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621 Notes and News THE CIBA FOUNDATION WHEN the headquarters of the foundation at 41, Portland Place, London, W.1, were opened in June, 1949, Lord Beveridge, one of the trustees, described it as " a place where the people who are working on research can meet together to discuss their problems ... in pleasant and comfortable surroundings." The report of the foundation for 1951 tells how the work of promoting international cooperation in medical and chemical research is continuing. During the year visitors from 26 countries have been present at conferences, meetings, or lectures at Portland Place, or have been the guests of the foundation while attending to scientific work in London. Some of the visitors led informal discussions on subjects of their own choosing among guests interested in similar research. The subjects for the formal conferences of the year included Hormonal Influences on Water Meta- bolism, Isotopes in Biochemistry, and Visceral Circulation. The proceedings of 12 of the conferences held since the foundation opened have been or are being published by Messrs. J. & A. Churchill in London and by the Blakiston Company of Philadelphia in the United States. CHELSEA CLINICAL SOCIETY EACH of London’s many medical societies has its own particular characteristics and atmosphere. None has developed a happier individuality than the Chelsea Clinical Society. Even its name is something apart from the ordinary run ; for half its members are addressed not in S.W.3 but in W.1, and anyhow it meets not in Chelsea but South Kensington ; and furthermore its meetings are rarely clinical. Now in its 55th year, this society combines successfully convivial gatherings at the dinner table with not too energetic dis- cussion of medical, paramedical, and even frankly non- medical topics ; and lately the subjects have ranged from the goings-on at Scotland Yard to war-time adventures with the Maquis and a first-hand account of an Everest expedition (these last two both by members). On March 11 the speaker was Dr. R. E. Smith, erstwhile medical officer to Rugby School, who contrasted present-day conditions at public schools with those that prevailed half a century and more ago. Thanks largely to the late Dr. A. I. Simey and to Dr. G. E. Friend, schools now provide a sub- stantial evening meal ; and they are fortunate in obtaining the food for midday meals as an extra to the usual rations. Dr. Smith went on to suggest that the ordinary infectious diseases are largely inevitable, and that boys should have them as early as possible. One benefit from the improved nutrition is enhanced resistance to such infections. In a recent outbreak of measles, not one of 80 boys with the disease had catarrhal symptoms, and only 1 had otitis media. Similarly Sonne dysentery has become less serious, and there is less liability to fractures, boils, and heart-disease, and to disorders of the blood, kidney, and lung. Dr. Smith said that the school doctor must be firstly a physician, secondly a surgeon, and thirdly a psychologist. In one way he was more handicapped than the family doctor ; for he did not know the parents as he should. RESEARCH ON TWINS THE monograph,’ by Prof. Luigi Gedda, of Rome, on the study of twins, has been followed by the appearance of a new journal,2 under his editorship, dealing with medical genetics and the study of twins. This journal is to be published three times a year, and authors may choose the language in which their articles are printed ; but each article is to end with a summary in English, Italian, French, and German. The usefulness of twin studies for elucidating the nature-nurture problem, originally propounded by Galton, has sometimes been over-estimated, and comparison of monozygotic and dizygotic twins has often yielded trivial or ambiguous results. Nevertheless the difficulties of human genetics are so great that no path to knowledge should be neglected. Perhaps the concentration of twin studies in this lavish journal will inaugurate a new and more critical era in this field. 1. Gedda, L. Studio Dei Gemelli. Rome, 1951. See Lancet, 1951, ii, 296. 2. Acta Geneticœ Medicœ et Gemellologiœ. Largo Amba Aradam 1, Rome. Subscription 5000 lire (£5) per annum, or 2500 lire for a single issue. WEEKEND DISEASES A SYMPOSIUM 1 by Dr. G. E. Beaumont’s clerks gives a useful picture of the conditions for which casualty treatment over the weekend is sought at a large London hospital. Dental emergencies form a large part of the casualty attendances ; for " most patients consider the doctor is the one to see at unusual hours, rather than the dentist." Rugby football is a potent source of casualties. Alcoholism may still produce the case of acute retention or the ruptured over-full bladder, and the need for careful examination to exclude other causes of coma is duly emphasised ; Saturday-night paralysis has a section to itself (it would be interesting to know whether this is common enough to warrant the attention it receives in textbooks). Hay-fever and urticaria from exposure to pollen, insect-bites, or " ingestion of shellfish at Southsea " are good examples of weekend risks run by the town-dweller who ventures into the country. Bronchial or cardiac asthma may come on after a late and heavy supper on Sunday. University of Cambridge On March 8 the following degrees were conferred : M.D.-C. F. Barwell, S. C. Gold, * J. P. Henry, A. S. Mason, * J. G. Selwyn. M.B., B. Chir.—* J. H. F. Batstone, T. H. Morgan. * By proxy. University of London Dr. W. D. M. Paton has been appointed to the readership in pharmacology and therapeutics at University College and University College Hospital Medical School. University of Glasgow On Wednesday, April 16, at 4.30 P.M., Dr. William Pickles will deliver the Noah Morris lecture. He is to speak on Epidemiology in Country Practice. University of Dublin Prof. S. P. Bedson, F.R.s., has been appointed John Mallet Purser lecturer for 1952. It is hoped that he will deliver the lecture in May. Royal College of Surgeons of England At a meeting of the council held on March 13, with Sir Cecil Wakeley, the president, in the chair, Mr. C. W. Flemming was admitted to the court of examiners. A Hunterian professorship was awarded to Mr. K. W. Starr. The Hallett prize was presented to Dr. J. C. N. Wakeley, and the award of a Streatfield research scholarship to Mr. A. T. Andreasen was reported. A diploma of fellowship was granted to A. 0. Parker, and a diploma* of membership to A. P. Coats Bacon. Royal Society of Medicine ’ Mr. R. T. Hewitt, O.B.E., M.A. Oxfd, has been appointed secretary of the society. Royal Society of Edinburgh A David Anderson-Berry medal, with a prize of about :t:l00, will be awarded in 1953 by the society for work on the therapeutic effect of X rays on human diseases. Published and unpublished work may be submitted and should reach the general secretary of the society, 22, George Street, Edinburgh, 2, by March 31, 1953. Mental After Care Association The annual meeting will be held at the rooms of the Royal Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W.1, on Friday, March 28, when Sir Percy Barter, chairman of the Board of Control, and Dr. Henry Yellowlees, chairman of the association, will speak. General Practice in the Curriculum With the help of the local medical committee for Birming- ham, the board of the faculty of medicine of the University of Birmingham has arranged an experimental scheme by which students may gain experience of general practice. It is proposed that at a convenient time during the last two years of their clinical course students shall spend two weeks as assistant to a general practitioner. During this fortnight they will be excused from hospital work and university lectures, but not from courses at which attendance is com- pulsory. The scheme is a voluntary one ; but, as the students have often asked for it to be started, the board hopes for a good response. 1. Middlesex Hosp. J. 1952, 52, 7.
