928 THE STAR AND GARTER HOME.

THE STAR AND GARTER HOMEFOR DISABLED SAILORS AND SOLDIERS.

(BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

THIS beautiful Home, in its unrivalled positionon the banks cf the Thames at Richmond, Surrey,has been built to provide comfortable, it may almostbe said sumptuous, accommodation for some 180disabled and paralysed men of the Services. It hastaken six years to build. The money for the sitewas found by the Auctioneers and Estate Agents’Institute, and for the building by the British Women’sHospital Committee. It is maintained by an

and handles at the foot, hinged to fall and be out ofthe way when not required, so that the nurse caneasily wheel a patient to and from the bed terrace,even if a water-bed is being used. There is directaccess to the terrace through wide casement doors.Each patient has his own bell, ringing to the nurse’sroom, and is provided with an electric-light switchand an overhead bed-lift. There is a power circuitplug by each bed to facilitate electrical treatment.The ward lavatories are on the north side, projectinginto an inner court, and cross ventilation of theward has been arranged. The south side of the wardopens in its entire extent on to the bed terrace,21 ft. wide and 220 ft. long, whence the renownedview over the Thames valley can be enjoyed in

THE STAR AND GARTER HOME, RICHMOND.

The Chapel (c) is seen in the foreground with the Garden Terrace (A) behind and the Bed Terrace (B)looking down upon it.

[Photo by Aerofilms, Ltd.

endowment fund formed by contributions from the

I" Women of the Empire." It is thus the " Women’sMemorial of the Great War." Sir Edwin Cooper,the hon. architect, has built for these poor fightingmen, broken in the wars, a palace rather than a merehospital, and he has kept ever in view the needs ofthe stretchers, beds, and wheeled chairs, to whichso many of the inmates are condemned for life, byproviding wide doors, uninterrupted floors, broadbed terraces, and so on. The main entrance is atthe Richmond Gate of Richmond Park, and oppositeto it is Ancaster House, which has been remodelledwithin to be a nurses’ home at one end, and at theother a residence for the commandant, Lieut.-Colonel E. L. Gowlland, R.A.M.C.On the upper ground-floor is the 24-foot wide

memorial entrance-hall, which runs through thebuilding to the bed terrace; polished slabs of Italianmarble from Subiaco form the floor and walls, theroof being supported on 14 monoliths of the samematerial. The great marble staircase opens off thehall to the right, while on the left will stand themarble group, "Patriotism Recording Sacrifice," belowthree coloured windows representing St. George, Faith,and Charity. On each side of the hall are electricautomatic lifts to carry beds, and beyond ae twolofty 18-bed wards, about 40 ft. by 80 ft., givingplenty of space for nursing. Each man has a bed-table with a second shelf and two drawers. The bedshave 8-inch rubber-tyred wheels at the head end,

fine weather. On this upper ground-floor also, oneither side of the entrance-door, there are, to the right,the matron’s office, diathermy, electrical, and othertreatment rooms, the X ray department, the operatingtheatre, the clinical laboratory, and a ward of fourbeds with its annexes. On the left are the administra-tive offices, the dispensary, and another ward of fourbeds. On the north there is a mezzanine floor forstaff dining rooms, stores, telephone exchange, andquarters for the steward and engineer.Below this is the lower ground-floor, where are the

patients’ dining-room, 94 ft. by 54 ft., and 20 ft. high(giving ample space fo±’ each patient, though so manyare in wheeled chairs), and the common room of similarsize facing south-west and opening on to the gardenterrace lawn, which lies between protected colonnadesor loggias. In the servery attention was directed toa convenient handle for the larger table-drawers,a wooden bar running nearly the whole length, sothat the drawer can be opened either with one orboth hands, the bar serving also as a towel rail.Adjoining the common room, which is suppliedwith newspapers, there are a canteen and a librarycontaining already over a thousand books. At theouter corner of each of these rooms is a cosy " quiet "rcom, as ccmfortable and well furnished as themembers’ smoking room in a good club. The northernside of this floor is occupied by stores, &c. The mainkitchen, measuring 50 ft. by 50 ft., has a great floorspace and is well equipped, well lighted, and thoroughly

929REPORT ON PRESERVATIVES IN FOOD.

ventilated. In the sculleries teak sinks are used todiminish b’eakage of crockery. They are said to

give satisfaction, and to be no harder to clean thanthe usual fire-clay pattern. Below the garden terraceto the left front of the Home is the Cowdray MemorialChapel, given in remembrance of Lord Cowdray’sson, killed in the war. It is in marble, with an ever-open grille in the dcor allowing a glimpse of the altarfrom the outside. On the ground-floor there is alsoa recreation room with a billiard table, in whichkinematcgraph exhibitions may be held, furtherthe Zander room with mechanical massage and exer-cising machines, and beyond these are the workshopsfor employing such patients as may be possible.On this floor also are the mortuary and the post-mortem room. There is a garage for patients’hand-wheel and motor bath-chairs; on the day ofmy visit one, electrically propelled, had just beenreceived. The boiler room contains two Lancashireboilers, coke-fired, for the heating of the establishment.All water is softened (Permutit system) and there arecalorifiers in two sets, one providing hot water forthe lavatory supply, the other for the radiatorsthroughout the building.On the first floor are the residential quarters of

the matron and the secretary, and a sitting-roomfor nurses. The rest is for the accommodation ofpatients, mostly in single rooms, each of which is

supplied with a fixed basin. The second and thirdfloors are wholly devoted to patients. The fourthfloor is entirely for the accommodation of the staff.Here in quiet are the rooms for the night nurses, theothers having their rooms in Ancaster House, acrossthe road, where they have a garden and tennis-court. As the patients demand much nursing thenursing staff is large. On the fifth floor is an isolationand observation ward. Ventilation has been mostcarefully considered. The entire building is of fire-proof construction. The furniture and cabinet workthroughout is of Japanese oak, designed by thearchitect, highly finished, and most comfortable.Electric lighting is taken from the local supplycompany.

