473

has recommended that a separate building should be provided for the nurses and that the bathrooms and annexes should bereconstructed.

Housing in Monmouthshire.In a report presented to the Local Government Board in

1905 Dr. W. W. E. Fletcher referred to the unsatisfactory con-dition of many of the houses in the urban district of Nantygloand Blaina in the Monmouthshire colliery district. Many ofthe circumstances which he described appear to be still inexistence and are referred to in a report which has recentlybeen made by the medical officer of health of the district,Mr. H. C. Bevan. Of 960 houses in one particular localitythere are 442 with no through ventilation, and 187 have nosystem of drainage. Instances are given in the report ofback-to-earth cellar dwellings which are occupied by familiesconsisting of from five to eight persons, and one case inwhich a two-roomed cellar dwelling was occupied by twoadults and seven children.Feb. 13th.

_________________

LIVERPOOL.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine: Plague in China;Sleeping 8,to7.,ness; Another Expedition to Rhodesia.

AT a meeting of the School of Tropical Medicine heldrecently, Mr. W. H. Lever (the chairman) presiding, it wasunanimously resolved to send the following telegram throughthe Chinese Minister to the Chinese Government, in view ofthe great ravages caused in Manchuria at present by theplague, viz. :-The President and Committee of the Liverpool School of Tropical

Medicine offer to the Chinese Government the services of an experi-enced commissioner to proceed to Manchuria and assist in combatingthe outbreak of plague. Would be much obliged if your Excellencywould communicate the offer to the proper quarters and advise theschool whether offer accepted.The following telegram has been received in rpnlv ’—The following telegram has been received in reply :-

Secretary Milne, Tropical School, Liverpool,-Many thanks foryour telegram and your kind offer. Question under urgent con-sideration with British Government, who will associate themselveswith the measures to be taken. CHINESE MINISTER.

It will be of melancholy interest to note that the devotedand self-sacrificing missionary, Dr. A. F. Jackson, who hasjust fallen a victim to the plague in his endeavours to assist,by his skilled knowledge, the terrified inhabitants ofManchuria, was quite recently a student at the LiverpoolSchool of Tropical Medicine. The other two martyrs ofthe school were Dr. Walter Myers and Dr. J. Everett Dutton.The British South Africa Company has decided upon

the despatch of a special commission with the objectof investigating sleeping sickness in Rhodesia. The com-mission will consist of Dr. Aylmer W. May, principalmedical officer of Northern Rhodesia ; Dr. A. Kinghorn, ofthe Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine ; Mr. H. Leach, ofNorthern Rhodesian Medical Service ; Mr. 0. Silverlock,entomologist ; and Mr. Jollyman, bacteriologist. All thecommissioners, with the exception of Dr. May and Dr.Kinghorn, are already in Africa. Dr. Kinghorn will sailfrom England on Feb. 18th, and will be followed later byDr. May. An expedition sent out by the LiverpoolSchool of Tropical Medicine is already on its way to theCongo, under Professor J. L. Todd, well known in connexionwith sleeping-sickness research, and two assistants ; and itis proposed that a further Commission shall go from thiscountry to conduct separate investigations in anotherpart of the Congo. Dr. May informs the Press Associationthat sleeping sickness in the Luangwe Valley of North-eastRhodesia, where the Chartered Company’s commission isabout to work, is of an entirely different type from that ofordinary sleeping sickness, inasmuch as it is evident that itis not transmitted by the glossina palpalis. This insect doesnot exist within 200 miles of the Valley, and the majority ofthose attacked have never been in the palpalis area. It is

suggested that this disease is carried by the morsitansfly, an insect which, unlike the palpalis, is not confined towell-defined limited areas in the neighbourhood of water,but is distributed over large areas. It does not seem to

follow, however, that because the morsitans is a disease-carrier at one altitude it is necessarily equally dangerous

under other climatic conditions. Five Europeans have beenstricken with this form of sleeping sickness, of whom threeare dead and two are under treatment. Dr. May ex-presses the opinion that if the conditions agreed to by theconference which has just been held at the Foreign Officeare carried out there is not much danger of the diseasespreading from the Congo southwards with the extension ofthe railway. With proper precautions there is no cause foralarm, as the conditions in Northern Rhodesia are entirelyunsuitable to the spread of the malady. Dr. Kinghorn isone of the most distinguished workers in the LiverpoolSchool of Tropical Medicine, with which he has been asso-ciated during the last five years. He has been on two

previous expeditions in Africa for the purpose of investigatingthe causes of sleeping sickness. His investigations have beenvaried and extensive.

-

Death of Dr. A. F. Jackson.The death of Dr. A. F. Jackson on Jan. 26th, from plague,

at Mukden in Manchuria, came as a great shock to his numerous friends in Liverpool. Dr. Jackson left thiscountry last autumn to begin work as a medical missionaryin Manchuria, where he arrived in November last, so that hedied on the very threshold of a life’s work which was full of

promise. He was born in Oxton. Cheshire, 26 years ago,and was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School and at theUniversity of Cambridge. He had a brilliant career at

Cambridge, and afterwards studied medicine at the Universityof Liverpool, where he graduated as M.B., C.M. He alsoreceived the Diploma of Tropical Medicine.

