1326

SURGEON PARKE AND THE MEDICALPROFESSION.

PRESENTATION AT "THE LANCET" OFFICE.

ON Friday, June 6th, Surgeon Parke received undoubtedevidence of how the Editors of THE LANCET regard hisdevotedness and self-sacrifice during the three years he hadthe medical care of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition,under the command of Mr. Stanley.At 5 o’clock members of the Editorial staff of THE

LANCET met in the Editors’ room to witness the pre-sentation by the Editors of a massive silver salver toSurgeon Parke. Mr. Wakley, in presenting the gift fromhimself and son, said it had been admitted on all sidesthat Surgeon Parke was worthy of every honour they- could bestow upon him, and the presence of membersof the editorial staff had been asked with the idea thatit would enhance the value of the gift in his eyes.Mr. Wakley then recounted the various occasions on

which the admiration the young officer had excited inthe minds of his fellow-countrymen, and especially ofhis professional brethren, had been demonstrated, andmentioned some of the honours which had been alreadyconferred upon him. The latest of these-and he imaginedmany more would follow-was the presentation thattook place to-day. Whatever gratification SurgeonParke might feel in accepting the gift, it could not- exceed the pleasure with which it was offered. The salver,which weighed 200 oz., was the work of Messrs. J. and D.Wellby, of Garrick street, who stated, in a letter which heheld in his hand, that the work, both ornamental andartistic, was equal to anything they had ever produced.In offering Surgeon Parke the gift, Mr. Wakley said, "Itmay be that the gentlemen assembled here see before thema future Director-General. Should Surgeon Parke occupythat exalted position, holding his levees and receptions,I hope that when he sees the salver used for the purposesfor which it is intended, he will think of the Editors ofTHE LANCET and this day."

Mr. WAKLEY then formally presented the gift, readingthe inscription upon it, which is as follows : Presentedto Surgeon Thomas Heazle Parke, L.K.Q.C.P., Hon.F.R.C.S.I., Army Medical Staff, by the Editors ofTHE LANCET, in recognition of his heroic and distinguishedmedical services during the late Emin Pasha Relief Expedi-tion." Surgeon PARKE said: "Mr. Wakley, in returningthanks to the Editors of THE LANCET for their spontaneousgift, let me saythat nothing could have given me more gratifi-cation than this, coming as it does from the Editors of theablest journal of medical science in the world. Theintrinsic value of this costly gift will in my eyes be greatlyenhanced by the consideration of the source whence it hascome and the channel through which I have received it."

DINNER AT THE CRITERION RESTAURANT.

A brilliant and eminently representative gathering of theélite of the medical profession met at the Criterion Restaurantto entertain Surgeon Parke, on Friday evening, the 6th inst.Sir Andrew Clark, President of the Royal College of Phy-sicians, presided. Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson (President ofthe Royal College of Surgeons), Sir James Paget, SirPrescott Hewitt, Sir Joseph Fayrer, Sir Spencer Wells,Mr. John Marshall (President of the General MedicalCouncil), and many other distinguished members of thethe protession were present. Captain Nelson and Mr.Bonny, who accompanied the expedition, were also present.Letters of apology were received from Mr. H. M. Stanley,Mr. Jephson, Lieutenant Stairs, Sir George Paget, Sir

Joseph Lister, Sir Henry Acland, Professor Humphry, Mr.Wakley, Sir Henry Thompson, Professor Flower, SirWilliam Bowman, Dr. Alexander Hill (Master of Downing),and Dr. Matthews Duncan.

In alluding to the absence of Mr. Wakley, Sir AndrewClark said : You may be glad to hear that at a meetingassembled at THE LANCET Office this afternoon the Editorspresented to our guest a beautiful silver salver, on whichthe circumstances of the gift have been noted. It was agenerous and noble thing to do, and the least I can sayis that I hope Mr. Wakley will eoon be well again andback to his work."An excellent dinner having been served,

Sir ANDREW CLARK (the chairman), in proposing the toastof " The Queen," said " It requires, I think, no very deepstudy of the history of great nations to discover that thesecret of that greatness-the secret of their growth anddevelopment, freedom, prosperity, and the great influencewhich they exercise upon the human race-lies in thestrength and in the solidarity of their organisation. It is tothe solidarity of its organisation, but, above all things, tothe unbroken continuity of its life, that England owes allthe great things which sbe has done and won, and all thegreat things which she still hopes to do and will do, and theplace which she occupies-the foremost place among thenations of the earth. When one tries to place before one’smind the great things which have been done during the lastfifty years, the story seems to be too marvellous to be true.On such occasions as this it is to the Queen that we turn torenew our inspiration, to refresh our loyalty, and to trans-figure our duty into affection. When, on such occasions asthis, we give the health of Her Majesty the Queen, we say,not in the discharge of a formal duty, but in the enthusiasmof personal affection-long live the Queen."The toast having been duly honoured, Sir PRESCOT

HEWITT gave "The Prince of Wales and the rest of theRoyal Family," in apt terms.Mr. JONATHAN HUTCHINSON proposed the "Army, Navy,

and Reserve Forces," assuring the guest that if, by time-honoured and very legitimate rule, it had not fallen to the

