1524 SOME ODD FOODS.—CRICKET, HEALTH, AND ANATOMY.

from certain endowments, from sundry taxes which it

has the right to levy, and from a sum voted annuallyby the city of Paris. Owing to anyone who is poorand in want having a right to hospital accommoda-tion the Paris hospitals are often much overcrowded. No oneis better aware of the unavoidable shortcomings of theParis system of hospital and poor relief than the Parismedical men themselves, but, taken as a whole, the Assist-ance Publique does admirable work. Dr. Lucas-Champion-niere’s address deserves careful study and we may say thatthe methods which each nation employs are those best suitedto the genius of that nation, but, on the other hand, thatthe intercommunication which has so recently taken placebetween the members of the medical professions of Franceand Great Britain will lead to each nation respectivelybecoming aware that it may learn to supply its deficienciesfrom the practice of the other.

SOME ODD FOODS.

COMPLAINT is often made that the average daily meal inthe ordinary household is a monotonous round of muttonand beef. In the majority of instances this simple andoftentimes uninteresting cycle of food is compelled on thescore of convenience and economy, although with a littlemore thought and trouble than are usually bestowed on thismatter we are convinced that more variation could be con-

trived. The subject deserves greater attention than it hashitherto received and the results in all probability would bepleasing. In this connexion it is interesting to considersome of the more or less odd materials which man hasbeen led to choose for the purposes of food. ’Environ-

ment, of course, must be a factor in regard to this choice ,and necessity also. It is hard to imagine that earth wouldbe used for choice as food and yet such has been the case inmany countries during famine. The Laplanders mix earthwith their bread, the Russian peasant uses a " rock flour,"and the poorer classes in Hungary are driven occasionallyto eat an earth which contains but a trifling proportion ofnourishing principles. The use of seaweed as food is an

example of the determining factors of both necessityand environment. It is not a little astonishing to find

what a number of seaweeds are really edible and nourishing.Perhaps the best-known example in this country is laver,which is a kind of stew made from a weed, an alga (porphyralaciniata). The laver made on the Devonshire coast and tobe found in some London shops is excellent. The sea algse,indeed, prove on analysis to contain a considerable pro-portion of nitrogenous matter and as they are usuallytender they are digestible. There are also severalsea mouses which are esteemed for their esculent

properties. Agar-agar is another example of a seaweed

yielding a nutrient jelly. It is supposed that the ediblebirds’ nest so highly esteemed when prepared in the formof soup by the Chinese has its origin in the birds

feeding upon agar-agar. On the other hand, it is said

that the substance of which the nest is composedis secreted from certain glands which are developedduring the nest-building season but which lose thisfunction afterwards. The viscid substance resembles themucin or albumin excreted by the sublingual gland.The turtle may be regarded as an odd article of food since itis the only example of an edible reptile, at least, in this

country. Frogs’ legs, again, are rarely eaten in this country,though they are easily digested, possess a delicate flavour,and have about the same nutritive value as chicken. Neitheris the snail esteemed as an article of food in this country,though in France it is partaken of in large quantities and sogood is it that it has been called " the poor man’s oyster."The edible snail, however, is a particular kind and is

generally collected in considerable number from the vineya]d<

in the south of France. In Spain the snail is served in a

most excellent and appetising manner, and in Paris a dish ofselected snails is reserved for the special use of the g01l’rmet.Coal would appear to be a strange article of food, but

instances are known in which children and cats have

been found consuming it in a not negligible quantity.There is no evidence, however, although coal containsan abundance of one of the most important elementsof food-i.e., carbon-that in this form it is inthe least degree assimilated. It is almost impossible to

oxidise by wet methods carbon in the free state, whereas incombination with other elements, and especially hydrogen,as in the carbohydrates, wet combustion in the economyreadily ensues. Such instances of odd foods could be

multiplied but those quoted serve to show the extraordinaryrange of material selected by man for the purposes of food.

CRICKET, HEALTH, AND ANATOMY.

