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NOTES FROM INDIA.

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1315 fees are therefore very low, being about 10s. 6d. or 21s. per term. Post-graduate classes, both for Austrians and foreigners, are, of course, more expensive, but at present there are excellent opportunities for such work. The clinics for paediatrics and for internal medicine are on the point of being removed to the new buildings provided for them, so that in the old General Hospital there will be plenty of room for fitting up laboratories and special observation wards in which much of the post-graduate work will be done. The fees for these classes vary between ill 1 ls. and .S4 48., according to the subject ; the attendance is, as a rule, for four weeks or 20 lectures, and as the number admitted to each class is not more than from 6 to 10 the opportunities for individual teaching are very good. There are at present numerous English and American phy- sicians in Vienna, some of whom are well known in the scientific world, taking special classes with the professors. The term lasts until the middle of July, when the vacation classes will commence and will be continued throughout August and September, but only for those who have entered their names beforehand. These latter classes are very well attended by practitioners. May 8th. _________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.) Insanitary Cellar Bakeries in Nero lork. THE Commissioner of Accounts of New York, Mr. Fosdick, has submitted recently to the mayor of that city a report showing that insanitary conditions prevail in hundreds of bakeries and recommending that the city at once assume jurisdiction under its charter and cease de- ferring to the State labour law with its inadequate penalties and still more inadequate enforcement by a small inspecting force. Cellar bakeries are greatly in the majority in New York City, as Mr. Fosdick’s investigators found that outside such bakeries there were fewer than 100 factory bakeries. The report thus describes these cellar bakeries : "They have for the most part been converted from storerooms for coal, ashes, and rubbish. In order to maintain sufficient light in these places gas must be burned continuously. In many cases the only windows in these cellars were nailed and covered with boards or tin. More than half the bakeries visited had broken, dirty floors, side walls, and ceilings. In more than 30 per cent. of these cellar bakeries flour, lard, fillers, and other materials were stored without regard for cleanliness. Foodstuffs were found under leaking sky- lights and in sidewalk vaults under leaking coalholes. Open barrels and tubs containing unbaked material were discovered in close proximity to coal, ashes, rubbish, and old rags." Moreover, although section 113 of the Labour Law prohibits sleeping or sleeping accommodations in bake rooms, many places showed that the rooms were used as living quarters for the family. In one place, in fact, the baker was asleep on the mixing vat when the inspector called. The law as to not using the bakeries for sleeping purposes appears to be broken in the case of the great majority of the cellar bakeries of New York. In all respects the inspector found that the cellar bakeries were conducted on most unhygienic principles and that their existence and continuance were a menace to the health of the community. It is suggested that adequate power be given to the New York Board of Health to deal with the matter, and that all bakeries in the city be required to obtain a licence from the said Board of Health. New Bills in New York State Legislatwre. Among the Bills recently introduced into the New York State Legislature of a medical nature or in the interests of public health are the following :-To create a commission to investigate the charges of abuse and cruel treatment in the New York State Hospital for the Criminal Insane at Matteawan ; to provide that unsalted and unpreserved meats offered for sale shall be presumed to be tainted within z, the meaning of the penal law if kept for periods longer than the following : beef, seven months; veal, pork, or sheep, four months ; and all other animal food, four months. lhe Antiviviseotion Bill. The "Bayne Bill," recently before the legislature of ’the State of New York, to appoint a commission to " inquire into the extent and nature of the practice of experimentation on living animals and the condition of the laws of the State relative to the proper protection of scientific experiments without danger of unnecessary cruelty" was voted down by 34 to 11 in the Senate at Albany, N.Y., on April 26th. It was clearly seen that the only result of the Bill could be to appoint a partisan commission which should make capital for agitation purposes out of its official character. Training School for NÚrses. The Margaret Fahnestock Training School for Nurses, attached to the Post-Graduate Hospital, New York, recently held its annual meeting for the purpose of giving diplomas to nurses. Twenty-nine nurses received diplomas, the largest number in the history of the school. The announce- ment was made at this meeting that the new addition to the training school, just east of the present building, at Twentieth-street and Second-avenue, is all but completed and will be ready for occupation in June. This building will practically double the accommodation for nurses in the Fahnestock Training School, furnishing a total accommoda. tion for 145 nurses. -Deaths from Diarrhœa in New York. Deaths from diarrhœa amongst children in New York City have been of late considerably on the increase. During the first three months of 1911 there were 508 deaths due to intestinal disorders among. the children in New York City, as compared with 348 for the corresponding period of 1910. A noticeable and significant feature of the large death roll is that the increase, according to investigations made by the Department of Health, occurred almost entirely among children in institutions. In Mahattan borough, or New York proper, for instance, during the first three months of 1910 there were reported 77 such deaths from institutions and 129 from private families, while during the same period in 1911 there were 200 deaths in institutions and 127 in private families. American Society for the Study of Alcohol and Other Narcotics. This society was the first medical society organised for- the study of the drink and drug neurosis. Its fortieth anniversary meeting was held in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 19th and 20th of this year. Death of Dr. Charles Stedman Bull. Dr. C. S. Bull died very suddenly from heart disease on April 17th. Dr. Bull was born in New York City in 1845, graduated in arts at Columbia University in 1864, and in medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1868. He then studied in Europe for several years, devoting his attention mainly to ophthalmology. At the time of his death he was surgeon to the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, visiting surgeon to the Charity Hospital, professor of ophthalmology to Cornell Medical School, and consulting ophthalmic surgeon to St. Luke’s, the Presbyterian, and- St. Mary’s Hospitals. Dr. Bull was one of the best-known eye specialists of America. May lst. _________________ NOTES FROM INDIA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.) The Indian Medioal Service. THE Government of India has notified that an officer of the Indian Medical Service who cannot, on grounds of public convenience, be granted study leave in time to qualify himself while in the rank of captain for accelerated pro- motion, shall have the concession of accelerated promotion open to him for a period of four years after his promotion to the rank of major in the ordinary course. If at any time within these four years he qualifies for accelerated pro- motion by producing satisfactory evidence of progress in knowledge under the terms of the notification above referred to, his promotion will be ante-dated and his position in the Army List adjusted accordingly, but he will have no claim
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Page 1: NOTES FROM INDIA.

