1005

MIDDLESBROUGH, NORTH RIDING INFIRMARY. - Female ResidentSurgeon. Salary 2120 per annum, with board, apartments, andlaundry.

NORWICH CITY.-Assistant Medical Officer of Health. Salary at rateof :2252 per annum, with rooms, board, and wahing.

PUTNEY HOSPITAL, Putney Common. S.W.-Resident Medical Officer.Salary B150 per annum, with residence, board,and laundry.

QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S LYING-IN HOSPITAL, Marylebone-road, N.W.-Assistant Resident Medical Officer for four months. Also SeniorResident Medical Officer for following four months. Salary at rateof JB60 and :280 per annum respectively, with board, residence,and washing.

ROYAL LONDON OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL, City-road. E.C.-Senior HouseSurgeon for eight months. Salary at rate of £100 per annum, withboard and residence.

ST. GEORGE-IN-THE-EAST, PARISH OF.-Visiting Medical Officer atSchools, Green-street, Upton Park, E. Salary £100 per annum.

SHREWSBURY DISPENSARY.—Medical Practitioner to look after Patientsof Medical Officer serving with the Army.

SHREWSBURY, ROYAL SALOP INFIRMARY.-House Physician. Salaryat rate of :2120 per annum, with board, residence, and laundry.

SOUTHAMPTON, FREE EYE HOSPITAL.—House Surgeon. Salary 2100per annum. with board, lodging, and laundry.

SWINDON, BOROUGH OF.-Medical Officer of Health of Borough andMedical Superintendent of Swindon and District Isolation Hos-pital. Salary JB&&0 per annum. Also Assistant Medical Officer ofHealth. Salary B300 per annum.

WESTERN DISPENSARY, Rochester-row, Westminster.-Vacancy on

Attending Medical Staff.WEST HAM tND EASTERN GENERAL HOSPI[TAL.-House Physicians

and House Surgeons. Salary 2120 and B100 per annum respec-tively with board, residence, and washing.

WIGAN, ROYAL ALBERT EDWARD INFIRMARY AND DISPENSARY.-Female House Surgeon. Salary £150 per annum, with board,apartments, and washing.

WINDSOR, KING EDWARD VII. HOSPITAL.-House Surgeon. SalaryB100 per annum, with board, residence, and washing.

WORCESTER GENFRAL INFIRMARY.-Resident Medical Officer. SalaryB150 per annum, with board, residence. and laundry.

YORK COUNTY HOSPITAL.-Resident Menical Officer Salary at rate ofB150 per annum, with board, residence, and laundry.

THE Chief Inspector of Factories, Home Office, London, S.W., givesnotice of vacancies for Certifying Surgeons under the Factoryand Workshop Acts at Braemar in the county of Aberdeen; atHackney in the county of London; and at Kidderminster in thecounty of Worcester.

Births, Marriages, and Deaths.BIRTHS.

FERGUSON.-On Oct. 19th, at " Deepdene," Haslemere, to Eileen andArchibald Ferguson, M.B.Lond, D.P.H., Lieutenant, R.A.M.C., ason.

LIVINGSTON.-On Oct. 18th, at Sandringham-gardens, Ealing, LucyYetta, wife of H. M. Livingston, M.D., M.S. Durh., of a son.

SMELT.-On Oct. 22nd, at The Crossways, Thorpe Bay, Essex the wifeof C. A. Casterton Smelt. Major, R.A.M.C. (T.), of a daughter.

SMITH.—On Oct. 24th, at Essex House, Barnes, S.W., the wife of

Captain Hector Smith, M.B., B.S. Lond., R.A.M.C. (S.R.), of ason.

YoUNG.-On Oct. 16th, to Captain W. A. Young, R.A.M.C., and InaYoung, a daughter. -

MARRIAGES.ASHBY-ROSS.-On Oct. 27th, at Holy Innocents, Fallowfield, by

the Rev. H. B. Lockett. Hugh T. Ashby, M.D., son of the late HenryAshby. M.D., and Mrs. Ashby, 3, Lancaster-road, Didsbury. toMargaret Vernon Ross. eldest daughter of P. Vernon Ross, Esq.,Claremont, Western Australia, and niece of Professor Elliot Smith,4, Willow Bank, Fallowfield, Manchester.