’ lot of the President of the College of Physicians to takethe chair that evening, the President of the Royal Collegeof Surgeons would have been delighted to occupy thatposition. In reference to the two Colleges, he did not thinkthat, in recognising the heroism of their guest, the Collegeof Surgeons would be a whit behind ur be content tooccupy the second place.The CHAIRMAN, on rising to propose the health of " Sur-

geon Parke," said there were many and some sweet com-pensations for the passing away of youth and the coming onof age. One of these was to be found in experiencing thegrowing love of nature and an increasing understanding ofits significance, and another in the growing appreciation ofall that belongs to moral heroism. He gave an eloquentillustration of the first of these from his own daily ex-perience of the impressiveness of natural beauties. Nodoubt it was equally impressive and equally significant tosee gathered there on that occasion all the ablest, best,wisest, and most distinguished representatives of one atleast of the noblest professions in the world, in this thegreatest city of the world. For what purpose had they met?To do honour to one of the youngest of their brethren.And why so ? Not for any great material success, notfor any remarkable intellectual achievements-for none

of these things,-but for the moral heroism which theirguest had displayed during a time of unparalleled diffi-culties and trials, sufferings and diseases, and manifold

’ dangers. Yes, he might say freely that the heart of thewhole profession of medicine had gone out to him. Hispraise was on every tongue. They were told to bewarewhen people spoke well of them ; but in this instance therewas no reason to beware, for even to that great rule there

B was the exception, and he was present to-night. From1882 to 1886 Surgeon Parke was in continuous active andimportant service either in the Soudan or in Egypt, andduring all that time the record which is borne of him is arecord of highest honour. He has been on different occasionsspoken of for his culture, refinement, modesty, his skill, hissense of duty, his self-effacement, his care and his tender-ness. Curious it was that so many diverse qualities shouldbe mixed together, so to speak, in one man. And yet it wastrue. The only solution of the paradox that he could offerwas that by a rare conjunction he joined in himself all thatgoes to make the heroic in man and all that goes to makethe loving in woman. To have any just idea of the servicesrendered by Surgeon Parke to this great expedition, and torealise in the faintest manner the qualities which he dis-played, they had only to think of the task proposed and theterrible difficulties under which that task was achieved. Letthem imagine thepartof this journey which consisted of goingthrough the forest 1400 miles, surrounded by unfriendlynatives, attacked by every kind of disease, and suffering mani-fold forms of accident. Let them imagine the continuance ofthis for many months, during which time they lost manymembers of the expedition. Many who did not die becameinvalided by sickness, until at last more than half theexpedition was lost. Then, perhaps, could be understoodhow, never failing and never complaining, but struggling

1327

n day after day from tree to tree, in spite of thethreatenings of death, in spite of almost insupportableweakness, they crawled along, and at last, under diffi-culties which it seemed to be almost impossible to

surmount, they achieved their great purpose and came- out well. His colleagues speak of his skill, of thecourage, the patience, the tenderness, and of that unfailingcheerfulness with which he guided his companions fromdespair and showed them a light in the midst of theirterrible darkness. Here are the words in which Mr. Stanleyhimself refers to our guest: " Words fail to express mydeep feelings of thankfulness that it was my fortune to beblessed with such noble companionship. Men of higherintelligence and of superior attainments may never enterthis darkest zone of that darkest Africa traversed by usand perform more valuable services to science and to

humanity; but never, while human nature remains as weknow it, will there be found "-see how and irrepressiblythe moral triumph over the material and mental order-" never will there be found four gentlemen so matchless fortheir constancy, devotion to their work, earnest purpose,.and unflinching obedience to the call of honour and duty."It was not given to them to foresee what might be the resultsof this grEat expedition for poor Africa itself, to the pro-gress of civilisation or to the higher interests of our

mative land. But this they knew of a surety, that whilstthe human heart remained what the human heart now was,whilst ideas of self-sacrifice, of duty, of devotion, of honour,of love, remain ideas which shall govern men and guidethem to all that is highest and best in humanity, so longwould this great and glorious expedition remain a nobleinheritance to men, and serve even by its moral influencein guiding them to higher, truer, and juster ways. In thedays to come, when that night and the expedition shouldbe history, and men told the story of to-day and the fruitsof it, the old, he did not doubt, would seek to influence theyoung by holding up the story of their youthful but noble’guest He congratulated Surgeon Parke on his return home,and thanked him for the services which he had rendered toour race, to civilisation, and especially to the great pro-fession of medicine. In returning to the simple round of.duties he would doubtless display those moral qualitieswhich had stamped him justly as one, though young, ofthe great ones among them.Surgeon PARKE, who was received with cheering and the

waving of handkerchiefs on rising to respond, expressedhis indebtedness to the company for the hearty welcomeaccorded him. The brilliancy of his reception was so over-whelming that he felt it impossible to express his feelingsof gratification. Nothing could be more gratifying thanthe appreciation of one’s work by those who were mostcapable of judging, and in his wildest imagination andambition he did not picture a reception like that whichhad been given him. He was quite sure that bothMr. Stanley and his colleagues, some of whom werethere that night, would appreciate that reception, whichirepresented scientific medicine, as much as, if not morethan, any which had been offered them. For his ownpart he had to thank his early medical training for a greatdeal of his success and the encouragement which he hadmet with during this expedition with Mr. Stanley. If