1315

fees are therefore very low, being about 10s. 6d. or 21s. perterm. Post-graduate classes, both for Austrians andforeigners, are, of course, more expensive, but at presentthere are excellent opportunities for such work. The clinicsfor paediatrics and for internal medicine are on the

point of being removed to the new buildings providedfor them, so that in the old General Hospital therewill be plenty of room for fitting up laboratories and

special observation wards in which much of the post-graduatework will be done. The fees for these classes vary betweenill 1 ls. and .S4 48., according to the subject ; the attendanceis, as a rule, for four weeks or 20 lectures, and as thenumber admitted to each class is not more than from 6 to10 the opportunities for individual teaching are very good.There are at present numerous English and American phy-sicians in Vienna, some of whom are well known in thescientific world, taking special classes with the professors.The term lasts until the middle of July, when the vacationclasses will commence and will be continued throughoutAugust and September, but only for those who have enteredtheir names beforehand. These latter classes are very wellattended by practitioners.May 8th.

_________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Insanitary Cellar Bakeries in Nero lork.THE Commissioner of Accounts of New York, Mr.

Fosdick, has submitted recently to the mayor of that citya report showing that insanitary conditions prevail inhundreds of bakeries and recommending that the city atonce assume jurisdiction under its charter and cease de-ferring to the State labour law with its inadequate penaltiesand still more inadequate enforcement by a small inspectingforce. Cellar bakeries are greatly in the majority in NewYork City, as Mr. Fosdick’s investigators found that outsidesuch bakeries there were fewer than 100 factory bakeries.The report thus describes these cellar bakeries : "They havefor the most part been converted from storerooms for coal,ashes, and rubbish. In order to maintain sufficient light inthese places gas must be burned continuously. In manycases the only windows in these cellars were nailed andcovered with boards or tin. More than half the bakeriesvisited had broken, dirty floors, side walls, and ceilings. Inmore than 30 per cent. of these cellar bakeries flour, lard,fillers, and other materials were stored without regard forcleanliness. Foodstuffs were found under leaking sky-lights and in sidewalk vaults under leaking coalholes.Open barrels and tubs containing unbaked materialwere discovered in close proximity to coal, ashes,rubbish, and old rags." Moreover, although section113 of the Labour Law prohibits sleeping or sleepingaccommodations in bake rooms, many places showed that therooms were used as living quarters for the family. In one

