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380 g. of dog biscuit contains 63 g. of protein, it mightbe assumed that the biscuits by themselves would 1constitute a complete food, at least for adult dogs, ibut experience has shown us that excellent health is r

maintained when the above quantity of horse-flesh 1is added to the biscuits. It is also to be assumed that (

a proportion of the mutton greaves or " cracklings " J

is not digested by the dog, but at the same time it (

will serve a useful purpose by supplying bulk to the 1ration and to- some extent take the place of the bones Iand more or less indigestible skin, some of which is,no doubt, consumed by the dog in its natural state. (The albuminoid ratio of Dechambre’s ration for the the resting dog of 27 kilos is 1 to 6 ; that of this College, icalculated from the chemical analysis, is 1 to 2.7 (the <

albuminoid ratio of bitch’s milk is 1 to 2-2.It is not suggested that either the ration of i

Dechambre or that in use here would be suitable fornursing bitches or growing pups. To make the diet 1complete, bones should be added and the best for Ithis purpose are soft calf bones or the rib bones of ilambs, which are easily masticated and digested. 1

Rabbit, game, and poultry bones are to be avoided I

owing to their splintery nature and the frequency Iwith which they cause serious intestinal lacerations. IThough under more natural conditions, such as onfarms, dogs possess the capacity to digest these Isplintery bones without apparently doing them anyharm, house-dogs certainly have little power to do so.Some bulky food that is not so readily digested asflesh is an essential constituent of a maintenanceration for the dog, otherwise the excretion of wasteproducts is delayed. Bones, furthermore, are verydesirable in order to stiffen and harden the faecesand thus cause evacuation of the anal glands whenthe rectum is emptied.

In regard to the utilisation of raw flesh as partof the normal healthy dog’s ration, this would notseem to be necessary. On the other hand, clinicalexperience has shown us that many cases of eczemain the dog are cured simply by making a completechange in the diet, withholding all carbonaceous foodand giving raw flesh only. The potato above allfoods seems to give the worst results, and in the opinionof many of us is responsible for a considerable amountof intestinal irritation and cutaneous lesions of aneczematous nature. Excessive feeding with porridgeto house-dogs deprived of sufficient exercise also seemsto be accountable for some of these troublesomeconditions.

1. The Nutrition of Farm Animals. H. P. Armsby. New York.1917.

2. The Maintenance Requirements of Horses. R. G. Linton.Veterinary Journal, April, 1917.

3. Animal Nutrition. T. B. Wood. Cambridge, 1924.4. Alimentation du chien par la methode des facteurs du

rationnement. Recueil Med. Vet., xcv., Nos. 10 and 12,May and June, 1919, 220.

THE OXFORD OPHTHALMOLOGICALCONGRESS.

THE fifteenth annual meeting of the Oxford Ophthal-mological Congress took place in the Department ofHuman Anatomy, Keble College, on July 3rd, 4th,and 5th, and during the greater part of the sessionwas presided over by the llaster, Sir AndersonCritchett.

Dr. E. Landolt (Paris) initiated a discussion on’theGeneral Principles of the Treatment of COrl’l.!C1’gent

Concomitant Strabismus.

He said that strabismus meant a vicious relativedirection of the two eyes. To secure normal sightthe visual lines of the two eyes should be directedsimultaneously upon the point which at the momentthe person was interested in ; the accomplishment ofthis meant the use of binocular vision. It demanded,therefore, that the image of the object being looked

at be fornxed at the same moment on both foveae.When binocular vision was not operative in anindividual, the cause might be a central one, but inmost cases it was due to visual impairment of one ofthe eyes. The absence of binocular vision was the chiefcause of the occurrence of concomitant strabismus.In concomitant strabismus the visual lines crossedeither beyond or within the point fixed by one ofthe eyes. In the former event the squint was diver-gent (relative or absolute), in the latter it was con-vergent. When binocular vision was not in operationother influences played a part in determining therelative direction of the two eyes. The first importantinfluence was the direction of the eyes in a state ofabsolute rest, which was a divergent direction ; hencea divergent squint was a passive squint. The secondinfluence was an excessive stimulus to convergence,and therefore this was an active squint, and it mightbe produced by some special alteration of the nervecentres. It was mostly due, however, to the relation-ship between convergence and accommodation, anunusual effort to accommodate calling forth excessiveconvergence. As convergence depended only on thedistance of the fixed point, it was the same for alleyes ; but accommodation depended also upon therefraction of the eyes. Eyes whose refraction wasdefective, especially those which were hypermetropic,had to provide a greater amount of accommodationthan of convergence, and when binocular vision wasnot operative the convergence followed the impulseof the accommodation. One eye saw the objectdistinctly, and the excess of convergence was manifestonly in the other eye.With regard to treatment, the first aim should be

