1057THE SERVICES.

In the department for the Study and 1,t,cl)aratioit. of 1Arrtitoxic Set’a, an infection a,ttacking the breeding ’,stock of guinea-pigs, which occurred during the latterpart of the year, led to a study of puerperal infectionamong these animals. The breeding sows alone wereinfected ; the boars and young animals were exempt.Deaths occurred within a week or so of kindlingdown. The disease appears to be a chronic one, butbecomes acute post partum. A pneumococcus wasreadily isolated from the heart blood and uterusof fatal cases, and in some instances from pneumonicpatches in the lungs. It was also found in the foetus.With the object of producing an active immunitythe whole stock of guinea-pigs was treated with amultivalent vaccine prepared from the strains isolated.The results were encouraging.

In the department for the Preparation and Studyof Anti-Variolou8 Vaccine at Marazion, Cornwall,Dr. A. P. Green has been studying the reaction ofanimals to revaccination. As found by Pirquetand Prowazek some years ago, an accelerated reactionwas observed. This allergic response occurred about21 hours after inoculation and was characterised bymarked erythema and slight swelling at the seatof inoculation. The effect was transient. It wasobserved in all the animals experimented with. Theoccurrence of an accelerated reaction to vaccinationhas been recommended for the diagnosis of doubtfulcases of small-pox, but in view of the above observa-tions its applicability would appear to be confined tounvaccinated persons.Foot-and-Month 1--’isease.-In August last the

governing body of the Institute agreed to place oneof its laboratories, together with a suitable isolatedand self-contained animal house, at the disposal of acommittee appointed by the Ministry of Agricultureto investigate foot-and-mouth disease. The com-mittee is presided over by Sir William Leishman, andincludes Prof. W. Bulloch, Prof. C. J. Martin, and Dr.Arkwright among its members. Dr. Bedson has beenseconded to work under the committee, and Dr. H. B.Maitland and Mrs. Burberry have been appointed towork with Dr. Bedson. The work is under the generalsupervision of Dr. Arkwright.

Financial Position of the Institute.-Tlm totalexpenditure for the year was some 37,500, a decreaseof about 26000 on that of last year. Of this sum,over z30,000 was obtained from the sale of sera,vaccines, and stock, and another 23600 from investigt-tion, diagnosis, and analysis fees. The Institute hasother sources of revenue in the way of interest anddividends on general investments, and the accountsshow a balance of excess of income over expenditureof 11,000.

ROYAL-COlVfMISSION ON NATIONAL HEALTH INSUR-ANCE.—The twenty-seventh meeting of this Commission washeld at the Home Office, Whitehall, on May 7th, LordLawrence of Kingsgate in the chair. Evidence was con-tinued on behalf of the British Medical Association by Dr.R. A. Bolam, chairman of the Council, Dr. H. B. Brackenbury,chairman of the Representative Body, Dr. H. Guy Dain,chairman of the Insurance Acts Committee, Dr. Alfred Cox,medical secretary, and Mr. N. Bishop Harman, hon.treasurer. The following subjects were dealt with : Theprocedure for dealing with complaints against doctors, thework of medical institutions under Section 24 (4) of the Act,the need for a unified local health service and the administra-tive and financial arrangements in connexion therewith,the arrangements for the additional treatment benefits.Dr. Stanley Hodgson, chairman of the Salford PanelCommittee, gave evidence on the Manchester and Salfordmethod of payment of doctors on an attendance basis.Dr. J. P. Williams-Freeman, chairman of the HampshirePanel Committee, gave evidence on the peculiar conditionsof rural areas. Thereafter evidence was given on behalf ofthe Medical Practitioners’ Union by Dr. Gordon Ward,Dr. E. A. Gregg, Dr. A. Welply, Mr. Charles Davis, and Mr.S. G. Davis on the various features of medical benefit underthe insurance scheme and proposals for extension of thatservice. Proof copies of the oral evidence and the relativestatements submitted at the meeting of April 23rd are now

on sale at H.M. Stationery Office (2s. 3d.).