place, in fact, the baker was asleep on the mixing vat whenthe inspector called. The law as to not using the bakeriesfor sleeping purposes appears to be broken in the case of thegreat majority of the cellar bakeries of New York. In all

respects the inspector found that the cellar bakeries wereconducted on most unhygienic principles and that theirexistence and continuance were a menace to the health ofthe community. It is suggested that adequate power begiven to the New York Board of Health to deal with thematter, and that all bakeries in the city be required to obtaina licence from the said Board of Health.

New Bills in New York State Legislatwre.Among the Bills recently introduced into the New York

State Legislature of a medical nature or in the interests ofpublic health are the following :-To create a commission toinvestigate the charges of abuse and cruel treatment in theNew York State Hospital for the Criminal Insane atMatteawan ; to provide that unsalted and unpreservedmeats offered for sale shall be presumed to be tainted within z,the meaning of the penal law if kept for periods longerthan the following : beef, seven months; veal, pork,or sheep, four months ; and all other animal food, fourmonths.

lhe Antiviviseotion Bill.

The "Bayne Bill," recently before the legislature of ’theState of New York, to appoint a commission to " inquire intothe extent and nature of the practice of experimentation onliving animals and the condition of the laws of the Staterelative to the proper protection of scientific experimentswithout danger of unnecessary cruelty" was voted downby 34 to 11 in the Senate at Albany, N.Y., on April 26th. Itwas clearly seen that the only result of the Bill could beto appoint a partisan commission which should make capitalfor agitation purposes out of its official character.

Training School for NÚrses.The Margaret Fahnestock Training School for Nurses,

attached to the Post-Graduate Hospital, New York, recentlyheld its annual meeting for the purpose of giving diplomasto nurses. Twenty-nine nurses received diplomas, thelargest number in the history of the school. The announce-ment was made at this meeting that the new addition to thetraining school, just east of the present building, atTwentieth-street and Second-avenue, is all but completedand will be ready for occupation in June. This building willpractically double the accommodation for nurses in theFahnestock Training School, furnishing a total accommoda.tion for 145 nurses.

-Deaths from Diarrhœa in New York.

Deaths from diarrhœa amongst children in New York Cityhave been of late considerably on the increase. During thefirst three months of 1911 there were 508 deaths due tointestinal disorders among. the children in New York City,as compared with 348 for the corresponding period of 1910.A noticeable and significant feature of the large death roll isthat the increase, according to investigations made by theDepartment of Health, occurred almost entirely amongchildren in institutions. In Mahattan borough, or New Yorkproper, for instance, during the first three months of 1910there were reported 77 such deaths from institutions and129 from private families, while during the same period in1911 there were 200 deaths in institutions and 127 in privatefamilies.

American Society for the Study of Alcohol and OtherNarcotics.

This society was the first medical society organised for-the study of the drink and drug neurosis. Its fortiethanniversary meeting was held in Baltimore, Maryland, onApril 19th and 20th of this year.

Death of Dr. Charles Stedman Bull.Dr. C. S. Bull died very suddenly from heart disease on

April 17th. Dr. Bull was born in New York City in1845, graduated in arts at Columbia University in 1864,and in medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in1868. He then studied in Europe for several years, devotinghis attention mainly to ophthalmology. At the time of hisdeath he was surgeon to the New York Eye and EarInfirmary, visiting surgeon to the Charity Hospital, professorof ophthalmology to Cornell Medical School, and consultingophthalmic surgeon to St. Luke’s, the Presbyterian, and-St. Mary’s Hospitals. Dr. Bull was one of the best-knowneye specialists of America.May lst.

