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1321 would bring him difficult slides for his interpretation and judgment. He always had a microscope in outpatients and in his consulting-rooms, and, after a cursory glance, he would resolve the problem with a curt diagnosis. There was no court of appeal and, if there was, the ’old man ’ was almost invariably right. Incidentally, he christened himself the old man ’ with that puckish self-depreciation which at first perplexed but ultimately endeared him to us all. " His housemen and students learned to await with lively anticipation his invariably punctual arrival in the Rolls-never driven over forty in its life-the gay salutation, the teasing repartee, the teaching round packed with wit and wisdom. " His teaching sessions in outpatients were unforget- table. Though his students came to learn gynaecology, they achieved more tlian this simple object. Elizabethan poetry and drama, higher mathematics, nuclear physics, international politics, the history of Barts, all came within the syllabus. He knew the name of every Barts student, his history, his wife’s name, and the number and names of their children, whom he had probably delivered himself. His amazing memory was once tested on View Day, when Barts is at home to all her old students. A quiet, unassuming, middle-aged general practitioner approached Wilfred to pay his respects with the remark You won’t remember me, Sir ; I haven’t seen you for twenty years.’ A puzzled frown gave place to sudden enlightenment as he saluted his old student by name and inquired after his wife and partner. Shaw was a voracious reader and reviewer of the British and foreign literature, and his memory seemed to enable him to place his finger on any article about any subject and to quote the author almost verbatim. " Wilfred loved people. To him his patients were all real friends and he knew all about them and their families. His old outpatients adored him and his private patients invariably became his friends. No service, great or small, was too much trouble to him, and he lavished his care upon them for small or no remuneration. He had an enormous practice amongst doctors’ wives, and his great house in Harley Street was choked with the tokens of their gratitude. Here he would receive a visiting Indian surgeon, an cld Barts nurse, a student in need of advice, a young aspiring consultant, or a gynaecologist with a difficult slide ; each with a problem for this good Samaritan and beloved physician, to the solution of which he bent his rich wisdom and kindness. " As a surgeon, he was quick, dexterous, and neat ; essentially an anatomical operator, he invariably found the correct plane of cleavage. His repertoire of operations was limitless but he was at his best with a difficult vaginal procedure, say, a tricky vesicovaginal fistula. All prolapse surgery, and, in particular, the problem of stress incontinence and hernia of the pouch of Douglas, is the richer and better for the anatomical researches and the carefully planned techniques of Wilfred Shaw. He loved the skill and artistry of operative technique and he chose to spend his last two years writing the textbook of gynaecological surgery which he finished a few weeks ago. When this book is published, it will stand as a monument to his courage as a man and his greatness as a surgeon. Si fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum ferient ruinae." Mr. Shaw leaves a widow, three sons, and a daughter. Appointments South-Western Regional Hospital Board: MUSCAT, SALvINo, M.D., B.SC. Malta, D.OBST. : registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology, Bath group of hospitals. PENGELLY, C. D. R., M.B. Brist., M.n.o.p.E. : senior medical registrar, West Cornwall clinical area. RICHARD, D. R., B.M. Oxfd : surgical registrar, Weston-super- Mare General Hospital. SANDERS, E. J., M.B. Capetown : surgical registrar, Cheltenham General Hospital. The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London: ANGUS, JOAN, M.B. Glasg., M.R.C.P.: house-physician. CALDER, ANNE, M.B. Edm., F.R.c.s.: house-surgeon. FERGUSON, ALEXANDER, M.B. N.Z., F.R.C.s. : house-surgeon. THoMsoN, M. F., M.B. Glasg. : asst. resident M.o., Tadworth. WALLMAN, 1. S., M.B. Adelaide, M.R.A.c.P. : house-physician. Notes and News MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF IRELAND THE many investigations sponsored by the Medical Research Council of Ireland during 1952 are described in some detail in the annual report that has lately been published. The work on the chemotherapy of tuberculosis has continued with renewed vigour, thanks both to the enthusiasm of Mr. Vincent Barry, D.sc., and his colleagues and to the generosity of University College, Dublin, in providing the first instalment of a grant from the Lasdon Foundation. The grant made it possible to carry out extensions to the council’s laboratories. An interesting observation made during the year’s experiments was that isoniazid-resistant strains of tubercle bacilli show a greatly reduced virulence for guineapigs.l A number of novel derivatives of isoniazid have been synthesised in the laboratories ; some of them show activity of the same order as isoniazid, but further inquiries are needed to decide whether any of them are significantly better than isoniazid. Among other investigations, Dr. T. Counihan has made phonocardiographic studies of presystolic triple rhythm and the opening snap of the mitral valve. Evidence from oesophageal phonocardiograms suggests that there are two auricular sounds, the first probably produced in the auricle itself and the second in the ventricle as the result of auricular action. The latter sound is normally inaudible, but it becomes audible in heart-block, constituting then a form of presystolic triple rhythm. Dr. Counihan has been working on this subject at the Postgraduate Medical School of London. Prof. W. J. E. Jessop has conducted a survey by means of a simple screening test for disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism of a diabetic type among elderly patients attending a urological clinic. The results showed that about 25% of patients over the age of 60 had a metabolic disturbance of diabetic type. Many of them did not require treatment but in some cases insulin was necessary. As yet it is not possible to say how far treatment of the metabolic disorder affected the course of the disease for which the patient came to hospital in the first place. During the year the council spent ;E8678 on general research and £8942 on work on the chemotherapy of tuberculosis. Other expenditure included £660 on cortisone research and jE17,846 from the special grant for the National Tuberculosis Survey. TEETHING-POWDERS LAST week (p. 1247) we discussed the use of teething- powders, and we are glad to record that Messrs. John Steedman & Co., makers of a popular powder, have announced that they had decided some months ago to remove calomel from their powders. Distribution of the new mercury-free powders began this month. This wise decision was made public on Dec. 9 at an inquest 2 on a 10-month-old girl who had died of pink disease. DANGEROUS DRUGS ACT AN order 3 which came into operation on Dec. 14 applies part in of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1951, to the salts of N-Allylnormorphine and any preparation, admixture, extract, or other substance containing any proportion of N-Allylnor- morphine, which will, as from Dec. 14, come within the provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act and the regulations made thereunder. SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS RECIPROCAL arrangements on social security benefits between Great Britain and Australia will come into force on Jan. 7.4 The arrangements will enable people who go from this country to Australia to receive benefits under the Australian scheme to supplement any retirement pension or widows’ benefits which they may be receiving from the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. People who come from Australia to this country will be treated as if they had been insured under the National Insurance schemes while they were in Australia so as to help them to qualify for National Insurance benefits here. 1. Barry, V. C., Conalty, M. I., Gaffney, E. Lancet, 1953, i, 978. 2. Times, Dec. 10, 1953. 3. The Dangerous Drugs Act, 1951 (Application) (no. 2), Order, 1953. S.I. 1953, no. 1680. H.M. Stationery Office. 2d. 4. The National Insurance (Reciprocal Agreement with Australia) Order, 1953. S.I. 1953, no. 1772. H.M. Stationery Office. 6d.
Transcript
Page 1: Notes and News

