1053PHARMACOLOGICAL NOTES.

constituted by the decree of Dec. llth, 1900, a Commission Iof Industrial Hygiene, and the first work of this committee

of experts was to investigate the dangers resulting from the Irise of lead, especially in the manufacture of paint. Further

. legislation was then promised on the subject and to obtain thenecessary information a circular was sent to all the prefectsduring the month of March, 1901. The circular inquired

in Iwhat communes, public establishments, and administrative eoffices the use of lead paint had been forbidden. As a

result of this investigation it appears that in 384 com-munes lead paint was no longer employed. Thereupon a-decree was issued on March 25th, 1901, ordering that hence-forth no lead paint should be used on any premises belongingto the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Posts andTelegraphs. This example was soon followed by otherMinisters. In August the Minister of Marine decided thatno lead paint should be used for any of the ships belongingto the French Navy. During the preceding month of Junethe Minister of Public Works adopted a similar rule for allthat concerned his department. The Minister of War and

(in November) the Minister of Public Instruction also issueddecrees forbidding the use of lead paint in all places undertheir control. This is preaching by example and it has

always been held that Governments should be model em-ployers. At the same time the Government issued specialinstructions to all the inspectors of factories and unwhole-some industries to exercise a particularly strict surveillanceover the lead industries. As a consequence statistics

already show that there has been a considerable decreasein the number of cases due to saturnine intoxication. In

the report of Professor T. E. Thorpe and Professor T. Oliveron the employment of compounds of lead in the manufactureof pottery, presented to the Government in a blue-book datedFeb. 21st, 1899, it was pointed out (vide THE LANCET,April 1st, 1899, p. 919) that much of the ware supplied tothe order of the various Government departments, such as thePost Office, the Office of Works, the Admiralty, the WarOffice, and the India Office, could be dipped in leadless glazewithout detriment to its character and with no increase to iits cost. We believe that the Government acted as far aswas possible in accordance with this suggestion and we trustthat it will maintain its energy in this very practical way.

, MR. HARRY MAULE CROOKSHANK, F. R. C. S. Edin., BritishController of the Daira Sanieh Administration, has receivedHis Majesty’s Royal licence to accept and to wear the Order tof the Medjidieh, Grand Cordon, which has been conferred <

upon him by His Highness the Khedive of Egypt, authorised c

by His Imperial Majesty the Sultan of Turkey, in recognition <of valuable services rendered to His Highness. r

<

HE annual dinner of the Royal Army Medical Corps willtake place on Monday, June 16th, at the Whitehall Rooms of *

the Hotel Metropole, London, at 7.45 P.M. The honorarysecretary of the dinner is Lieutenant-Colonel E. M. Wilson, cR.A.M.C., Junior Army and Navy Club, St. James’s-street, (

London, S.W. -

c

WE regret to announce the death of Professor Hans ‘

Buchner who died at Munich on April 5th in the fifty-second g

year of his age. Professor Buchner, who was president of ]:the Hygienic Institute at Munich, was an able bacteriologist s

and rendered valuable services in the field of preventive f

medicine. - i i

THE consideration of the Midwives Bill as amended by theGrand Committee has been put down for Wednesday,June 4th, when there is considerable possibility of its being Itaken. _

Pharmacological Notes.PREVENTION OF PITTING IN SJBIALL-POX BY THE USE OF

FORMALIN-GELATIN OR GLUTOL.

GLUTOL is a whitish powder prepared by exposing sheetsof gelatin to the vapour of formalin. This substance is the

subject of an article by Mr. John Moir 1 wherein its thera-peutic uses are described. In practice, by the solventaction of the living tissue to which this preparation is

applied, the gelatin is dissolved and thus liberates the

antiseptic factor, the formalin. The value of formalinas an antiseptic in cases of surgical tuberculosis has beenrecognised during recent years to such an extent that itis largely replacing iodoform-glycerin with its objectionableodour. The solvent action of glutol is facilitated by theaddition of lard or of soft paraffin. The following conditionsare mentioned in which its use is beneficial : stomatitis (bymeans of a syringe) ; suppurative conditions of the mouth,gums, and tongue ; carcinoma ; epithelioma ; tuberculosis ;severe burns ; and severe chronic ulcers. But it is of specialinterest to note the recommendation that glutol should beemployed, mixed with soft paraffin in the proportion of 1 to 4or 1 to 8, as a preventive of severe pitting and deep scarsfrom small-pox; this proportion has been found usefulin tuberculosis, in carcinomatous and epitheliomatous cases,as well as in severe burns. The addition of a blandemollient vehicle such as soft paraffin is in all cases prefer-able. With a protective covering of gauze glutol is aseptic.It is found that, generally speaking, the use of glutolprevents the development of exuberant granulations andscars ; it is useful in preventing the irritation, scratching,excessive swelling, and inflammation of the eyelids and ofthe mouth, especially as it is entirely harmless as an appli-cation in the mouth, even when swallowed in considerablequantity. Dr. Gustave Daniel of the City Hospital, Bielefeld,found in 1899 that glutol caused improvement in cases of manyepithelial diseases, warts, cancroid growths, and in sycosisvulgaris ; his observations were confirmed by Dr. Kranefuss,physician-in-chief at that hospital. They found the treat-ment absolutely trustworthy, although it took more timethan most of the remedies ; but it was easy to handle, didnot cause any special pain, and left no scar. The value of

glutol as a preparation for the treatment of wounds hasbeen dealt with by Dr. Heinrich Mohr,2 by Dr. HeinrichLobb of Mannheim, and by Dr. Robert Maguire.’ ‘