In inspecting a hospital it is often rather hard tobe sure of the quality of the meals, but your corre- ’,spondent got an eminently satisfactory statementfrom one of the patients : " The boys are tickled todeath at the food, they never get the same thingtwice." The profession may rest assured that hereis, in fact, a worthy home for heroes.

PRESERVATIVES IN FOOD.FINAL REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENTAL

COMMITTEE.

IN July, 1923, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, thenMinister of Health, appointed a Committee to inquireinto the use of preservatives and colouring mattersin food, and to report-(1) Whether the use of suchmaterials, or any of -them, for the preservation andcolouring of food, is injurious to health, and, if so,in what quantities does their use become injurious ;(2) whether it should be required that the presenceof such materials, and the quantities present, in foodoffered or exposed for sale should be declared.The members of this Committee were : Sir Horace

Monro (chairman), Prof. W. E. Dixon, M.D., F.R.S.,Sir David Hall, F.R.S., Dr. J. M. Hamill, Mr. 0.Hehner, F.I.C., Prof. F. G. Hopkins, M.B., F.R.S.,Dr. G. R. Leighton, Dr. A. P. Luff, Dr. C. Porter,Mr. G. Stubbs, F.I.C., with Mr. A. M. Legge, of theMinistry of Health (secretary). Mr. P. A. EllisRichards, F.I.C., later took the place of Mr. Hehner.

This Departmental Committee issued an interimreportl on the treatment of chilled beef and otherfoods with formaldehyde, and has now brought inits final report,= which is unanimous except in onesmall particular.

1 THE LANCET, August 16th, p. 329.2 H.M. Stationery Office. 1s. 6d.

The Committee met on 41 days and heard oralevidence from 101 witnesses, including medicalofficers of health and public analysts, physicians,pharmacologists, pathologists, chemists, and a greatnumber of persons connected with the trades whichwould be affected by any restrictive action in con-nexion with the use of preservatives or colouringmatters in food, including manufacturers, importers,wholesale dealers, and retailers.

Recommendations of the 1899 Committee.In 1899 a Committee was appointed by Mr. Chaplin,

then President of the Local Government Board, withSir Herbert Maxwell as chairman, to inquire into theuse of preservatives and colouring matters in foodand their effect on health. The report of this Com-mittee was issued3 in 1901 (Cd. 833). The preserva-tives then stated to be in use were very much thesame as those now employed in this country, viz. :Boric or boracic acid and borates, Sulphurous acidand sulphites, Fluorides (to a very limited extent),Benzoic acid and benzoates (to a very limited extent),Salicylic acid, Formalin or formaldehyde.The recommendations which this Committee made

were as follows :-

(a) That the use of formaldehyde or formalin, or prepara-tions thereof in foods or drinks be absolutely prohibited,and that salicylic acid be not used in a greater proportionthan 1 gr. per pint in liquid food and 1 gr. per pound insolid food. Its presence in all cases to be declared.

(b) That the use of any preservative or colouring matterwhatever in milk offered for sale in the United Kingdom beconstituted an offence under the Sale of Food and DrugsActs.

(c) That the only preservative which it shall be lawful touse in cream be boric acid or mixtures of boric acid andborax, and in amount not exceeding 0-25 per cent. expressedas boric acid. The amount of such preservative to benotified by a label on the vessel.

(d) That the only preservative permitted to be used inbutter and margarine be boric acid or mixtures of boricacid and borax, to be used in proportions not exceeding0-5 per cent. expressed as boric acid.

(e) That in the case of all dietetic preparations intendedfor the use of invalids or infants chemical preservatives ofall kinds be prohibited.

(f) That the use of copper salts in the so-called greeningof preserved foods be prohibited.

(g) That means be provided either by the establishmentof a separate Court of Reference or by the imposition ofmore direct obligation on the Local Government Board toexercise supervision over the use of preservatives andcolouring matters in foods, and to prepare schedules of suchas may be considered inimical to the public health.The report was unanimous save that on member

of the Committee considered that an amount notexceeding half a grain of metallic copper per poundmight be permitted in preserved vegetables, itspresence being in every case declared.

Action ’Taken in Other Countries.

The report summarises in general terms the actiontaken in different countries with regard to differentpreservatives :-

(i) Every country or State which has legislated on thesubject of preservatives prohibits the use of fluorides andformaldehyde as preservatives.

(ii) Boron preservatives are absolutely prohibited by theUnited States of America and by Sweden. They are per-mitted specifically, in certain dairy products only, inAustralia, New Zealand and Canada, while their use is

apparently tolerated to some extent in Holland.(iii) Sulphur dioxide is prohibited in meat or meat pro-

ducts in every country whose laws and regulations we havehad the opportunity of studying, except in New Zealandand in the draft regulations which have been recently underconsideration by the States of the Australian Common-wealth, where it is allowed in minced meat and certain meatpreparations. The restrictions are generally less severe inthe case of the preservation of fruits and fruit products,and sulphur dioxide is commonly permitted in wine, beer,cider and non-alcoholic drinks in limited amounts.

(iv) Benzoic acid is rarely referred to, but is permittedgenerally, subject to declaration, under the Federal law ofthe United States ; in Canada except in meat and subject

3 THE LANCET, 1901, ii., 1682.