1112

may take place through a thick layer of skin and he recom-mended the injection of sterile solutions of this fluid by theSchleich method in order to render the deeper tissuesaccessible to the Finsen rays. Dr. Morvay has lately madea clinical trial of this method. He has treated 25 cases of

lupus, scrofuloderma, tuberculous lymph glands, and skincancer. A solution (0.1 to 1 per cent.) of erythrosin insterile salt solution was injected as deeply as was necessaryfor the effect desired. In from two to five hours later theFinsen light was applied for from 15 to 20 minutes, or longerin the case of carcinoma. His experience fully confirms theclaims made by Dreyer that in this manner the Finsen raysmay be made to penetrate depths never before reached.

The Treatment of Chronie haterstitial NephrithsDr. Revesz of Nagyvárad has studied the effect of various

measures upon chronic interstitial nephritis by the quantita-tive estimation of albumin and of the blood pressure. Hecame to the following conclusions. Warmth and carbonatedbaths diminish both albumin and, blood pressure. The sameholds true for rest in bed and inhalations of amyl nitrite.Exercise, especially climbing mountains, seems to have a veryfavourable influence; in normal individuals the pressurerises greatly, but in those afflicted with Bright’s diseasethere is considerable dilatation of the vessels. The bestresults were obtained if the patients were allowed to exercisein the forenoon. Since albuminuria and increased arterialtension go hand in hand it is likely that interstitial nephritisis directly due to a narrowing of the afferent vessels of thekidney. Neurasthenia constitutes an important etiologicalfactor and it would be a great mistake to condemn patientsto muscular inactivity simply because they have a littleserum albumin in their urine.

Sept. 29th. _______________

NEW YORK.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

An Institute Hospital.THIS unique hospital is to be attached to the Rockefeller ’,

Institute for Medical Research in the city of New York. It Iwill be devoted neither to charity nor to profit but solely tothe advancement of the medical sciences. The primary object of the hospital is not the cure of the individual

patient but to determine accurately the nature of certainfeatures of his disease hitherto unknown. The incurableclass and those suffering from new forms of disease will bepreferred. It is proposed even to pay certain patients,suffering from diseases not well understood, for theirattendance and submission to investigation. There will attimes be a class of patients representing every phase of adisease, as cancer, tuberculosis, and pneumonia, in order thatthe conditions on which its progress depends may be studiedwith the most minute precision. The treatment, I aminformed, will not be orthodox, that is, in accordance withrules now established in hospital practice, but will be

governed by new truths disclosed, the object of this re-

search being to discover new and more successful methodsof combating disease. While old methods of treat-ment will necessarily be tested and their value accuratelydetermined the real purpose of the investigators will be thatof explorers-viz., to discover new facts on which will bebased radical reforms in treatment. The cost of the structurewill be$400,000. It will be an eight-storey building, withthree floors of wards and a total capacity of 36 beds, and 12single rooms reserved for individual maladies. Laboratories

equipped for every kind of investigation will be provided.Professor Rufus I. Cole, of Johns Hopkins University, will bethe head of the new hospital.

Oysters GUa?’anteed by the Board of Health.Enteric fever from oysters containing the typhoid germs

derived from the polluted waters where they are "fattened "

for market has become so frequent that a new section hasbeen added to the Sanitary Code of New York City. Thissection provides that oysters which have been ° fattened " in ipolluted waters cannot be sold in the city; they must bebrought direct from the ocean. The new law requires thatevery person who sells oysters in New York must have awritten permit from the Board of Health. All applicants are required to give the names of the growers from whom they

buy their stock and the location of the beds. The permitsare revocable on proof that a dealer is selling " drinkedoysters," as the dealers call oysters fattened in pollutedwaters. The adoption of this ordinance was the result ofan inspection by officials of the Health Department of allthe oyster beds situated between New Haven and New Yorkand along the New Jersey coast. So frequently have out.breaks of enteric fever been traced to oysters that the peopleof the city had ceased to use them freely.

POJYIÛa/I’ Leetzcres on T1bbcronlosis by tlae Phonograph.At each of the county fairs held during the autumn in the

State of New York the State Charities Aid Associationplaced a tuberculosis exhibition together with a large talkingmachine to be used in connexion with the exhibition. Thepeople hear a voice telling them that in this country 400lives are daily sacrificed to the "Great White Plague andthat most of these deaths are entirely unnecessary ; itexplains in detail how the disease spreads and how it may beprevented ; it teaches the value of fresh air and the necessityof ventilation and sunshine in every room in the home; andcleanliness and how to secure it are enforced with ampleHlustrations. The educational results of this simple methodof instructing the common people have amply justified theinnovation.