MEDICINAL TREATMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS.Dr. Hugo Winternitz, physician at the Royal Medical

University Hospital in Halle on Saale, in an article on thetreatment of tuberculosis in hospitals 5 states that hygienic-dietetic therapeutics alone are not sufficient for the treat-ment of pulmonary diseases. With regard to medicinaltreatment even Gerhard, in spite of his former expressionthat "medicinal treatment of tuberculosis has been a

complete failure," is now in favour of special medicinaltherapeutics as far as the employment of drugs isconcerned. Of these creasote alone has held its own.The use of this drug. however, is sometimes attended bydecrease of appetite, disturbed digestion, and diarrhoea. As9, result various substitutes for creasote have been introduced

-notably, guaiacol and thiocol and their preparations.Guaiacol, the principal constituent of beechwood creasote,nly reduced these difficulties without removing them.Various combinations of guaiacol and of creasote withcarbonic acid were then introduced-viz., creasotumJarbonicum (creasotal), guaiacolum carbonicum (duotal),creasotum valerianicum (eosote), the ester of valerianicicid and guaiacol (geosote), and, finally, thiocol, a

’ulphuric combination of guaiacol (ortho-guaiacol-sulpbate)f potassium). Thiocol contains 52 per cent. of guaiacolmd is a white micro-crystalline powder, unalterable

3y exposure to air, of a slightly bitter but not dis-

agreeable taste, and perfectly inodorous ; it is soluble in’our parts of cold water and has no corrosive effect evenn concentrated solutions, a circumstance which may account’or the fact that it does not irritate the digestive organs.

1 The Therapist, Feb. 15th. 1902. p. 25.2 The Therapist, July 15th and August 15th. 1901, pp. 145 and 169.

3 Ibid., August, 1901, p. 178.4 Ibid., p, 179.

5 Ibid., Feb. 15th, 1902, translated from the Deutsche Aertze Zeitung,Jan. 1st, 1902.

1054 THE EW BILL ON LAUNDRIES.

Dr. Winternitz gives details of eight out of 16 cases inwhich thiocol has been used, enabling an opinion to beformed as to the value of this drug. He concludes thatthiocol has advantages over creasote or guaiacol, beingpalatable and free from disagreeable secondary effects.With the exception of complicated cases the appetiteimproved, the weight of the body increased, nocturnalsweats were reduced, and catarrhal symptoms, when present,decreased. In advanced cases, however, the relief of the

cough is only gained by the use of morphine (or its sub-

stitutes) the itltimuni, refitgiitni. Codeine and dionine havea sedative effect and a favourable influence on expectoration ;they reduce the irritability of the air-passages without limit-ing the respiratory functions, as experimentally shown byDr. Winternitz. 6 Dionine is prescribed in doses of from 0’03gramme, preferably in solution ; thus, dionine 0’6 gramme,water 100’0 grammes ; one teaspoonful in the evening.Thiocol is conveniently prescribed in the form of a syrup, thus :Thiocol, 10 grammes ; water, 40 grammes ; fluid extract of orange, five grammes ; and simple syrup, 95 grammes. Dose, Ifrom three to four teaspoonfuls daily, corresponding to about Ifrom one gramme to one and a half grammes of thiocol perdiem. (In England the tincture of orange might be pre-scribed in place of the fluid extract recommended by Dr.Winternitz.) Thiocol may also be given in powders or in

, tablets in doses of from 0’5 to 1’0 gramme three times a day.

THE NEW BILL ON LAUNDRIES.

(FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPOXDEXT.)

THE Earl of Lytton has revived the hopes of the much-neglected laundry-workers by obtaining the second readingof his Factory and Workshop Act (1901) Amendment Bill.If legislation for the protection of labour is justifiable it is

doubly justifiable in regard to laundry-workers. In this case

not only are the workers themselves concerned but it is a

matter which intimately affects the entire public. Thearticles washed are those which are worn nearest to theskin. and if laundries are not well managed they becomean active means of spreading disease. Therefore, inspec-tion is more necessary in regard to this business than in

regard to many other industries. Yet it is preciselythe laundries that were left out of the Factory and Work-shop Act which was passed last year. This omission, itwill be remembered, was due to the opposition of the IrishMembers. They objected to the inspection of laundriesestablished by convents and other religious institutions. Itwas feared that if this matter was fought out either thesession would have to be prolonged or the Bill would have tobe abandoned. The Government therefore sacrificed thelaundries so as to save the rest of the Bill. Now, however, the question of the laundries is brought forward on its own ’,merits independently of all other questions, and the Billintroduced by Lord Lytton is a considerable improvement onthe laundry clauses that were withdrawn from the Bill of1901. Mr. Ritchie’s Bill of 1901 did not include smalllaundries and it only dealt with the larger laundrieswhere steam-power machinery is employed. The firstclause of Lord Lytton’s Bill includes the small laun-dries and assimilates them to workshops while the

