873THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

licensed to practice in the said county. Clause 6 empowerscounty councils to contribute to any deficiency in the fundsof the Central Midwives Board. So that the pecuniaryliability of the county council is already in the Bill. It is

only necessary, under Clause 6, to enact that it shall be alsoliable for any expenses incurred in procuring necessarymedical help for the midwives whom the county council is tolicense and supervise.

I am supported in this view by the fact that it has beenpressed by the General Medical Council repeatedly on theGovernment as a provision of the Bill without which theCouncil could not support the measure. The opponents ofthis Bill allege its inconsistency with the Medical Acts.which regard midwifery as a part of the medical art andprognosticate danger and death to lying-in women. Thosewho promote it are bound to make it as safe as the systemof maternity charities, which has had the sanction of theprofession in all ages. With this view I propose that-

I. The term " midwife in the Bill shall mean a woman who under-takes for gain to attend women in natural labour.

II. That a clause be inserted in the Bill requiring the midwife inevery case of irregularity or emergency, either of mother or child, toapply for medical assistance.

III. That another clause be inserted in the Bill requiring countycouncils, as the local licensing and supervising authority of midwives,to appoint medical men in their districts to whom midwives may referin cases of emergency, and empowering the county council to recoverthe costs so incurred in a court of law where the circumstances of thepatient are such as to enable her to pay.The above resolutions were carried and it was resolved to

forward copies of them to the Members of Parliament forIslington, with a request for their support, and to the Lord-President of the Council.

THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

THE hour for the relief of Mafeking is drawing nigh if it I,has not been already accomplished. The nation is justly-proud ’’,of the brave and spirited conduct displayed by this littlegarrison and of the pluck and cheery humour of its com-

mander. Without discursing too much into politics we maysay that the longer the war continues the more it has becomeapparent that it has been mainly brought about through theinstrumentality and influence of a relatively small, but veryactive, portion of the two Republican Governments of SouthAfrica operating upon ignorant, credulous, and misguidedpeoples. The Orange Free State had no cause of quarrelwith us and there was no unanimity among the

people as a whole in regard to a war from whichthey had little or nothing to gain even if successful. Nosooner had the people an opportunity of exercising their freewill in the matter than they began to do so, as may beabundantly seen by what has taken place since Lord Robertsreached Bloemfontein.The embarkation of troops for South Africa still goes on

apace and the number of arrivals of sick and wounded fromthat country continues. The British and Colonial forces nowin South Africa are very large and must soon be so over-

whelming as to overcome further resistance, but the marchto Pretoria has still to come off and there may still be somesevere fighting.The American hospital ship Maine has left Durban with a

big batch of wounded. She is the first ship of the kind toleave the Cape since the relief of Ladysmith, and in additionto a number of officers of different regiments she brings home153 non-commissioned officers and men.With regard to the extent of the permanently disabling

effect of gunshot wounds from weapons used in modern warfarewe know that the Mauser rifle is, on the whole, a humaneweapon. Mr. Wingfield-Digby recently asked a question inthe House as to the actual or approximate number of thosewho had been already cured of their wounds and were backagain at duty. Mr. Powell-Williams said that the figures, butonly up to Feb. 2nd, were as follows :-Wounded: officers,261; non-commissioned officers and men, 4583. Returned toduty: officers, 67 ; non-commissioned officers and men, 705.These figures do not include casualties in Ladysmith andKimberley since the investment.Some returns of the sick and wounded among the Boer

troops have been published giving higher numbers than havebeen furnished hitherto, but we regard them as unreliable andbelow the number of casualties which have actually takenplacet

FIELD FORCE.—SERVICE ABROAD, SOUTH AFRICA.

Table showing the Personnel of Medical Units on the Lines ofCommunication,

(a) Registrar and secretary, and to act as officer commanding theunit till its arrival in South Africa. (b) Superintendent or actingsuperintendent to be selected from the Army Nursing Service in SouthAfrica, an extra nursing sister being included in this detail to allow oithe adjustment.

* The P.M.O. Field Force, South Africa, to detail a l:eutenant-colonel R.A.M.C. in South Africa to command this hospital.Medical Division, War Office, March 21st,

1900.

(NOTES FROM SIR WILLIAM MAC CORMAC.)(Continued from p.797.)

