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since the outbreak of plague in that city there had been 5960cases and 4581 deaths.

THE LONDON AND COUNTIES MEDICALPROTECTION SOCIETY, LIMITED,

THE annual general meeting of this society was held at b

the offices, 12, New-court, Carey-street, Lincoln’s-inn, on s

Tuesday last, Feb. 16th, Dr. Heron (the treasurer) being in o

the chair. t

In recommending the adoption of the fourth annual report a

and balance-sheet for the year ending Sept. 31st, 1896, Dr. n

Heron said the past year had been a very quiet one for the r

society and they had had fortunately no serious expenditure i

to meet. He then went over the items in the statement of (accounts, and à propos of the legal expenditure remarked that I

the society owed a debt of gratitude to their solicitors for thef pskilful way in which these gentlemen had piloted the society a

through various cases, some of which might have resulted in (considerable expense. He pointed out how four years ago the rsociety started with empty coffers with the help of a veryfew men interested in medical defence, and that at the close ]of last year they had a balance of unexpended income amounting to .6382. The guarantee fund, which was a fund that could be made available in the event of dire emergency iand would be only used in such a case, amounted to £1700, and that, added to the balance of income, made a total of over R2000 available for the purposes of the society. This, he thought, was a very satisfactory state of affairs. The council of the society had determined to place some of this isurplus money under trust, and Sir William Broadbent and Mr. T. Pickering Pick had kindly consented to act as trustees of the reserve fund. This fund would be started with the

purchase of f.SOO worth of 4 per cent. New Zealand Stock, which would cost the society at its present market valuea little over R340. The fund could only be used to meetsome exceptional demands upon the funds of the society on the recommendation of the council and with the consent ofthe trustees. The ordinary income of the society, hestated, was now more than enough to meet the ordinaryexpenditure.On the motion of Mr. Spencer Watson the report and

balance-sheet were unanimously adopted.On the motion of the chairman, Mr. Jonathan Hutchin-

son was re-elected President of the society. Dr. Heronsaid that one of the most valuable assets of the societywas the fact that Mr. Hutchinson’s name appeared on thelist of the scciety’s officers as its president, for wherevermedical literature was studied the name of JonathanHutchinson was respected.The vice-presidents were re-elected, as were also the

members of the council, with the following alterations. Inthe place of the late Mr. James Savage, Sir Hugh Beevor;and in the place of Mr. H. C. C. Shaw, who retires owing toill-health, Dr. Major Greenwood. Dr. Heron was re-electedtreasurer.

In moving the re-election of Dr. Hugh Woods and Mr.A. G. R. Foulerton, the honorary secretaries of the society,the, chairman pointed out that these two gentlemen hadgiven a great deal of time and had worked very hard in theservice of the society, but that they had hitherto receivedno substantial remuneration from the society. He

thought the medical profession ought to set its faceagainst the vast amount of unpaid work that was donein connexion with it, and that as the affairs of this

society were now in a fairly prosperous condition thetime was near at hand when not an adequate remunera-tion, because that the society could not afford, but a

substantial remuneration ought to be paid to the secretaries.Tliiz;, he desired to say, was purely his own personal opinion,made entirely upon his own responsibility, and was in nosense utucial.The two honorary secretaries were then unanimously

elected, and after a resolution had been passed recommend-ing that each division of the society should hold an annualmeeting and furnish a list of the officers elected at thatmeeting, and an account of any matters that come under

]their consideration, the meeting closed with a hearty vote lof thanks to the chairman. I.

THE RUSSIAN CONFERENCE ON SYPHILISAND VENEREAL DISEASES.

THE Conference on the subject of Syphilis and other-Venereal Diseases for which preparations have been carriedon for over a twelvemonth was held recently in St. Peters-hurg. The Conference was organised very much on thesame lines as that which met in the same city in the winterof 1892 to deal with the subject of cholera. That is to say,the Government had invited representatives from localauthorities throughout the empire, and in addition a largenumber of experts in the subject under discussion and

representatives of universities, hospitals, and other scientificinstitutions were requested to join in the deliberations of theConference. The meetings were held in the Medical

Department of the Ministry of the Interior and were under the-presidency of Dr. Ragozin, the Director of that department.The Conference was opened on Jan. 15th (27th), and morningand evening meetings were held daily until the close of theConference on Jan. 22nd (Feb. 3rd). The total number ofmembers was considerably over 400.The opening speech was made by the Minister of the

Interior, M. Goremuikin, who stated that his predecessor,M. Durnovo, had taken the first steps towards organisingsuch a congress as long ago as March, 1895. During theinterval the Government had been actively collectingstatistics and information on the subject of the spread ofsyphilis in Russia, and their request to the local authoritiesto cooperate in the matter had led to the collection of a.

vast quantity of material, which would form the basis of thepresent discussions. Speeches were also made by Dr Ragozinand Professor Tarnovski. The former stated that the objectof the Conference was less to discuss the scientific aspect ofvenereal diseases than to form a plan of action based onscientific conclusions which should lead to practical results.in diminishing the spread of such diseases, Professor-Tarnovski briefly reviewed the steps taken in the past by theGovernment in this direction.At the subsequent discussions an immense number of

resolutions were discussed and carried. As there were over300 such resolutions it is clear that only a small portion ofthem can be mentioned in the present report. One largegroup of conclusions, 17 in number, deal with the preventionof venereal disease in factories and mines and among artisansgenerally.