to restore binocular vision. This could be done bycorrecting the optical errors, and particularly theerrors of the deviating eye, and in the second place,by isolated visual exercises of this eye and orthopticexercises of both eyes. Convergent squint requiredthat the spasm of accommodation should be subdued,by such means as the use of mydriatics, the wearingof convex glasses, and giving the eyes rest. Iforthoptic treatment failed, surgery would cure thesquint-i.e., advancement of the external recti withresection of the extremity of the muscles. He didnot advocate surgery to replace the other means,but to complete them.

Dr. E. Thomson devoted his contribution mainlyto setting out the measures to be taken for the pre-vention of the development of the squint. Afterstrabismus had commenced optical correction shouldbe carried out at the earliest possible moment. Heeminded members of the cadaveric position of theeyes, their physiological position, and comparedthese with the position taken up by them instrabismus. He also discussed amblyopia in relationto squint and its incidence and course in children.The Master, in expressing his high appreciation of

both contributions, said he fully recognised themerits of advancement over the former method, ofwhich latter his father was the originator.

Dr. De Schweinitz agreed in the main with Dr.Landolt’s contentions. He gave some interestingdetails of his methods in his Philadelphia clinic.

Mr. T. Harrison Butler said that during the last18 months he had made muscle recession com-

bined with advancement his sole operation. Thefailures were of two kinds-failure to correct con-vergence, and failure to correct divergence. He wasreferring only to squints of 30&deg; and more. Oneof the causes of failure after operation was that thepowerful internal rectus was continually pullingagainst the sutures. By detaching the muscle andattaching it to the sclera 4 mm. back the operationwas half done, and his results had been much better.He commented on the prevalence of squint amongthe children of the poor, in contrast with that in thechildren of the better classes. .

.

Dr. Beatson Hird gave some experiences of hiswork as ophthalmic surgeon to the City of BirminghamEducation Committee. He said the cases of squint

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were all seen by him, carefully examined, and keptunder periodic examination; 40 per cent. of thechildren referred to him in this capacity had squint.His aim was to cure refractive errors, and eitherprevent or cure amblyopia and straighten the opticaxes. A printed leaflet of instructions to parentsand guardians was distributed, and it had been aconsiderable help in the work. If the eyes could begot straight he believed many of the cases wouldfuse well of themselves. He did not hesitate to

Ioperate where it was required, and he considered Ithat advancement was by far the best operation.

I

In some cases, those which squinted from a veryearly age, he considered there was an anatomicalpeculiarity which accounted for it.

Mr. Ernest Clarke reiterated his views on thesubject, calling special attention to the possible Isetiology and the necessity of quite early treatment. i

Mr. Claude Worth expressed his entire agreement Iwith all the contentions Dr. Landolt had advanced, Iand gratefully acknowledged his teaching in regardto advancement. Gradually he had himself givenup tenotomy. He had never seen the externalocular muscle abnormally strong, but it might bemuch weaker than usual. He regarded the amblyopiaaccompanying squint as the most important subjectof all. It was in most cases acquired. The occlu-sion treatment was useless unless it was thorough ;and there must be no possible avenue for sight bythe side of the bandage, or the effort would bevalueless.

Mr. Angus MacGillivray (Dundee) said his ownidea of the origin of the amblyopia of squint was,that one eye had not been educated, and he believedthat an infant’s eyes were blind eyes. In the courseof his duties in connexion with recruiting at thetime of the war he found a preponderant proportionof blind eyes and squinting eyes among the denizensof towns, and only a small number among thoseengaged in agricultural occupations.

