1628 WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.-SOOTLAND.

to be done out of the ordinary funds of the two hospitalsand money will have to be raised if it is to be endowedadequately. The present income of the two hospitals leavesthem with a serious deficit at the close of each year, not-withstanding economical management. Are the public ofManchester willing that this old charity should lapse intodecay ? 7Dec 4th.

________________

WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

University of Wales.THE annual collegiate meeting of the court of the Univer-

sity of Wales was held on Nov. 30th at Cardiff, under thepresidency of Sir Isambard Owen. The report stated thatthe senate having considered the draft resolutions in refer-ence to the proposed faculty of medicine, were in favour ofthe appointment of an advisory board pending the establish-ment of a complete school of medicine in the University andthe consequent inclusion in the senate itself of an adequatebody of expert opinion on questions of medical education.

The Workmen’s Compensation Act.At Porth, South Wales, on Nov. 30t.h, a widow sought to I

recover 190 from the Ocean Coal Company on behalf ofherself and child in respect of the death of her husband,who was killed in the colliery. His Honour Judge BrynR)bert said that this was an extraordinary case, as the

applicant had not been supported by the decea-ed since1904. Although conjugal relationship took place they didnot reside together and the child was born some fourmonths after the man’s death. His Honour added that thedependency of posthumous children upon the earnings ofworkmen had been completely overlooked by the legislature.He held that there must be actual and not merely legaldependency and therefore he did not see how the posthu-mous child could be dependent on the deceased, as themother, when pregnant, was not at the time of the death ofdeceased dependent upon him. He therefore found for thedefendants. A stay of execution was granted for thepurposes of appeal.

The Medical Officer of Health of the Chipping SodburyEl1l’fal District.

At a meeting of the Chipping Sodbury rural districtcouncil held on Nov. 28’jh a letter was read from the jointcommiteee of the South-West Gloucestershire uniteddistricts stating that on Nov. 24th they had appointed Dr.F. T. Bond as the medical officer of health of the uniteddistricts for one year. The Local Government Board hadfixed the salary at E573 per annum and Chipping Sodburyhad been apportioned E149 of this. Dr. Bond, who waspresent at a portion of the meeting, said that he hadcome to report himself as the council had been advised ofhis appointment, and he then alluded to the outbreak ofdiphtheria in the district. On Dr. Bond’s appearance at themeeting several of the councillors left the room.

Sanita"’y Matters in North Devon.At a meeting of the Barnstaple rural council held on

Nov. 30th the medical offioer of health (Mr. J. R H-trper)reported upon the sanitary condition of the villages of

Georgeham and Croyde. Mr. Harper stated that the drainageof both villages was discharged into running streams, whilstslop and surface water from many houses escaped directlyon the highway, having no proper drainage, and in someinstances the cesspits also overflowed directly on the high-way. Mr Harper advised that steps should be taken tcprevent the pollution of the streams and that an additiona’sanitary inspector should be appointed to make periodica’inspections. The chairman said that the committee entirel3agreed with the medical officer of health that somethingmust be done, but in the first instance ih was decided to sencthe report to the Georgeham parish council.Dec. 4th.

PRESENTATION TO A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER -At the Great Western Railway Station, Wells (S 1merSf’t), th<<

Mayor, on behalf of the class of the Great Western Railwayemployees’ branch of the St. John Ambulance Associationpresented Mr. Herbert William Allan, B.A. C-intab.L.R.C.P.Lond., M.R C.S. Eng., with a case of pipes itappreciation of his services as honorary lecturer.

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Glasgow Western Infirmary.AT the thirty-second annual meeting of qualified con-

tributors to the Webtern Infirmary the report on the workof the past year was submitted. The number of indoor

patients treated during the year was 6386, being an increaseof 207 as compared with the preceding year, while in theoutdoor department the numbers reached 27,456, an increaseof 2879 on the preceding year. The number of patients inthe hospital at any one time varied between 418 and’524,and the average period of residence of each patientjwas26-79 days. The number of deaths was 516, or 8 79 percent. of all the cases treated to a termination. Ofthe fatal cases, however, 154 were of such a hopelesscharacter when taken to the hospital that the patientsdied within 48 hours after admission. Deducting thisnumber, as usual, the death-rate is reduced to 6 34per cent. The ordinary income of the infirmary was21,654, or fully .elOOO more than last year; whilethe ordinary expenditure was .632,368, or .61500 more

than last year. The extraordinary income for the year,bequests, &c., amounted to &pound;11,243 and the extra-

ordinary expenditure to .62858. A sum of .eS157 was

transferred towards the ordinary expenditure, a sum of&pound;655 to the convalescent home account, and a sum of&pound;2573 to the new dispensary building account. A sum of’61144 was received towards the further extension fund.The cost of each bed fully occupied was f,69 ls. 1&frac12;d., as against .e69 8s. 2d. in the previous year. The average cost.

per patient treated was .65 Is. 4&frac12;d., as against .64 19s. lld.in the year immediately preceding. During the year a newwing was opened in the infirmary, but notwithstanding thisaddition to the accommodation between 400 and 500 patients-

I are wai ing for admission. According to the plans forfinally completing the infirmary three blocks are yet.; required, estimated to cost between &pound;70,000 and f,80,OOO.Meantime the directors are anxious to undertake the erectionof the southern section of the wing recently opened whichwill cost .620,000 ; also to erect the block connecting thiswing with the main building, the estimate for which is.635,000.