Conference on the Bqtboni-, Plag1le.The bubonic plague has become a well-grounded source of

anxiety to the cities of the Pacific coast. San Francisco hasfor more than two years struggled to exterminate it but invain. That prevention is safer, easier, and more economicalthan cure has been abundantly demonstrated in the ex.

perience of that city. Impressed by its example the healthauthority of the city of Tacoma, of the State of Washington,has issued invitations to all the health officers of the Pacificcoast cities to attend a conference in Tacoma for a discussionof the plague and of the means of combating it. Anumber of health officers have signified their approval of theconference and their intention to attend.

The L’ourt3c of July Celeb2-atio)is: List of Injuries.The Journal of the American Medzeczl Assoeiation has pub-

lished its sixth annual compilation of statistics of injuriesoccurring in the celebration of the Fourth of July in theUnited States. The total number was 5623. This is thelargest number of injuries since the collection was first madein 1903. The total number of injuries for the six years underreview is 29,296. Blank cartridges caused by far the largernumber of injuries. The number of deaths was 163 in 1908and 1316 for the six years. The fatality of the injuries hasbeen reduced from 466 in 1903 to 163 in 1908, though thetotal number of injuries has been increased during thatperiod from 4449 to 5623. The diminished fatality)f these holiday injuries is probably due to the use

)f less dangerous explosives. The most interestingfeature of these injuries is the complication of tetanus in thetreatment of the wounds. There were 76 cases of tetanusthis year, or three mcre than last year, but 13 less than in1906. Since 1903 there has been a constant decrease untilthis year and this decrease of tetanus has kept pace with thedecrease of cases of injury from blank cartridges. The usualsite of injury in cases of tetanus was the hand and the blankcartridge was generally the weapon which inflicted thewound. Substitute and restrictive measures are now beingadopted in the different States. Many cities limit thenumber and restrict the kinds of explosives, others limit thetime of celebration, while a few prohibit fireworks except byofficials. The annual publication of these statistics bywhich the public becomes informed of the dangers of whathas been regarded as a harmless celebration of a nationalholiday will doubtless result in the prohibition of dangerousexplosives and the substitution of harmless and more

diverting methods of enjoyment.Assooiation of National Footi and Dairy Departments.

One of the greatest defects in the operation of theNational Pure Food Law" is the want of cooperation ofthe national and the State authorities. The national andState standards differ and there is that lack of harmonywhich tends to neutralise the laws in their practical applica-tion, both national and State. The aim and purpose of theassociation are to secure such uniformity of requirements andinterpretation as will furnish to the consuming public ofevery State alike ample and sufficient protection from fraud

1113

in, and adulteration of, food products. To this end the asso-ciation appointed a committee to prepare a Bill foundedupon the determinations of the Joint Standards Committeeand which shall be formulated with a view towards uniformrequirements throughout the several States. In the dualform of Government in this country laws adopted by theFederal Government can affect only articles of interstatecommerce and therefore the real regulation of foodstuffsmust eventually rest with the various States. The effort ofthe association to secure uniform and effective State legisla-tion is on that account of the first importance and highlycommendable.

Resignation of Dr. If’Ûlia1nP. Spratling, S1lperÜdendent of theCraig Colony for Epileptics.

The Craig Colony for Epileptics is about to suffer a severeloss by the retirement of its superintendent, Dr. William P.Spratling, who has accepted a position as professor of

physiology in a medical college in Baltimore. Dr. Spratlinghas been the superintendent of the epileptic colony since itsorganisation and to him is due the credit of the success ofthis institution. He brought to its management a mindthoroughly equipped for the peculiar service which was

required for success and a temperament adapted to meet

patiently, but aggressively, the many obstacles-which such anew and untried institution has to encounter in its earlyhistory. He has the satisfaction of seeing the colony finallyestablished on a permanent basis.Sept.24th.

________________

NOTES FROM INDIA.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Defective Eyesight amongst Pag,sis.IN his special investigation into the condition of the eye-

sight of Parsi students and school children during the pastyear Dr. K. N. Karanjia, the honorary surgeon of theArdisir Hormarji Wadia Parsi Ophthalmic Hospital, findsthat defective vision is alarmingly prevalent among them.The most unobservant person in taking a walk in Bombaycannot but be struck by the number of young Parsisdecorated with spectacles, but Dr. Karanjia says that theserepresent only a fraction of the defective sight which actuallyexists. The majority of those who need glasses, he says,cannot obtain them for want of money or go without throughneglect, to the further injury of their eyes, resulting in painand a handicap through life, and he appeals for funds tosupply poor Parsis with spectacles free of charge. Whilethis cause deserves a general response it is much more neces-sary to take steps to prevent the further injury of the eyes ofthe young. The Germans are a notoriously short-sightedpeople since they took to education owing chiefly to theillegible character of their language, and it is probable thatthe bad printing and small type used in Gujarati primersare also responsible for like troubles among the Parsis.More probably, however, the trouble is often caused bythe learning of English from types insufficiently largea little later in school life. At whatever age the learn-

ing of a language is begun it should be prosecuted atfirst by means of the big type made for little children,for the strain on even an adult eye of reading unfamiliarcharacters is many times ’greater than that of readingcharacters of the same size which have grown familiar.

