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261 since I recommended him for appointment, and I feel his death keenly as a personal loss." " A tribute to Mr. Langley’s personal character appears in the Southern Nigerian Government Gazette Extraordinary, dated June 12th, which says : "Apart from the great services he has rendered to West Africa as Deputy Principal Medical Officer in Northern Nigeria, as Principal Medical Officer in the Colony of the Gold Coast, and recently as Principal Medical Officer of Southern Nigeria, he can well be said to have endeared himself by charm of manner and quality of mind to all with whom he came in contact, whether officials or non-officials, throughout West Africa." " He was buried with full military honours, the Deputy Governor of Southern Nigeria, in the absence in England of Sir Frederick Lugard, being present, with members of the executive and legislative councils. CABANIS DOMINIC FRANCIS DE MELLO, L.R.C.P., L. R. C. S. EDIN., L. F. P. S. GLASG., KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE MILITARY ORDER OF CONCEPTION. MANY friends in India and Portugal will hear witl regret of the death of Commander Cabanis de Mello, whicl took place somewhat suddenly at Bombay on June 12th Commander de Mello was educated at Bombay and at Glasgow, where he took the triple Scottish qualification ir 1888. At Glasgow, where he resided for some time, h( showed promise of a successful career, which he afterwards fulfilled. On returning to India, where his life was mostl3 spent, his keen interest in advanced methods of treatment led to his early and active advocacy of the methods of Pro. fessor Haffkine, and in the face of much opposition he succeeded in raising a sufficient sum of money to start plaguE inoculation in Poona. Professor Haffkine went to Poona at his request, and de Mello was himself the first to be inoculated, and kept a careful diary of the tempera- ture and sensations which resulted from the inoculation. He was especially interested in the prevention and treatment of rabies, and was a contributor to both English and Portuguese medical journals on this and other subjects of interest to Europeans resident in Portuguese India. He always showed that he was abreast of scientific thought, and was also popular among his patients, for he was con- siderate and gentle in manner and spared no pains for their welfare. For his services to the Portuguese settlement of Goa, in Bombay, Dom Carlos of Portugal created him a Knight Commander of the Military Order of Conception. He married in 1889 Annabel Macmillan, the eldest daughter of the late Thomas Macmillan, who survives him. THE LATE PROFESSOR GOTCH.-We are deferring until next week the full obituary notice of the late Professor Gotch, in deference to the wishes of the distinguished physiologist who has accepted our invitation to write it. DEATHS OF EMINENT FOREIGN MEDICAL MEN.-The deaths of the following eminent foreign medical men are announced :—Dr. Franz Samuely, extraordinary professor of medicine in the University of Freiburg, aged 33.-Dr. Paul Coyne, formerly professor of pathological anatomy in Bordeaux and corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Medicine.-Dr. Severin Lachapelle, professor of children’s diseases in Laval University, Montreal.-Dr. James Nelson Martin, formerly professor of midwifery and gynsecology in Ann Arbor University, Michigan. DONATIONS AND BEQUESTS.-Among the legacies left by the late Mr. J. S. Fry are the following : .625,000 to Bristol General Hospital, E5000 to Jubilee Convalescent Home, Bristol, 5000 to Bristol Royal Infirmary, 2000 to Bristol Hospital for Sick Children and Women, .B2000 to Bristol Voluntary Lock Hospital, 1000 to Bristol Dispen- sary, and .B2000 to Bristol Eye Hospital.-The late Mr. George John Fenwick, of Bournemouth, has left £50,000 to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, to be invested as a permanent endowment fund, and a legacy of 21000 for the general purposes of the infirmary. THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. EIGHTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING AT BRIGHTON. THE eighty-first annual meeting of the British Medical Association began on July 23rd at Brighton under the presidency of Dr. W. Ainslie Hollis, consulting physician to the Sussex County Hospital. The meeting proper was pre- ceded as usual by the annual meeting of the Representative Body, which lasted from July 18th to July 24th. On Tuesday, July 22nd, the annual general meeting of the Association was held in the Hove Town-hall, and the out- going President, Sir James Barr, handed over the badge of office to his successor, Dr. Ainslie Hollis, who delivered that evening the presidential address in the Dome. The British Medical Association last met at Brighton 27 years ago, and since that time the linked boroughs of Brighton and Hove and the Association have both grown con- siderably in size. The honorary local secretary of the 1886 meeting was Mr. T. Jenner Verrall, then in practice at Brighton, and now the popular chairman of the Representa- tive Body, whose re-election to that office for the ensuing year was announced on July 18th. The honorary local secretary of the present meeting, which is in progress as we go to press, is Dr. L. A. Parry. An attractive social programme has been arranged by the local executive, and in spite of the close proximity of the International Medical Congress in London the success of the Brighton meeting is already assured. ____ Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings were, as usual, set aside for the meetings of the scientific sections, which have been reduced this year in number from 20 to 16. Anatomy, Physiology, and Anæsthetics have been dropped, while Otology has been joined up again with Laryngology and Rhinology, and Bacteriology with Pathology. Climatology and Balneology, on the other hand, have been honoured with a joint section to themselves, in which the principal and apposite discussions are on Sea Bathing and on the International Aspects of British Health Resorts. The Addresses in Medicine and Surgery, which were delivered respectively on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in the Pavilion by Professor G. R. Murray, of Manchester, and Sir Berkeley Moynihan, of Leeds, are printed in full in the present issue of THE LANCET. The popular lecture will be delivered this evening (Friday, July 25th) in the Dome by Mr. Edmund J. Spitta, of Brighton. Reports of the proceedings of the scientific sections will appear in our next issue. At the annual general meeting on Tuesday afternoon, after a vote of thanks to the retiring president had been passed, it was officially announced that the Association would meet in 1914 at Aberdeen, and the President-Elect, Sir Alexander Ogston, K.C.V.O., was introduced. Sir Alexander Ogston is consulting surgeon to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Emeritus Regius Professor of Surgery in the University of Aberdeen. On Tuesday evening, before the president’s address, Dr. J. A. MacDonald, the chairman of Council, who has done admirable work for the Association, was presented with the gold medal of merit. Sir James Barr, in intro- ducing Dr. Ainslie Hollis to the presidential chair, said that he relinquished his office with reluctance. It had been a fighting year, and when there was any fighting he liked to be in the middle of it. He still adhered to his
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Page 1: THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