Compulsory Notification of Births.The Parliamentary Bills committee of the Glasgow corpora-

tion at a meeting this week received a deputation headed byProfessor R Stockman consisting of 16 medical practitionersin the city with reference to the clause in the Glasgow Cor-i poration Order, 1907, which provides that medical men mustnotify to the medical officer of health within 48 hours allbirths which they attend. The deputation expressed theopinion that the proposal was unnecessary and that in anycase they should be allowed a fee for making the notification.The committee promised to consider their representations.

Proposed -zl’e7v Dispensary in Glasgorv.In THE LAKCET of Oct 20th an account was given of a.

meeting, presided over by the Lord Provost, at which it wasproposed to establish a public dispensary in the Anderston, district of the city, and at a later date (Nov. 10th) reference

was made to a memorial signed by 20 medical men practisingin the district and protesting against the establishment of

, such a dispensa y as unnecessary. The Glasgow Herald ofDec. 4th deals with the proposal in a leading article and

: to all intents and purposes gives the fiuishing blow to ascheme which already seemed moribund. In the first place

it is pointed out that the Anderston district is more amplysupplied with such charitable agencies than any other

quarter of the city. These various agencies are mentionedin detail and it is asserted that if this new scheme were

carried into effect it would lead to vexatious and wastefuloverlapping of philanthropic work. In the second placeattention is drawn to the fact that almost all the hospitals

: of the city have engaged in schemes of reconstruction orenlargement in order to meet the increasing demand for

- dispensary treatment, that when these schemes are com-epleted the city should be amply supplied in this respect, and

finally that the money required for these alterations is not, yet forthcoming, and until it has been supplied any further, new scheme, even if it were necessary (which is denied),

would be ill-advised.Dec. 4th.

1629IRELAND.-PARIS.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Irish Poor-law Medical Service.A MEETING of the Council of the Irish Medical Association

was held in Dublin on Nov. 30th, when a committee wasappointed to urge upon the Government the carrying outof the recommendations of the Vice-regal commission onthe Poor-law system in Ireland.l A special general meetingof the association held on Nov. 14th had already passed fourresolutions to the following effect :-

1. That in any reform the members of the Poor-law medical serviceand those of the county infirmary service should form a homogeneousState service.

2. That any body or council administering the Poor-law medicalservice should contain a majority of members elected periodicallyfrom among the members of the medical profession practising inIreland.

3. That all hospitals and infirmaries under the contemplated Poor lawservice should be designated by a uniform title.

4. That in the adm inistration of the proposed State Council aDepartment of Public Health with a Minister should be appointed.

The committee was appointed in order to bring these resolu-tions to the attention of the Government and the followinghave been nominated to serve upon it: Dr. J. S McArdle,President of the Irish Medical Association ; Sir WilliamThomson (Dublin), Dr. R. F. Tobin (Dublin), Sir John W.Byers (Belfast), Dr. R. J. Kinkead (Galway), Mr. H. T. A.Warnock (Donegal) Dr. P. J. Macnamara (Kilmallock), withthe deputy chairman and the honorary secretary of theassociation.

The Health of Belfast.At the last weekly meeting of the Belfast public health

committee, held on Nov. 29th, it was reported that for theweek ended Nov. 24th ten cases of typhoid fever, 40 ofscarlet fever, and six of diphtheria had been notified. Thedeath-rate from all causes was 17’ 8. It was decided to re-commend the city council to pay Professor W. St. C Symmers&pound; 200 per annum for bacteriological reports and examinations.At a meeting of the city council of Belfast held on Dec. 3rdattention was drawn in the public health report to thegreat prevalence of scarlet fever and diphtheria. BetweenOct. 2lst and Nov. 17th 262 cases of zymotic disease hadbeen notified&mdash;viz., 2 caes of typhus fever, 28 of typhoidfever, 132 of scarlet fever, 30 of simple continued fever(whatever nondescript this disease is), 4 of pllerperal fever,32 of diphtheria, 4 of membranous croup, and 30 of

erysipelas&mdash;a list which shows that really no adequate pre-cautions whatever have been taken to cope with such anextraordinary state of affairs. Congratulations on the factthat typhoid fever has-as appears in this list-been re-