WE have received from the Fine Art Society Parts I.and II. of a clever series of portraits which the societyis publishing, publication commencing, appropriately enough,in the week when the first match between England andAustralia has been brought to a victorious conclusionfor the mother country. The work is entitled " The

Empire’s Cricketers" and conspicuous among the portraitsin the first two instalments is that of a medical manwhose name is probably as well known to the public as

that of any member of our profession. Dr. W. G. Grace

(we may accord him the title of "Dr." in deference to

public usage without any reluctance as he is no longer,we believe, in practice) may not now be chosen to

represent England in a "test" " match, but his cricket

career is by no means run. Mr. Chevallier Tayler, theartist responsible for the portraits in the series, has caught"W. G." in a characteristic attitude awaiting the ball

already on its way towards him, and prepared to come downon it in the resolute fashion that means a boundary hit allalong the grass-or should we say " carpet " We must not,however, be betrayed into the appalling lingo of the cricketjournalist. Nor, indeed, is it exactly within our scope tocomment upon the very clever illustrations further than to

say that even those who are least acquainted with the

performances of the selected athletes will find it interest-

ing to examine the various studies of physical vigour andtrained muscular effort which accompany the portrait of Dr.Grace. Cricket is a game of so manly a character, and is soessentially English in its origin and development, that manywill watch with interest the struggles between the pickedteams which will take place during the present season, even ifin less enthusiastic moments they may deprecate an unreason-able absorption in the study of a game, may regret thatyoung men should postpone taking up the more serious

duties of Lfe in order to prolong their indulgencein it, and may regard with impatience the suppotby counties of teams consisting almost entirely of paid" players." If, however, such a publication as that underreview encourages the young to develop their physicalpowers by healthy exercise, and to appreciate the fact thattemperate habits and careful training of eye and muscle arenecessary in order to produce good results where eye andmuscle have to be used, it is sure to exercise a usefulinfluence. The mere worship of physical excellence by thecurious and lazy is the dangerous extreme which is to beavoided. The excellent reproductions of Mr. Chevallier

TaJler’s drawings are apparently from originals in colouredchalk upon brown paper and the artist evinces considerable

1 The Empire’s Cricketers, from Drawings by A. Chevallier Tayler,with Biographical Sketches by G. W. Beldam. Published for the FineArt Society by Messrs. Dawbarn and Ward, Farringdon Avenue, E.C.In 16 parts. Price, each part, 1s. net.

1525THE ROYAL SANITARY INSTITUTE.-TRACHOMA AMONG ALIENS.

skill in depicting the human frame in vigorous action’

Medical men should appreciate drawings of the human frameby one who makes his subjects men of bone and muscle, notmere models in flannel. And as members of the medical pro-fession of all others have to abandon so exacting a game ascricket early, and can find but little time for looking on at it,they will not be sorry to gain some acquaintance with thephysical attributes of modern players of note and of methodsof attack and defence now in vogue. We may suggest thata good lecture in applied anatomy might be founded uponthe pictures. If the actions of (say) Rhodes at the momentof delivering the ball, or Tyldesley at the moment of late-cutting it were used as examples of muscular effort andfunction we have an idea that the lessons inculcated would

stay by the student. -

THE ROYAL SANITARY INSTITUTE.

ON Friday, June 16th, at 4.30 P.M., a discussion will be

opened at the Parkes Museum, Margaret-street, London, W.,by Mr. Edwin T. Hall, F.R.I.B.A., on Sanatoria for Con-sumption : Design and Location. Among the speakers whohave already signified their intention of being present areMr. H. Percy Adams, F.R.I.B.A., Mr. T. W. Aldwinckle,F.R.I.B.A., Mr. T. W. Cutler, F.R.I.B.A., Dr. C. E. Rein-hardt, Mr. A. C. Scovell (chairman of the MetropolitanAsylums Board), Dr. J. E Squire, Dr. F. R. Walters, andDr. C. Theodore Williams. Major-General the Right Hon.Lord Cheylesmore will preside. Tickets for the admis-

sion of visitors, who are invited to take part in the

discussion, may be obtained from the secretary. On the

following day a visit will be made to the Heatherside

Sanatorium, Frimley, the country branch of the BromptonHospital, conducted by Mr. E. T. Hall, the architect of thesanatorium. Luncheon will be provided for members of theinstitute and special arrangements have been made by whichreturn tickets can be obtained at reduced rates, a first-classticket costing 7s. 4d., a second class 4s. 7d., and a thirdclass 3s. 8d. Frimley is distant about two and a half milesfrom Camberley, the nearest railway station, but con-

veyances will be provided for visitors at the cost of 3s.

each person. The train will leave Waterloo for Camberleyat 11.50 A.M. There are three return trains at intervals ofabout an hour, the first arriving at Waterloo at 6.55 P.M.Application for tickets should be made to the secretary ofthe institute.