261

since I recommended him for appointment, and I feel hisdeath keenly as a personal loss."

"

A tribute to Mr. Langley’s personal character appears inthe Southern Nigerian Government Gazette Extraordinary,dated June 12th, which says : "Apart from the greatservices he has rendered to West Africa as Deputy PrincipalMedical Officer in Northern Nigeria, as Principal MedicalOfficer in the Colony of the Gold Coast, and recently asPrincipal Medical Officer of Southern Nigeria, he can

well be said to have endeared himself by charm ofmanner and quality of mind to all with whom he camein contact, whether officials or non-officials, throughoutWest Africa." "

He was buried with full military honours, the DeputyGovernor of Southern Nigeria, in the absence in England ofSir Frederick Lugard, being present, with members of theexecutive and legislative councils.

CABANIS DOMINIC FRANCIS DE MELLO, L.R.C.P.,L. R. C. S. EDIN., L. F. P. S. GLASG.,

KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE MILITARY ORDER OF CONCEPTION.

MANY friends in India and Portugal will hear witlregret of the death of Commander Cabanis de Mello, whicltook place somewhat suddenly at Bombay on June 12thCommander de Mello was educated at Bombay and at

Glasgow, where he took the triple Scottish qualification ir1888. At Glasgow, where he resided for some time, h(showed promise of a successful career, which he afterwardsfulfilled. On returning to India, where his life was mostl3spent, his keen interest in advanced methods of treatmentled to his early and active advocacy of the methods of Pro.fessor Haffkine, and in the face of much opposition hesucceeded in raising a sufficient sum of money to start plaguEinoculation in Poona. Professor Haffkine went to Poona athis request, and de Mello was himself the first to be

inoculated, and kept a careful diary of the tempera-ture and sensations which resulted from the inoculation.He was especially interested in the prevention and treatmentof rabies, and was a contributor to both English and

Portuguese medical journals on this and other subjects ofinterest to Europeans resident in Portuguese India. He

always showed that he was abreast of scientific thought,and was also popular among his patients, for he was con-siderate and gentle in manner and spared no pains for theirwelfare. For his services to the Portuguese settlement ofGoa, in Bombay, Dom Carlos of Portugal created him aKnight Commander of the Military Order of Conception.He married in 1889 Annabel Macmillan, the eldest

daughter of the late Thomas Macmillan, who surviveshim.

____

THE LATE PROFESSOR GOTCH.-We are deferring untilnext week the full obituary notice of the late ProfessorGotch, in deference to the wishes of the distinguishedphysiologist who has accepted our invitation to write it.

DEATHS OF EMINENT FOREIGN MEDICAL MEN.-Thedeaths of the following eminent foreign medical men areannounced :—Dr. Franz Samuely, extraordinary professor ofmedicine in the University of Freiburg, aged 33.-Dr. PaulCoyne, formerly professor of pathological anatomy inBordeaux and corresponding member of the Paris Academyof Medicine.-Dr. Severin Lachapelle, professor of children’sdiseases in Laval University, Montreal.-Dr. James NelsonMartin, formerly professor of midwifery and gynsecology inAnn Arbor University, Michigan.

