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449 ance of trying to avoid this " concealed hoomor- rhage " by keeping the patient in the semi-prone position. Dr. McLeod is to be greatly commended for his courage in reporting these two cases, for fatalities due to this operation are nothing less than lamentable tragedies, and the more light thrown on their occur- rence the better the prospect of their prevention. These occasional fatalities must not, however, be allowed to bias our judgment of the value of the operation, which remains an extremely safe one. In the discussion following Dr. McLeod’s paper one speaker referred to five deaths in 14,700 cases, and this is probably in excess of the average, as far as deaths from haemorrhage are concerned, for Mr. J. Milne Dickie reported two deaths in 7133 operations at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, but neither from haemorrhage. AN AGREED REPORT ON VENEREAL DISEASE. THE issue by the Birth-rate Commission of a special report 2 on venereal disease is an event of some import- ance. The Committee which took evidence and drew up this report included eminent medical men and women in general and special practice, with five repre- sentatives of organised religious bodies. Over this Committee the Bishop of Birmingham presided, and the Rev. James Marchant, LL.D., kept the protocol. All 19 members have put their names to a report of some 20 pages which covers both medical and moral aspects of the venereal question. Four notes of reservation, signed by individuals or groups of members, show an imperfect agreement on certain points, but what is far more striking is the unanimous statement of the case in general, which is proof positive of a far larger measure of agreement than would be gathered from a study of recent controversies. Nor has this general assent been reached by easy avoidance of controversial points, for the minutes of evidence which appear in full are absolutely frank. The National Council of Public Morals, under the auspices of which the report appears, may be con- gratulated on having carried through a difficult task wisely and well. - BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF DRUGS. THE Departmental Committee, appointed by the Minister of Health last April3 to consider the effective control of therapeutic substances which cannot be tested by direct chemical means, has brought in its report. (In passing it may be remarked that a useful and business-like piece of work has cost the country only :S182.) The witnesses examined included the President of the General Medical Council, the senior warden of the Apothecaries’ Society, pharmacologists, bacteriologists, and chemists holding official position, and representatives of the firms manufacturing thera- peutic products. The report is a unanimous one signed by its five members, Sir Mackenzie Chalmers (chairman), Dr. H. H. Dale, F.R.S., Mr. A. B. Maclachlan, Dr. G. F. McCleary, and Dr. C. J. Martin, F.R.S. The committee recommends that therapeutic substances which cannot be tested adequately by chemical means should be subject to supervision and control, the controlling authority to be the Lord President of the Council, the Minister of Health, the Secretary for Scotland, and the Chief Secretary for Ireland, assisted by an Advisory Committee nominated partly by these, partly by the Naval and Military Authorities, the General Medical Council and Medical Research Council, and the Pharmaceutical Society. They suggest a central laboratory under Government control, wherein standards would be prepared and maintained by which to test samples of products issued for sale, the Research Council to be responsible for this work, and the manufacturers themselves retaining responsi- bility for securing that their products conform with the standards laid down. Power is to be taken to inspect 1 Journal of Laryngology, April,1914, p.184. 2 Report on the Prevention of Venereal Disease. London: Williams and Norgate. 1921. Price 21s. 3 See THE LANCET, 1920, i., 974, 1022. premises where the substances are made, whether in the United Kingdom or abroad, and to supervise the successive processes in manufacture. An appendix to the report outlines a Bill to give these recommendations legal force. A section of the daily press, which com- pletely misinterpreted the purpose of the Committee on its appointment, has hastened to discredit the very reasonable recommendations of this report. THE fifth report of the Joint War Finance Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John, just issued at the price of Is., covers the period from Oct. 20th, 1918, to June 30th, 1920, together with a summary of the financial operations from Oct. 20th, 1914. Inasmuch as a general report on the entire war work of the Red Cross will be published in the spring, any detailed analysis is deferred until its appearance. Of the total receipts amounting to :E21,885,000, the sum of z2,053,000 was paid out for the transport of wounded; ;&bgr;2,928,000 for hospitals, not including local expenditure on the auxiliary home hos- pitals ; 5,017,000 for stores ; 3,148,000 for prisoners of war; and .62,718,000 for post-war schemes for sick and disabled ex-Service men and kindred objects, leaving