1098 SCOTLAND.

period named. In a report on the whole question, recentlyissued by the medical officer of health, Dr. E. Walford, it ispointed out that the accommodaiion available for the dis-pensary has become entirely inadequate, more especially asthe rooms are also used for the examination of school childrenand for infant consultations. In Dr. Walford’s annual reportfor 1910 on the health of Cardiff, Dr. Thomas expressed theopinion that even by the end of that year the work hadbecome so exacting as to require the whole-time services of amedical officer, for in order to obtain the best results heshould visit the homes of the patients who attended at thedispensary.

A Municipal Ladging-house for Women in Cardiff.The question of providing a municipal lodging-house for

women in Cardiff has been actively engaging the attentionduring many months past of a committee of ladies, withwhom Dr. Erie Evans has been prominently associated. Theneed for such an institution has been demonstrated by thefact that there is in the borough only one registered lodging-house for women, and that contains accommodation for 49.The Salvation Army provides accommodation for 50 more,and in unregistered houses about 100 can be received. As aresult of representations which were made by this committeethe health committee of the corporation held an inquiry forthe purpose of ascertaining whether there was any necessityfor such a lodging house, and subsequently recommendedthat the principle of a municipal lodging house " for womenonly " should be adopted. After various buildings had beeninspected by the medical cfficer of health and the citysurveyor it was decided to rent two centrally situated housesformerly in the occupation of the Salvation Army. Accom-modation is proposed for 20 beds. The charge per night isto be 5d , and it is estimated that the undertaking will be acharge upon the rates.

Hozcaing Conditions in Gelligaer.At a recent meeting of the district council very disquieting

statements were made with respect to the overcrowding andinsanitary state of a large number of houses in the Gelligaerurban district, which adjoins Merthyr Tydfil, and where therewas a population at the last Census of 35,000 persons, anincrease of over 18,000 since 1901. In one locality therewas stated to be an average of eight persons to a house.At a subsequent meeting of the housing committee ofthe council the medical officer of health, Dr. W. W. Jones,reported the result of his examination of 45 houses in thedistrict of Pontlottyn. Of these he considered that atleast 14 were uninhabitable and only three were in a

reasonably good sanitary condition, the remainder beingcapable of repair. Some of the dwellings were nearly 100years old, and as the leases would soon fall in it was unlikelythat the present owners would spend much on their repair.Dr. Jones advised the council to take immediate steps toerect 50 houses, and expressed the opinion that lateranother 50 would be necessary. The council decided to seekfor suitable sites with a view of carrying out the recommenda-tion of the medical offi0er of health.Oct.10th.

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SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Veterinary Degrees in the University of Edinburgh.A SCHEME of coordination has been arranged between the

University of Edinburgh and the R ;yal (Dick) VeterinaryCollege, whereby the degrees of B.Sc. and D.Sc. in veterinarymedicine will be awarded. The scheme, which awaits theapproval of the Privy Council, provides for one year ofstudy to be spent at the University and four academic yearsat the Veterinary College.

Tile Dr. Jessie Macgregor Lecture.In accordance with the conditions laid down by the

trustees of the Dr. Jessie Macgregor Fund, Dr. Agnes EllenPorter, to whom the prize was awarded this year, delivered alecture, entitled "A Short Survey of Immnnity in Tuber-culosis," in the Anatomical Department of the University ofEdinburgh on Sapt. 29t,h. The treasurer of the RoyalCollege of Physicians of Edinburgh, Dr. Norman Walker, whointroduced Miss Porter, referred to the high standard of the

work submitted by the candidates for the prize. The nextaward will be made in 1914.

Opening of the, New Pathological Institute at GlasgowFoyal Infirmary.

An important addition to the equipment of the RoyalInfirmary, Glasgow, has just been completed, and was-formally inaugurated last week by Sir William Osler. Thisis the new Pathological Institute, which is handsomely housedin a new building and is part of the great reconstructionscheme of the Royal Infirmary itself. Sir William Osler saidhe wondered if they appreciated in Glasgow the delightfulmemories that crowded the mind of a man familiar with thestory of medicine in Great Britain when the name

of their Royal Infirmary was mentioned-memories ofmen who by their life and doctrine had set forth notalone the very best the profession had had to offer,but the very best that man had ever offered to his-fellow men. He commended them for adopting thename "institute." He was sure that the name indicatedthat they felt the infirmary would bear its share withthe University in advancing scientific medicine. Foran institute was something more than a deadhouse, andvery much more than an ordinary pathological laboratory,. pit was the cerebrum of the infirmary, the place where thethinking was done, where ideas were nurtured, where mendreamed dreams, and thoughts were materialised into re-