DONATIONS AND BEQUESTS.-Among the legaciesleft by the late Mr. J. S. Fry are the following : .625,000 toBristol General Hospital, E5000 to Jubilee ConvalescentHome, Bristol, 5000 to Bristol Royal Infirmary, 2000 toBristol Hospital for Sick Children and Women, .B2000 toBristol Voluntary Lock Hospital, 1000 to Bristol Dispen-sary, and .B2000 to Bristol Eye Hospital.-The late Mr.George John Fenwick, of Bournemouth, has left £50,000 tothe Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, to be invested as apermanent endowment fund, and a legacy of 21000 for thegeneral purposes of the infirmary.

THE

BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.EIGHTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING AT BRIGHTON.

THE eighty-first annual meeting of the British Medical

Association began on July 23rd at Brighton under the

presidency of Dr. W. Ainslie Hollis, consulting physician tothe Sussex County Hospital. The meeting proper was pre-ceded as usual by the annual meeting of the RepresentativeBody, which lasted from July 18th to July 24th. On

Tuesday, July 22nd, the annual general meeting of the

Association was held in the Hove Town-hall, and the out-going President, Sir James Barr, handed over the badgeof office to his successor, Dr. Ainslie Hollis, who deliveredthat evening the presidential address in the Dome.

The British Medical Association last met at Brighton27 years ago, and since that time the linked boroughs ofBrighton and Hove and the Association have both grown con-siderably in size. The honorary local secretary of the 1886meeting was Mr. T. Jenner Verrall, then in practice atBrighton, and now the popular chairman of the Representa-tive Body, whose re-election to that office for the ensuingyear was announced on July 18th. The honorary localsecretary of the present meeting, which is in progress as wego to press, is Dr. L. A. Parry. An attractive social programmehas been arranged by the local executive, and in spite of theclose proximity of the International Medical Congress inLondon the success of the Brighton meeting is alreadyassured.

____

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings were, as

usual, set aside for the meetings of the scientific sections,which have been reduced this year in number from 20 to 16.

Anatomy, Physiology, and Anæsthetics have been dropped,while Otology has been joined up again with Laryngology andRhinology, and Bacteriology with Pathology. Climatologyand Balneology, on the other hand, have been honoured witha joint section to themselves, in which the principal andapposite discussions are on Sea Bathing and on the

International Aspects of British Health Resorts. The

Addresses in Medicine and Surgery, which were deliveredrespectively on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in thePavilion by Professor G. R. Murray, of Manchester, and SirBerkeley Moynihan, of Leeds, are printed in full in the

present issue of THE LANCET. The popular lecture willbe delivered this evening (Friday, July 25th) in the Domeby Mr. Edmund J. Spitta, of Brighton. Reports of the

proceedings of the scientific sections will appear in our nextissue.

__

At the annual general meeting on Tuesday afternoon, aftera vote of thanks to the retiring president had been passed,it was officially announced that the Association would meetin 1914 at Aberdeen, and the President-Elect, Sir AlexanderOgston, K.C.V.O., was introduced. Sir Alexander Ogston isconsulting surgeon to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary andEmeritus Regius Professor of Surgery in the University ofAberdeen. On Tuesday evening, before the president’saddress, Dr. J. A. MacDonald, the chairman of Council, whohas done admirable work for the Association, was presentedwith the gold medal of merit. Sir James Barr, in intro-

ducing Dr. Ainslie Hollis to the presidential chair, said

that he relinquished his office with reluctance. It had

been a fighting year, and when there was any fightinghe liked to be in the middle of it. He still adhered to his

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opinion, expressed 12 months ago, that the National Insur-ance Act was a fraud upon the public. The administration ofthe Act was costing seven or eight million pounds a year,while the medical profession, which did all the work, wasonly getting five or six millions. Dr. Hollis thanked theAssociation for the honour it had paid him in electing himPresident. The vote of thanks to the outgoing Presidentwas proposed by Mr. E. B. Turner and seconded by Mr.D. F. Todd.

____

On Wednesday the annual church service was held in the

afternoon at St. Peter’s Church. On the same morning aRoman Catholic service was held at 9 A.M. at St. John

Baptist’s Church. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday alarge number of social entertainments were provided by themunicipalities of Brighton and Hove and by individual hostsand hostesses. These will be referred to in our next issue.

