed assistant medical officer of healthof the city, has been appointed by the council honorarydemonstrator of public health under Professor J. SpottiswoodeCameron.

The TVor7eveovle’s Hospital Fund.The twenty-first annual meeting of the supporters of the

Leeds Workpeople’s Hospital Fund was held on Feb. 26thunder the chairmanship of Mr. F. R. Spark who initiated themovement and has been not only the honorary secretary andfor many years the chairman of the fund but has been thelife and soul of the endeavour throughout. At one time the

voluntary subscriptions of the workpeople at the variousfactories and workshops of Leeds were paid directly to thedifferent charities which it was desired to benefit. It was then

agreed that the collectors of the infirmary and of the otherinstitutions should cease to collect such subscriptions withinthe city boundaries and that a specially organised fundshould be started. The movement has from the beginningbeen attended with every success. It is true that the moneycollected does not now go, as it did at first, entirely to thecharities, and that the committee has deemed it wiseand within the scope of the movement to make exten-sive capital outlay in the provision of convalescenthomes, the maintenance of which, of course, involves anannual demand on the amount collected and that thesehomes are reserved exclusively for the use of sub-scribers to the fund. Though in this respect the fundcannot be strictly regarded as one devoted entirely tocharitable purposes, it is satisfactory to note that the

amounts voted to the different institutions have not lessenedsince this new policy was entered upon but have increasedconsiderably. The main source of income is derived fromthe voluntary subscription on the part of the workers of aweekly sum of ld. in the case of men and of 2d. in the case ofwomen, girls, and boys. In many cases the workpeople haveauthorised their employers to keep back this amount fromtheir wage, an arrangement which facilitates the collectingof the money, and is being increasingly fallen in with. Fromthis source the amount collected during 1907 was .69781, asagainst E9137 for 1906. Other sources of income are

collections made at public-houses, matinees, footballmatches, Sunday concerts, carnivals, and various collections,in addition to the annual gala, the success of whichdepends mainly on that uncertain factor, the weather. Witha balance brought forward from last year of .E1730, andwith the addition of a special donation of 1000 the totalreceipts for 1907 amounted to <E15,983. At the annual

meeting the Lord Mayor made a donation of 21 guineas, so

that the handsome sum of E16,000 was realised. From thisgrants were made as follows : Leeds General Infirmary,E5250 ; Leeds Public Dispensary, 800; Hospital forWomen and Children, E800; Tuberculosis Association,315; District Nursing Association, .E250; Maternity Hos-pital..6125 ; Bramley District Nursing Association, E50;and Stanningley District Nursing Association, E50. Duringthe year the Convalescent Home for Men at Hors-forth has been enlarged and was reopened by SirJames Kitson (now Lord Airedale) on July 13th. Sincethe reopening 321 patients have been admitted. Theregular time during which (patients remain in is two weeks,but 115 of those admitted were on this occasion allowedto stay in three weeks. During the time when the homewas closed for repairs 359 men were sent at the expenseof the fund to other convalescent homes. The Con-valescent Home for Women is at Ilkley, in Wharfedale, andto this 416 patients were admitted during the year. The totalexpenditure on both homes and on the general fund has been.E7683, which includes .E4319 of capital expenditure on therebuilding of the Horsforth Home. The amounts voted to thedifferent charities were the same as last year, and it is hopedthat as the capital expenditure next year may be less theremay be a proportional increase in the amount available fordistribution.March 10th.

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SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The University of St, Andr81vs and the late Professor J. BellPettigrew.

AT the Court of the University of St. Andrews which metlast week a motion was unanimously adopted expressinggreat regret at the death of Dr. James Bell Pettigrew whofor 33 years had been Chandos professor of medicine andanatomy in the University. It was also resolved to expressto Mrs. Bell Pettigrew the heartiest thanks of the Court forthe generous and munificent gift of Z6000 which she isbestowing on the University in memory of her husband, andto assure her that the Court will be able through the gift toerect a commodious and well-arranged museum which it

will associate with the name of Professor Bell Pettigrew. Itwas explained that by an ordinance of the University Courtpassed in 1900 it had been provided that the Chandos pro-fessorship of medicine, which the University Commissionershad enacted should come to an end at the termination ofProfessor Bell Pettigrew’s tenure of the chair,, should becontinued after his death as a professorship of physiology.The business and finance committee will draw up a statementof the terms and conditions of appointment of a professor tothe new chair.

Aberdeen T01vn Counoil and Street Accidents.The watching committee of the town council of Aberdeen

recommends that in cases of accident or of sudden illnesshappening in the street the police constable on whose beat itoccurs should be authorised to send for the nearest availablemedical practitioner and that the fee of 2s. 6d. for day callsand 5s. for calls between the hours of 10 P.M. and 8 A.M.should be paid to such practitioner by the council.

Deer District P1l&ograve;lio Health Committee.At a meeting of the above held in Maud on Saturday,

Feb. 29th, circulars from the Local Government Board withregard to the Vaccination (Scotland) Act, 1907, the Notifica-tion of Births Acts, 1907, and the Public Health (Scotland)Amendment Act, 1901, were considered. It was agreed notto adopt the Vaccination Act or the Notification of BirthsActs. The circular with regard to the Public Health Act wasleft to the sanitary authorities. The question of what con-stituted a dairy was under discussion, as, for instance,ought crofters to be registered as such who sold small

quantities of milk to people with carts who went roundand collected such small supplies.March 10th.

BRISTOL MEDICAL MissioN.&mdash;The annual meet-ing of the subscribers to the Bristol Medical Mission washeld on Feb. 25th. The medical report stated that 9050patients were treated during 1907, including 1934 who werevisited at their homes. The financial statement showeda small favourable balance,