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Obituary.JOHN ERNEST HODDER-WILLIAMS, C.V.O.,

CHAIRMAN OF THE LAXCET.

WE deeply regret to announce the death, which1ècurred on Friday last, April Sth, of Sir Ernest;Hodder-Williams, head of the publishing firrn of Hodder and Stoughton, and for rather more than sixyears Chairman of Messrs. Wakley and Sons, the

proprietors of THE LANCET.John Ernest Hodder-Williams was the eldest son

of John Williams of Bromley by Mary Hodder. whowas the daughter of

-

Matthew Hodder.:he famous pub-iisherwho, in associ-ation with ThomasW i l b e r f o r c eStoughton, devel-,tped the activities,f the House laterinown by theirpint names.Ernest William sas educated at

’he City of London:’chool and Uni-

versity College,London, and furtherpursued his studiesin Paris and Berlin.He entered the firmof H o o d e r andstoughton whentittle more than aboy, and con-

-,equently workedfor more than fif-teen years underhis grandfather,who did not dieuntil 1911, after 60unbroken years as

a publisher. OnMatthew Hodder’sdeath, T. W.Stoughton, who hadbeen connected withthe firm for over 40years, with the lateSir William Robert-"on N i c o l l, as

literary adviser,became the seniorpartner ; and uponhis death in 1917Ernest Hodder-Williams-thefamily having addedthe grandfather’sname to their own-became the headof the firm. TheDrocress of the firm

rluring the association with it of Ernest jrodder-Williams and his brothers has been remarkable.Expansion in all directions of publishing activity wasassociated also with the success of the well-knownnewspapers the Brit,ish Weekly and the Bookman, bothof which are the property of the tirm. The early bentI)f the House towards religious publication was neverlost, but aided by far-reaching views, and withassiduous conduct of affairs, the list of publications rapidly became of an extraordinarily comprehensivenature, and now their imprint will be found uponstandard works under every heading in any catalogue.In 1920 the controlling powers of the Company

owning THE LANCET were purchased by Messrs.Bodder and Stoughton. and Sir Ernest Hodder-Williams became Chairman of the Board, and we may

quote, as descriptive of his relations with THE LANCET,his own words spoken at the centenary dinner of thepaper.

" I am very proud," he said. " to stand to-night

in this place of a great tradition. Perhaps, under thecircumstances, you will allow one personal remini-scence. In the days of my early manhood-and myfather, whom I am delighted to see here this evening,will bear me out when I sav that at that time onereached early manhood very early—I had the ambitionto enter the medical profession, but the Fates, nodoubt in kindness to mv future patients, decidedentirely otherwise. They did not. however, altogetherforget, and after many years they presented tome a grand old surgical instrument—THE LANCET-

ERNEST HODDER-WILLIAMS.

fashioned out of amaterial with whichI had become some-what acquainted.And when I use

the personal pro-noun may I say atonce that I refer notonly to myself butto all my splendidassociates. As pro-prietors of f THELANCET, mybrothers and Imade a vow-we

have tried to

keep it-that wewould, as far as inus lay, do nothingwhich might leavethe slightest stainof dishonour on amost highlyhonoured name. Inthese latter yearslaymen, businessmen and businesswomen have workedincreasingly side byside with profes-sional men and pro-fessional women inmany fields of ser-

vice of peace andof war; in none, Ithink, with greaterhonour to them-selves and to theircause than in thefield of healing. Itis because of thisthat we businessmen who control thedestiny o f THELANCET feel deeply our respon-sibilities, our

privilege and our

opportunity. If wecan be of anyservice in scatteringfar and wide the

fine grain garnered from medical knowledge and experi-ence we shall have share in the joy of the reaping."

In addition to his publishing work and his interestin this paper, Sir Ernest Hoodder-Williams was

intimately and importantly connected with the affairsof the City of 1-ondon. He was for a long period amember of the Corporation, and during the past eightyears had been Chairman of the County PurposesCommittee. Further he had a deep and hereditaryconcern in the prosperity of the Young Men’s ChristianAssociation. His father was a nephew and intimatefriend of Sir George Williams, the founder of theY.M.C.A., whose right-hand companion in the firstdevelopments of the movement had been the veteranMatthew Hodder. In 1906 he wrote the life of SirGeorge Williams, in which the initiation, early struggles

848

and great success of the Association were eloquentlydetailed. He was also the author, with Mr. E. C.Viv;an, of " The Way of the Red Cross " to whichQueen Alexandra contributed a preface, and in whichhe was able to write with authority, for during thewar he superintended for the Government theRed Cross propaganda. In all these multifariousactivities, and in the assistance of many philanthropicagencies, such as the Royal Female Orphanage atBeddington, he showed the same strenuous enthusiasmand close attention to detail, and there is no doubtthat his death, at the early age of 50, was largely dueto the perpetual strain to which he subjected a delicateorganisation. He had a serious breakdown over

three months ago, from which he never rallied, anddied of heart failure.

Sir Ernest Hodder-Williams was knighted in 1919in respect of his war services, and three years laterwas created C.V.O., being also decorated by theItalian and Belgian Governments. He was twicemarried, first to the daughter of Mr. J. G. Oddy, whodied in 1918, and secondly to Lilian, the daughter ofMr. J. R. Pakeman who survives him. The funeralservice was held on Tuesday, April 12th, at the West-minster Chapel, where the Rev. Dr. J. A. Hutton spoketo a crowded audience, showing that the mystery ofdeath at the prime of a full and useful life could onlybe made clear by Christian Faith and the realisationof Christian ideals. A memorial service was aloheld the same day at Christ Church, Grey Friars, inthe City. The funeral took place privately.