By permission of the Council of the Association the summermeeting of the Irish Medical Schools and Graduates Asso-ciation was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship ofthe President, Dr. William Douglas, and on Thursday abreakfast was given by the National Temperance League;with Dr. Ainslie Hollis in the chair.

The annual exhibition of surgical instruments, drugs,special foods, and sanitary appliances was held in the CornExchange, which immediately adjoins the Dome. Someéclat was given to the proceedings on Tuesday morning bythe fact of the mayor attending to declare formally theopening of the exhibition. The mayor was accompanied bythe President, Dr. Hollis.

-

The building was admirably adapted for the purpose, andafforded the exhibitors a full opportunity of displaying.theirexhibits to the best advantage. There was ample room,and although the exhibition compared with recent yearswas, in fact, a small one it was interesting and wellattended. It was generally admitted that the proximity ofthe exhibition announced to be held in connexion with

the International Medical Congress militated against theexhibition at Brighton.

-

The exhibits at Brighton, however, proved of very generalinterest, judging from the quite good attendance of the

visitors. The proximity of the building to the Dome, inwhich were being held meetings of the first importance tothe medical profession, was one reason of this satisfactoryattendance.

____

Surgical instruments and appliances appeared to claim asmuch attention as anything else, several of the leadingmakers being represented, their exhibits affording a reallyexcellent review of surgical advances. Aseptic furniture,sterilising tanks, and anaesthetic apparatus formed an

interesting section in this division. Beyond some apparatusused in radiant heat and light treatment, electrothera-

peutic appliances found practically no exponents. X rayand high-frequency apparatus and treatment by ionto-

phoresic methods form generally an attraction to thevisitors at this annual exhibition, but in regard to thisdepartment they were on this occasion sent empty away.On the other hand, there was an interesting demonstration ofdrugs, and more particularly of the animal substances

upon the use of which organotherapy is founded. Prepara-tions containing hormones afforded an example, while treat-ment by vaccines, sera, and so forth, was well illustrated ina series of preparations evidencing strict scientific attention.Fine chemicals and elegant pharmaceutical combinations,and ingenious forms for administration, made up an instruc-tive section of the exhibits. Amongst special foods the

favourites appeared to be those containing milk substances.Lastly, there was quite a library of medical science

represented at the stalls of several well-known medical

publishers. -

THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.

THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF BRIGHTON.

Dr. Ainslie Hollis, in his interesting Presidential Addressbefore the British Medical Association at Brighton, followingup the example set at Carlisle in 1896 by Dr. Henry Barnes,and pursued last year at Liverpool by Dr. John Elliott, tookhis audience on what may be called a

" personally conductedtour " through the medical history of Brighton and its neigh-bourhood down the ages. After a mere reference to thePilt Down skull, which suggests that these southern acreswere peopled hundreds of thousands of years ago, Dr. Hollistook his starting point in comparatively modern times-theNeolithic era. In view of the known cleverness of the stone

age surgeon, he suggested the probability of many of the" pygmy flints " found on the Weald, with their sharp edgesand needle-like points, having been used for trepanning,blooding, tattooing, or shaving. He called attention to tworelics of the bronze age now in the local museum, as closelyresembling a surgical director and scraper respectively.

Recalling Pliny’s assertion that the Roman people got onfor 600 years without doctors, Dr. Hollis stated his inabilityto find evidences of the practice of medicine in that areaduring the Roman occupation or for centuries subsequently.In the Norman period the practice of medicine was mainly inthe hands of the monks. He described the "fermorie,"orinfirmary, of the rich Cluniac Priory of St. Pancras at Lewes,with its beds arranged against the walls for the reception ofthe sick and infirm, as well as for those who had been bled ;and in illustration of the state of hygiene in the fourteenthcentury he described its monastic latrine, consisting ofapertures in the wall over an open drain outside, into whichthe dejecta fell and were carried off by a culvert into theriver. The surgery of the age he described as consistingmainly of "blooding, and contrasted it depreciatively withthe extensive operations and well-healed fractures, extantevidences of which testify to the daring and success ofthe surgeons of the Neolithic age. The dissolution ofthe monasteries under Henry VIII., like all sweepingchanges in the social life of a people, probablyentailed much misery on the sick and impotent poor.There was a dearth of qualified medical men-men with anOxford or Cambridge degree or holding the Bishop’s licence-and charlatans abounded. Many statutory privileges, suchas exemption from jury service and bearing arms, improvedsocial position, and the right to sue illegal practitioners,were accorded to the medical profession, but remainedwithout effect in increasing its numbers and quality; andthe refusal of the " companie and felowship of surgeonsof London " to look after the sick poor gratuitously ledto an Act in 1542 reducing those privileges andlegalising unqualified practice to a limited degree. In1580 Brighthelmston had one medical man, Dr. Mathews,whose terms for confinements were at Portslade and Rotting-dean, 5s. ; at Blatchington, 3s. 6d. and anywhere in thetown of Brighthelmston, 2s. 6d. In an unpublished letterto King Henry VIII., now in the British Museum, thatmonarch is advised not to come to Brighton as plague wasthen raging there, but Dr. Hollis was unable to find con-firmatory evidence of this alleged visitation. A reference to,Charles IL’s one night stay in Brighton gives occasion for aquotation from that able surgeon, Richard Wiseman, who,when referring to that monarch’s reputation for curing theking’s evil by touching, states: "I myself have been a