larger laundries are qualified as factories. From the

point of view of the public the small laundries are moredangerous than the large. They are generally in dwelling-houses where cases of small-pox, scarlet fever, &c., may beconcealed and may contaminate the linen after it has beenwashed. From the workers’ point of view the employmentof children and the working of excessive hours can be morereadily concealed in a private dwelling than in a separatebuilding which by reason of its size and the number of

persons employed is more like a factory. The second clauseof Lord Lytton’s Bill applies the same limits to the hours oflabour for children and women as exist in other trades, butthe clause allows 60 days’ overtime in the year, and thisis more than is granted for the packing of perishablearticles. Unless it be a matter of tactics just to get the Billthrough there is no sufficient reason for such exceptionalleniency. With the employment of machinery especially itis possible to calculate with mathematical precision exactly

6 Therapeutische Monatshefte, September, 1899.

the amount of washing that can be done, so there is no needto promise what some exceptional circumstance may renderit difficult to fulfil. It is not like the packing of fruit orthe curing of fish which depends upon varying factors, such.as the weather and the uncertainties of fishing.The third clause deals with the phase of the question that

gives rise to the greatest opposition. A portion-we arepleased to recognise that it is not the whole but only aportion-of the Roman Catholic community is opposed to theinspection of the laundries connected with religious institu-tions. A great deal of this opposition is sentimental andpolitical and is due to the fear that Catholic and Irish institu-tions will be overrun by Protestant and Saxon inspectors andthat men will obtain a right of entry into convents inhabitedsolely by women. Though such objections appeal stronglyto passion and prejudice they are in themselves very feeble.There is no desire to inspect convents but only these portionsof the buildings which have been converted into laundries.Nor is it necessary that the inspector should be a man anda Protestant ; there is nothing in the Bill to prevent the

I appointment of a woman and a Roman Catholic. The fact isthat under the broad mantle of religion unfair competition,has been organised against commercial enterprise. These so-called charities have proved to be very remunerative concerns.According to the registrar of charities 71 homes have earnedin the course of a year &pound;30,670. Five or six of them makemore than .f:l000 annually out of their laundry work. The

Penitentiary Home of Edinburgh realises &pound;5000 a year andthe work of 15 crippled and feeble inmates of St. Mary’s.Home at Gloucester yields no less than .f:580. And this isa growing business, for Lord Lytton explained that the homeat Clewer which competes with private enterprise for the

washing for Eton College made .f:1400 in 1899 and .f:1723 in1901. But in so far as such institutions are connected withthe Church of England the Bishop of Winchester and the.Bishop of Rochester expressed in the House of Lords theirwillingness to see them brought under the Factory andWorkshop Regulations. Surely the restraints which theclaims of humanity and the laws of hygiene have imposedon commercial enterprise should be more than welcome inreligious houses. Those who act in the name of religion,more than any other section of the community, should scornthe protection of secrecy and should court the fullest publicityso as to vindicate the righteousness of their motives.The necessity of energetic and effective control over laun-

dries is clearly shown by the various reports of His Majesty’s-inspectors of factories and workshops. In many laundrieswork is continued from 8 in the morning till 11 at night,for four days. Then there is 10 hours’ work on the fifth dayand none on the sixth and seventh. That this can be avoidedis proved by the example of Lancashire and Yorkshire wherethe women will not, and do not, work longer in the laundriesthan they do in the textile factories. The crowding of thework of the week into a few days is the cause of many acci-dents or of ill-health. The whole of the work is done stand-

ing. The same grievance exists in other trades but not tothe same extent. The difference is due to the excessive hoursworked during some days of the week and perhaps to therelaxing effect of the very damp and overheated atmosphere.Then in regard to accidents H.M.’s Inspector’s Report for1900, p. 383, says : " Accustomed to the conditions of life andwork among ordinary factory workers, nothing is so strikingto the inspector as the spectacle of numbers of young girlsfrom 14 years of age and upwards all legally employed at10 or 11 o’clock at night in the ordinary factory labour oftending machinery. Passing at night from one factory toanother and finding the young calender feeders employedin their mechanical task of ’feeding’ the large steam-heated power-driven ironing-rollers with the damp linento be ironed (a cloud of steam rising as each ’ piece’is passing through) it is impossible not to speculateon the effect of the work and the hours of these younggirls. One can only feel surprised that accidents are

not more numerous when one realises that the slightest care-lessness or inattention may result in the fingers or hand beingdrawn between the hot cylinders and when one considershow easily such inattention may arise in the case of the over-tired young workers. In few, if any other industry, are thedaily working hours so long. Working and standing in thesteamy hot atmosphere of a calender-room from 8 A. M. till9 or 10 P. M. all the week, with the exception of one day, isan arduous strain on the young constitution."

Clearly it is more important to limit the hours of workdone in the course of a day than the total amount done