1586

a good reputation which his residence here only con-

firmed. His first appointment in Manchester was to one ofthe resident positions in the Royal Infirmary, where he wonthe respect and regard of the honorary and internal staff.One who knew him well bears testimony to his ardent andpersevering pursuit of his profession, a never-ending pursuit,as .. knowledge grows from more to more." But with all hiseagerness for knowledge there was accompanying it a

cheerful, kindly geniality which endeared him to his manyfriends. His was a busy well-spent life which some of usmight well take as an example to follow.May 26th.

LIVERPOOL.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Dinner to Sir Percy Girouard: : The Liverpool School ofTropical Medicine.

THE High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria (Sir PercyGirouard) was entertained on May 21st to a dinner given atthe University Club by Sir Alfred Jones, President of theLiverpool Chamber of Commerce and chairman of theSchool of Tropical Medicine. Mr. H. Cotterell, the chair-man of the African Association, proposed the toast °‘ Successto the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine," to which SirRubert W. Boyce responded. He said that owing to thesplendid initiative and energy of Sir Alfred Jones tropicalmedicine had become an imperial and world medicine,and the impetus given to research in tropical diseases hadreacted in research on such diseases around us as measles,whooping-cough, and influenza. The Liverpool and Londonschools had been imitated in many parts of the worldand in this connexion he mentioned that his oldcolleague Dr. Todd of Montreal University was about toreceive the honorary degree of D.Sc. of Liverpool Univer-sity. They in Liverpool were now engaged in founding amemorial to their friend the late Dr. J. E. Dutton, thebrilliant discoverer of the cause of sleeping sickness, whogave his life entirely to research and died in Africa. Thefund was now within R200 of L7000 and he appealed forfurther contributions to raise it to £10,000.

The late Mr. John Newton, M.R. C.S. Eng., L.S.A.The death of Mr. John Newton occurred on May 17th, at

an advanced age. The deceased retired from active practiceseveral years ago. He was a most versatile personality andgave many formal proofs of his capacity and of his variedcompetency. He was twice President of the Liverpoollibrary. He was President of the Literary and PhilosophicalSociety and also of the Biological Society and the Micro-scopical Society. He was also vice-president of the LiverpoolMedical Institution and of the Art Club. A native ofNottingham, the late Mr. John Newton came to Liverpool in1849 as resident apothecary to the Royal Infirmary and itsadjunct the old asylum in Ashton-street (now a partof the University of Liverpool). The fact that hewas gold medallist of the Society of Apothecaries no

doubt helped him to obtain that post. Mr. Newtonwas a great favourite with his confreres in the medicalprofession and had a keen sense of humour. In lateryears he took a great interest in advanced religious thoughtand its pulpit manifestations. Amongst the papers read byhim before the Literary and Philosophical Society were theSenses and their Relation to Each Other ; Recent Dis-coveries as to the Origin and History of the Human Race ;the Mystery of Life, &c. Mr. Newton was twice married andleaves a widow and two sons.

The Birth-rate in Cheshire.Mr. Francis Vacher (medical officer of health of Cheshire)

in his annual report made some interesting statements as tothe birth-rate of the county. At Neston and Parkgate thebirth-rate was 39-3, at Ellesmere Port and Whitby 35’ 2, atLower Bebington 32’ 4, at Runcorn 30 1, whereas atBowden it was only 13. 2 per 1000. The great differencebetween the highest and lowest of these figures, in view ofthe peculiar position of the districts named, is very striking,and he has no comfort to administer to those who look withalarm upon the decreasing national birth-rate. During1907 the birth-rate in Cheshire was 2’ 5 below the unpre-cedentedly low birth-rate of the whole country, while thedeath-rate was 1’4 below the unprecedented death-rate ofthe whole country.May 26th.

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

University oj lJurhana Bill, 1908.ON Monday in last week a Bill " to make further provision

with respect to the University of Durham " was introducedinto the House of Commons by Mr. T. W. Hills, the Con-servative member for the city of Durham. The Bill was

supported by the Minister for Education, Sir William Anson,and others. The Bill consists of eight clauses and providesfor the appointment of Commissioners whose duties shall be" to make statutes regulating the constitution of the Univer-sity of Durham and the powers and duties of its variousauthorities and constituent bodies and the disposition of itsexisting property " in general accordance with the schemescheduled as an appendix to the Bill subject to any modifica-tions of detail which may appear to the Commissioners to beexpedient after considering any representations which maybe made to them by or on behalf of any person or bodydirectly affected. The statutes made by the Commissionersshall not be valid until they have been approved by the Kingin Council.