THE following are some further notes by Sir William

Mac Cormac upon interesting cases of gunshot wounds.Wound of the head and the back.-Major -, wounded

on Jan. 24th at Spion Kop. There was a shell wound in the

head, five inches long by three at the widest part, extendingfrom behind the left ear to the middle line of the nape ofthe neck. The skull was exposed behind the ear at thebase of the mastoid process for a circle of the size of a

sixpence (see Fig. 1). There was a transverse wound

across the back; the entrance was on the left side five

and a half inches from the ninth dorsal spine; the

emergence on the right was about five inches from the ninthdorsal spine in a quite transverse direction (see Fig. 2). The

entrance and exit wounds are perfectly circular and are notyet quite healed. The officer lost power in his lower limbs

for a few days but they have now recovered. There is tender-ness over the ninth dorsal spinous process. The head wound

is granulating healthily and there are no general symptoms.He is now doing well (Feb. 14th).

874 THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Woiind of the head.-Private -, wounded at Spion Kopon Jan. 24th. The bullet entered two inches externally tothe anterior extremity of the sagittal suture on the left side.It was cut out from immediately beneath the scalp in a pre-cisely similar position on the opposite side where it laybeneath the scalp. There is complete motor paralysis of theleft upper extremity, but sensation is present. The woundshave healed (Feb. 12th). The patient is otherwise well.

FIG. 1.

The shaved area shows the granulating wound. At the darkspot the bone is exposed.

Wound of the head.-Private -- of the 2nd RoyalLancaster Regiment was wounded at Spion Kop on

Jan. 24th. The entrance wound was just outside and

slightly above the left ala nasi (see Fig. 3), that of exitbeing half an inch posterior to the tip of the right mastoidprocess (see Fig. 4). After being wounded there was

much bleeding from the nose. At present Feb. 12th) thepatient is deaf in the right ear. The wounds have com-

pletely healed. He says that he feels perfectly well.

FIG. 3.

Entrance wound.

FIG. 4.

Exit wound.

Wound of the mouth. -Private - was wounded at SpionKop on Jan. 24th. The man’s mouth was open at the timeof the receipt of the injury. The bullet entered the mouth,carried away the whole of the alveolar process and teeth onthe right side of the upper jaw, and emerged behind theposterior border of the masseter muscle on the same side.The only remarkable point about the case is that completeaphonia set in immediately after the receipt of the injury.This is now, however, disappearing (Feb. 12th).

TV01tnd of the neck.-Private --, of Thorneycroft’sMounted Infantry, was wounded by a Mauser bullet onJan. 24th. The bullet entered through the sterno-mastoidmuscle on the left side, about two and three-quarter inchesabove the clavicle, nearly on a level with the pomum

Adami, and rather nearer to the posterior than tothe anterior border of the muscle (see Fig. 5), and emergedfrom the centre of the right sterno-mastoid muscleand about an inch above the level of the pomum Adami(see Fig. 6). A considerable amount of external bleedingoccurred on the receipt of the wound, but both wounds arenow (Feb. 12th) healed. There was at first paralysis of botharms, especially of the left, but the power is gradually and

FIG. 2.

The entrance and exit wounds in the line of the ninth dorsal vertebra.

steadily improving. There is neuralgic pain in the area ofdistribution of the cervical plexus.

Ti’ound. of the arm, damaging the basilic vein, the mediannerve, and the brachial artery.-Private dropped hisservice revolver by accident on Jan. 24th, which dischargeda bullet. This entered one and a half inches directly abovethe internal condyle of the left humerus and lodged beneaththe skin immediately posterior to the tip of the acromionprocess. The lower two-thirds of the arm were occupied

FIG. 5.

Entrance wound.

FIG. 6.

Exit wound.

by an exceedingly tense swelling, causing much enlargeement. There was difference of opinion as to whether pulsa-tion could be distinguished in the tumour, but the radialpulse was lost on that side and anaesthesia and paresis inthe area of distribution of the median nerve were present.On Feb. 5th a long incision of four inches was made overthe course of the artery from the entrance wound upwards,and this was subsequently extended downwards for oneinch in the direction of the bend of the elbow. A largeamount of coagulated blood was turned out, much of whichhad apparently passed between the biceps and the brachialisanticus to the outer aspect of the arm. After some disfec-tion the basilic vein, the median nerve, and the brachialartery were EXP ’,ed. About three-quarters of an i’’ch

875THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

above the wound of entrance a wound was found in the basilic vein, a slit-like perforation (nearly one inch long) in the median nerve, and a largegap in the brachial artery. The vein and the arterywere tied above and below the seat of injury. The

FIG. 7.

