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forces of any foreign country. In one important phase ofthe question, however, we stand at a great disadvantage.The fighting efficiency of our land and sea forces is very con-siderably impaired by the prevalence of venereal diseaseamong officers and men. Dr. 0. Commenge, in a workrecently published in Paris entitled " Les Maladies Véné-riennes dans les Armées Anglaise, Française, et Russc,"points this out in a very conclusive manner. Dr. Com-

menge states that the proportion of soldiers who during thefour years 1889 to 1892 suffered from venereal disease inwhat he describes as the English army of the metropolisamounted to 217-1, 2124. 197-4, and 201-2 per 1000. Thusit may be said in round numbers that one-fifth of the troopsof. the British army are incapacitated for service during thecourse of the year and this solely through contracting someform of venereal disease. Judging from our own investiga-tions at Aldershot and elsewhere we may conclude thatthe case is not overdrawn. The figures vary somewhat,but, roughly speaking, a fifth is certainly no exaggeration,for at Aldershot we found that the proportion of soldierssuffering from venereal disease during the year was equal toa quarter of the entire force. The importance of these calcu-lations will at once be understood when compared with similarfigures given for the French and Russian armies. ForFrance we find that during the four years in question theprevalence of venereal disease in the army was equal to 45 8,43-8, 437, and 40 0 per 1000 soldiers. For Russia the figuresare 40-7, 43-0, 41-5, and 44 6 per 1000 soldiers. Thus it will beseen that venereal disease is four or five times more prevalentin the English than in the French or Russian armies. Forone French or Russian soldier who is incapacitated fromservice because he is suffering from venereal disease there arefour or five English soldiers similarly incapacitated. Puttingevery other consideration aside, surely, as a mere matter ofmilitary defence, this is an evil that should not be neglected.

In dealing with the Contagious Diseases Act it has beenshown that there is not to-day more venereal disease pre-valent in the British Army than there was previously tothe abolition of the Act, and there are figures that seemto confirm this theory. But we have, in answer, pointedout that the tone of the army has greatly improved, thata higher class of men now serve in the ranks, that greatcleanliness is observed by both the men and the women,and that there is a more general use of antiseptics and amore widespread knowledge of the precautions that can betaken. All this has contributed to prevent matters beingworse than they are, but surely they are bad enough. The

argument that the Contagious Diseases Acts were of nouse because the statistics of to-day show no very markedincrease in the prevalence of venereal diseases as comparedwith what existed many years ago when the Act was in forceloses all its significance when we put the British army by theside of the armies of France and Russia. In those countriesthe Contagious Diseases Act, or its equivalent, is in full

operation, and we see by the figures given the enormous

advantage that has resulted. But, just as we argue thatmatters would be even worse than they actually are in

England had not the general tone and education of the armyimproved of late years, so it may be urged that the generaltone of the continental armies is much superior to that ofthe English army. It may be maintained, with some

semblance of reason, that if there is so little venerealdisease in the French army it is because everybody must bea soldier and serve in the ranks ; therefore, the wholesocial tone of the army is much higher, since men ofelevated rank and the best education are to be foundserving as common soldiers. Apart from the verydoubtful question as to whether men of high rank are muchmore moral than men of low rank, these arguments as tothe high social tone of the French rank-and-file certainly donot apply to the Russian rank-and-file, and we find that ifthere is any difference there is even less venereal disease inthe Russian than in the French army. If we take an averageof the four years mentioned above the prevalence of venerealdisease among the English troops amounted to 207 per 1000per annum, among the French soldiers to 44-3 per 1000,and among the Russians to 42-4 per 1000. Thus it cannot besaid that it is the high social tone of the French army thatreduces the proportion of venereal disease, for we have stillless venereal disease among the unlettered peasants who inthe main constitute the Russian army.But to those persons who, by all manner of ingenious and

roundabout arguments, try to prove that the ContagiousDiseases Acts can do no good we may oppose the still more

significative experience acquired in the Italian army. Therethe law which enforced the medical examination of womenwas abrogated. The prevalence of venereal disease in theItalian army was about the same as in the French and Russianarmies. It varied from 4 to 5 per cent. per annum. No soonerwas the law abolished than the prevalence increased and in ashort time 10 per cent. of the troops contracted venerealdisease in the course of a year. After three years of trialthe Italian Government reversed its former decision andthe law regulating prostitution was re-established. Thisis far more conclusive than any argument that can bederived from the experience acquired in England. Asthe English law as only enforced in a few townsit was very defective in its operation, and it is not

surprising if its abolition failed to produce any very markedchange. In Italy, as in all other continental countries,the law did not apply merely to garrison towns but to theentire country. It, therefore, did produce very great andbeneficent results, as is shown by the fact that the prevalenceof venereal disease was simply doubled when the law wasabolished, and that after only three years of experience theGovernment and the country were glad to return to the oldand successful methods of dealing with this dread disease.As for England, we have argued the question so often andfrom so many points of view that we do not propose to againtravel over the well-worn ground on this occasion. We aresimply anxious, at a moment when the public mind is pre-occupied with the question of military armaments, to pointout that one of the most practical means of increasing thefighting strength of both army and navy would be to protectour soldiers and sailors from venereal disease in the samemanner as the armies and navies of continental countriesare protected.