DAVIS-LLOYD.-On Oct. 23rd, at St. Jude’s Church, South Kensington,Kenneth James Acton Davis, F.R.C.S. Eng., M.C. Cantab., to Vera,younger daughter of Mr. E. Honoratus Lloyd, K.C., and of Mrs.Lloyd.

FAIRLEY-BROWN.-On Oct. 26th, at St. Columba’s Church, Pont-street, W., James Fairley, Captain, R.A.M.C. (temporary), toMartha, daughter of the late Charles Brown, Esq., of Boquhan,Balfron, Stirlingshire.

GOODWIN-NORTON.-On Oct. 23rd, at St. Matthew’s, Norwich, by theRev. E. C. Morgan, Arthur Charles Goodwin, M.Ch, F.R C.S ,Lieutenant-Colonel, R.A.M.C. (T.), son of the late Robert DockseyGoodwin,of Ashbourne, to Gertrude Mary, daughter of the lateEdmund Palmer Norton, of Lowestoft, and of Mrs. Norton, of Diss.

HAT—BEAL.—On Oct. 27th, at Carver-street Chapel, Sheffield, by theRev. H. G. Roberts, assisted by the Rev. Boardman McClellan,Percival J. Hay, M D., to Marjory Ruth, daughter of J. ErnestBeal, J.P., and Mrs. Beal, of Leavygreave, Sheffield.

LAWSON-THIRD.-On Oct. 21st. at St. Giles’s, Edinburgh, JamesLawson. Lieutenant, R.A.M.C., to Marjorie Sinclair Stewart, eldestdaughter of J. A. Third, Esq.. D.Sc., of Spier House, Beith.

RANSOM-SHILCOCK.—On Oct 23rd. at Brampton. Captain PeterWarwick Ransom. M.B.Camb., R.A.M.C., to Margaret Lindsay,eldest daughter of the Rev. W. A. and Mrs. Shilcock, of BramptonRectory, Norwich.

-

DEATHS.LANGWORTHY.-On Oct. 19th, at Braybrooke, Tring, Edward South-

woed Langworthy, M.R.C.S., L.R C.P. Lond., aged 44 years.THORP.-On Oct. 22nd, at Dobroyd, Todmorden, Charles William

Therp. F.R.C.S. Irel., aged 73 years.

N.B.-A fee of 5s, is charged for the insertion ofnotices of Births,Marriages, and Deaths.

Notes, Short Comments, and Answersto Correspondents.

HEALTH AND HOSPITALS OF HONG-KONG.

ACCORDING to the recently issued Blue-book of the colonyfor 1914 the estimated total population at the middle ofthat year was 501,304, all but 12,075 being Chinese. Thegeneral birth-rate for the year was 9-3 per 1000 amongthe Chinese community and 16’8 per 1000 among the non-Chinese community, as compared with 11.7 and 15’8 during1913. The general death-rate was 23’8 per 1000 among theChinese community and 12-9 among the non-Chinese, ascompared with 21-7 and 10-9 in the preceding year. Thenumber of deaths from malaria (241) showed a decrease onthe previous year (290). The deaths from plague numbered2020, as against 386 in 1913 and 1768 in 1912. Small-poxdeaths totalled 91-all Chinese, with the exception of onePortuguese infant and one British shipwright. There were2252 deaths from respiratory diseases among the Chinese,as compared with 2537 in 1913. Pulmonary tuberculosisand phthisis claimed 742 Chinese victims, while otherforms of tuberculosis represent an additional 312 deaths,making a total of 1054, or 11-3 per cent., of the total deathsamong that community. Beri-beri was responsible for399 deaths, as against 339 during 1913 and 231 in 1912. Theinflux of thousands of strangers from the neighbouringprovinces is a sufficient explanation of the temporaryincrease. During the past few years circulars have beendistributed to all large employers of coolie labour callingtheir attention to the fact that beri-beri is produced by theconsumption of white rice as the staple article of dietwithout a sufficiency of other foods, and advising thatbeans should be supplied with the rice when fresh meat orfresh fish cannot be afforded.Government hospitals in the colony consist of the Civil