Public Health Services.REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH.

Reading.READING is the first county borough to send us a

report for 1926, and the following are some of thestatistics :-

Mid-year population-93,090 ; Birth-rate 17.6 ; Death-rates per 1000 of the’ population: All causes 12-2 ; Tubercle1-12 ; ; Cancer 1-54 ; Respiratory diseases with ]Influenza1-9 ; Heart disease 1-5. Death-rates per 1000 births : Neo-natal, 24; Infants 50 ; Mothers from childbirth 3’0.

Dr. H. J. Milligan explains that the apparentdecrease in population since 1925 is due to the factthat the Registrar-General has, in making his esti-mates, taken into account for the first time theelectoral rolls throughout the country. The inferencefrom these is that Reading loses population bymigration. The death-rate from all causes, whenstandardised for sex and age constitution of thepopulation becomes 10-6. The infant mortality isthe lowest recorded, and it becomes more and morea neonatal matter. Thus of 83 infant deaths, 24occurred in the first week and 40 in the first 4 weeks.The infant deaths from bronchitis and pneumoniaare only about half, and from gastro-intestinal diseasesless than one quarter of what they were in the years1905-8. There is also the satisfaction that thesurvivors reach school in better physical condition,and that the school report shows that many of theentrants have already undergone remedial treatment-e.g., for tonsils and adenoids.The post-war incidence of tuberculosis shows no

tendency to decrease ; the notifications of pulmonarytuberculosis in 1926 were the highest since 1918, andthe deaths were only exceeded by one in the worstyear, 1923. There is also no tendency for non-

pulmonary forms to decline. Two new pavilionshave been added to the Park Hospital, and it is hopedto provide there accommodation for advanced femaleconsumptives, as has already been done for men.Dr. Milligan mentions the very high percentage oftuberculous milks as a " disquieting feature." Outof 42 samples of milk, taken at random, 8 gave apositive result, equivalent to 17 per cent. Last year

the percentage was 14. In two of the cases the

offending animal was not tracked out, probably owingto sales from the milk herd. In any case, as Dr.

Milligan points out, this following-up after samplingis a long and tedious method of eliminating infectedanimals and a more efficient plan would be constantveterinary supervision and testing of herds. The

efforts of the National Institute for Research in

Dairying keep up interest in this matter in the Readingdistrict, and one licence for the production and saleof " Certified" milk and eleven for the sale of

" GradeA (tuberculin-tested) " milk were issued in the

Borough during the year. There were no licencesissued for Grade " A " or

" pasteurised "

milk.although a considerable proportion of the milk goesthrough some form of pasteurisation. There weretwo prosecutions of milk vendors for bottling milkin the street.The improvements to the Maternity llome are

nearing completion, and the new maternity depart-ment for complicated cases of labour at the RoyalBerkshire Hospital, with one 5-bed ward and twosingle-bed wards, was opened during the year. Mid-wives sent for medical aid in 20 per ceut. of the caseswhich they attended. The new regulation issued hvthe Ministry, requiring the notification of a rise oftemperature of 100-4 F. for 24 hours or recurringwithin 24 hours, in parturient women came into forcein October. The Local Authority is also required toprovide specialist services, if needed. Four of thenine cases of puerperal fever ended fatally ; three ofthem were in poor health before the onset of labour.The nine cases of pyrexia notified under the newregulations all made good recoveries : only threewere seriously ill, two suffering from pelvic cellulitisand one from breast abscess. Small-pox has not,occurred in Reading for 20 years, but the hospitatprovision at the Whitley camp is quite unsuitable andinadequate, and only 20 per cent. of the infants burnare now successfully vaccinated. The attendancesat the infant welfare centres continue to increase.Suitable foods are sold at cost price, but that this isnot the primary attraction for attendance, saysDr. Milligan, is shown by the fact that two-thirdsof the infants brought to the centres are breast-fed.The number of new houses erected was 522, the

highest since 1905. Of the total 173 were municipal231 received a subsidy, and 113 were the result ofunaided private enterprise. Nevertheless the shortageof working-class houses remains acute and, in theabsence of alternative accommodation, slums and

overcrowding cannot be tackled. Eight small housesin ruinous condition, which should have disappearedlong ago, were demolished during the year.The activated sludge method of sewage disposal

has now been in operation for a year, "but theresults," Dr. Milligan writes, " leave something to bedesired..... By arrangement with the Companyalterations are now being carried out in the design ofthe plant which it is hoped will effect the desiredimprovement in the character of the effluent."

In his school Report Dr. Milligan says " when theresults are compared over a period of years it willbe found that there is a small but definite improve-ment in the physical condition of the childrenexamined." The increases in height and weightare shown in tables, and a decrease is noted in theincidence of impetigo, ringworm, unclean heads andconditions accompanying neglect and malnutrition.Thirteen out of 14 cases of otorrhcea selected duringthe year for ionisation

" can at present be regarded

as cured." The single dentist, Miss llackinnon, isunable to overtake the whole of the work included inthe model scheme of the Board of Education.The number of cases of known organic cardiac

disease in the elementary school is 57 (boys 21, girls36), classified as follows : Associated with chorea, 6 ;with acute and subacute rheumatism. 27 ; with

pneumonia, 2 ; with severe measles and whooping-cough, 2 ; with severe scarlet fever, 3 ; with no

history of severe illness, 17. There were also found27 rheumatic conditions with no apparent heart