a surplus on June 30th last of 61,827,000. Claims upon this surplus on behalf of the wounded will continue for a long time, and the Joint Committee foreshadows the development of a scheme throughout the country for the benefit of disabled ex-Service men. VENEREAL DISEASE IN THE FAR EAST. THE Commission appointed by the National Council for Combating Venereal Diseases and sent out to the Far East under the segis of the Colonial Office has just completed a strenuous campaign in Shanghai, where the Commission arrived early in December. The campaign opened with a representative Conference convened by the Shanghai Municipal Council, when addresses given by Dr. Rupert Hallam and Mrs. C. Neville Rolfe received much attention. In the course of her speech Mrs. Rolfe gave a brief account of the visit of the Com- mission to Japan, where military examinations of all youths of 20 give some clue to the health conditions. In one province where the licensing of prostitutes was abolished 35 years ago the incidence of venereal disease was about 15 per 1000 in 1911, whereas in every other district the figures were 35 to 47 per 1000. During their brief stay in Shanghai the members of the Commission held educational con- ferences for heads and teaching staffs of schools, a series of medical conferences with local and visiting doctors, showed "Damaged Goods" on the film, and organised a general public meeting for foreigners resident in Shanghai. Full facilities were given for the visiting of all institutions under the control of the Municipal Council, and during the Commission’s stay various hospitals, prisons, licensed quarters, and clubs were inspected. The Com- missioners formulated their recommendations in a report presented to the Special Joint Session of the Municipal Watch and Health Advisory Committees. This report, which was published in the MMMCtpa! Gazette, urged that facilities for the free diagnosis and treatment of venereal disease should be provided by the Municipal Council; that their health and educational departments in cooperation with voluntary organisations should secure the education of the public with regard to venereal disease, and that all possible steps should be taken to suppress prostitution. It is hoped that as a result of the campaign much of the programme recommended by the Commissioners will be carried out, and that in any case the appointment of a V.D. officer and the provision of free treatment for seafarers will be considered in the immediate future. Much interest was shown by the lay public in the aims of the Commission, and any measures instituted by the Municipal Council on the lines suggested will receive a considerable amount of local support. MANCHESTER ROYAL INFIRMARY: X RAY AND ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT.-Aseriesof seven plaster models, made from X ray observations, and showing the normal stomach and the effect of posture upon its shape, have been prepared at this department and placed on exhibition in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Transcript of BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF DRUGS
449
ance of trying to avoid this " concealed hoomor-rhage " by keeping the patient in the semi-proneposition. Dr. McLeod is to be greatly commended forhis courage in reporting these two cases, for fatalitiesdue to this operation are nothing less than lamentabletragedies, and the more light thrown on their occur-rence the better the prospect of their prevention. Theseoccasional fatalities must not, however, be allowed tobias our judgment of the value of the operation, whichremains an extremely safe one. In the discussionfollowing Dr. McLeod’s paper one speaker referred tofive deaths in 14,700 cases, and this is probably in excessof the average, as far as deaths from haemorrhage areconcerned, for Mr. J. Milne Dickie reported two deathsin 7133 operations at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary,but neither from haemorrhage.
AN AGREED REPORT ON VENEREAL DISEASE.THE issue by the Birth-rate Commission of a special
report 2 on venereal disease is an event of some import-ance. The Committee which took evidence and drewup this report included eminent medical men andwomen in general and special practice, with five repre-sentatives of organised religious bodies. Over thisCommittee the Bishop of Birmingham presided, andthe Rev. James Marchant, LL.D., kept the protocol.All 19 members have put their names to a reportof some 20 pages which covers both medicaland moral aspects of the venereal question. Fournotes of reservation, signed by individuals or groupsof members, show an imperfect agreement on
certain points, but what is far more striking is theunanimous statement of the case in general, which isproof positive of a far larger measure of agreement thanwould be gathered from a study of recent controversies.Nor has this general assent been reached by easyavoidance of controversial points, for the minutes ofevidence which appear in full are absolutely frank.The National Council of Public Morals, under theauspices of which the report appears, may be con-gratulated on having carried through a difficult taskwisely and well. -
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF DRUGS.