Entrance wound.

nerve was apparently split very obliquely and four-fifthsof its substance appeared to be intact; it was consequentlynot interfered with. Finally, the bullet was extracted; itwas unaltered in shape.Wound of the thorax.-Private - of the 2nd Middlesex

Regiment was wounded at Spion Kop at a range of 800yards. The entrance wound was exactly in the middle line,about two inches below the notch of the sternum, close tothe junction of the manubrium with the gladiolus (see Fig. 7).The wound of exit was at the posterior aspect of the upperarm, an inch externally to, and on a level with, the point offiexion of the arm upon the thorax (see Fig. 8). There washaemoptysis for two days. At present (Feb. 12th) there iswrist-drop (right), ansesthesia in the area of the ulnarnerve distribution, and great neuralgia in the right arm.The wounds have healed. How did the great vessels escape ?

FIG. 10.

Shows bath entrance wounds and first exit wound.

Wound of the thorax and spine.-Captain - was woundedon Feb. 5th at Vaalkrantz. The entrance wound was overthe ninth rib two and a half inches immediately below theinferior angle of the right scapula, and the exit wound wasover the sixth rib in the posterior axillary line on the leftside. The wounds have completely healed. There was complete

paraplegia. The patient had no control over the bowelsor bladder. Anassthesia was complete up to the upper thirdof each thigh (Feb. 12th). There is a bed-sore commencingover the sacrum. The general condition notwithstanding isgood.

FIG. 8.

Exit wound.

Wound of the thorax.-Colonel - was wounded by aFIG. 9. shrapnel bullet on Feb. 5th. The entrance

wound was behind the left shoulder one inchbelow the spine of the scapula. Thewound is now (Feb. 12th) scabbed andhealed. The bullet was removed from a

subcutaneous position one inch to the rightof the base of the xiphoid cartilage. The

wound has healed. The patient has spatSize of entrance blood, but to a slight extent, since the injury,

wound. and there are some slight dyspnoea and cough.There are also right wrist-drop and loss of sensation up tothe elbow (Feb. 12th).Wound of the lung.-Oaptain - was wounded on

Jan. 22nd by a shrapnel bullet from one of our own gunswhich were captured at Colenso. The entrance wound was

FIG. 11.

Shows second exit wound.

over the junction of the outer quarter with the inner three-quarters of the clavicle, immediately beneath the. bonewhich was grooved but apparently not completely fractured.The bullet was cut out from beneath the skin on the sameevening, three hours after the receipt of the injury, in thefield hospital, immediately to the left of the fifth dorsal

876 THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

spine. From the appearance of the bullet and the directionof its track it must have caused partial fracture of theclavicle and possible injury to the ribs and must havetraversed the lung. There were slight cough and hæmo-

ptysis for two days with some dyspnoea. Both woundssuppurated freely. The temperature on Feb. 4th was 102° F.On the 5th a small piece of leather (from the patient’s belt)came out of the anterior wound. On the 6th the temperaturewas normal and the patient was much better.Wound of the lung and the abdomen.-Private - was

wounded on Jan. 24th at an unknown range. The bulletentered at the inner end of the fifth right intercostal spaceclose to the sternum, and it emerged half an inch below thetwelfth right rib and two and a half inches from the middleline of the spinal column. There was slight hæmaturia afterthe receipt of the wound, but there were no other symptomsand the patient is now quite convalescent.

TVound of tlae upper extrevaity and the thorax.-Private --was wounded on Jan. 24th at an unknown range. Thebullet first entered the base of the left olecranon process andemerged at the inner border of the tendon of the biceps infront at the bend of the elbow (see Fig. 10). It then entered the chest exactly at the level of the left nipple and Ione and a half inches internally to it and found an exitthrough the trapezius muscle at the level of the sixthcervical spine and two inches from the middle line (seeFig. 11). There was pain in the chest at night. The patienthad no cough, but he had a certain amount of hsemoptysis.The wounds have healed (Feb. 12th). It is wonderful howthe great chest vessels escaped.A curious incident occurred in the case of Major ——.

This officer was wounded by a Mauser bullet in the thigh.The bullet traversed the thigh transversely and had just sufficient energy to perforate the skin at the exit wound,but could not get through his trousers and so fell downbetween the thigh and the trousers, being picked out at theknee, where the puttee had prevented its dropping to theground. The bullet must, of course, have come from a verylong range.Wound of the abdomen.-Private - was wounded on

Jan. 24th at a range of 500 yards. The wound of entrancewas between the eleventh and twelfth ribs verticaliv abovethe centre of the left iliac crest. That of exit was throughthe right os innominatum about two inches below the centreof the crest. There was anesthesia of the leg below the leftknee, but no other symptoms of any sort, although the bullettraversed the abdomen from side to side.