frequent eye witness of many hundreds of cures performedby His Majesty’s Touch alone : without any assistance of

chirurgery : and those many of them, such as had tired outthe endeavours of able chirurgeons before theycame thither."Manual training for children was insisted on by themagistrates under an Order in Council at Whitehall,June 11th, 1630. The Brighton divisional area in theseventeenth century returned two medical men to Parlia-ment : Dr. Nicholas Barbon for Bramber in 1690 and 1695,and Dr. William Quartermain for Shoreham in 1666. Amongthe noteworthy events of the eighteenth century may be

1 Nat. Hist., xxix., c. 5.

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mentioned’ the publication in 1749 in the Lewes Journal ofthe "Adventures of Roderick Random" by Dr. Tobias George- SmoMett, and the " discovery " of Brighton as a healthresort in 1750, by Dr. Richard Russel, physician to

.St. Thomas’s Hospital, who advocated the drinking ofsea water in struma, constipation, renal calculus, "scirrhus,"

"

,and other diseases. His contemporary, Dr. Speed, however,.attributed Russel’s results to " the prudent use of otherselect medicines rather than to sea water. But in any.event Dr. Russel’s popularity apparently inaugurated thenow long reign of Brighton as the queen of wateringplaces. The first guide book to Brighton, entitled A ShortHistory of Brighthelmston," was written by Dr. AnthonyRelhan, who was one of the first scientifically to analyse the"bills of mortality," and who demonstrated conclusivelythat Brighton was then-the middle of the eighteenthcentury—one of the healthiest towns in England. A quarrelwith the King’s and Queen’s College of Physicians of Dublin,.about 1758, of which he was president, due to Relhan’s,having prescribed a "quack medicine "-to wit, James’spowder-caused him to leave Ireland and settle in London,whence he came to Brighton. The use of sea water and ofsea bathing in various disorders was again stimulated by apamphlet written by Dr. Awsiter in 1768. Dr. Hollis gavesome interesting details about the prevalence of rabies inthis area during the latter half of the eighteenth century. Itwas not confined to dogs, for kine and swine, as well asboth children and adults, were affected. Some curious casesof alleged maternal impression" were cited. The useful-ness of this once firmly held doctrine is demonstrated in a- case in which a, white woman who gave birth to a black childwas enabled to dispel her spouse’s misgivings by the con-vincing explanation that during her pregnancy she had hadan overpowering longing for charcoal. - -

By this time surgery had advanced considerably, for tre-phining and abdominal operations were undertaken by thelocal doctors, but- bleeding was there, as everywhere, thepièce de rcsistanee of therapy. Several outbreaks of small-

pox occurred in the latter part of the eighteenth century,either despite, or because of, the introduction of inoculationinto England by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in 1721. Itwas customary for doctors to receive paying patients intotheir houses to be "conducted through the distemper."A Ditchling surgeon advertised in the Lerves Journal that"he receives patients for the operation for 4 guineas...... ;if they find their own wine, tea, and sugar, fee 3½ guineas."Ague was at that time endemic in certain districts ofSussex, the mudflats and lagoons at the mouths of the smalltidal rivers and bournes along the coast being ideal breedingplaces for gnats and mosquitoes. The death-rates were veryhigh; the proportion of burials to christenings reaching insome cases almost 2 to 1. This was largely attributableto the insanitary and poverty-stricken social conditions underwhich the bulk of the people lived. At the commencementof the nineteenth century Brighton became the happy hunting ground of medical charlatans. Mr. Nathan Smith, inventor, patentee, and operator of an air-pump for extract-ing gout-perhaps an empirical form of Bier’s hyperæmia.-lived in Artillery-place in 1799. Mr. Teddy Palmer, a ]