_________________

NOTES FROM INDIA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Indian Medioal Service.THE Government of India has notified that an officer of

the Indian Medical Service who cannot, on grounds of publicconvenience, be granted study leave in time to qualifyhimself while in the rank of captain for accelerated pro-motion, shall have the concession of accelerated promotionopen to him for a period of four years after his promotionto the rank of major in the ordinary course. If at any timewithin these four years he qualifies for accelerated pro-motion by producing satisfactory evidence of progress inknowledge under the terms of the notification above referredto, his promotion will be ante-dated and his position in theArmy List adjusted accordingly, but he will have no claim

Page 2: NOTES FROM INDIA.

1316

to any arrears of pay at the enhanced rate. In commentingon the paucity of candidates for the Indian Medical Servicethe Allahabad Pioneer draws attention to the fact that theregrettable tendency which has affected the Sandhurst andWoolwich lists of late years has not failed to colour theresults of the Indian Medical Service examination. Forthe recent competition for 14 commissions in the latterservice only 21 candidates presented themselves. It maybe that the appropriate season for Government scholar-ships is drawing near in this domain as in others, andthat men will require to be assured of two years’ stabilityand comfort before settling down to a life-work which,in many eyes, is marked chiefly by slow promotion andrestricted responsibility. It is possible, however, thatthe Station Hospital proposals may give the required fillipas they take effect. Should next year’s list shrink to shorterlength, the experiment, one imagines, will have found astrong argument in its favour.

Sanitation in Eastern Bengal and Assam.The improvement of the sanitary arrangements of the

permanent and summer capitals of the province of EasternBengal and Assam is a matter of more than local interest,and considerable attention has been directed to this question.Valuable recommendations have been made by the SanitaryCommissioner with the Government of India and the SanitaryCommissioner of the province, and the Station Committee inShillong has initiated various improvements for the sanitaryarrangements of the station. A project has been drawn upfor the introduction of an underground drainage system, butthe cost is prohibitive, and this work cannot be undertakenin the near future unless it is possible to do it in sections.In Dacca also the preparation of detailed plans and estimatesis in hand. Apart from this a number of changes havealready been made, such as the improvement and supervisionof markets and slaughter-houses, the supervision of the saleof food and drink, &c. The Lieutenant-Governor of Bengalhopes that these improvements will be continued so that itmay no longer be a reproach that in its sanitary arrangements ithe capital of the province has a good deal of lee-way tomake up.

Tibberculosis in the United Provinces.Dr. Abinash Chander Banerji, for 30 years a medical

practitioner at Allahabad, has just completed the arrange-ments for establishing a preventorium for patients who havea tendency to develop tuberculosis in any shape. With thisobject in view, he has acquired at his own expense a finesite of 888 acres at the point of junction of the districts ofHardoi, Shahjahanpur, and Kheri, on which a bungalow canbe built capable of accommodating about a dozen patients.This place is situated about half an hour’s walk fromUchaulia railway station on the Balamau-Shahjahanpurextension of the Ol1dh and Rohilkhand Railway whichpasses through Sitapur and Rosa, in a village belonging tothe Panapur estate, and has a small rivulet which is a

branch of the Suketa passing through it. The patients willbe employed in farming, gardening, and fishing, for all ofwhich the site selected affords ample facilities, while thosewith sporting instincts will have plenty of game in the

neighbourhood. Dr. Banerji proposes to look after the

patients himself, assisted by his son Dr. P. D. Banerji,who has just completed his medical education at Edinburgh.The preventorium is, in the first instance, intended forstudents and clerks or small means whose cases are the most

pitiable and among whom the ravages of tuberculosis havenot been infrequent in these provinces. If the usefulness ofthe institution is established and it becomes popular, the

question of providing more accommodation and greaterfacilities for a healthy open-air life will arise.The late Lieittenant- Colonel J. T. W. Leslie, C.I. E., I.M.S.The public will hear with much regret of the death at

Marseilles of Lieutenant-Colonel J. T. W. Leslie. ColonelLeslie entered the Indian Medical Service in 1884, spendinghis earlier years in Burma. In 1892 he became chemicalexaminer at Calcutta and was next appointed secretary tothe Director-General of the Indian Medical Service. In 1904Colonel Leslie was selected for the Sanitary Commissioner-ship with the Government of India, a post of constantlygrowing labour and importance, to whose calls he assiduouslyresponded. The country has lost in him an officer ofexperience and capacity both as administrator and specialist. April 24th.