duced 50 per cent. may be readily given, but their

significance is somewhat discounted when it is seen thatthe subsidence of this disease has simply been replacedby such a terrible outbreak of scarlet fever ard diph-theria. The circulation of posters urging the people tobe careful about their children when convalescingfrom scirlet fever mixing with healthy children isa p)or attempt to cope vith such a terrible outbreak ofscarlet fever Anyone acquainted with the very rudi-ments of public health matters knows that the only wayto cope with such an epidemic is the insistence of promptisolation at the outset of the epidemic (in the case of thosewho have no facilities for proper nur.ing), but in Belfast wehave an infectious di-eases hospital just opened with accom-modation for only 168 patients, and yet within one month262 cases of z. motic disease have been notified I Every oneforesaw this dfficulty but nothing was done -At the samemeeting of the council the town clerk, Sir Samuel Black,explaintd that although the letter from the Local G,>vern-ment Board of Ireland sanctioning Mr. H. W. Bailie’sappointment as medical officer of health had been read atthe meeting of the health committee the document had not,he understood, been seen by Dr. J King Kerr.

The Water-supply of Belfast.In the Chancery Division of the Four Courts, Dllblin,

before the Master of the Rolls, on Nov. 28th, the BelfastWater CommIssioners applied for an ad interim injunctionagainst a farmer restraining him from continuing to pollutestreams of water which flowed from his lands into theBelfast Water Commissioners’ reservoir at Stoneyford, from

1 See THE LANCET, Nov. 24th, p. 1460.

which portion of the Belfast water-supply was taken. Itwas stated by counsel that heaps of manure bad been placedclose to the river referred to and it was a matter of,urgentimportance. The Master of the Rolls made the order,’as thematters complained of constituted, in his opinion, a gravedanger to the public health.

Typhoid Fever in Holywood.An epidemic of typhoid fever has broken out in the

Holywood urban district, county Down. and already a..

number of cases have had to be removed to hospital.Dee. 4th.

_______________

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

S’anitary Matters in Paris.THE Municipal Council devoted a portion of the sitting of

Nov. 5th to the consideration of various matters dealingwith sanitation in Paris. M. Lajarrige proposed to openmunicipal washhouses in the working-class quarters of Paris.The right to use these establishments should be attainableon payment of a very small fee and even this could be re-mitted in the case of very poor persons. Soap and brusheswould be supplied free. Many municipal councillors were infavour of the creation of a sanitary "dossier" for childrenattending the schools. It was proposed that every childattending a primary school should on entrance be requiredto produce a certificate of having been successfully vacci-nated and another one to the effect that he or she was notobviously tuberculous. Whenever a child was absent fromschool the parents would be required to hand in a certificatethat the disease was not contagious and no child would bere-admitted to school without a certificate of being in goodhealth. The " dossiers would be handed over to thechildren on their leaving school. M. Jollibois broughtforward and succeeded in carrying a motion inviting theadministration to apply for powers to obtain the passing ofa law for the compulsory acquisition of insanitary property.The law as it stands at present provides that property maybe compulsorily acquired on payment of a compensationfixed on the basis of the income of the property. It is now

proposed that the cost of the works necessary to put thepremises in a sanitary condition should be estimated andthat this amount should be deducted from the amount paidas compensation reckoned on the income brought in by theproperty. M. Ambroise Rendu proposed that a sum of50,000,000 francs should be set aside for this purpose.Finally, M. Jollibois raised the question of allocating a sumof from 6,000,000 t) 10,000,000 francs for improving thewoods, parks, and promenades of Paris and for the creationof new squares.

A Case of Dissimulation in a Child.At a meeting of the Hospitals Medical Society, held on

Nov. 18th, M. Souques showed a little girl, aged 10 years,who for the last three months had contrived to make bothher parents and the family medical man believe thatworms came from her nose when she blew it. The factwas indisputable but when the worms were examined atthe museum they were found to be the larv&aelig; of the

apple moth and those of sundry weevils which were foundin worm-eaten fruit. The child then confessed her decep-tion, saying that she took the larvae from the fruit and putthem up her nose. She did this to be interesting.

. Changes in the Paris Hospitals.The Municipal Council of Paris has recently decided that

a portion of the Laennec Hospital should be fitted up for thereception of tuberculous patients, only stipulating that theworks for this purpose, which are estimated to cost 1,000,000francs, should not be begun until the Assistance Publique hasobtained a subvention of 500,000 francs from the funds ofthe Pari Mutuel. The Minister of Agriculture has, however,notified the Prefect of the Seine that this proposal has beenmost favourably considered and that he himself undertakesto see that it parses. With this despatch before him M.Navarre has proposed to the Municipal Council that althoughthe committee of the Pari Mutuel does not meet untilJd,nuaty an estimate should at once be got out for the worksin question and this proposal has been accepted. The townof Paris will thus possess for the first time a hospital oneqliarter of which will be allotted to the care and treatmentof tuberculous cases. M. d’Andigne, on behalf of the fifth