Hospital, to which is attached an isolated maternityhospital, the Victoria Hospital for Women and Children,and the Kennedy Town Infectious Diseases Hospital.There is an observation station capable of accommodating1500 persons in the event of an outbreak of infectiousdisease on board a ship arriving in the harbour. The CivilHospital contains 150 beds in 19 wards, and in it 2742 in-patients and 13,828 out-patients were treated, as comparedwith 2793 and 13,778 respectively in 1913. 324 cases ofmalarial fever were admitted, as against 254 in 1913 and 198in 1912, but the total cases of malaria for all Governmenthospitals and the Tung Wa Hospital (referred to below)showed an increase of 59 as compared with the year 1913.The Maternity Hospital contains 12 beds for Europeansand 4 for Asiatics: 261 confinements occurred during theyear, as against 213 in 1913. The Victoria Hospital at thePeak contains 41 beds, and during 1914 158 patients wereunder treatment there. At Kennedy Town Hospital,which contains 26 beds, 8 cases were treated, all beingsmall-pox.The lunatic asylum is under the direction of the super-

intendent of the Civil Hospital. European and Chinesepatients are separated, the European portion containing8 beds in separate wards and the Chinese portion 16 beds.During the year 187 patients of all races were treated, andthere were 15 deaths.The Tung Wa Hospital is mainly supported by the

voluntary subscriptions of Chinese, but receives an annualgrant of 8000 dollars from the Government. Only Chineseare treated in this institution. There are 323 beds, and4683 patients were accommodated during the year. Chineseor European methods of treatment are employed in accord-ance with the wishes expressed by the patients or theirfriends; about half the number are now treated byWestern methods. The hospital is under the supervisionof a visiting physician, who is a member of the medicaldepartment, whilst a Chinese house surgeon trained inWestern medicine is a member of the staff. The Tung Waalso maintains a branch hospital for small-pox cases

Chinese only) at Kennedy Town ; it contains 58 beds, andduring the year 17 cases were treated. The Alice Memorialand affiliated hospitals are managed and controlled by themissionaries resident in Hong-Kong (agents of the LondonMissionary Society), and consist of the Alice MemorialHospital (opened in 1887), the Nethersole Hospital (1893),the Alice Memorial Maternity Hospital (1904), and theHo Min Ling Hospital (1906). The number of in-patientsin 1914 was 1330, and the number of labours in theMaternity Hospital 350. The Kwong Wa Hospital forChinese in the Kowloon Peninsula was opened in theautumn of 1911. It contains at present 70 beds, and 1787patients were accommodated during the year.To avoid the complete seclusion from friends and rela-

tives which removal of Chinese plague patients to theKennedy Town Infectious Diseases Hospital entailed, four

1006

district plague hospitals have been established, and arenow maintained by the Chinese in various parts of thecolony. These hospitals are under the management of thecommittee of the Chinese public dispensaries. The latterare institutions maintained in order to provide the Chinesewith the services of doctors whose certificates will beaccepted by the registrar of deaths, and with the servicesof interpreters who can assist the inmates of houses wherecases of infectious disease have occurred. Coolies areengaged, and ambulances and dead vans provided in orderto remove cases of infectious disease to the hospital anddead bodies to the mortuary. The dispensaries receivesick infants and send them to one or other of the conventsand arrange for the burial of dead infants. Free adviceand medicine are given, and patients are attended at theirhouses. There are eight of these dispensaries in existence,including one for the boat population on a hulk inCauseway Bay. The cost of maintenance is defrayed byvoluntary subscription.The mean shade temperature for the year at the