1321

would bring him difficult slides for his interpretation andjudgment. He always had a microscope in outpatientsand in his consulting-rooms, and, after a cursory glance,he would resolve the problem with a curt diagnosis.There was no court of appeal and, if there was, the’old man ’ was almost invariably right. Incidentally,he christened himself the old man ’ with that puckishself-depreciation which at first perplexed but ultimatelyendeared him to us all.

" His housemen and students learned to await withlively anticipation his invariably punctual arrival inthe Rolls-never driven over forty in its life-the gaysalutation, the teasing repartee, the teaching round

packed with wit and wisdom." His teaching sessions in outpatients were unforget-

table. Though his students came to learn gynaecology,they achieved more tlian this simple object. Elizabethanpoetry and drama, higher mathematics, nuclear physics,international politics, the history of Barts, all camewithin the syllabus. He knew the name of every Bartsstudent, his history, his wife’s name, and the numberand names of their children, whom he had probablydelivered himself. His amazing memory was once testedon View Day, when Barts is at home to all her oldstudents. A quiet, unassuming, middle-aged generalpractitioner approached Wilfred to pay his respects withthe remark You won’t remember me, Sir ; I haven’tseen you for twenty years.’ A puzzled frown gave placeto sudden enlightenment as he saluted his old studentby name and inquired after his wife and partner. Shawwas a voracious reader and reviewer of the British andforeign literature, and his memory seemed to enable himto place his finger on any article about any subject andto quote the author almost verbatim.

" Wilfred loved people. To him his patients wereall real friends and he knew all about them and theirfamilies. His old outpatients adored him and his privatepatients invariably became his friends. No service, greator small, was too much trouble to him, and he lavishedhis care upon them for small or no remuneration. Hehad an enormous practice amongst doctors’ wives, andhis great house in Harley Street was choked with thetokens of their gratitude. Here he would receive avisiting Indian surgeon, an cld Barts nurse, a studentin need of advice, a young aspiring consultant, or a

gynaecologist with a difficult slide ; each with a problemfor this good Samaritan and beloved physician, to thesolution of which he bent his rich wisdom and kindness.

" As a surgeon, he was quick, dexterous, and neat ;essentially an anatomical operator, he invariably foundthe correct plane of cleavage. His repertoire of operationswas limitless but he was at his best with a difficultvaginal procedure, say, a tricky vesicovaginal fistula. Allprolapse surgery, and, in particular, the problem ofstress incontinence and hernia of the pouch of Douglas,is the richer and better for the anatomical researchesand the carefully planned techniques of Wilfred Shaw.He loved the skill and artistry of operative techniqueand he chose to spend his last two years writing thetextbook of gynaecological surgery which he finisheda few weeks ago. When this book is published, it willstand as a monument to his courage as a man and hisgreatness as a surgeon.

Si fractus illabatur orbis

Impavidum ferient ruinae."Mr. Shaw leaves a widow, three sons, and a daughter.

AppointmentsSouth-Western Regional Hospital Board:MUSCAT, SALvINo, M.D., B.SC. Malta, D.OBST. : registrar in

obstetrics and gynaecology, Bath group of hospitals.PENGELLY, C. D. R., M.B. Brist., M.n.o.p.E. : senior medical

registrar, West Cornwall clinical area.RICHARD, D. R., B.M. Oxfd : surgical registrar, Weston-super-

Mare General Hospital.SANDERS, E. J., M.B. Capetown : surgical registrar, Cheltenham

General Hospital.The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London:ANGUS, JOAN, M.B. Glasg., M.R.C.P.: house-physician.CALDER, ANNE, M.B. Edm., F.R.c.s.: house-surgeon.FERGUSON, ALEXANDER, M.B. N.Z., F.R.C.s. : house-surgeon.THoMsoN, M. F., M.B. Glasg. : asst. resident M.o., Tadworth.WALLMAN, 1. S., M.B. Adelaide, M.R.A.c.P. : house-physician.

Notes and News

MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF IRELAND

THE many investigations sponsored by the Medical ResearchCouncil of Ireland during 1952 are described in some detailin the annual report that has lately been published. Thework on the chemotherapy of tuberculosis has continuedwith renewed vigour, thanks both to the enthusiasm of Mr.Vincent Barry, D.sc., and his colleagues and to the generosityof University College, Dublin, in providing the first instalmentof a grant from the Lasdon Foundation. The grant madeit possible to carry out extensions to the council’s laboratories.An interesting observation made during the year’s experimentswas that isoniazid-resistant strains of tubercle bacilli showa greatly reduced virulence for guineapigs.l A number ofnovel derivatives of isoniazid have been synthesised in thelaboratories ; some of them show activity of the same orderas isoniazid, but further inquiries are needed to decide whetherany of them are significantly better than isoniazid.Among other investigations, Dr. T. Counihan has made

phonocardiographic studies of presystolic triple rhythm andthe opening snap of the mitral valve. Evidence from

oesophageal phonocardiograms suggests that there are twoauricular sounds, the first probably produced in the auricleitself and the second in the ventricle as the result of auricularaction. The latter sound is normally inaudible, but itbecomes audible in heart-block, constituting then a form ofpresystolic triple rhythm. Dr. Counihan has been workingon this subject at the Postgraduate Medical School of London.