Ti’p.h. 14t.h.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Carnegie Trust.THE ninth annual meeting of the Carnegie Trust was held

on Feb. 7th at the Westminster Palace Hotel, London, theEarl of Elgin presiding. The ninth annual report for theyear 1909-10 submitted by the executive committee showedthat the success of the research scheme of the Trust wasbeing well maintained. The sum of £6824 had beenexpended upon fellowships, scholarships, and grants, andS2454 upon the laboratory, towards which latter the RoyalCollege of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College ofSurgeons of Edinburgh together contributed .f.1025. Theclass fees paid during the year amounted to £48,540 28., anincrease of £1184 6s. 6d. as compared with the precedingyear. The beneficiaries in the winter session 1909-10numbered 3676 and in the summer session 1353. The

average amount paid per beneficiary was .E12 128. 9d.Certain other beneficiaries had received fees for classes takenoutwith the academic year and others for the summer vaca-tion courses in Edinburgh. The executive committee calledthe attention of the Trust to the fact that the increasingexpenditure on class fees made it possible, if not probable,that there would be a deficit against the transactions underClause B. The committee considered that as they couldnot protect themselves against the occurrence of a deficitin future years under the present system it ought tobe amended without delay. They must in the first placeannounce that they could not continue to pay the fees infull. Secondly, the system of paying for separate classesmust be abandoned. If the system of composite fees wereadopted by the universities it might be possible for theTrust to pay such a proportion of those fees as their fundspermitted. If the universities did not succeed in makingsuch an arrangement it might be necessary for them todetermine a scale of fees on the same principle for them-selves. It seemed reasonable that the interests of beneficiariesalready on the roll should be protected as far as possible.Thirdly, the amount they could afford to pay would be moreeasily determined if some scheme could be adopted for

i enrolling the names of applicants in advance. Fourthly, it! could cause no hardship to require students who had already

been receiving payment to inform them before the end of the, summer session whether they intended to apply again in. October or to require new applicants to give a similarly. early notice. Fifthly, it did not in the least follow3that if these suggestions were adopted the scale of

474

their allowances would become unsettled or would varyfrom year to year, or that the discussion in the futureof further changes would be precluded. The main objects ofthese proposals were (1) to prevent any chance of the fundbecoming bankrupt for a longer period than the year nowcurrent ; and (2) to adopt a machinery that might be madeeffective for more than one occasion if need be. The com-mittee referred to allegations which had been made that thepayment of fees was accepted by students whose privatemeans were sufficient to defray their expenses. In several-cases where gross abuse had been alleged inquiry had shownan amount of misrepresentation and exaggeration which hadrendered any action inadvisable. The committee calledattention to the fact that up to Sept. 30th, 1910, 75 bene-ficiaries had voluntarily refunded the class fees paid bythe trust on their behalf, the sum amounting in all to;E1689 ls. 4d. It was not to be expected that in the earlyyears of the trust beneficiaries would be in a position toavail themselves of this privilege ; and the fact that in thepast year fees to the amount of .6549 had been repaid-morethan double the amount paid in any previous year-was an undoubted proof that the system could, and did,encourage honourable sentiments. Lord Elgin, in movingthe adoption of the annual report, drew attention to the

satisfactory nature of the reports relating to research.

Referring to the payment of fees, he was confident that itwas not true that general or flagrant abuses or misappropria-tion of the fund had prevailed, while the gratifying increasein the amount of fees repaid showed that students were notunwilling to avail themselves of opportunities to dischargehonourable obligations. He pointed out that the increaseof beneficiaries was practically the same as the increase inmatriculated students in the last nine years ; this might bemerely a coincidence, but the increase might be due to thedevelopment of the secondary schools, and these studentsmight be well qualified for assistance. The motion of theChairman was seconded by Mr. Haldane, who referredespecially to the importance of the work of the CarnegieTrust in stimulating research. Sir Arthur Ruoker then spokein appreciation of the work done by the Trust. Lord Balfourof Burleigh moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, whichwas seconded by Lord Reay. Principal Sir William Turnerreferred to the enormous benefits conferred on the Scottishuniversities by the munificent benefaction of Mr. Carnegieand referred in complimentary terms to the work of theexecutive committee.

Complimentary Dinner to Dr. William Craig of Edinburgh.On Feb. 8th the Fellows of the Edinburgh Obstetrical

Society entertained Dr. William Craig to dinner at theCaledonian Station Hotel on his retirement from thetreasurership of the society, a post that he had held for 35years. About 40 Fellows were present, and the President ofthe society, Dr. F. W. N. Haultain, occupied the chair. Thetoast of the evening was proposed by Sir A. R. Simpson, who,in presenting Dr. Craig with a silver tea and coffee service,referred to the great services he had rendered to the society.