THE Departmental Committee, appointed by theMinister of Health last April3 to consider the effectivecontrol of therapeutic substances which cannot betested by direct chemical means, has brought in itsreport. (In passing it may be remarked that a usefuland business-like piece of work has cost the countryonly :S182.) The witnesses examined included thePresident of the General Medical Council, the seniorwarden of the Apothecaries’ Society, pharmacologists,bacteriologists, and chemists holding official position,and representatives of the firms manufacturing thera-peutic products. The report is a unanimous one signedby its five members, Sir Mackenzie Chalmers (chairman),Dr. H. H. Dale, F.R.S., Mr. A. B. Maclachlan, Dr.G. F. McCleary, and Dr. C. J. Martin, F.R.S. Thecommittee recommends that therapeutic substanceswhich cannot be tested adequately by chemicalmeans should be subject to supervision and control,the controlling authority to be the Lord Presidentof the Council, the Minister of Health, the Secretaryfor Scotland, and the Chief Secretary for Ireland,assisted by an Advisory Committee nominated partlyby these, partly by the Naval and Military Authorities,the General Medical Council and Medical ResearchCouncil, and the Pharmaceutical Society. They suggesta central laboratory under Government control,wherein standards would be prepared and maintainedby which to test samples of products issued for sale,the Research Council to be responsible for this work,and the manufacturers themselves retaining responsi-bility for securing that their products conform with thestandards laid down. Power is to be taken to inspect
1 Journal of Laryngology, April,1914, p.184.2 Report on the Prevention of Venereal Disease. London:
Williams and Norgate. 1921. Price 21s.3 See THE LANCET, 1920, i., 974, 1022.
premises where the substances are made, whether inthe United Kingdom or abroad, and to supervise thesuccessive processes in manufacture. An appendix tothe report outlines a Bill to give these recommendationslegal force. A section of the daily press, which com-pletely misinterpreted the purpose of the Committee onits appointment, has hastened to discredit the veryreasonable recommendations of this report.
THE fifth report of the Joint War Finance Committeeof the British Red Cross Society and the Order ofSt. John, just issued at the price of Is., covers theperiod from Oct. 20th, 1918, to June 30th, 1920, togetherwith a summary of the financial operations fromOct. 20th, 1914. Inasmuch as a general report on theentire war work of the Red Cross will be published inthe spring, any detailed analysis is deferred until itsappearance. Of the total receipts amounting to
:E21,885,000, the sum of z2,053,000 was paid out for thetransport of wounded; ;&bgr;2,928,000 for hospitals, notincluding local expenditure on the auxiliary home hos-pitals ; 5,017,000 for stores ; 3,148,000 for prisoners ofwar; and .62,718,000 for post-war schemes for sick anddisabled ex-Service men and kindred objects, leaving asurplus on June 30th last of 61,827,000. Claims uponthis surplus on behalf of the wounded will continue fora long time, and the Joint Committee foreshadows thedevelopment of a scheme throughout the country forthe benefit of disabled ex-Service men.
VENEREAL DISEASE IN THE FAR EAST.
THE Commission appointed by the National Councilfor Combating Venereal Diseases and sent out to theFar East under the segis of the Colonial Office has justcompleted a strenuous campaign in Shanghai, wherethe Commission arrived early in December.The campaign opened with a representative Conference
convened by the Shanghai Municipal Council, whenaddresses given by Dr. Rupert Hallam and Mrs. C. NevilleRolfe received much attention. In the course of her speechMrs. Rolfe gave a brief account of the visit of the Com-mission to Japan, where military examinations of all youthsof 20 give some clue to the health conditions. In oneprovince where the licensing of prostitutes was abolished35 years ago the incidence of venereal disease was about15 per 1000 in 1911, whereas in every other district the figureswere 35 to 47 per 1000. During their brief stay in Shanghaithe members of the Commission held educational con-ferences for heads and teaching staffs of schools, a series ofmedical conferences with local and visiting doctors,showed "Damaged Goods" on the film, and organiseda general public meeting for foreigners resident inShanghai. Full facilities were given for the visiting of allinstitutions under the control of the Municipal Council, andduring the Commission’s stay various hospitals, prisons,licensed quarters, and clubs were inspected. The Com-missioners formulated their recommendations in a reportpresented to the Special Joint Session of the MunicipalWatch and Health Advisory Committees. This report,which was published in the MMMCtpa! Gazette, urged thatfacilities for the free diagnosis and treatment of venerealdisease should be provided by the Municipal Council; thattheir health and educational departments in cooperationwith voluntary organisations should secure the education ofthe public with regard to venereal disease, and that allpossible steps should be taken to suppress prostitution. Itis hoped that as a result of the campaign much of theprogramme recommended by the Commissioners will becarried out, and that in any case the appointment of a V.D.officer and the provision of free treatment for seafarers willbe considered in the immediate future.
Much interest was shown by the lay public in theaims of the Commission, and any measures institutedby the Municipal Council on the lines suggested willreceive a considerable amount of local support.
MANCHESTER ROYAL INFIRMARY: X RAY ANDELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT.-Aseriesof seven plaster models,made from X ray observations, and showing the normalstomach and the effect of posture upon its shape, have beenprepared at this department and placed on exhibition in theMuseum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