Obituary.JOHN TATHAM THOMPSON, M.B., C.M. EDIN.,

CONSULTING OPHTHALMIC SURGEON TO THE CARDIFF INFIRMARY.

WE record with regret the death of Dr. J. T. Thompsonwhich took place at Cardiff on April 28th. Dr. Thompsonwho was 52 years of age, was the son of Mr. Silvanus

Thompson of York, and a brother of Professor Silvanus P.Thompson. He received his preliminary education at

Bootham School, York, and afterwards went to EdinburghUniversity, where he graduated M.B., C.M. in 1885. At

Edinburgh he studied anatomy under Sir William Turner,and ophthalmic surgery under the late Professor ArgyllRobertson, for whom he acted as assistant, and was

ophthalmic surgeon at the Western Dispensary. In Wales,which part of the United Kingdom he selected as the fieldfor the exercise of the department of surgery he had chosen,he was appointed ophthalmic surgeon at the Cardiff Infir-

mary, and surgeon-oculist to the South Wales Institute forthe Blind at Cardiff, his skill as an operator gaining for hima wide reputation.

Dr. Tatham Thompson contributed many valuable recordsof cases to medical literature. Most are to be found in theTransactions of the Ophthalmological Society, and includecases of depressed fracture of the roof of the orbit, cysticretina, tuberculosis of the eyeball, foreign bodies in the globe,hereditary optic atrophy, &c. ; his case of unilateral facialhypertrophy with hypertrophic ptosis has features which makeit not improbable that the patient was also suffering fromplexiform neuroma. In 1889 he gave one of the earliestand most exhaustive reports on a family with hereditarytendency to cataract in early childhood. He devised a modi-fication of the usual operation for anterior staphyloma.Perhaps his most valuable contribution was on miners’

nystagmus, in which he emphasised the importance of de-fective illumination as a factor, regarded by him as ofmore importance than the attitude of the worker, which washeld by Snell and others best to explain the genesis ofthe disease. He was the author of a brochure on ’’ TheInfluence of Early School Life on Eyesight." In Vol. II.of THE LANCET, 1891, p. 926, will be found a case ofSuccessful Removal of a Fragment of Steel from the Retinaby means of the Electro-magnet, in which Dr. Thompsonsays: "So far as can be ascertained, the only cases

previously recorded of successful removal from the retina arethose of Galezowski and Hirschberg." It is true that othercases of removal from the retina had been recorded, but notwith retention of vision, as in Thompson’s case, and in aletter in the same volume of THE LANCET (p. 1173) this factwas pointed out.

Dr. Thompson, who was a major in the Royal ArmyMedical Corps, Territorial Force, devoted many of his leisurehours to sketching, some drawings illustrating the humoursof a rectorial election being well known to his many friendsand admirers. He was a member of the British MedicalAssociation and of the Ophthalmological Society, a Fellowof the Royal Microscopical Society, and a keen and pro-minent Freemason.

Dr. Tatham Thompson leaves a widow, one son, and threedaughters.

. The first part of the funeral service took place at Cardiff

on Monday, May 1st, and was of a military character. Thecoffin was borne to the church by non-commissioned officers

.

of the Royal Army Medical Corps (T.F.), and following the’ service a procession was formed from the church to the

Great Western station headed by the band of the corps,, followed by the coffin on a gun-carriage, the military,

Freemasons, representatives of the Cardiff Infirmary,members of the Cardiff Medical Society, representatives

. of the Blind Institute, and others. At the station the

. coffin was entrained for Woking where the body was

. cremated.The following testimonies record the high esteem in

, which Dr. Tatham Thompson was held by his colleaguesand professional brethren and supplement our brief

record.


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