Reconstruction of Bospitccls in Glasgow. For many years the hospital accommodation in Glasgow

has been felt to be inadequate, and with the ever-increasingdemand for beds the difficulty in dealing with cases requiringand deserving hospital treatment has become greater in thelast five years. That the governing boards of the varioushospitals have risen to the situation is evident when one

considers that within the last three years the MaternityHospital has been rebuilt on a very large scale, the CancelHospital has been practically rebuilt, the Royal SamaritanHospital for Women has been enlarged, the Western

Infirmary has added a new block to its buildings,the Royal Infirmary is being entirely rebuilt on thesame site, and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children is to be rebuilt immediately on a better site and withmore than double its present accommodation. In the

plans for the new Sick Children’s Hospital arrangementshave been made for a 300 cot hospital on a fine site extend.ing over ten acres, but in the meantime it is intended to erectaccommodation for about 200 cots. That means that it willbe possible to treat 3000 children in the institution peiannum as compared with 1000 in former years. Theestimated cost, £120,000, will be exceeded, but the directorsnow have £102,000 in hand. The Royal Infirmary also isin process of reconstruction. The operations began in 1905,

and in April, 1907, His Majesty King George, who was thenPrince of Wales, laid the foundation stone. Since thattime great progress has been made with the undertaking, butthe new work is so much surrounded by the existing build-ings, which have been retained as far as possible so that thebed accommodation may not be restricted during the presentoperations, that the passer-by gets only the vaguest idea ofits nature and extent. The block at present being built isthat for special diseases, together with the third section ofthe surgical block which will then be complete and willcontain 290 beds. The new pathological block is also nearlycompleted, and it is the intention of the directors to proceedat an early date with the erection of a portion of the newmedical block, which embraces nearly one-half of the mainfrontage upon Cathedral-square, together with the east wingwhich connects the Cathedral-square block with the centralor special diseases block.

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Lunatic Asylum. The annual general meeting of the corporation of the Royal

Infirmary and Lunatic Asylum of Aberdeen was held in theinfirmary hall on Feb. 8th, Lord Provost Wilson pre-siding. Mr. Peterkin, chairman of directors, in moving theadoption of the annual report, referred to the question ofhospital abuse. He pointed out that those who improperlytook advantage of the infirmary were not only unfairlytaking gratuitous services from the physicians and surgeons,but were dishonestly using funds not subscribed for theirbenefit. A proposal to increase the infirmary directoratefrom 9 to 11, in order to allow of the inclusion of moreworking-class representatives, was defeated by a largemajority.

Open-air Recovery Schools: Aberdeen Medical Officer’sReport.

At a meeting of the school administration committee ofthe Aberdeen school board held on Feb. 6th a report bythe medical officer, Dr. G. Rose, on open-air recovery schoolswas considered. Dr. Rose remarked that although theoreti-cally such schools form an alluring and fascinating pictureto the educationist, the philanthropist, and the schoolmedical officer, when the scheme comes to be considered aspart of the educational system difficulties arise. Such questionsas-What class of children require treatment in open air, andwhat number, say, in a place like Aberdeen ? What are the

possibilities of providing such a school in a proper place ? Is transit to the school possible and satisfactory ? Would thecases most in need of treatment stand the-fatigue of transit? Would the climatic conditions allow such schools to be con-ducted with benefit and success ? Might not better resultsbe got by different methods at a less cost ? How may therelative value of the different factors acting on the child inthe open air be estimated ? May not a greatly diminishedcurriculum, an increase in number of meals, better quality offood, and mid-day sleep be factors as important as the massivestimulation of country air ?-all these must be settled beforea satisfactory answer can be given to the possibility of

providing such a school. Dr. Rose treats the matter at

greater length. With regard to suitable cases, cases oftuberculous lung disease are at once excluded on the groundof danger to the others ; even those in the pre-tuberculousstage, though suitable for treatment, will not be availableon account of the clinical impossibility of selecting them.If the same class were sent to the schools as are sent inGermany-namely, the backward children, who are physi-cally debilitated, anasmic, &c.-and if the proportion of suchchildren was the same in Aberdeen, sooner or later Aberdeenwould have to provide for the outdoor education of 2500 or3000 children, Site, buildings, transit, school-hours andfood, education, cost, are all fully considered in the report.Elgin County Council and the Medical Inspection Question.The Elgin county council met on Feb. 6th, when there

was submitted a minute of the joint meeting of the sub-committees of the countv council and the secondary educa-tion committee, with regard to the terms they proposed forthe joint appointment of a medical officer for the county andthe inspection of schools. It may be stated that the countycouncil proposes to pay .E205, and the secondary educationcommittee .6245, the sum of Z205 by the county council toinclude all expenses. After some discussion the recom-mendations of the subcommittees were adopted.Feb. 14th.