The Services.Surg. Vice-Admiral J. Chambers, C.B., C.M.G., Director-

General of the Medical Department of the Royal Navy,has been appointed an honorary physician to the King inthe place of the late Surg. Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur W. May,K.C.B. -

ROYAL NAVAL MEDICAL SERVICE.

Surg.-Comdr. L. Lindop is placed on the Retd. Listwith the rank of Surg. Capt. _

ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE.

Proby. Surg. Lt. H. Nichol to be Surg. Lt.

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Maj. and Bt. Lt.-Col. J. G. Bell to be Lt.-Col., vice Lt.-Col.and Bt. Col. H. Ensor, promoted.

Maj. W. C. Nimmo is placed on the half pay list on accountof ill-health.

Capt. L. T. Poole to be Maj.SUPPLEMENTARY RESERVE OF OFFICERS.

Capt. J. A. Charles, from Reg. Army Res. of Off.,R.A.M.C., to be Lt.

TERRITORIAL ARMY.

Surg. Lt. A. C. Ballance (late Royal Navy) to be Capt.Capt. E. B. Keen to be Maj. (Prov.).Capt. H. B. Logan resigns his commn. and retains his

rank.TERRITORIAL DECORATION.

The King has conferred the Territorial Decoration uponCol. F. G. Proudfoot; Lt.-Cols. R. M. Vick and Sir Ewen J.Maclean ; Majs. R. Coffey, E. J. Boome, D. S. Sutherland,and A. E. Webb-Johnson. -

ROYAL AIR FORCE.

Flight Lt. J. K. R. Landells is granted a permanentcommission, Flying Officer J. B. Gregor is promoted to therank of Flight Lt., and Squadron Leader J. H. Woodrelinquishes his temporary commission on ceasing to beemployed. -

INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE.

Maj5. C. E. Palmer, C. H. Reinhold, W. D. Wright, J. F.Boyd, V. N. Whitamore, and W. J. Powell to be Lt.-Cols.The King has approved the retirement of Majs. C. H.

Cross (on account of ill-health) and J. A. Cruickshank.

On return from leave Lt. C. Mullins has been appointedCivil Surgeon, Lushai Hills. Major J. D. Sandes, officiatingprofessor of clinical medicine, Medical College, Calcutta,and second physician to the College Hospitals, has beenappointed to act as Principal and Professor of Medicine,Medical College, Calcutta, and First Physician, CollegeHospitals, vice Lt.-Col. F. A. F. Barnardo, granted leave.The Viceroy has appointed Col. L. F. Smith and Lt.-Col.E. P. Sewell to be Honorary Surgeons on his personalstaff, vice Lt.-Col. E. Kyan and Brevet-Col. F. S. Irvine.The following postings of Civil Surgeons in the UnitedProvinces of Agra and Oudh have taken place : Capt.A. Seddon to Saharanpur. Lt.-Col. M. R. C. MacWattersfrom Shahjahanpur to Meerut; Major R. S. Townsend fromJhansi to Bareilly ; Dr. F. W. Holmes from Fatehpur toGonda; and Dr. H. G. Mathur from Lucknow to Unao.Capt. G. H. Mahony, whose services had been placedtemporarily by the Government of India Department ofEducation, Health, and Lands at the disposal of this Govern-ment, has been appointed to be Civil Surgeon and postedto the Amaoti district. The following officers have beengranted leave : Lt.-Col. W. D. Richie, civil surgeon,Darrang ; Major B. E. M. Newland, civil surgeon, Saha-ranpur ; Lt.-Col. T. Hunter, civil surgeon, LucknowLt.-Col. E. C. Hepper, civil surgeon, Bareilly ; MajorC. H. Reinhold, civil surgeon, Meerut; and Major R.Knowles, professor of protozoology, School of TropicalMedicine and Hygiene, Calcutta. The Chancellor of thePatna University has nominated Lt.-Col. James Massonto be an ordinary fellow of the Senate of the Patna Univer-sity, vice Col. H. Ainsworth, who has vacated his seat.