Briefly, these resolutions declare the necessity forincreased medical and hygienic control over artisans. Astheir inspection with the avowed object of discoveringvenereal disease would be likely to meet with opposition it.is proposed that a general medical inspection should bemade compulsory, that this should be carried out on allnew hands engaged in a factory or mine, that it be repeated’after every holiday or absence for any length of time, andperhaps, if possible, it might be made periodic at fixedintervals. It is further proposed that hospital treatment bemade compulsory, at least during the infectious period,.whenever venereal disease appears in an artisan, and that,the family of the infected person should be persuaded, byall efforts in the medical officer’s power, to submit to inspec-tion. The other resolutions of this group deal with the-necessity for the medical and hygienic supervision of fairsand markets, of public baths, workmen’s barracks, andsimilar public institutions.

Papers on the Prevention of Venereal Diseases in the Army: and Navy were read by Dr. Sholkofski and Dr. Sukhof.

The most important resolutions on the subject were the- following. Local conditions and the nature of the service-a particular regiment is on appear to be the determining

factors in the prevalence of syphilis in the army. The. present regulations are well adapted to keep the disease in. control, but a few alterations are suggested. Among these) is the proposal that in ports and places where troops are

stationed the naval or military surgeon should be a constant.7 member of the local medical board, in order that he may- have a voice in the general measures for controlling venereal1 diseases in the district. Medical inspection of the ment should be every three weeks instead of every four ; specialr measures should be taken with the individual infected withe syphilis, not only while he is in the service, but after he

returns home ; entertainments, debates, concerts, and so

548

forth should be more frequent, to provide the men with acounter attraction to the drinking house and brothel. The J:

proposal of the organising committee of the conference, that o:

men who contract syphilis should be compulsorily detained in the services for two years from the date of infection, was a

unconditionally vetoed by the members of the conference v

Special measures are suggested for the control of syphilis P

among sailors in foreign waters. Among these may be Tmentioned the proposal that the daily distribution of vodka o

(a Russian spirit distilled from rye) on board ship should be t]done away with, some slight improvement in the food being bsubstituted for it; and that, further, the serving out of vodkaas a reward for special services should be done away with. t:A special section of the Congress, under the presidency t:

of Professor Kapustin of the University of Kazan, was qdevoted to the subject of Syphilis in Villages. Twenty-one v

resolutions embody the conclusions of the conference on this f

subject. It recognises that the great difficulty in the battle r

with venereal diseases in the villages lies in the ignorance and a

low state of culture of the peasantry. It urges the necessity tfor increased education, and as a special measure proposes tthe holding of popular lectures by medical men on health c

questions. In Russian villages venereal diseases are more r

usually spread by extra-sexual methods than by sexual, and jthis is the direct result of the ignorance of the peasants in i

all hygienic matters. All measures to deal with the evil amust be such as involve no compulsion. Inspection of every (

individual is not recommended, but there should be facilitiesfor it if the peasants are willing. Moving bodies of peasants(such as pilgrims, emigrants, and men seeking work) shouldbe able to get free medical aid in all central towns they maypass through, and on railways and steamers. At presentthe best means of supervising bodies of workmen seekingwork in distant parts of the country is, in the opinion of theCongress, not quite clear ; but it is extremely undesirable to institute a system of health certificates on giving the labourerhis travelling passport or on his return to the village. The ’reasons which led the conference to formulate this resolution are not as yet published; they will be read with interestwhen the final report of the conference is issued.The spread of venereal disease in the village is undoubtedly

increased by the return of conscripts from the army and alsoby the encamping of troops in or near the village ; specialmeasures are therefore suggested to deal with this risk,particularly in the way of supervising the men, both while inthe service and after they have left it. All temporarymeasures, such as the sending of "flying squadrons" ofmedical men and nurses, such as have for some years pastbeen sent through the country to treat eye diseases, are

declared to be undesirable in the case of venereal diseases ;but in many places when local means are inadequate theGovernment might provide assistance in various ways. The

provision of creches for children, and the supervision ofschool children suffering from syphilis are other measuresrecommended by the conference. A word of warning uttered as to the need for care in vaccinating infants andadults. It was resolved that the conclusions of the con-ference in this section be sent to the local authoritiesthroughout the country.A group of nineteen resolutions deal with the prevention