Wound of the abdomen.-Private - was wounded onJan. 24th at an unknown range. The bullet entered at theeighth intercostal space in the mid-axillary line on the rightside, its point of exit being half an inch above the iliaccrest and two inches posterior to the anterior superior iliacspine on the left side. The patient vomited for one hourafter the receipt of the injury. He was constipated for threedays. His diet consisted of milk for-two days and he hashad field rations ever since. The bullet must have traversedthe liver and probably the bowel also.Wound of the abdomen.-Private - was wounded on

Jan. 24th at a range of 700 yards. The entrance wound was

opposite the tenth dorsal spine and four inches to the rightof the median line, while the wound of exit was immediatelyover the left iliac crest, an inch posterior to its centre.There was slight dyspnoea, for three days, since when therehave been no symptoms. There is no evidence of anyabdominal injury, although it is difficult to suppose thatthe intestine could have escaped damage.

TVound of the abdomen.-Lieutenant - was woundedon Feb. 5th by a Mauser bullet. The extracted bullet I

FiG. 12.

Extracted bullet.

(Fig. 12) was found to be doubled upand damaged, apparently from a

ricochet. The entrance wound was

of large irregular shape, coveredwith a sca’b, about one inch bythree-quarters of an inch in sizeand one and a half inches above theanterior superior spine of the rightilium. The bullet was cut out on theday after the receipt of the wound

from the centre of the right buttock. This wound is quitehealed. There were no symptoms. _

Wound of the ccidornen.-Private - was wounded at

Spion Kop on Jan. 24th. The bullet passed through theleft wrist while the man was sitting up drinking. It thenentered the abdomen exactly in the middle line, one and a

half inches above the umbilicus, in a direction somewhatsloping to the right side. There is no wound of exit. Thereis difficulty in defecating and in micturating with muchstraining at stool, but no blood has passed either in thefasces or in the urine. There is considerable abdominal dis-tention (Feb. 1lth). No rise of temperature. The woundshave healed and the symptoms are improving.

ITround of t7te thigh (involving the common fentoral artery).-Private - was wounded on Jan. 24th at a range of600 yards. The entrance wound was exactly over thecommon femoral artery, one and a quarter inches belowPoupart’s ligament. The bullet crossed close to the anteriorsurface of the femur three-quarters of an inch below the tipof the trochanter major. There is a pulsating swelling inthe line of the artery with a marked thrill and loud bruit asif there was a communication between the artery and vein.On Feb. 6th an incision was made extending from about aninch above Poupart’s ligament downwards for five inchesalong the course of the artery. The tissues were found to bemuch matted together by inflammatory material and aftersome dissection a gush of blood disclosed the situation of thewounded vessel. The forefinger of one of the assistantsbeing placed in the aperture arrested the bleeding. Thecommon femoral artery, after a troublesome dissection, wasexposed above and the superficial femoral artery below theopening and they were ligatured, but the bleeding still con-tinued. It was then found that the vein had also beenlacerated. This was isolated above and below and ligaturedin two places, but still the haemorrhage continued imme-diately the finger was removed-apparently from the pro-funda artery-the main vessel having been traversed justwhere that trunk is given off. After considerable difficultythis also was secured. Mr. Hulke performed the operationand I and others assisted him. There was no extravasatedblood or clot found throughout the operation though thewound in the vessel was as large as the end of the forefinger,which is sufficiently remarkable, and there was no evidenceof backward pressure in the vein although the opening in thevein and artery appeared to communicate. This man subse-

quently died.Wound of the thigh involving the femoral artery and vein.-

Private -- was wounded on Jan. 21st at an unknown range.The entrance wound was exactly at the middle of the

posterior aspect of the right thigh, and the exit wound wasat the junction of the lower and middle thirds of the samethigh, on the inner side, in the line of the femoral artery.There was increased pulsation with some swelling whichinvolved the area of the exit wound. There was no bruit.Pulsation was to be felt in the dorsalis pedis and posteriortibial arteries. An operation was performed’ on Jan. 29th.An incision about six inches in length was made over thecourse of the artery, the exit wound being a little below thecentre. On laying open Hunter’s canal there appeared to beno extravasated blood or clot, but considerable haemorrhagetook place from a wound half an inch in length on theanterior aspect of the artery and in its long axis. The