Before referring to the scheme as scheduled in theappendix it will be better probably to give an outline of thepresent mode of government of the University. At theReformation the Dean and Chapter of Durham were endowedby Henry VIII. with the revenues of the Benedictine Prioryof Durham, and from that monarch they also received theadvowsons and other endowments of a college in Oxfordwhich was connected with the Priory church of Durham.This college had been in existence before his times but washandsomely endowed by Bishop Hatfield who died in 1381and whose memory is still preserved in " Hatneld Hall,"Durham. On account of its connexion with the Priory ofDurham this college was dissolved at the Reformation andits property was transferred, as stated above, to the Deanand Chapter of Durham. This latter body is therefore therepresentative of the ancient college as well as of thepriory. It was not until the reign of William IV. that ascheme of education in connexion with the Cathedral churchwas brought forward. In the year 1832 the then Bishop ofDurham, in conjunction with the Dean and Chapter, pro.posed the foundation of a University in connexion with theCathedral. The Chapter undertook to lay aside £3000 perannum for this object, and the Bishop provided for thewarden, the professor of divinity, and the professor of Greekby attaching prebendal stalls to the several offices. An Actof 1832 gave authority to the above propositions andempowered the establishment of a University in connexionwith the Cathedral church. The government was vested in’the Dean and Chapter and the University was to be subjectto, and under the jurisdiction of, the Lord Bishop of Darhamfor the time being as the visitor thereof.

In 1835 a statute was passed by the Dean and Chapterapproved by the Bishop intrusting the ordinary managementof the University under the Bishop as visitor and the Deanand Chapter as governors to the warden, a Senate, and aConvocation. The Senate is composed of the warden, theprofessors of divinity, Greek, mathematics, and Hebrew,the two proctors, the heads of University College (HatfieldHall), the College of Medicine, and Armstrong College(formerly the Durham College of Science), and six othermembers of Convocation ; 17 persons in all. By an Order inCouncil of 1841 it was provided that the office of wardenshould in future be permanently annexed to the deanery ofDurham and a canonry in the Cathedral church was annexedto each of the professorships of divinity and Greek. It isobvious, therefore, that the connexion between the Cathedraland the University is a very close one indeed and the abovevery brief historical sketch will show how it has comeabout. However, since the establishment of the Uni-versity some 80 years ago new branches of learning have tosome extent replaced the older subjects of classics, mathe-matics, and theology, and so important has the part playedby the Newcastle division of the University become that itwas desirable that the latter should have more representationin the government of the University. At the present momentthe University of Durham consists of the Colleges in Durham-the Durham division of the University-the College ofMedicine and Armstrong College in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.The Durham division still provides education and residence onthe lines of the older Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

1587

Armstrong College is on the lines of other modern provincialUniversities and grants degrees in science and literature andcourses of instruction for teachers in secondary schools.The schedule accompanying the Bill which was introduced

to Parliament last week provides for fundamental changes inthe government of the University. The Bishop of Durhamwill remain, as heretofore, the visitor. The office of wardenis to be done away with and a Chancellor is to be appointedwho shall be the head and chief officer of the University.The first Chancellor is to be the present warden. SucceedingChancellors are to be appointed by the Senate. Hence theOrder in Council of 1841 by which the office of warden wasto be permanently annexed to the deanery of Durham is

superseded. The head of the University and the head ofthe Cathedral church may thus in the future be differentpersons.Another change of great importance which is proposed in

the Bill is that provided by Section III. of the schedule whichrelates that " The office and powers of the Dean and Chapterof Durham as governors of the University shall cease as

soon as this scheme comes into operation." And Section V.states that" Senate shall have entire control of the real andpersonal property henceforth to belong to the University,"&c. The future Senate is to be composed as follows:The Chancellor, six Crown nominees, the dean (provided hebe not Chancellor), the professors of Greek and Divinitywho also hold canonries, and such number as is necessary tomake six in all to be appointed by the council of the DurhamColleges, six persons appointed by the teaching staff inDurham, and six by Convocation; four persons by each ofthe following-viz., the College of Medicine, the council ofArmstrong College, and the professors of Armstrong College ;37 persons in all.The object of the Bill is therefore to take the government of

the University out of the hands of the Dean and Chapter andto transfer it to a body which is more representative of thedifferent interests of the University than the present Senate.The main object of the Bill has met with the approval, inalmost all cases, of those who are connected with the Uni-versity, though some difference of opinion exists as to certaindetails contained in the schedule. With regard to the

College of Medicine, for instance, it will be noticed thatwhile it has on the present Senate a representation equal toone-eighth the total number, on the new Senate its represen-tation is to be somewhat reduced-viz., one-ninth. On theother hand, the representation of Armstrong College at

present is one-sixteenth, but on the new Senate its repre-sentation will be between three and four times as greatas this. It is argued on behalf of Armstrong Collegethat as the money expended is so much greater and theteaching staff is larger than at the College of Medicine, so itsrepresentation should be greater. The authorities of theCollege of Medicine, however, refuse to accept that argumentand claim equal representation with Armstrong College onthe ground that they are of longer standing in the Univer-sity and that the work to be done in a medical college isquite as important as, if not more important than, the workdone at Armstrong College. This and such like questionsare, however, matters of detail and provision is made in theBill for the Commissioners to hear such objections. Therecan be no doubt that if the principle of this Bill receivesthe Royal Assent the University will benefit in very manyways and the change will be enormously for the good ofhigher education in the North of England.May 26th.