Prof. W. J. E. Jessop has conducted a survey by meansof a simple screening test for disturbances of carbohydratemetabolism of a diabetic type among elderly patients attendinga urological clinic. The results showed that about 25% ofpatients over the age of 60 had a metabolic disturbance ofdiabetic type. Many of them did not require treatment butin some cases insulin was necessary. As yet it is not possibleto say how far treatment of the metabolic disorder affectedthe course of the disease for which the patient came tohospital in the first place.

During the year the council spent ;E8678 on general researchand £8942 on work on the chemotherapy of tuberculosis.Other expenditure included £660 on cortisone research andjE17,846 from the special grant for the National TuberculosisSurvey.

TEETHING-POWDERS

LAST week (p. 1247) we discussed the use of teething-powders, and we are glad to record that Messrs. John Steedman& Co., makers of a popular powder, have announced that theyhad decided some months ago to remove calomel from their

powders. Distribution of the new mercury-free powdersbegan this month. This wise decision was made public onDec. 9 at an inquest 2 on a 10-month-old girl who had diedof pink disease.

DANGEROUS DRUGS ACT

AN order 3 which came into operation on Dec. 14 appliespart in of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1951, to the salts ofN-Allylnormorphine and any preparation, admixture, extract,or other substance containing any proportion of N-Allylnor-morphine, which will, as from Dec. 14, come within theprovisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act and the regulationsmade thereunder.

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS

RECIPROCAL arrangements on social security benefitsbetween Great Britain and Australia will come into forceon Jan. 7.4 The arrangements will enable people who gofrom this country to Australia to receive benefits under theAustralian scheme to supplement any retirement pensionor widows’ benefits which they may be receiving from theMinistry of Pensions and National Insurance. People whocome from Australia to this country will be treated as if theyhad been insured under the National Insurance schemeswhile they were in Australia so as to help them to qualifyfor National Insurance benefits here.

1. Barry, V. C., Conalty, M. I., Gaffney, E. Lancet, 1953, i, 978.2. Times, Dec. 10, 1953.3. The Dangerous Drugs Act, 1951 (Application) (no. 2), Order,

1953. S.I. 1953, no. 1680. H.M. Stationery Office. 2d.4. The National Insurance (Reciprocal Agreement with Australia)

Order, 1953. S.I. 1953, no. 1772. H.M. Stationery Office. 6d.

Page 2: Notes and News

1322

A separate agreement with Australia on family allowanceswill come into effect on the same day under regulationswhich are being made by the Minister of Pensions andNational Insurance. This will ensure that families going fromone country to the other will be able to qualify for familyallowances in the new country as soon as they arrive there.

MEDICAL ARCHIVES

A DOCTOR’S diary giving details of George III’s illness,diaries of a surgeon who sailed in emigrant ships to Australia(1849-50), and a licence to practise medicine (1777) foundamong a collection of papers in Dorset are among the items ofmedical interest in the latest Bulletin of the National Registerof Archives. The official correspondence of Sir StaffordNorthcote, 1850-55, now calendared by the register, includesletters from Florence Nightingale. The most importantmanuscripts in the collection of the Royal College of Physiciansof London are also listed in the Bulletiz they include deedsfrom different parts of the country, ranging from 1444 to thepresent century.The National Register of Archives was set up in 1945, under

the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and its purpose is tocollate, and as far as possible to collect notes of the contents of,ancient and modern documents in private hands, or belongingto local authorities and institutions such as hospitals, andsocieties. The address of the register is c/o the Public RecordOffice, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.2. The NationalRegister of Archives for Scotland is at Register House,Edinburgh.