aperture in the vessel was of irregular shape and wassituated an inch above the opening in the adductor magnus.’The hæmorrhage was arrested by pressure in the wound andthe artery was isolated above and below and ligaaured. Theskin wound was then sutured. The temperature on thenight of the operation was 101° F., but it fell to normal onthe next morning and has remained so ever since. OnFeb. 6th (the first time of dressing the wound) the stitcheswere removed. There was a little sanious discharge but thewound had completely healed, with the exception of aboutone inch in the vicinity of the exit wound. The collateralcirculation in the limb has been fully established and thepatient is otherwise quite convalescent. It is remarkablethat in this as in several other instances there should belittle or no bleeding into the tissues from a large wound in alarge artery.The injuries here noted were received about the same time

(Jan. 24th) and their condition is described on Feb. 5th and12th. The men were mainly all convalescent and most of thewounds had healed under a scab. With the exception of thecase of injury to the brachial artery and median nerve thecases of abdominal injury and the chest injuries are furtherinstances of the extraordinary recoveries which followdamage of this nature inflicted by the Mauser bullet. It iscurious also, as in two other similar cases, that the Mauserbullet can split a nerve of the size of the median nervewithout severing it.Another remarkable feature is absence of extravasaticn in

877THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE METROPOLITAN WATER-SUPPLY.

the case of the wound of the common femoral artery andprofunda artery, and the same was the case in the injuryimplicating the femoral artery in Hunter’s canal. How inone case the vessels at the root of the lungs and in anotherthose arising from the arch of the aorta escaped is nothingshort of an anatomical puzzle.These cases are selected from amongst many in the hos-

pital at Mooi river which is doing most excellent work underthe direction of Colonel J. A. Clery, R.A.M.C. The successionof cases from the front has been almost daily during the pastweeks and the proportion of serious cases amongst them isvery large. WILLTAM MACCORAIAC.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT AT THE BASE.)This morning news that Cronje was a prisoner in Lord

Roberts’s camp, though of course stale to you by this time,has been received by everyone here with feelings of intensesatisfaction and has, I am sure, acted a great deal betterthan all our’"tonics" to the majority of the sick andwounded at present filling the hospitals. As regards myown charges I can only say I had great difficulty in restrainingthem all, amputation cases included, from demanding theirimmediate discharge in order to proceed at once to the front!At the same time our successes are tempered with a terriblelist of casualties and the wounded and sick are pouringdown from all parts of the front, the trains following eachother at very short intervals. The numbers in HospitalsNo. 1 and No. 2 to-day are roughly:-No. 1: Officers, 73;non-commissioned officers and men, 560. No. 2: Officers, nil;non-commissioned officers and men, 580 ; and Boer prisonerswounded, 32. No. 3 ambulance train arrived yesterday fromKimberley with 31 sick and wounded officers and b3 non-commissioned officers and men. The most serious cases are

being left at the hospital in Kimberley on this side and at Pietermaritzburg in Natal. Of course, a great number ofthese cases are medical, principally dysentery, sunstroke,and enteric fever, it being the object to clear out the

hospitals at the front as much as possible. Everythingis working very smoothly and the foresight of the

Surgeon-General in establishing a sanatorium for sickand wounded officers is relieving the overcrowded statewhich would necessarily ensue in the base hospitals hadthere been no means of passing slight cases on. Of course,the present rush of wounded and sick is taxing our resourcesto a great extent, but luckily there are plenty of transportsin the harbour and we are filling them up as far as we can ;a great number of nursing sisters and civilian lady nurseshave been ordered to Natal on short notice as I hear thatthere are nearly 3000 sick and wounded who will requirenursing immediately Ladysmith is relieved, a matter I

suppose of hours now-at least, we hope so. There is, I amhappy to say, no lack of material and the civil populationare vieing with each other in offers of assistance. Severalmore officers of the Royal Army Medical Corps andcivil surgeons have gone up to Kimberley and the sur-

rounding country, and there is a big base hospital of500 beds at Naupoort. Sir William Mac Cormac andMr. Makins are here and the other consulting surgeonsare scattered about the front where their services are

mostly required. I am sorry to say there have beelseveral deaths from dysentery amongst officers and menno doubt due to bad water, and the type of disease has beeta very severe one, resembling as regards post-mortem appearances the Indian scourge in all its worst forms. Entericfever as far as I can ascertain has not been so fatal as wwere at one time led to suppose, but it has been ba