’ Lt.-Col. J. D. Graham, Public Health Commissioner, isi attending the meeting of the Office International d’Hygiene’

Publique at Paris as the representative of British India.. He will also attend another meeting in London in connexion

with matters arising out of the pilgrim traffic with Mecca.The first and principal item of the agenda of the Parismeeting is the project of revising the International Sanitary. Convention of Jan. 17th, 1913. Lt.-Col. J. R. J. Tyrell,

agency surgeon, acts as Political Agent during the absenceon leave of Lt.-Col. G. H. Anderson.

1058 IIARLIAML,’NTA11Y INTELLLGICE.

Parliamentary Intelligence.HOUSE OF LORDS.WEDNESDAY, MAY 6’l’H.

The Use of Liquid Milk.Viscount ASTOR asked whether the Government proposed

to take administrative steps to stimulate the dairy industryand increase the use of liquid milk. Milk was the primefood of children, and its consumption in this country wasonly one-sixth of what it was in Switzerland and one-thirdof what it was in the United States. They ought to setout to improve the quality of milk in the next ten years.A great deal of the milk sold in London and other largecities had been partially pasteurised ; that was a fraud onthe public. There was great merit in sufficiently pasteurisedmilk, but he could see no argument in favour of partiallypasteurised milk being sold as raw milk. A new and properclassification of milk was needed. Between 1871 and 1914the population of this country increased by 60 per cent.,but the number of cows only increased by 40 per cent.Between 1914 and 1924 the increase in the number of cowswas only 5 per cent., while imports of condensed and driedmilks and milk foods increased by 80 per cent.

Lord BLEDISLOE (Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry ofAgriculture) said the Government recognised the extremeimportance of the problem, but they feared lest in endeavour-ing to secure pure and disease-free milk for human con-sumption they might take steps which would tend to dryup the milk-supply altogether, or bring about a milk famine.They deplored the fact that consumption here was lessthan in other countries, but it was no good passing drasticlaws if public opinion was not ripe to endorse them. Thesad fact was that neither was the general public alive tothe importance of pure milk, nor were farmers sufficientlyappreciative of the need to be up to date in their methodscompared with other countries to eliminate from theirherds unsound cattle and to employ the cleanest possiblemethods of milk production. A good deal, however, wasbeing done to educate both the public and the farmers.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6TH.

Infection in P1lblic Libraries.Mr. GROVES asked the Minister of Health whether his

attention had been called to the danger of infection to thefrequenters of public libraries through the use of books

previously handled by persons suffering from infectiousailments, or books having been in homes where infectiousailments had developed ; and whether he would considertaking special steps to investigate these possible dangersto public health by calling the attention periodically oflocal authorities to the need of the utilisation of adequatedisinfectants in the public libraries.-Sir KINGSLEY WOOD(Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health) replied :The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirma-tive, but my right hon. friend is advised that medicalofficers of health are fully alive to whatever danger ofinfection there may be from this source. Special provisionsas to the precautions to be taken to prevent the spread ofinfection through the use of library books are contained in

ISection 59 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1907,and that section may be put in force in any district on the ’eapplication of the local authority. In the circumstancesmy right hon. friend does not consider it necessary to under-take any special investigation or to issue any periodicalinstructions to local authorities on this matter.

Prohibition of Druys in India.Mr. CECIL WLSON asked the Under-Secretary of State

for India whether his attention had been called to thereport of the Bombay excise committee, in which it wasrecommended that prohibition of drink and drugs shouldbe completed as early as possible ; and whether, as theBombay Government had passed a resolution upon thereport to the effect that serious efforts should be made tosurmount the financial and administrative difficulties, hecould arrange for a copy of the report and of the resolutionto be placed in the library.-Earl WINTERTON replied :The attention of my noble friend has been drawn to thereport and resolution. The resolution adopts the recom-mendation of the committee that the Government shoulddeclare that the total extinction of the traffic in alcoholicdrink and drugs by suitable steps is the goal of their excisepolicy, and states, in the words quoted by the hon. Member,that a serious effort should be made to surmount the diffi-culties, both financial and administrative, which stand inthe way of the adoption of such a policy. It also outlinesthe action which the Government propose to take in the

immediate future. A copy of the report and resolutionwill be placed in the Library of the House.