FILMS ABOUT MOSQUITOESTHE Wellcome film unit has produced two new 16-mm.

films, The Dissection of a Mosquito for Malaria Parasitesand Pinning Mosquitoes. Both are in colour with sound.The first is a demonstration by Mr. P. G. Shute, of the

Medical Research Council’s Malaria Reference Laboratory.The phases of the life cycle of the malaria parasite withinthe mosquito are briefly described and the appearance ofboth oocysts and sporozoites is shown. The film thendemonstrates how the salivary glands of the insect are pressedout and prepared for examination so that the sporozoitescan be identified. The removal of the stomach and thedetection of oocysts are then demonstrated. The running-time is 10 minutes.

The second film shows how mosquitoes should be pinned,how to stage and label the pinned insects for permanentdisplay, and how to pack them for dispatch through thepost. It was produced in collaboration with the departmentof entomology at the London School of Hygiene and TropicalMedicine. The running-time is 51/2 minutes.The films may be borrowed on application to the public

relations officer, Burroughs Wellcome & Co., 183-193, EustonRoad, London, N.W.I.

JEWELLERY AS THERAPEUTIC OCCUPATION

ABOUT five years ago the Goldsmiths’ Company pointedout that simple jewellery and metal work would be a satis-factory form of occupational therapy for many patientsobliged to spend a long time in hospital. Having gained thesupport of the appropriate organisations, it gave a grant toMr. Claude Geoffroy-Dechaume, a designer craftsman, enablinghim to demonstrate to occupational therapists the possibilitiesand limitations of such work ; and under the company’sauspices he produced a book on Si’f(tple Craft Jewellery,2 soonto appear in a second edition. Based on this book, a filmof the same name has now been made by Mr. F. H. Dowdenof the Ministry of Education, and it had its first showing atGoldsmiths’ Hall on Dec. 7 to representatives of the Associationof Occupational Therapists, the British Red Cross Society,the Central Council for the Care of Cripples, and other bodiesconcerned with the teaching of the disabled. Intended foruse in hospital occupational-therapy departments, training-schools, craft workshops, and the like, the film shows howto make simple jewellery, and includes shots of’ hospitalpatients doing this work. A small but fascinating exhibitionof various kinds of jewellery, mostly made with inexpensivematerials, was on view at the hall during the subsequent fewdays, for the benefit chiefly of students of occupational therapy.It can hardly have failed to make them emulous.

1. Lancet, 1948, ii, 315.2. See Ibid, 1949, ii, 1019.

I Royal College of Surgeons of EnglandI At a meeting of the council on Dec. 10, with Sir Reginald

Watson-Jones, vice-president, in the chair, Dr. Fred W.

: Rankin, president of the American College of Surgeons, wasawarded an honorary fellowship. Hunterian professorshipswere awarded to Mr. R. C. Evans and Dr. Michael Wardfor a lecture on the Ascent of Mount Everest. The Begleyprize was presented to Margaret M. Heley (Royal Free).Diplomas of fellowship were granted to the following:

, J. A..James, K. L. Barnes, C. M. Phillips, R. B. McGrigor, D. B.Moffat, It. M. Harvey, G. F. Hird, J. S. J. Morley, J. E. Oliver,