searches upon the one great central problem that confrontedthe profession in each generation-the nature of disease.Observation, plus thinking, had given them the vast stores ofknowledge they now possessed of the structure of the bodiesof living creatures in health and disease. There had beentwo inherent difficulties-to get men to see straight and to getmen to think clearly ; but in spite of the frailty of the instru-ment the method had been one of the most powerful ever placedin the hands of man. The institute which they opened thatday was a manifestation of the new spirit. In this greatfield of experimentation and research he cited names ofinterest in Glasgow, such as Professor Andrew BuchananandLord Lister. He then went on to refer to the relations of theinfirmary with the University. With two modern hospitalsthe problem of the relation of their pathological departmentsto the pathological department of the University had beensettled in the only way. In the interest of both institutionsthe union had been made organic, and the professors of thesubject in the University had the same relation to the patho-logical laboratories of the hospitals as the professors of surgeryhad to their wards in the infirmaries. In addition he said theinstitute existed for the benefit of the public. There wasnot a patient in the wards who would not be helped bythe work done in it. From laboratories had come not alonethe war-cries of modern medicine, but the chief weaponsagainst the acute infections. In connexion with the realisa-tion of the preventability of infectious diseases, he statedthat the sanitary story of the city of Glasgow in the last halfcentury was one of which they might be justly proud. Towipe out typhus, to have made typhoid a last-ditcher, tohave cut in half the mortality from tuberculosis, were amongthe peace victories in which the citizens of Glasgow hadshared. In conclusion, Sir William Osler stated that in the fieldof medicine four great problems awaited solution. In thefirst place, literally thousands of workers were strugglingto unravel the mystery of cancer. Secondly, the exanthems-were still with them, still killing thousands, and theworld awaited the researches which would reveal thecause of measles, of scarlet fever, and of small-poxThirdly, though perversions of metabolism were every dayyielding up their fascinating secrets, the sure and certainstudies that alone could give control of such common diseases.as diabetes, gout, and arthritis were lacking. Fourthly,they were entering a new chapter in the researches uponthe internal secretions and the functions of thesemysterious glands, so insignificant anatomically, butso potent in their influence upon growth and nutrition.In addition, he said, there were scores of minor problemsto be solved by this generation, and there was muchknowledge to be sifted before it could be used to thebest advantage. Considering the enormous quantity of sapthey had collected, they might feel disappointed at the com-paratively small bulk of sugar left after complete boiling;but sweeter or better sugar had never been tasted than thatof their making, and among all samples in the market robrand ranked higher than that from the old Gla"gow Royal

1099SCOTLAND.—IRELAND.

Infirmary. It was for them in the new infirmary, and inthat splendid institute, to see that the quality was main-tained.

Scottish Universities and the Inetecsive 1’ee.

A meeting of the University Court of St. Andrews washeld on Sept. 30th. It was then reported that theresolution of the last meeting of the court, adopting therecommendations of a conference of the four Scottish uni-versities with reference to the proposed institution ofinclusive fees in the faculties of arts and science, had beenintimated to the Lords Commissioners of H. M. Treasury andto the other Scottish universities, with an announcementthat the University of St. Andrews was prepared, if theother Scottish universities were also willing, to introduceinclusive fees in the session 1911-12. The University Courts ofGlasgow and Edinburgh had not yet discussed the proposalsof the conference, but the University Court of Aberdeen hadstated that they were prepared to introduce the inclusive feesin 1912-13. A letter was read from the Lords Commissionersof H.M. Treasury, in which it was stated that it was not tobe assumed that the additional grants to the universitieswould be continued next year unless the arrangement as

regarded the inclusive fees was extended before the beginningof the academic year 1912-13 to all the faculties except thatof divinity ; and in any case the question of increasing thegrants to the full sum contemplated by the Treasury couldnot be considered until the inclusive fees had been institutedin the faculties of law, medicine, and applied science. TheUniversity Court agreed to invite the other Scottishuniversities to appoint representatives, and reappointedPrincipal Sir James Donaldson, Principal Mackay, and Pro-fessor Burnet to represent the University of St. Andrews.

Medical Inspection of Schools in Kincardineshire.In the second report to the secondary education committee

-of Kincardineshire submitted by Dr. R. King, the assistantschool medical officer for the county, it is stated that thenumber of children examined during the year was 4412, ofwhom 2780 were found defective. Many of these defects arenot of a serious nature, and Dr. King says that there seemsto be no valid reason why the great majority of the defectiveshould not get rid of their defects and take their placeamong other children. The statement shows that the mostoommon defects are : enlarged glands, 668 boys, 621 girls,total 1289 ; decayed teeth under 6 years, 425 boys, 401 girls,total, 826 ; nits in hair, 175 boys, 536 girls, total 711 ;enlarged tonsils, adenoids, 272 boys, 277 girls, total 549 ;defective vision, 168 boys, 267 girls, total 435 ; external

eye diseases, 112 boys, 152 girls, total 264. 78 peroent. of the children had suffered from measles, 70 per<cent. from whooping-cough, 6 per cent. from scarletfever, 2 per cent. from diphtheria, 36 per cent. from mumps,and 22 per cent. from chicken-pox. From the statistics it

appears that rural and urban schools have about the same

percentage of defective children, and that in nearly everycase the number of defective girls is larger than that ofdefective boys. This is largely due to the greater number ofgirls with nits in their hair and the greater number with,defective vision. Kincardineshire at almost every ageexceeds the standard for the whole of Britain as to heightand weight, but at the age of 14 the averages forheight and weight of both boys and girls are below thestandard. At ages 12, 13, and 14 the girls are superior tothe boys in both height and weight, the boys appearing to=stand still, while the girls advance rapidly. At a later agethe boys seem to shoot ahead while the girls remainstationary, thus attaining the relative standards maintainedthroughout life.L -Oct. 10th.