enough in all conscience, and I am afraid that we shalhear some terrible tidings of the ravages of the disease whewe get into Ladysmith, which place on all hands is cordemned utterly as a military station in the future. Aregards the safeguard of inoculation I am not at present ia position to give any very definite opinion, but from t]2few cases I have seen down here I am satisfied that inoculation has undoubtedly mitigated the symptoms and lessenEthe mortality, yet I think it full early to give a positsopinion on its merits as a preventive. I am struck mucby the marvellous effect of this climate, during the summermonths at least, on chest cases. I have seen several doubted cases of tubercle, or commencing tubercle, of tl

lungs simply lose every characteristic symptom after a femonths’ open-air treatment in this climate and to all intenand purposes recover. Whether a return to other climatwill light up the old mischief or not remains to be see

but I am at present keeping my eye on a case in which whenI first saw the patient about the middle of December, I con-sidered the gravest prognosis the only one allowable; how-ever, the patient, after battling with a varying temperatureof over 100° and frequently running up to 103° at night, withnight sweats, emaciation, persistent cough, and every sym-ptom, including bacilli in the sputum, has improved to theextent that he is able to take a fair amount of exercise, feelsfit, and is clamouring to be sent to the front. The sameremarks apply, as far as climate goes, to patients sufferingfrom nervous exhaustion, dysentery, and sunstroke, whocome down perfect wrecks and in a few days, after aresidence at Claremont, pick up in a marvellous manner andare fit for duty again. Its curative powers on gunshotwounds I have already described in my earlier letters, and Ican now, after a residence here of over four months, endorseevery word I then said; in fact, during the spring andsummer Cape Town, or rather Wynberg and Claremont, are,as regards climate, simply perfect places for the sick andwounded. We are well off now in the matter of hospitals,as there are several more, including the Yeomanry, to beestablished in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, so that nomisgivings regarding accommodation need be felt.Wynberg, Feb. 28th.

THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THEMETROPOLITAN WATER-SUPPLY.

(Concluded from p. 798.)

THE Commissioners proceed to consider what amount offlow in the Thames ought to be maintained. Sir AlexanderBinnie contended that the flow over Teddington Weir oughtnever to be reduced to less than 250,000,000 gallons a dayand that the river would silt up below Rielimond if the flowwere materially reduced below that figure. The Thames

’

Conservators passed a resolution in the year 1892 and againin 1896 insisting that after the water companies had

taken 130,000,000 gallons daily from the Thames they oughtnot to be allowed to increase this amount unless the day’sdischarge at Teddington Weir exceeded 200,000,000 gallons,and then the excess only ought to be taken, so that the dis-

; charge over the weir would not fall below 200,000,000 gallons.; Sir Frederick Dixon-Hartland, chairman of the Thames

Conservancy, objected to the daily flow over TeddingtonWeir ever being reduced to less than 200,000,000 gallons.The Commissioners are of opinion that the minimum flow

over Teddington Weir should be fixed at 200,000,000 gallonsi and that the companies should not be allowed to deplete the

river so as to reduce the flow below that amount " excepti under’special safeguards and restrictions." At the present’- time the companies have a statutory right to draw,f 130,000,000 gallons from the Thames without reference tod the effect this draught may have on the discharge at Ted-s dington. Of this statutory right they could not be deprivede " without their consent or without consideration." Theirn consent might well be given if they were granted thei, privilege of drawing their daily quota, not in each 24 hours,n bat on an average of six months. In that case the com-r- panies would not draw water when the river was low and theic whole of the water was wanted to keep up the necessary flowre over Teddington Weir and this would be advantageous inld the public interest." A material consideration in estimating

the cost and possibility that a supply from the Thames;n could be obtained in sufficient amount to last up to 1941n- is the question as to whether the companies should be

allowed to draw flood-water into their reservoirs or whetherin they should be restricted from taking water at the heighthe of the flood. On this question the Commissioners thinka- that discretion may be left to the engineers of the companiesed and that it may be assumed that as turbid water is a troubleve and expense they will when practicable allow a few days ofch flood to go before they draw the water and therefore a pro-per hibition against the taking of flood-water is unnecessary.m- To ensure a flow of 200,000,000 gallons a day over

he Teddington Weir would only be possible by greatly increas-ew ing the capacity of the storage reservoirs provided. As toits the cost which these reservoirs would entail the Com-tes missioners received conflicting estimates from Sir Alexandern, Binnie, Mr. Middleton, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hawksley, and