of Syphilis in Towns. They scarcely require individualmention here ; they are based on the general principles ofinstructing the people and providing facilities for treatment.They touch upon the subject of prostitution, but only inci-dentally, as for this a separate group of resolutions was

reserved. An able paper on this subject, and one which ledto prolonged discussions, was read by Dr. Sturmer. Theconclusions of the conference were to the effect that prostitu-tion is an ineradicable evil. There are practically two classes ofprostitutes, the registered and the secret or unacknowledgedprostitute. The latter is the most dangerous factor in thespread of venereal diseases. As harsh compulsory measuresonly defeat their own end it is recommended that the systemnow in practice in some places should be introduced into alltowns. This system combines a secret control of unacknow-ledged prostitutes with an open control of acknowledgedones. The former have no police tickets nor is their nameeven known to the police. Other special measures provide forthe severe punishment of people who make money by theprostitution of their own wives, daughters, or other relatives,and wards, and for the special protection of all young girlsunder sixteen. Resolutions also deal fully with the registrationof "ticketed" prostitutes, provision for their supervisionand free hospital treatment, and a number of other mattersin this connexion.

The final meeting of the conference took place on

Jan. 22nd (Feb. 3rd). Dr. Ragozin thanked all the membersof the Conference for their untiring attendance, which hadenabled them to get through an almost unprecedentedamount of labour, and which he hoped would lead tovaluable practical results. Other speeches were made byProfessor Gh6 and Professor Kapustin of Kazan and ProfessorTarnovski. Votes of thanks followed to the President andothers, and Dr. Ragozin declared the Conference closed. Inthe evening a complimentary dinner was given to Dr. Ragozinby the members of the Conference.

It is too early yet to form a final opinion as to the value ofthe work done by the Conference. When the full report ofthe discussions is issued it will probably contain a greatquantity of valuable material relating to the prevalence ofvenereal diseases in Russia and the methods now in practicefor dealing with them. The resolutions proposing freshmeasures appear to fall into two groups-those which canat once lead to action and those which will require legisla-tion before action can follow. As most of the members ofthe Congress were members of the local governing authoritiesof the district they represented the first. named group ofresolutions may be expected to at once lead to results ; and,judging by the precedent of the Cholera Conference in 1892,it is exceedingly probable that fresh legislation may beanticipated in the near future in accordance with the con-

. clusions of the recent Conference.

,

THE LONDON WATER QUESTION.

THE adjourned discussion on Mr. W. J. Dibdin’s paper onthe Character of the London Water-supply (see THE LANCET,Jan. 23rd, p. 269) was continued at the meeting of the Societyof Chemical Industry on the 15th inst.

Mr. BLOUNT re-opened the discussion by congratulatingMr. Dibdin on his method of using the micro-filter. It wasa drawback, however, that assumptions had to be made onaccount of the diameter of the measuring-tube of the micro-filter not being readily known, and he desired to knowwhether it was not possible to obtain these tubes readystandardised. He suggested that the inevitable "rust anddust" might be due to the wearing of the packing in thejoints, and considered that there was not sufficient differencebetween the "inevitable" suspended matter and the totalactually found to cause alarm. He objected to the softeningof the water.

Mr. GRANT HOOPER deprecated the method of stating thesuspended matter as tons per annum. The quantity wasreally very small, being only 3ù]õQth of a grain per gallon.He wished to know how Mr. Dibdin concluded that 30 percent. of the samples were objectionable. He thought theKent Company’s water was recognised as a standard of

purity, but 18 per cent. of the samples of this water were setdown as objectionable. He approved of softening the water,but the cost. which had been declared by the Royal Com-mission of 1851 to be 27s. per million gallons, equalling10 per cent. of the cost of obtaining the water, seemedprohibitive.

Mr. WM. THORP repeated some of his former criticisms,and specially objected to Mr. Dibdin’s way of stating thedeposit in tons, as an attempt to make analytical resultsunderstandable by laymen (Mr. DIBDIN: Quite so.). He

thought it was a similar case to a physician explainingsymptoms in a popular manner to a lay audience.Another gentleman called attention to a method for

softening and sterilising potable water reported on favour-ably by THE LANCET.

Mr. E. J. BEVAN pointed to some inconsistencies betweenthe amount of deposit on the micro-filter and the gravi-metric determinations. He thought that the concordancebetween the physical, chemical, microscopical, and biologicalresults was by no means so striking as Mr. Dibdin made out,and called attention to discrepancies between some of thefigures for the nitrogen in the suspended matter and theoxygen absorbed. He considered Mr. Dibdin’s paper asplendid-indeed, monumental-piece of work.

Mr. WHITTAKER thought that, on the whole, the watercompanies had done their best with the supply they wereable to obtain. At the same time the e were risks, and itwould be a great advantage if water could be supplied froma source that did not require constant watching. He spoke