Intelligently conducted ophthalmic tests should be made ofthe Gujarati characters, and if found injurious in their

present form they should be modified, printed big, or

abolished altogether.

Veterinary TFor7o in the Central Provinces.From the annual report on the veterinary department of

the Central Provinces we learn that the conversion of thepeople in favour of the inoculation of their cattle againstrinderpest has been in some places most striking. Pendingthe introduction of a new scheme in 1909 a small staff ofveterinary assistants, paid from provincial funds, has beenappointed. These have been generally employed on inocula-tion and to them are largely due a marked increase in thenumber of inoculations and the department’s growingpopularity with the people. Hitherto inadequate recruit-ment has been one of the main obstacles to advance, and theclosing of the Ajmere Veterinary School and of the two

years’ class at the Bombay College has increased this

difficulty. With the provincialisation of the departmentwhich the new scheme involves the scale of pay of

veterinary assistants will also be raised, and it is

hoped that the improvement in prospects will attractmore candidates of a suitable class. Of course, theactivities of the department are by no means confined toisolation work. Cattle-breeding farms have been establishedand bulls are distributed to stock-owners with the object ofimproving local breeds of cattle. This latter measure hasnot been so successful as anticipated and the question ofaltering the system is under consideration.

Cent1’al Prov,!?zces Mediettl -Department.The scarcity of hospital assistants seems to be one of the

principal difficulties in connexion with the carrying on of.Government charitable dispensaries of the Central Provincesand Berar. New dispensaries have been opened and continueto be opened, but more hospital assistants are urgentlyneeded. The value of medical scholarships was raised in1905, but. still considerable difficulties are experienced inobtaining a sufficient number of candidates for the hospitalassistant service. Possibly the difficulty will be obviatedwhen the Government of India has decided what to do inregard to the improvement of the pay and prospects of

hospital assistants, a subject which is at present under itsconsideration. The number of patients attending the

hospitals is increasing, but not in proportion to the largenumber of new dispensaries opened. This is attributed tothe prevalence of plague, which deterred people from

resorting freely to dispensaries, though the feeling againstattendance at dispensaries during the epidemic of plague issaid to be nothing like as strong as it used to be a few

years ago. Of the principal diseases treated malarial fevershead the list, but there is an appreciable decrease in thenumber of these cases. An ominous feature during the lastthree years has been the growing number of tuberculosis.cases for treatment and it is feared that this disease is

becoming more prevalent. A pleasing illustration of thewarm regard felt by old officers of the provinces for the peopleamong whom they have worked is afforded by Brigade-Surgeon Law and Mr. W. Brittain Jones, a former chiefcommissioner of the Central Provinces, having sent donations.of Rs.10,000 and Rs.5000 respectively for the dispensaries.It is regarded as disappointing, however, that the con-

tributions to dispensaries generally have not increased pro-portionately to the rapid growth in the material prosperityof the provinces.

auyyeszaons Jor uejor?it.Sir John Hewett has taken up the question of sanitary

reform for Allahabad, Cawnpore, and Lucknow, and calledattention to the high infantile and fever mortality in theUnited Provinces. It is high time for the educated classes,zamindars and other rich people, to come forward and assistthe Government in its endeavours. A Sanitary Associationmight, for example, be formed at Allahabad on the lines.

adopted at Bombay. Before this is done local medical practi-tioners, Government surgeons, and assistant surgeons will haveto begin to give lectures on sanitation and hygiene in Englishand Hindustani on subjects such as care and management ofinfants, causes, prevention, and cure for fevers, plague, and

, so on. Societies for the prevention of infantile mortalitymight also be formed in connexion with the Sanitary’

Association, and its accounts kept separate for sup-plying good milk to the infants of the poorer classes freer or at moderate cost. The municipalities of Lucknow,r Cawnpore, and Allahabad, with the assistance of the rich

public, ought to set up shops for supplying good milkfree to poor infants first where mortality is highest, andthen for the general public, if they desire it, at theusual rates. Ladies ought to come forward to assist theirpoor Indian sisters by visiting their houses and teaching themhow to take care of infants, and giving them good milk free.or at very moderate cost. They could also teach the principles.of sanitation in their own language to an assembly of ladies.As regards fever, it is suggested that a fever fund should bestarted. Arrangements might be made at the village postoffice, or with the head man of a village, to sell a packet offive grains of quinine at one price ( anna) as in done inother presidencies; a machine for making tablets might,be ordered and quinine powder and quinine tablets givenfree to the poor in cities and villages. The rich