they were not tired of hearing about Africa, he wouldremind them that it was just three years and three monthsago that Mr. Stanley started from England to bring reliefto Emin Pasha-not to bring him away from Africa, but tobring him relief. With a force about 800 strong, they startedfrom the mouth of the Congo on March 18th, 1887. Thatriver, as they knew, was the second largest in the world,and the naval officers had found fresh water 300 miles outat sea, so great was its velocity. The shortest timeany of them spent in the forest was 162 days. CaptainNelson was in the forest a year and a half-a thing whichthey could scarcely realise. The pigmies or dwarfs theymet stood about three or four feet high, had tiny hands andfeet, with fairly good features ; bright intelligent littlethings they were. One peculiarity about them was thatthey were covered all over with down, such as is seen onthe cheeks of a boy of eighteen or nineteen in this country.The European provisions they took with them were finishedwithin a month. The two bottles of brandy which eachhad were also very soon exhausted. They had exactly thesame food as the natives--bananas, with occasionally a goat a week divided amongst six or eight ;-and a curious resultof the expedition was that the Europeans survived muchbetter than did the natives. Of the two Europeans who died,

one died from climatic causes and the other was murdered.Emin Pasha was a small man, 5 ft. 7 in. high, and qualifiedin medicine by a German degree of which he was veryproud. He spoke twenty-two languages, of which he couldwrite and read thirteen. When they started he (SurgeonParke) took the precaution of vaccinating the majority ot themen, and when the epidemic of small-pox broke out only fourwere attacked by disease, and none of them died. On the otherhand, the camp followers who had not been vaccinated tookthe disease in a bad form and died in great numbers. After athree years’march across Africa they reached Zanzibar withEmin Pasha. Unfortunately, however, Emin met with anaccident. He had not been in a two-storey house for four-teen years, and he fell through a window, fracturing thebase of his skull. He had made a wonderful recovery since,and had now gone back into the interior of Africa. He(Surgeon Parke) wished to place on record the great admira-tion which he and his brother officers felt for their illustriousleader, Mr. Stanley. His great worth did not actually liein the geographical discoveries he had made, but hisability for keeping men together and for commandingthem was what they most admired. A more manlylot of men than his companions, too, never existed.

They came from all parts of the United Kingdom-from England, Ireland, Scotland, and even Canada-andthere was not the least friction or rivalry among them. Inconclusion, Surgeon Parke said that the reception accordedhim that evening and that given him by the College ofSurgeons in Dublin he should never forget.Captain NELSON and Mr. BONNY, in response to calls,

addressed a few words to the gathering in acknowledgmentof their reception.During the course of the dinner songs were rendered at

intervals. Dr. Roberts’ admirable rendering of "TheAnchor’s Weighed " was greeted with hearty applause.

Sir JAMES PAGET proposed the health of the Chairman ineloquent terms, and brought a most successful banquet toa close.

_____________

THE ADMINISTRATION OF NITROUSOXIDE GAS.

AT a recent meeting of the Odontological Society somenotes were read by Dr. SILK on a series of 1000 cases inwhich nitrous oxide was administered, and which had beensystematically recorded by the author. The object of thepaper was, he said, twofold: to insist, first, upon the valueof records in all cases of anaesthesia; and, secondly, inespecial cases, inasmuch as one example was better than ahost of theory. The best way of keeping such notes wasprobably by a tabular arrangement, yet bearing in mindthe peculiarity of cases and not making the table tooelaborate. He grouped the facts collected from the analysisunder three heads: "Antecedent conditions," "phenomena,"and "after-effects." He did not include mere nervousness inantecedent conditions, but neurotic tendencies in a patientwere often productive of hysteria after the administrationof gas. There were but three cases of those who weresubject to epileptic fits; one a healthy girl eighteen yearsof age who had gas twice. The first time there was nothingnoteworthy; the second, after the removal of the face-piece, she struggled to get her hands up, and afterwardsdescribed her teelings as pain in the forehead where theepileptic aura commenced. In four cases of phthisis therewas nothing out of the ordinary. In one case of valvulardisease of the heart the patient had gas four times, thelividity following being more lasting than normal, and onone occasion a tendency to syncope ensued. Diabetesone case; the urine being examined, no change was found.In nine cases of pregnant women nothing had gone wrong,and he remarked that he would have been sure to hearof it if there had; but in most there was a tendency tovomit. In the only case during lactation the patient had abilious attack next day, and the infant seemed upset, andthis point Dr. Silk thought worthy of more attentionthan was generally given to it. Of consecutive administra-tions of gas-i.e., where the patient was allowed to regainconsciousness and then after a few minutes again sub-mitted to the anæsthetic—he had sixty-five records. In12 per cent. there was more or less retching; in 2 percent. asphyxial symptoms necessitating pulling forward