Proteclion from :lrathrax.Colonel DAY asked the Home Secretary whether he was

aware of the fact that, at a recent inquest held in South-wark, it was proved that the death of a docker was foundto be due to anthrax, contracted through dust rising fromdry hides ; were all the statutory precautions being takenat wharves where these hides were handled ; and was heprepared to issue an Order for the compulsory sterilisationof all hides, with a view to minimising in every possibleway the danger of anthrax infection.-Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKS replied : There have been two recent cases in thisarea. The statutory precautions applicable are thosecontained in the Hides and Skins Regulations made underthe Factory and Workshops Act, 1901, and the Chief Inspectorof Factories informs me that these are in general well observed,and that neither of the cases referred to was due to anybreach of the regulations. I regret that it is not practicableto issue an Order as suggested, as there is at present noknown effective method of sterilising hides which does notseriously damage them for commercial purposes.

Blind Persons in England and TVales. ,

Captain FRASER asked the Minister of Health how manyblind persons over the age of 16 there were in the UnitedKingdom ; how many of these were in the workhouses ;how many lived in institutions and hostels for the blind ;and how many in each of the above categories were totallyblind or so blind as to be unable to do work for which eye-sight was essential, respectively.-Mr. N. CHAMBERLAINreplied : According to the most recent returns, there arein England and Wales 33,564 blind persons over 16 yearsof age. Of these, it is estimated that approximately 3000are in workhouses or workhouse infirmaries, 638 blind personsare resident in homes for the blind, and 190 in hostels. Nostatistics are available for the classification of these blindpersons in the manner suggested in the last part of thequestion.Mr. ROBERT YOUNG asked the Minister of Health the

total number of blind persons in England and Wales respec-tively ; and how many of these men and women were inreceipt of an old age pension from 50 years of age andupwards.-Mr. N. CHAMBERLAIN replied : According to themost recent returns there are 36,518 blind persons in Englandand Wales. On March 31st last 12,024 of those personsbetween the ages of 50 and 70 were in receipt of the old agepension. Blind persons over 70 receive the old age pensionon the ground of age and not of blindness, and no separatefigures are available for this group.

THURSDAY, MAY 7TH.Patients’ Strike at Roehampton Hospital.

Colonel DAY asked the Minister of Pensions whether hisattention had been drawn to the recent strike of the inmatesof the Ministry’s institution, Queen Mary’s Hospital,Roehampton, arising out of the stoppage of week-endleave ; and was he prepared to cause instructions to begiven at this and other similar institutions that come underhis authority that in future full facilities for week-end leavewould be afforded those patients who were deemed medicallyfit for travelling and who were desirous of visiting theirfamilies.-Major TRYON replied : I have inquired into thismatter and I find that a number of patients to whom themedical superintendent found himself unable to grant leave’deliberately absented themselves without permission. Thehon. Member will realise that these men are in hospitalsolely for the purpose of treatment with the object ofimproving their condition, and that, in considering anyquestion of leave, regard must be paid to the requirementsof the treatment prescribed and to the effective manage-ment of the institution. I may point out that the facilitiesgranted are considerably in excess of those allowed by civilhospitals. I see no reason to alter the existing leave regula-tions which are working satisfactorily at other Ministryhospitals.

Pensioners and Treatment Allowances.

Mr. WINDSOR asked the Minister of Pensions’ whether,seeing that in the Supplementary Vote for that Ministryprovision was made for an additional sum of .8920,000 inrespect of the payment of treatment allowances in excessof pension, why there was a reduction in the Estimates forthe year 1924-25 of 1,140,500 in the provision for treat-ment and treatment allowances, of which sum practicallyjE500,000 was in respect of allowances in excess of pension;and whether any instructions had been issued to the medicalofficers of the Ministry that they should as far as possiblereduce the number of cases in which allowances should bepaid even though the pensioner might be totally disabled,temporarily, as the result of his war disability.-MajorTRYON replied : If the hon. Member will refer to the Supple-mentary Estimate for my department he will see that ofthe jB920,000 mentioned in the first part of the question