THE ASSOCIATION OF FELLOWS OF THEROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

OF ENGLAND.

A MEETING of the committee of the Association of Fellowsof the Royal College of Surgeons of England was held onthe 10th inst. at 25, Grosvenor-street, W., Mr. GeorgePollock, President, being in the chair. The minutes of thelast meeting were read and confirmed.Mr. H. Percy Dunn, the honorary secretary, reported that he

had received a letter from Mr. Victor Horsley in reply to theinvitation of the committee that he should come forward inthe interests of the Association as a candidate for a seat onthe Council of the College at the forthcoming election. Mr.Victor Horsley replied in effect that the very nature of therequest made it difficult for him to refuse, but he was sodeeply committed to the furtherance and establishment ofthe principles of medical defence that he could not ventureto accept fresh and what would unquestionably be graveresponsibilities, and he hoped that the committee would

accept his very grateful thanks for their confidence and kind-ness, understanding that it was only other professional workwhich rendered him unable to serve, as he should greatlylike to do, the objects of the Association. Mr. Percy Dunnfurther reported that in accordance with the instructions of.the committee he had communicated with the provincialFellow whose name had been brought forward as a possiblecandidate to represent the Association at the College electionand that a reply had been received from him to the effectthat he would be willing to come forward if nominated bythe Association.At this stage a member of the committee mentioned that

he had just heard that the President of the Association, Mr.George Pollock, had intimated to Mr. Holmes that if it werethe desire of the committee that he should stand he wouldwillingly do so.On the motion of Dr. Robert Barnes and Mr. Gant it was

unanimously agreed that the offer of Mr. Pollock should beaccepted, and as it was felt to be undesirable to bringforward another candidate Mr. Percy Dunn was asked tocommunicate with the provincial Fellow above referred toupon this subject.

It was reported to the committee that Mr. Clement Lucasof Guy’s Hospital was a candidate for the Council, and thatin reply to certain questions addressed to him by Mr. Nortonhe had expresstd views almost entirely in unison with those

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advocated by the Association. The hope was therefore c

expressed that Mr. Clement Lucas would be successful in r

securing one of the vacant seats; especially as with the i

exception of Mr. Pollock he was the only candidate who was (

known to have stated his intention to support a reforming policy including the resolution passed in favour of giving (

direct representation to the Members of the College by solarge a majority of the Fellows at the last half-yearly (

meeting of Fellows held in January. It was decided to send (

a circular to the members of the Association in reference to the approaching elections, iA notice of motion which Mr. Holmes intended to send to

the secretary of the College for the meeting of the Fellows in July was read. The terms of the motion are the

following: "That the Council be requested to instruct itsrepresentative on the General Medical Council to forward inevery way which seems feasible the objects of the CivilRights Defence Committee in the case of Mr. R. B.Anderson."A resolution was passed instructing the honorary secretary

to ask Mr. Victor Horsley to second the motion of Mr. Holmes,and if he was unable to do so to secure the services of Mr.George Jackson of Plymouth for that purpose.

It was decided to hold another meeting of the committeebefore the election on July 2nd, and there being no otherbusiness the committee adjourned.

Public Health and Poor Law.LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

REPORTS OF INSPECTORS OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD.

On the Pollution of the River Dee and its Tributaries, by pDr. BRUCE Low.1-This is one of the most comprehensive preports which have been issued by the Medical Department of hthe Local Government Board on the question of river o

pollution, and it has the more interest and importance s

because the Dee forms in its lower reaches the water-supply a

for the city of Chester and because a Bill is now before dParliament for the erection of a dam across the river below Chester which, it is contended, will go materially to tdiminish the pollution to which the river is alleged to be t

subjected at the point of the water intake. For the moment, r

however, it will be convenient to refer to the pollutions that I

take place above the water intake. The Dee has its origin tin the overflow waters of Bala Lake, and, receiving a number of tributaries, it flows on for some ninety miles to the sea. In this course it touches on five separate counties and with 1its affluents comes into relation with no less than twenty- one sanitary districts within the watershed of the river. A description of these numerous districts is given by Dr. Low in especial relation with their influence on the water of the Dee,and the detailed attention given to this subject may be judgedof when it is stated that the report covers no less than forty-five folio pages of printed matter, together with plates andillustrations. Anything more disturbing to the consumers ofthe Dee water can hardly be conceived, for the sewage andother filth, including manufacturing refuse, of nearly theentire area find their way untreated into the main river or itsbranches. Llangollen is a gross offender, and photographicplates are inserted in the report to show how sewer outfalls,watercloset soil-pipes, privies, &c., all open out directly intothe bed of the river, the filth to be washed down in thedirection of Chester at the next flush. Summarisinghis description of Llangollen Dr. Low says : "In a