Brighton blacksmith, relieved the Regent of a toothache at a Christmas party in four minutes by his magic fumigatingprocess. Then, as now, the public seemed to consider it t

only natural for the medical profession to give theirvaluable services to the poor for nothing, for among rother instances Dr. Bankhead’s offer to attend the poor tgratuitously was accepted by the Brighton church- twardens in 1803. "Even then," said Dr. Hollis, I I free medical advice and attendance were no longer regarded by tthe laity as a charitable subvention, but rather as a legaJ right and a popular necessity. Since those days the purview tof wealthy benevolence has not materially changed. The tsame exoteric estimate of the value of a doctor’s work still s

seemingly permeates recent legislative enactments." Thelongevity of Sussex labourers, notwithstanding their in- c

sanitary environment and coarse food, is mentioned, as alsothe high death-rate among children and the fatality of infectious diseases. Coming to the nineteenth century Dr. Hollis directed his attention to the introduction of vaccina- tion and to its enthusiastic advocate, Dr. Matthew John Tierney, who came to Brighton in 1802, became Physician in OJ

Ordinary to the Prince of Wales in 1809, was knighted abouttdaat time, and lived to be Physician in Ordinary to King

George IV. and King William IV. Dr. Badcock, who con-firmed Ceely’s well-known experiments, was also a Brightonpractitioner, while Thomas Addison and William Addisonboth lived there. Dr. Hollis concluded his interestingaddress with a reference to the late Dr. William Withers

Moore, who was president of the Association at its last

meeting in Brighton in 1886.

THE ANNUAL REPRESENTATIVE MEETING.

The annual meeting of the Representative Body began onFriday morning, July 18th, under the chairmanship of Mr.T. JENNER VERRALL. The Representative meeting on thisoccasion had among its members two medical women, Dr.

Mary Bell, of Norwich, and Dr. Mina Dobbie, of Hampstead.The State Sickness Insurance Committee has already forsome time past had the assistance of Dr. Constance Longand Dr. Mary Ivens ; but we believe that until nowno woman practitioner has belonged to the RepresentativeBody of the Association. During the morning session, whichwas mainly devoted to the internal affairs of the Association,the Mayor of Hove attended for a short time and offered awelcome to the members on behalf of the corporation andcitizens. Proposals for economy in reporting RepresentativeMeetings were made by the treasurer, Dr. Edwin Rayner, andcarried. With regard to the suggested formation of a newcompany to replace the existing constitution, the chairmanof the organisation committee, Mr. F. C. Larkin, proposedthat the Association should not at present proceed furtherwith the matter, and this was agreed to. The questionof the ieorgariisation of the Association was discussedat some length, and various schemes for the reform of thepresent constitution, notably that of the MetropolitanCounties Branch Council, were brought forward and debated.Proposals to reduce the size of the Representative Body wereconsidered, but none were found acceptable. The generalfeeling of the members was that they should constitute n,

deliberative assembly and not merely a meeting of delegatestied by the instructions of their constituencies.On Saturday the ordinary business before the meeting was

twice disturbed by the introduction of I matters of urgency."The first matter arose out of an invitation which had beensent to Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Masterman and othersto attend a discussion on July 25th, in the section ofmedical sociology, on Hospitals in Relation to the State, thePublic, and the Medical Profession. The RepresentativeMeeting by a very large majority passed a resolution express-ing its disapproval of "any action which might seem tocondone the methods used by the Government in bringingthe Insurance Act into operation."The second matter was Mr. Godfrey Locker-Lampson’s

proposed amendment to the National Insurance Act Amend-ing Bill. This was brought to the notice of the meeting byDr. J. A. MACDONALD, chairman of the Council, in a briefbut impressive speech. The amendment tabled in the Houseof Commons on July 15th by the Unionist Member forSalisbury runs as follows :-Where in any town or district a Approved Society proves to the

satisfaction of the Commissioners that it can provide adequate medicalbenefit for its members and that it has made arrangements with one ormore resident local medical practitioners to that end, it shall be atliberty to administer such benefit, and the provisions of the principalAct shall be varied accordingly, but so, however, that any member ofsuch society shall be at liberty to take medical benefit as provided bythe principal Act.

Dr. MACDoNALD characterised this as the most dangerousmove which had as yet been made against the interests ofthe medical profession. It was an insidious attempt to;hrow medical men back into the hands of the FriendlySocieties, and it demanded the immediate and serious atten-tion of the meeting. Mr. E. B. TURNER, deputy chairman)f Representative Meetings, thereupon proposed a resolu-;ion of protest in an emphatic speech in which he declaredhat it was now evident that both political parties wouldsacrifice the medical profession for the sake of votes.The motion was seconded by Mr. E. H. WILLOCK and

:arried unanimously in the following form :-That this meeting strongly protests against the amendment to the

rational Insurance Act, proposed by Mr. G. Locker-Lampson, havingor its object the transference of the administration of medical benefito Approved Societies, which would be a distinct breach of faithetween Parliament and the medical profession, and will, in thenterests of the public and the profession, offer the most strenuouspposition to this or any other attempt of the kind.