____

TRACHOMA AMONG ALIENS.

AN important report has just been issued by Dr. A. K.Chalmers, the medical officer of health of Glasgow, upon casesof trachoma which have been treated in the ophthalmic dis-pensaries of the city and the subjects of which have beenaliens. These aliens are described as consisting of two ormore classes, distinguished from each other by the intendedduration of their stay in Scotland. At one end is the alienwho is also a transmigrant, Glasgow being only a stage inhis journey ; at the other is the alien who, for a variableperiod, has become incorporated with the industrial life ofthe West of Scotland, chiefly as an iron or coal worker,but who in time offers himself at one of the emigration officesfor shipment to America. It is further said that the medical

inspection of emigrants at the original port of embarka-tion on the Continent is stringent for the direct trans-

migrant and quite illusory for those who book onlyto a port in this country. Dr. Chalmers does not treat the

question very seriously, saying that "in its earlier stagestrachoma is easily amenable to treatment," that it is not "adisease of fulminating activity," and that " the introductionof a few cases into a district is not, without certain con-ditions, sufficient to insure a wide extension of the malady."These statements, in view of the past history of the disease,

and of its epidemic prevalencies from time to time can onlybe accepted with much reserve. Like many other maladiestrachoma probably confers a certain degree of immunityupon populations among which its milder forms have longbeen frequent ; but, under certain conditions, it assumesterrible activity, and we have no precise knowledge ofwhat these conditions are. It was first introducedinto Europe by the army of the first Napoleon on its returnfrom Egypt, and it raged as a veritable pestilence, destroy-ing the sight of a very large proportion of those who wereattacked. It next made its way into Ireland where it pro-duced equally disastrous consequences. Of late years, in

England, it has chiefly been known in workhouse schoolsand from these it has only been eradicated by infinitetrouble. It is quite conceivable that the secretion of the

trachoma which is brought into this country by aliens maybe more virulent than that of the home-grown disease andthat the importation, after a period of smouldering, mayassume a very formidable character. It should, we think,be an iustruction to the port authorities under the expectedAliens Act that all persons suffering from the disease shouldbe refused permission to land and that information as to theprohibition should be widely circulated.

THE ASYLUM WORKERS’ ASSOCIATION.

THIS association was founded for the benefit of the rankand file of asylum workers, in whose interests a large amountof honorary work is done by medical men and others con-cerned with the care of the insane. From correspondence inthe Asyluna Ne?vs,, which is the journal of the association,and from the annual report of the latter for 1904 it is clearthat those concerned with nursing amongst the insane arealive to the importance of safeguarding their interests in thematter of the State registration of nurses, which is at

present engaging the attention of a select committee of theHouse of Commons. The association is in this matter

cooperating with the Medico-Psychological Association,which, as the body responsible for the certification of mentalnurses, may be trusted to take adequate measures to protectthe interests of the holders of its certificates. We gatherfrom the report referred to that the case of the mentalnurse is kept in view in one of the Bills before Parliamenton the subject of State registration. In this, the eighthannual report, the executive committee is able to notify asatisfactory condition of the finances of the association, butit is nevertheless the case that the roll of ordinary members,which is composed of the rank and file of asylum workers,shows a falling off of no less than 486 from the numbers in1903. The roll now stands at 2910. It is not unlikely thatlocal considerations at the various asylums, such as will

suggest themselves to those acquainted with these institu-tions, are responsible for considerable fluctuations from timeto time in the numbers of an association such as this. The

report notes the improbability of legislation comprising theL settlement of the question of pensions in public asylums

during the life of the present Parliament. There are, in fact,,

no signs that the power vested in, and the latitude allowed to,asylum committees and their parent councils in England and

: Wales in the matter of superannuation of their employes. will be in any way modified by the central authority. The. present conditions do not make for united action on the part. of asylum workers on this question, for whereas some have7 cause to be satisfied with their prospects and would probably

deprecate alteration, others, possibly their neighbours in an; adjoining county, are confronted with a deplorable uncer-

tainty in the matter of superannuation, and even in somei instances are aware that they will receive no pension. The. report further states that attention is being given by the’

executive committee to the matter of provision of facilities, for the training of male attendants in the details of general