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

State Medicine and Poor-law Relief.THE Royal Commission which in 1871 recommended the

appointment of medical officers of health expressed theopinion that it was desirable, so far as possible, to utilise theservices of Poor-law medical officers for sanitary purposes.Of late years there has been a tendency to separate the workof the sanitary officer from that of the district medicalofficer to an extent that has not always perhaps beenjustified. In an instructive paper by Dr. A. D. Edwards,assistant medical officer of health of Newport, which wasread at a recent conference of Poor-law authorities held atLlandilo, the proper relation of these two branches of Statemedicine was discussed. Until quite recently Dr. Edwards

was the resident medical officer to the Cardiff workhouse andhe stated that in July of last year there were in the sickwards of that institution 335 adult males, of whom 237were permanent paupers. Of this number 21 were con-sumptives and in the treatment of this class of cases

several difficulties were pointed out. Isolation in an earlystage of the disease was difficult because consumptive’patients were notably sanguine, and this fact, together withthe reluctance of the poor to seek admittance to the work-house infirmary, resulted in many patients remaining at hometo become a focus of infection for the rest of their family.A further difficulty, but one much easier of being remedied,.was the lack of proper accommodation in most work-houses leading to the treatment of advanced consumptive&in general wards to the great disadvantage not onlyof themselves but of the other patients. Dr. Edwards’insisted very strongly upon the importance of removingchildren from the surroundings of the workhouse to thegreater home life of cottage homes. From an economic:standpoint he considered that it was desirable, because thebringing up of weak and ailing children in healthiersurroundings would produce among them a far greaterproportion of healthy and self-supporting adults than was,possible under the system of treatment in an institution.

Cardiff Port Sanitary Authority.The port sanitary authorities have been well described as-

representing the first line of defence in our sanitary orgaDisa-tion and the efficiency of these outposts is very forciblybrought home in the annual report of Dr. Edward Walford tothe Cardiff authority. The seven inspectors who comprisethe staff of the port medical officer of health are on duty inrotation at two of the Cardiff docks as long as the dock gateerare open and at two docks by day and by night. All vesselsare boarded on arrival, whether foreign or coastwise, andinquiries made as to the health of the crew, and if there hasbeen any sickness on the voyage a copy of the regulations asto infectious diseases is handed to the master. During 1907the number of vessels entering the port was nearly 12,000,with an aggregate tonnage of nearly 7,000,000. Abouttwo-thirds of the vessels are coastwise. Altogether 8629vessels were specially inspected and defects were foundin 25 per cent. of the steamships and in 37 percent. of the sailing ships arriving from foreign ports. Of thecoasting vessels inspected defects were found in 11 per cent.of the steamships and in 8 per cent. of the sailing ships.The chief defects were connected with the lighting andventilating, water-tanks, leaking decks over bunks causingdamp beds, and many water-closets were found defective.The bacteriological examination of water-supplies has beencontinued in the Public Health Laboratory. Dr. H. AÞSchölberg examined altogether 100 samples of drinking;water taken from vessels entering the port during 1907. H&describes 51 samples as impure, ten as fair, and 39 as good.Of the 90 samples examined in 1906 there were seven veryimpure, 48 impure, 24 fair, and 11 good. The usefulness,indeed the absolute necessity, of the Public Health Labora-tory was emphasised in another direction. In Octoberseveral dead rats were found in the hold of an Italian vessel’that had come from Rotterdam. The rats were examined byDr. Schölberg but happily with a negative result.May 26th.

________

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Secretary of S’tate for War in Edinburgh,THE Secretary of State for War, who was in Edinburgh on

Thursday, May 21st, took the leading part in two interestingmeetings. The first meeting was held in the Royal Infirmaryfor the purpose of presenting prizes to the nurses who hadtaken the highest places in the classes which they attend aspart of their training. Invitations had been issued to th&managers and staff for half-past four o’clock tea and thiswas provided in the garden of the nurses’ home. Theweather fortunately was fine and there was quite a represen-tative gathering present to receive Mr. Haldane. At halfpast five the invited guests made their way to the largesurgical theatre, the centre part of which was wholly filledwith nurses in their infirmary uniform. The Lord Provost,who is chairman of the infirmary board of management.occupied the chair. He explained the object of the meetingand asked Mr. Haldane to present the prizes. Mr. Haldan.