It was decided that copies of this resolution should beent to the Prime Minister, to the leaders of the Opposition

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and of the Irish and Labour Parties, to every member of theGrand Committee, and to the press agencies. Proceedingwith the ordinary business the Representative Body passedresolutions indicating the necessity for amendment of theNational Insurance Act in the following respects :-

1. That the proviso to Clause 2 (2) of the Amending Bill, limiting theright of persons over 65 (at the time of entering into Insurance) tomedical benefit after 70 to those who had paid over 50 weekly contri-butions be deleted.

2. That persons holding certificates of exemption under Section 4 (4)shall be required to make their own arrangements for medical benefit.

3. To authorise a charge to the insured person for night calls.4. That an insured person shall not be entitled to require medical

attendance from any medical practitioner other than the practitioneron whose list he is, as, for instance, in respect of the administration ofa general anaesthetic or assistance at an operation.

5. That an insured person shall not be entitled to medical attendanceor treatment for any disease or disablement caused by his own miscon-duct other than venereal diseases.

6. That the term "income from all sources" shall include sumsreceived by way of allowance, annuity, or otherwise, as, for instance,by the son of a wealthy father.

7. That representatives of the medical profession be included in thecommittee of the Seamen’s National Insurance Society, and that theproportion shall be one-tenth.

8. That the representation of insured persons on Insurance Committeesbe two-fifths, in place of three-fifths.

A motion to insist on the exclusion of venereal diseasesfrom medical benefit produced a lively debate, but, as indi-cated above, this was defeated.The main topic before the Representative Body on Monday

was a proposal, vigorously supported by certain members,inviting the meeting to declare itself favourable to the forma-tion of a union, registered under the Trade Union Acts, of suchmedical practitioners as might desire to join together in thisway for the defence of their interests. As was to be expected,this suggestion of a medical trade union, under the ægis ofthe British Medical Association, aroused keen opposition,although a number of members supported it with equal zeal.After both sides had been given a full hearing the debate wasclosured at 6 P.M., and a card vote was demanded and taken.As a result the proposal was defeated by 11,408 votes to 5259.Had the voting been taken by roll call the motion would havebeen rejected by a rather smaller, though sufficient, majority.The earlier part of the morning session on Monday was given upto other matters in connexion with the Insurance Act andwith impending future legislation. The meeting approved anamendment to be proposed to the Amending Bill to governthe conditions under which insured persons should be allowedto make their own arrangements. The meeting then con-sidered a report of the Council on the provision of medicalattendance and treatment of persons to whom the InsuranceAct does not at present apply, and a discussion took place,during which the following principles were laid down: (1)The payment for uninsured persons should be equivalent tothat paid in respect of insured persons ; (2) the income limitshould be £104 per annum ; (3) there should be free choiceof doctor by patient and of patient by doctor. It. was,however, recognised that the conditions existing in certainareas might render it necessary to sanction certain variationsin these requirements. The meeting also expressed dis-

approval of setting up any contract system for attendanceon midwifery cases. It was further resolved that the medical

representation on District Insurance Committees ought notto be less than the proportion on County InsuranceCommittees.On Tuesday the debate on the organisation of the Associa-

tion was continued. Monday’s rejection of the trade unionproposal was endorsed by a further vote, and it was decidedto set up a standing committee of the Association, to becalled the Insurance Act Committee, which should replacethe State Sickness Insurance Committee. With regard tothe proposed special fund for the organisation and protectionof the profession, it was agreed that no decisive action shouldbe taken by the Representative Body until the schemehas been again submitted to the Divisions, and that aspecial Representative Meeting should be called to considerthe matter. In view of the probable future extension of thescope of the National Insurance Act, the meeting resolvedthat it was desirable that the British Medical Associationshould be ready with its policy as to what a National HealthInsurance Act should be, not merely from the point of viewof the interests of the profession, but also from that of

public health and the advancement of medical science. A

proposal that in future the entire Council of the Associa-tion (except colonial members) should be elected by theRepresentative Body was lost. The question of finance

was anxiously considered, and it was resolved that the timehad arrived when the annual subscription to the Associationshould be raised to e2 2s. per annum for all except foreignand colonial members. The method of determining anddeclaring the policy of the Association upon matters ofmoment was discussed at some length, and resolutions werepassed which will necessitate alterations in the regulationsof the Association. Much business, chiefly of a formalkind, was got through before the members adjourned at6.30 P.M. The Representative Meeting concluded on

Wednesday, after a short session.