word, the liquid and solid excrement of nearly the entirepopulation of Llangollen goes at once to the Dee" ; -,and he recalls the fact that though the normal populationof the place may not exceed 3000 it must be some 5000 atleast when in the summer months the lodging-houses andthe hotels are full of visitors. Indeed, the story whichDr. Low sets out from the beginnings of the streams untilwithin a comparatively small distance of the point where theintake of the Chester Waterworks Company is placed is, ashe pithily and forcibly puts it, an " almost endless catalogue

1 Eyre and Spottiswoode, East Harding-street, E.G.; John Menziesand Co., Edinburgh and Glasgow; Hodges, Figgis, and Co., Limited,Dublin. 1895. Price 28. 3d.

)f contaminations of the Dee and its affiuents by the excre-ment of men and animals, by trade processes, and by otherimpurities." And he adds that amongst the principaloffenders against the law in this matter are many authoritieswho are entrusted by the Legislature with the maintenanceof public health. But this is not all. Chester itselfgrossly pollutes the river by its sewage effluent andotherwise below the city and the water intakes, some

of the stuff being spoken of as a torrent of foulsewage, black as ink, suddenly forced into and blacken-ing the river nearly half-way across. And the positionof these pollutions below the point of intake unfortunatelyaffords no safety, for at spring tides the water running inat the mouth of the river overtops the Dee weir from one twosix feet, carrying with it filth, dead dogs, &c., and the tidalinfluence is felt as far as twelve miles above Chester. Somehave contended that owing to the flow of fresh water fromabove-i.e, the water polluted as we have described-noreturning filth can get up to the intakes ; but a great effortis now being made to get Parliamentary powers to preventthis very pollution from below by the erection of anotherweir. It is to be hoped this action indicates that theauthorities are now more alive to the necessities of the casethan they were in 1892, when, on Dr. Ballard’s report, a com-mittee of the corporation decided that the water was of a"high standard of excellence," and yet in the same breathurged that power should be procured to stay the pollutions.But no stoppage of filth from below will get rid of the almostendless catalogue of pollutions from above, and no trustshould be placed on mere filtration when the source of thesupply is fouled with such a bulk of excremental and otherfilth as is here in question.On the Sanitary Circumstances and Administration of

Cowbridge, by Dr. BRUCE Low.-This inquiry was institutedon a complaint by the Glamorganshire County Council to theeffect that the corporation had not properly enforced the-provisions of the Public Health Act. Cowbridge is littlemore than a village, but unhappily it is a separate entity forpublic health purposes by reason of its being a borough. Thepopulation at the last census was only 1377, occupying 263houses, and it was more than usually populous at the timeowing to an influx of railway navvies. The public water-supply is from six sources. One seems good and wholesome,a second may be so, but the four others vary from beingderived from wells sunk close to cesspits or burial groundsdown to supplies that are actually offensive to the nose andto taste. Private wells hardly differ from the public ones asto risk of pollution. With respect to sewerage Dr. Lowreports that there is no proper system, that the town ditchreceives the contents of highway drains which have been

turned into sewers, and that cesspools soak into the sur-,

rounding soil, which is thereby greatly polluted. Privies andcesspits with overflows add to the mischief; or, where near

, the river bank, empty directly into the stream. A few earth-, closets, however, have been provided. There is no public. scavenging and some gross accumulations of refuse result.1The slaughter-hou-es and most of the common lodging-, houses are unsatisfactory, and by-laws are in some respects

not enforced. House accommodation is in many respects. bad, and formerly it was reported that much of thei "wretched house property" belonged directly or indirectlyf to town councillors, a statement now quoted by Dr. Low.1 Money has been spent in the little town, but it has not been3 devoted to its most pressing needs ; indeed, after discussing-s the administration and past history of the place in connexionwith the present faulty conditions Dr. Low arrives definitely, at the conclusion that the contention of the countyo council has been made out, and that the town council havee been especially neglectful in not providing a proper water-g supply and sewerage for their district. No other conclusiona was possible; indeed, the difficulty is rather to detecte what sanitary functions have been carried out by this; authority.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN thirty-three of the largest English towns 6571 birthsand 3473 deaths were registered during the week endingJune 13th. The anmial rate of mortality in these towns,which had been 17.6 and 17’8 per 1000 in the two precedingweeks, declined again last week to 16-7. In London therate was 16-5 per 1000, while it averaged 16 9 in the thirty-two provincial towns. The lowest rates in these towns were