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IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Poor-law Medical Officers and the Insurance Bill.AT a meeting of delegates of dispensary medical officers,

held in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, on’Oct. 4th, the following resolutions were passed :-

1. That we, the delegates assembled here to-day, view with alarm theamendment of the Insurance bill huggested by the Select Committeeof the Irish Party, proposing to de eto the medical benefits, whileItetaining the sickness benefits, thus throwing over on us an enormous

amount of extra work, without any corresponding remuneration, andthat a deputation of dispensary medical officeis be elected to wait on theIrish Parliamentary Party and Mr. Lloyd George.

2. In the event of medical benefits being denied to Ireland under theInsurance Bill, we hereby recommend our contr&egrave;res in the dispensaryservice to refuse to carry out the work imposed on us, unless we areproperly compensated for our extra work.

3. That the medical benefits of the Insurance Bill, as applied toIreland, be not deleted.

4. That the deputation appointed to-day confer with the dispensarymedical officers appointed by the Conjoint Committee of the BritishMedical and Irish Medical Associations, with a view to a settled policy,before waiting on the Irish party and Mr. Lloyd George.

Public IIealth (If .DM.The corporation of Dublin has accepted the report of the

public health committee recommending the appointment ofan assistant medical officer of health. Up to the present themedical officer of health, who is not himself a whole-timeofficer, has not had any qualified assistant in his depart-ment. The corporation has also directed its paving com-mittee to " ascertain whether more sanitary methods ofremoving the street dust could be adopted, eicher bysprinkling with tar or otherwise, so as to prevent citizenswho keep their windows open at night from being poisonedwith the dust." Steps are being taken also to obtain controlof the various lanes and alleys in the city, which are not inthe charge of the corporation. There are at present 894 suchlanes, with a total mileage of some 38 miles.R.etirement of the Registrar of the Royal College of Surgeons.Old students of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

will learn with regret that Mr. G. F. Blake, the registrar ofthe College, has found it necessary after a long period ofservice to resign his office. At a meeting of the Council heldon Oct. 5th, in a resolution accepting his resignation withgreat reluctance and regret, the President, Vice-President, andCouncil state that " during the long period of 31 years thatMr. Blake discharged the onerous duties of registrar to theCollege, his devotion to its interests, his courteous deportmentto all with whom he had relations, and the admirable mannerand efficiency in which he carried out the important workconnected with his office were beyond all praise. ThePresident, Vice-President, and Council feel that by theresignation of Mr. Blake the College has lost the servicesof a most efficient officer, and a kind friend, whom it willbe difficult adequately to replace. They hope that in themany years which they trust are before him he will enjoy hiswell-deserved rest from duty. He may at the same time beassured that his valuable services to the College will long beremembered and appreciated."

Emigration from Ireland.According to the Regitrar-General’s return, during the

month of September 3443 emigrants left Ireland, a decreaseof 1087 compared with the corresponding month of last year.The total for the first nine months of this year is 25,782,compared with 27,589 for the first nine months of 1910. Ofthe 3443 emigrants in September, 442 were from Leinster, 917from Munster, 1406 from Ulster, and 678 from Connaught.The destination of 2747 was the United States, 441 Canada,12 South Africa, 65 Australia, 19 New Zealand, 130 Englandand Wales, and 29 Scotland. Out of 2578 steerage passengersto the United States 761 had their passages paid for in.America.

-Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.The following were admitted Licentiates and Members of

the College on Oct. 6th :-Charles Preston Ball, M.D.,William Porter MacArthur, M.D., Lieutenant, R.A.M.C.,and Robert James Rowlette, M.D.

Y%6 "jH<M:y TVuman" " 9gain.The North of Ireland papers of Oct. 5th contain the

account of an inquest held by the coroner of South Armaghin reference to the deplorable death during her confinementof a farmer’s wife at Dromilly, near Balleek. It wouldappear that a fortnight before the event occurred the husbandarranged with a fully trained and certificated midwife wholives at Mountnorris to attend his wife ; but on Sept. 31st,when his wife became unwell, he, at her request, went for aneighbour and not for the midwife. On the next morning(Oct. 1st) the child was born at 6.30, and about 8 o’clockthe woman who acted as " handy woman " went home. At

half-past nine, three hours after the birth of the child, themother died, and Dr. G. M. Irvine deposed that the causewas post-partum haemorrhage. The jury found that deathwas due to post-parturn haemorrhage, the foreman adding