Royal Observatory, Kowloon (108 feet above mean sea-level), was 73.4° F., 1.5° higher than in 1913, and 1.3°higher than the mean for the past ten years. Themaximum temperature was 94° on August 31st, and theminimum 47-4° on Jan. lst. The hottest month was August,with a mean temperature of 82.3°, and the coldest, Januarywith a mean temperature of 62.8°. The temperature at thehigh levels of the Peak District is from 30 to 80 less than atthe Observatory. At Victoria it is practically the same.The rainfall and humidity are considerably greater at thePeak than at Victoria, the Observatory, or Tai Po (NewTerritories). The total rainfall for the year was 100’21 in.,as compared with an average of 82-73 in. during the tenpreceding years. The wettest month was July, with26’30 in., and the driest January, when no rain fell. Thegreatest amount of rain on any one day was 5’25 in. onJune 22nd, while no rain fell’ on 219 days of the year. Theaverage daily amount of sunshine was 5-6 hours, being46 per cent. of the possible duration.

ANATOMY EXTRAORDINARY.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-I extract the following from my local paper :-

He ordered the boy’s removal to the hospital, whereit was found he had sustained serious injuries to his hips,fracturing one just below the knee, and the other hadreceived several nasty cuts and bruises.

It seems to me that the lay press as a rule does not attachany meaning to the words thigh, hip, loin, groin ; but of thefour the hip proves the greatest stumbling-block, and isconstantly used as a synonym for the thigh-bone.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,Oct. 25th, 1915. M.R.C.P. Edin.

THE ROYAL ARMY 11 MIRACLE " CORPS.

A MEETING was held at Plymouth on Oct. 20th in support ofthe Plymouth War Hospital Supply Depot, under thepresidency of Mrs. Astor. It was stated that since theopening of the depôt about four months ago 49,800 articles,exclusive of sandbags, had been made in Plymouth. Mrs.Frank Mildmay gave an interesting address, and remarkedthat though it was through inadvertence that a domesticservant gave the R.A.M.C. the title of " Royal ArmyMiracle Corps," the expression really was not very farwide of the truth.

VARIOUS "COFFEES."RECENT paragraphs m daily newspapers illustrating the

"acorn" harvest in France and Germany remind us thatthe use of acorns except for feeding pigs has been quiteforgotten in this country. There is no evidence that muchhas been lost by the forgetfulness that was worth retaining,but " coffee " made from acorns seems at one time to havebeen a popular beverage. The following note upon " AcornCoffee," published by Mr. G. Francis, F.L.S., in 1848, hasbeen sent to us by a correspondent. "This is one of thebest substitutes for coffee, and is much used in Germany.The acorns are shelled, split, dried, and roasted likecoffee. When taken out of the roaster a little piece ofbutter is put over them. This substitute for coffee may beused alone or with real coffee....... Although acorns intheir raw state are very astringent, yet they lose this whenroasted. They are also in some respects to be preferred tocoffee, having none of the drying Malthusian propertiesattributed to that berry." The late Mr. Robert Bentley,M.R.C.S., F.L.S., the well-known botanist, however, manyyears afterwards suggested that acorns might be sometimesharmful, at all events to cattle. Mr. Francis adds that thefollowing "coffees" have been found to have various merits:Currant coffee from currant seeds, "Egyptian" coffee fromchick peas, "American " coffee from maize soaked in liquorice

water, holly coffee from the berries, broom coffee fromthe seeds, rice coffee, succory coffee from succory roots," French coffee from dandelion roots, Rosetta coffee fromthe seeds of "fennagree," rye coffee, iris coffee from theseeds of the yellow water-flag, and sassafras coffee from thesassafras nut, dried, roasted, and ground. As a contrastto these coffees Miss Elizabeth Acton, in one of her popularbooks half a century ago, gave a gorgeous recipe upon whichshe recommended that coffee for soldiers should be made :I I Caf a la Militaire : Make some coffee as strong and asclear as possible. Sweeten it in the cup with white sugaralmost to syrup, then pour brandy on the top gently over aspoon and set fire to it with a lighted paper and when thespirit is in part consumed blow out the flame and drinkquickly quite hot." "The Chemistry of a Cup of Coffee" was published in THE LANCET of Nov. 29th, 1913, p. 1563,and may interest those who wish to compare the substitutewith the natural product.

