ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND
1
1442 T to ameliorate. The researches on fatigue lately conducted by scientific observers showed that strength was lessened by continued effort even in moderate degree, and in spite of the difficulties attending the investigation of the effects of fatigue on the brain it is now definitely ascertained that excessive muscular effort lessened or even abolished the sensory power of the cerebral centres. It was also interesting to note that the imperfect attention of pupils so frequently recorded as evidence of brain weariness was simply an expression of imperfect brain power resulting from over-exertion and that brain fatigue commonly induced a failure of memory and of the power of grasping a subject. Physical or mental exercise, when indulged in to excess and not rendered complementary the one to the other, in the long run proved baneful to the mental or physical health of the individual. The individual who had undergone too early excessive mental strain found himself at a comparatively ’v early age suffering from one of the numerous forms of I neurasthenia, or, in other words, exhaustion from too early and excessive use of functions which ought in the life- history of the individual to have developed more gradually and at a later period. The present age was one of too early and too rapid mental growth-Dr. Hyslop would not, and could not, say mental development. The early and severe taxation upon the resources of the brain pro- duced effects which were becoming more and more disastrous and explained why mental and cerebral diseases tended to appear at an earlier age and were charac- terised by great severity and lessened curability. The young, of course, must be suitably educated to fit them for the competition of modern life. As to the extent to which this should be carried in early childhood there was a dis- crepancy between the doctrinaires of the Education Depart- ment and the views of those possessing any knowledge of the laws of nature or who as physicians dealt with cases of disease arising from the violation of these laws. The red- tape officialbm of the Education Department was often supreme over medical experience and hence it came about that the physician must still raise his protesting voice as long as children before the age of puberty were overworked into disease or death. Undoubtedly the first years of life should be mainly occupied by moral and physical training and during that period the amount of mental cultivation which a child’s brain was capable of receiving with permanent advantage was much less than was commonly believed. Hence arose a very important practical question in connexion with compulsory elementary education. A large proportion of those who must come within the provisions of the educational department in most large cities were ill-fed children of the poorest classes, and children thus debilitated by priva- tion were necessarily as much incapacitated for any mental strain as they were for the accomplishment of any feat of physical strength. Dr. Hyslop declared that he was by no means alone in saying that it was inhuman, injudicious, and impolitic to expect the fulfilment of educational standard requirements by children so circumstanced. If for reasons of public policy all children are forced by the State to he compulsorily educated from their earliest years means should certainly be afforded by which that might be carried out least injuriously. The deterioration of the physical and mental stamina so much discussed of late had been con- sidered to be due to the fact that a large part of the first years of life which should be primarily devoted to religious or moral as well as physical training was now given up to the development of the mental powers. Children were too early compelled to attend some school where their immature brains were forced into abnormal and disastrous activity. He believed that for the physical and mental welfare of the race such an imposition as compulsory education should be withheld from at least one-half of those who were now undergoing sentence in board schools. The present time was undoubtedly a brain age, but it was an age when brains were forced to grow at the expense of development. It was not an age of thought and reason but one of remembered facts and transmitted ideas. ROYAL DEVON AND EXETER HOSPITAL.-Mrs. Nosworthy of Dawlish has offered to defray the whole cost (estimated at .S1000) of the etection of a new operating theatre for the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, provided that all the subscribers who have already promised donations towards the new theatre allow them to be placed to the credit of the general funds of the hospital. ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND. AN ordinary meeting of the Council was held on Nov. 10th, M[r. JOHN TWEEDY, the President, being in the chair. It was resolved that diplomas of Membership should be ssued to 102 successful candidates. A report was read from the finance committee which stated that for the quarter ending Michaelmas, 1904, the .neome of the College exceeded the " expenditure in respect )f income " by .6665 ; though the income had decreased by E320 the expenditure had also been reduced by 221. The report was approved. A report was presented from the committee of manage- ment on a communication which had been received from the Board of Education in reference to a proposal for organising a system of school certificates. It was referred to a special committee to advise as to the form of answer to be sent, the Council approving of the general terms of the report mentioned. Mr. H. T. Butlin was elected as the representative of the College in the Senate of the University of London in the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Sir Henry G. Howse. A letter was read from Mr. R. M. Banks thanking the Council for its resolution of condolence in reference to the death of his father, Sir William Mitchell Banks. A letter was read from the clerk of the Privy Council transmitting, by direction of the Lord President of the Council, a copy of a letter addressed to the General Medical Council stating that the Lord President had had under con- sideration the proposal of the General Medical Council for the establishment of a register of medical students and the imposition of a registration fee not exceeding 1, and that his lordship had also received communications on the subject from the Presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Surgeons of England and suggesting that, "in the circumstances, it might be expedient for the Medical Council to confer with the Colleges with a view to the preparation of a scheme providing for their cooperation towards the desired end on a basis that would in some form or other recognise existing rights." " A letter was read from the clerk of the Privy Council transmitting, by direction of the Lord President of the Council, a copy of a note from the Portuguese Charge d’Affaires forwarded to his lordship by the Secretary of State inviting the attendance of representatives at the Fifteenth International Medical Congress to be held at Lisbon in April, 1906. A letter was read from the secretary of the Royal Sanitary Institute inviting the College to send delegates to a confer- ence and exhibition on School Hygiene to be held in London in February, 1905. A letter was read from the president and honorary secre- tary of the Royal Institute of Public Health inviting the College to send delegates to the next annual Congress of the institute to be held in London from July 19th to 25th, 1905. The President and the Vice-Presidents were authorised to appoint all these delegates. The PRESIDENT reported that he had accepted an invitation to unveil the Cadge Memorial window in Norwich Cathedral on Dec. 6th. The PRESIDENT stated that the vacancy in the court of examiners occasioned by the expiration of Mr. Bernard Pitts’s period of office would be filled up at the next ordinary meet- ing of the Council on Dec. 8th and that Mr. Bernard Pitts would be a candidate for re-election. The SECRETARY reported the notices of motion for the annual meeting of Fellows and Members on Nov. 17th. REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER OF CALCUTTA FOR 1903.1 DURING the year 1903 it would appear that the registered birth-rate for Calcutta was 15 ’ 5 per 1000 of the population, and as Mr. Cook remarks that the true birth-rate there 1 Report of the Health Officer of Calcutta for the year 1903. By J. N. Cook, D.P.H. Cantab., Health Officer. Calcutta: Printed at the Corporation Press. 1904. Pp. 28.