Dr. Stewart Barrie and Dr. Marion Gilchrist(Glasgow) also spoke.The Doyne Memorial Lecture was delivered by

Mr. Harrison Butler, who spoke on Focal Illumina-tion of the Eye, with special reference to the clinicaluse of the Gullstrand slit-lamp.At the Saturday morning session the subject for

discussion was

Ophthalmology from a Legal Aspect.Mr. H. H. Joy, K.C., opened the debate, pointing

out the present position of ophthalmic industrialdiseases under the Workmen’s Compensation Act.He drew attention to a very instructive case in thisconnexion. An excellent workman with two eyeshad an accident to one, the sight of which had beenlost some time before. No one but himself hadknown that only one eye was of use. The accidentdrew attention to the fact that he was a one-eyedman. He recovered from the injury to the useless Ieye and was, physically and industrially, as good Ia man as before. But, from the point of view ofthe Act, his ability to earn wages-really meaning theopportunity to earn adequate wages-was materiallylessened, and he was turned down because he wasa one-eyed man. The House of Lords reversed allthe decisions of the Courts below, and said he wasentitled to compensation because it was in conse-quence of the accident that he could not thereafterearn wages. Mr. Joy went in detail into the legalaspect of many points in the Act, and discussed thequestion from the same standpoint as to whetherone attack of miner’s nystagmus predisposed to afurther attack, and whether, therefore, one attacklowered the man’s industrial value. A number ofopinions quoted showed an inclination to acceptthat view.The questions raised were discussed by Mr. HarrisonButler, Dr. C. Harford, Dr. A. Greene, Mr. Bernard B

Cridland, Col. A. H. Tubby, Mr. R. Coulter, Dr. I

R. Jaques, Mr. G. H. Pooley, Dr. Park Lewis,Dr. A. S. Percival, Mr. MacGillivray, and Mr. T. L.Llewellyn.

Demonstrations.I During the meetings an adjoining room containeda very full museum of exhibits, and on Friday anumber of demonstrations were given. Dr. GeorgeYoung discussed recent observations on doublesclerectomy by trephining without communicationwith the anterior chamber. Dr. Rayner D. Battenshowed : (1) Ophthalmoscopic drawings with theepidiascope illustrating the value of collective draw-ings shown in cardio-vascular diseases, maculardiseases, cerebro-macular disease, congenital diseases,and various unclassified diseases ; (2) models of fundusconditions ; (3) the hydropbthalmoscope ; (4) orbitalrigid spectacles with ptosis props ; (5) fixation forkfor the insertion of sutures in advancements ; (6)tension experiments with balloons. Dr. ThomsonHenderson showed: (1 r sections illustrating variouspathological conditions; (2) sections illustratingevolution of ciliary muscle in mammalia.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Medical Register and the Irish Free State.THERE has been, as far as is known, no develop.

ment in the situation as regards the Medical Registerand the Irish Free State. Som e weeks ago the Ministerfor Local Government heard a full statement froma deputation representing the several licensing bodies,and it was hoped that the Irish Government mightwithout delay move in the direction suggested bySir Donald MacAlister. Delay in the matter isdangerous. At any moment the Register may beclosed to Irish diplomates, and it is much easier tocontinue an existing system than to arrange a newone. Moreover, to continue the old system temporarilycommits neither country as to the future.

’Vational Health Insurance Bill in Ireland.When the State Government Grant to meet the

expenses of medical certification for National HealthInsurance purposes was stopped last year, it wasnecessary for the National Health Insurance Commis-sion to apply funds from various sources towards theexpenses of certification. For this purpose legislationwas necessary, and the Bill effecting it has nowpassed through the Dail without much opposition.The present arrangement is purely temporary, andhas only been accepted by the medical profession upto August 31st next.

The Medico-Psychological Association.The Medico-Psychological Association of Great

Britain and Ireland held its eighty-third annualmeeting at Belfast, July 1st to 5th. About 60 memberswere present, all parts of the country being well repre-sented. The Government Lunacy Department wererepresented by Dr. C. H. Bond (England), Sir ArthurRose, D.S.O., and Dr. H. C. Marr (Scotland), Dr.D. L. Kelly (Irish Free State), Colonel W. R. Dawsonand Dr. N. C. Patrick (Northern Ireland). Dr. E.Goodall, the President, took the chair at the pre-lixninary meeting in the Queen’s University, at whichSir Frederick Mott was chosen president-elect forthe year 1925-26. The following were elected Hon.Members of the Association : Lord Sandhurst,Prof. McDougall (Harvard University), and ColonelDawson (Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of HomeAffairs, Northern Ireland). The following wereelected Corresponding Members : Dr. H. Cotton(New Jersey State Hospital) and Prof. Winckler(Utrecht University). Dr. Shaw Bolton was nominatedMaudsley Lecturer for 1925. Dr. F. R. Martin reada paper on the Reaction of the Blood to the Ingestionof Protein in the Psychoses, and Dr. Thomas Houstongave a demonstration on the Examination of theSpinal Fluid.