Précis d’Oplatalmologie, by Dr. Fglix Terrien.-A Belgianmedical man holding an appointment in this countrywould be sincerely obliged if anyone would present himwith a copy of this book. It was published by Messrs.Bailliere et Fils last year and sold in this country by Messrs.Dulau and Co., 37, Soho-square, London, price lls. 6d.

COMMUNICATIONS not noticed in our present issue willreceive attention in our next.

BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED.

CHAPMAN AND HALL, London. WILEY, JOHN, New York.Mortality Lawsand Statistics. By Robert Henderson (MathematicalMonographs, No. 15). Price 5s. 6d. net.

A Manual for Health Officers. By J. Scott MaeNutt, A.B., S.B., with.a Foreward by William T. Sedgwick, Professor of Biology and PublicHealth in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Price 12s. 6d.net.

CHURCHILL, J. AND A., London.A Text-book of Surgery. By R. Warren, M,D. Oxon., M.Ch.,

F.R.C.S., Radcliffe Travelling Fellow ; Assistant Surgeon, LondonHospital; Examiner in Surgery, University of Oxford and to theApothecaries’ Hall, London. Two vols. Price25s.net.

FROWDE, HENRY, AND HODDER AND STOUGHTON, London.Injuries of the Eyes, Nose, Throat, and Ears. By Andrew MaitlandRamsay, Major R.A.M.C.(T.F.); J. Dundas Grant, late MajorR.A.M.C. (Post Office Rifle Volunteers); H. Lawson Whale,Captain R.A.M.C.(T.F.) ; Charles Ernest West, R.A.M.C.(T.F.)(Oxford War Primers). Price 2s. 6d. net.

HEINEMANN, WILLIAM, London.The Individual Delinquent: a Text-book of Diagnosis and Prognosis

for all concerned in Understanding Offenders. By William Healy,A.B., M,D . Director of the Psychopathic Institute, Juvenile Court,Chicago. Price 21s. net.

LAURIE, T. WERNER, LIMITED, London.Japan (Madame Chrysanthème). By Pierre Loti. Translated fromthe French by Laura Ensor. Price 7s. 6d. net.

My Childhood. By Maxim Gorki. Translated by Mrs. Gertrude M.Foakes. Price l0s. 6d. net.

M’CAW, STEVENSON, AND ORR, LIMITED, Belfast.The Christianity of Health: The Love of Christ versus the Sword of

Islam. By Conway Scott. Price 2s.

METHUEN AND Co., London.Mind Cures. By Geoffrey Rhodes. Price 5s. net.

RIVERDALE PRESS, Brookline, Mass.Transactions of the American Urological Association, 1914.

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS, Warwick-square, E.C.University of London Calendar 1915-1916. Price 6s. net.Regulations for External Students 1915 (University of London). Price

Is. 6d. net.Regulations and Courses for Internal Students, 1915-16 (University ofLondon).

WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, London.Antiquity of Man. By Arthur Keith. M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., Hunterian

Professor R.C.S. Price 10s. 6d net.

The following magazmes, journals, &c., have been received :-Canadian Journal of Medicine and Surgery, Annaes Paulistas deMedicina e Cirurgia. Pediatrics, Clinical Medicine, Archives ofPediatrics, Eugenics Record Office Bulletin (The Feebly InhibitedViolent Temper and its Inheritance), Pharmaceutical Journal,Modern Hospital, Annales de l’Institut Pasteur, Public Health,

I Symons’s Meteorological Magazine, Saint Paul Medical Journal,British Journal of Dental Science, British Dental Journal, ClevelandMedical Journal, Canadian Practitioner and Review, Midland MedicalJournal, British Journal of Children’s Diseases, Review of Neurology,and Psychiatry, Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service, RevistaMedica del Uruguay, Archives of Internal Medicine, Bulletin of theJohns Hopkins Hospital, La Clinique Ophtalmologique, TropicalDiseases Bulletin, American Medicine, Dominion Medical Monthly.Hospital Assistant, Indian Medical Gazette, West London MedicalJournal. Albany Medical Annals, American Journal of Obstetrics,British Journal of Surgery, American Journal of Surgery.