, L. G. Fison, Kenneth Till, A. S. Falconer, A. E. Flatt, R. A. Daws,J. A. G. Holt, Betty M. L. Underhill, Julian Bihari, P. B. Foxwell,Sankar Panikkar, B. G. Reynolds, Agnes R. D. Bartels, J. A.Snyder, K. S. E. MacRae, Margery Scott-Young, C. J. S. Sergel,Mohamed Shaffl, G. C. Pritchard, K. G. Malcomson, J. M. Ellis,I. M. Grant, H. D. W. Powell, Fouad Hussein Gamali, J. D. Glanville,Wilfrid Grundill, P. A. P. Joseph, Ali Masood Akram, AlexanderBenjamin, R. F. Burton, J. K. Craig, W. S. Foulds, Pesi ErachGhadiali, Braham Goldman, R. J. Hart. K. W. Hinrichsen, GodrejSorabjce Karai, J. S. Lekias, Elaine Lister, E. A. McVerry, K. D. J.Vowles, Khalid Hassanein Abdol-Ghaffar, Arun Kumar Das, IvorSober, J. B. R. Wells, C. G. Wilson, W. S. Wilson, F. J. Hall, H. C.Jones, John Kiely, B. V. Kyle, E. D. McIntyre, S. A. Mellick,D. J. Retief, J. E. S. Scott, N. J. Way, R. F. Zacharin, A. F. G.Anderson, R. R. Barnett, J. G. Brice, A. F. Ferguson, H. R. McCoy,Mithlesh Kumar Mehra, A. G. Morgan, P. J. Mortensen, G. T.Smedley, T. K. Thorlakson, Martin Wynyard, John Chalmers,David Davies, L. R. De Jode, E. S. P. Ferguson, Rambir SagarGupta, C. H. Maclaurin, Barry Shandling, Katyayani KumarSinha.

Royal College of Physicians of IrelandOn Dec. 4 the following, having passed the final examination

of the conj oint board of Ireland, were admitted licentiates inmedicine and midwifery.

A. M. van Bergen, Constance M. Coogan. B. C. F. Dalton, J. T.Devlin, G. G. Dibue, Eileen M. Dodd Kathleen M. N. Gibney,T. S. Gilpin, Milton Jeffries, Wee Soon Lee, D. M. McCarthy, P. B.McKenna, Monica M. McLoughlin, Priscilla R. K. Nicol, AaronNwogu Obonna, Abdul Rascul Ghulam Huseim Peermohamed,N. B. Smyth, E. H. Wells, R. J. Whitty, W. J. Wilmot, MitchellWright, Maria E. T. Wyganowska.

Conjoint Board in IrelandAt recent examinations for postgraduate diplomas the

following were successful :D.C.H.-N. Adhya, Muriel Bannister, Margaret Bell, Rosaline

Power.D.A.-R. E. Bourke, P. J. Boyle, Una B. Byrne, J. G. Goodbody,

Mary M. Gordon, R. C. Gray, J. Levin, J. Lomaz, L. C. Luck,R. W. Milner, D. O’Leary, E. F. O’Riordan, M. R. Porter.

Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of GlasgowAt a meeting of the faculty on Dec. 7, with Dr. Andrew

Allison, the president, in the chair, the following were admittedfellows of faculty :Saw Mra Aung, H. W. Boyd, Thomas Cochrane, A. F.

Tuboku-Metzger (qua physician) ; J. P. Fraser, Shimoga Ranganna-navara Ganeshiya (qua surgeon).

General Nursing Council for ScotlandDr. W. A. Murray, superintendent of East Fortune Sana.-

torium, has been appointed a member of this council. Prof. £G. Wishart, Dr. A. D. Briggs, Dr. W. G. Clark, and Dr. MaryEsslemont have been reappointed.British Association of OtolaryngologistsThe following Officers have been elected for 1953-54:

president, Mr. V. E. Negus ; immediate past-president,Mr. H. V. Forster ; vice-president, Mr. I. Simson Hall; hon.secretary, Mr. Myles L. Formby : hon. treasurer, Mr. W. A.Mill.

General Practice on Sheffield Housing EstatesSheffield Corporation has refused to provide sites for

doctors to build their own houses and surgeries on housingestates, because it believes that permanent surgeries wouldprejudice the creation of health centres. The corporationhopes to establish an experimental health centre on thenew estate now being built at Greenhill, but is willing, inthe meantime, to provide doctors who wish to practise on theestate with houses or flats on a short-term lease, say of fiveyears.

The award of the first gold medal under the newly foundedSydney Body Trust has been made to Dr. William Evans for hiswork in cardiology.

The British Standards Institution has issued a standard(B.s. 2044: 1953) covering laboratory tests for resistivity ofconductive and anti-static rubbers. Copies (price 2s. 6d.) may beobtained from the sales branch of the institution, 2, Park Street,London, W.1.


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