Medical News.ANÆSTHETICS AT THE INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL

CONGRESS.-An extremely interesting programme has beenarranged for discussions and papers dealing with generalanoesthesia, local- analgesia, and spinal anæsthesia at theInternational Medical Congress. This will comprise suchrecent work as intratracheal and intravenous and colonicetherisation, anoci-association, hedonal anaesthesia, post-anaesthetic toxaemias, and many subjects which are at

present prominently before anæsthetists. Many distinguished" I rapporteurs

" have promised to open the discussions,,and the executive of the subsection are most anxiousthat British and Irish anæsthetists shall add their quotato the subsection’s work. Patriotism as well as a desireto keep abreast of the science and art which theystudy and practise will no doubt prove incentives to allanæsthetists to join the Congress and help those who havebeen at great pains to make the subsection a success. A

special museum for apparatus for producing anesthesia isarranged, and it is hoped that all those who have apparatuswhose merit or novelty is likely to prove interesting will sendit for exhibition. The President is Dr. Dudley W. Buxton,53, New Cavendish-street, London, W., and the honorarysecretaries in London (Dr. Herbert Scharlieb, 49, Wimpole-street, W.) and in Edinburgh (Dr. J. W. Struthers, 2, Chester-street, Edinburgh) will supply programmes and furtherinformation.

EXAMINING BOARD IN ENGLAND BY THE ROYALCOLLEGES OF PHYSICIANS OF LONDON AND SURGEONS OFENGLAND.-At the First Professional Examination heldon July 15th-19th, the following candidates were approvedin the subjects specified below:-

Chemistry an Physics.-Robert Geoffrey Addenbrooke, BirminghamUniversity; Gerald Arthur Augustine Bradnack, Guy’s Hospital;Charles Herbert Carroll, London Hospital; Nai Chena, MiddlesexHospital; John Rudolph Cox, Guy’s Hospital; Allan Robert Crane,London Hospital; Gerald Hinds Duffield, King Edward VI.’s sGrammar School, Stourbridge ; Frederick Knowles Escrittand Wyndham Brookes Farrington, Guy’s Hospital; EvelynHope Johnson, Manchester University; Walter Harry Maudling,Charing Cross Hospital and King’s College ; Kevin Richard O’Brien,London Hospital; Alfred Pain, Birkbeck College; Ronald EricRampling, St. Thomas’s Hospital ; Florence Mildred Rhodes, LondonSchool of Medicine for Women; Alan Harvey Richardson, GuyRooker, and Henry Laurence Slaughter, St. Thomas’s Hospital;Robert Masters Somerset, Sheffield University; Stuart WalterSouthwood, Birkbeck College; John Alcwyn Stephens, Hudders-field Technical College ; Thomas Neville Strange, Brighton Muni-cipal Technical College ; Abbass Hilmy Talaat, Middlesex Hospital;John Norman Terry, St. Thomas’s Hospital; Graham McKimThomas, Swansea Technical College; Francis Eaton Gordon Watson,St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; and Dudley Francis Wilson, LondonHospital.

Chemistry.-Harold Charles Clifford-Smith, Charing Cross Hospital;Horace Silva Drabble, Sheffield University; Robert Erskine-Gray,South-Western Polytechnic ; Frederick Hunter Hyland, Leeds

University; Mohammed Ibrahim, Middlesex Hospital; LillianLowenstein, London School of Medicine for Women; RalphKenneth Marwood, University College; Khurshedjee Jamsedjee Rustomjee, Liverpool University; and Ahmad Hussein Samy, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

Physics.-William Blair Spence Andrew, Royal Dental Hospital; ’

Jane Crawford, Birkbeck College; Bryan Osmond Dewes. Poly- technic Institute; Noel Edward Fasken, Guy’s Hospital; Edward Francis Gillett, St. Mary’s Hospital; Hussein Amin Hathout, ’

Cairo; Christopher Hugh Macklin, Felsted School; Hugh Morris-Jones, St. Mungo’s College, Glasgow ; Percival Randall, UniversityCollege, Cardiff ; Douglas Rhys Thomas, St. Bartholomew’s Hos-pital ; Ian Murray Thomson, Guy’s Hospital; and Graham ArthurOsborne White, University College, Cardiff.

Biology.-Robert Geoffrey Addenbrooke, Birmingham University;Norman John Ainsworth, Birkbeck College; Herbert ClaudeApperly, South-Western Polytechnic; Harry Barlow, LiverpoolUniversity; Oswald Bastable, Leeds University; Frank Blake,St. George’s Hospital and King’s College; John Rudolph Coxand Francis William Crook, Guy’s Hospital; Edward FrancisGillett, St. Mary’s Hospital; Philip Green and Frank James


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