Transcript of ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND
1442 T
to ameliorate. The researches on fatigue lately conductedby scientific observers showed that strength was lessenedby continued effort even in moderate degree, and in
spite of the difficulties attending the investigation ofthe effects of fatigue on the brain it is now definitelyascertained that excessive muscular effort lessened or evenabolished the sensory power of the cerebral centres. It wasalso interesting to note that the imperfect attention of pupilsso frequently recorded as evidence of brain weariness wassimply an expression of imperfect brain power resultingfrom over-exertion and that brain fatigue commonly induceda failure of memory and of the power of grasping a subject.Physical or mental exercise, when indulged in to excess andnot rendered complementary the one to the other, in the
long run proved baneful to the mental or physical health ofthe individual. The individual who had undergone too earlyexcessive mental strain found himself at a comparatively ’vearly age suffering from one of the numerous forms of Ineurasthenia, or, in other words, exhaustion from too earlyand excessive use of functions which ought in the life-
history of the individual to have developed more graduallyand at a later period. The present age was one of too earlyand too rapid mental growth-Dr. Hyslop would not, andcould not, say mental development. The early andsevere taxation upon the resources of the brain pro-duced effects which were becoming more and more
disastrous and explained why mental and cerebral diseasestended to appear at an earlier age and were charac-terised by great severity and lessened curability. The
young, of course, must be suitably educated to fit them forthe competition of modern life. As to the extent to whichthis should be carried in early childhood there was a dis-crepancy between the doctrinaires of the Education Depart-ment and the views of those possessing any knowledge ofthe laws of nature or who as physicians dealt with cases ofdisease arising from the violation of these laws. The red-
tape officialbm of the Education Department was oftensupreme over medical experience and hence it came aboutthat the physician must still raise his protesting voice aslong as children before the age of puberty were overworkedinto disease or death. Undoubtedly the first years of lifeshould be mainly occupied by moral and physical trainingand during that period the amount of mental cultivationwhich a child’s brain was capable of receiving with permanentadvantage was much less than was commonly believed.Hence arose a very important practical question in connexionwith compulsory elementary education. A large proportion ofthose who must come within the provisions of the educationaldepartment in most large cities were ill-fed children ofthe poorest classes, and children thus debilitated by priva-tion were necessarily as much incapacitated for any mentalstrain as they were for the accomplishment of any feat ofphysical strength. Dr. Hyslop declared that he was by nomeans alone in saying that it was inhuman, injudicious, andimpolitic to expect the fulfilment of educational standard
requirements by children so circumstanced. If for reasonsof public policy all children are forced by the State to hecompulsorily educated from their earliest years means shouldcertainly be afforded by which that might be carried outleast injuriously. The deterioration of the physical andmental stamina so much discussed of late had been con-sidered to be due to the fact that a large part of the firstyears of life which should be primarily devoted to religious ormoral as well as physical training was now given up to thedevelopment of the mental powers. Children were too earlycompelled to attend some school where their immaturebrains were forced into abnormal and disastrous activity.He believed that for the physical and mental welfare ofthe race such an imposition as compulsory education shouldbe withheld from at least one-half of those who were nowundergoing sentence in board schools. The present timewas undoubtedly a brain age, but it was an age when brainswere forced to grow at the expense of development. It wasnot an age of thought and reason but one of rememberedfacts and transmitted ideas.
ROYAL DEVON AND EXETER HOSPITAL.-Mrs.Nosworthy of Dawlish has offered to defray the whole cost(estimated at .S1000) of the etection of a new operatingtheatre for the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, providedthat all the subscribers who have already promised donationstowards the new theatre allow them to be placed to thecredit of the general funds of the hospital.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OFENGLAND.
AN ordinary meeting of the Council was held on Nov. 10th,M[r. JOHN TWEEDY, the President, being in the chair.It was resolved that diplomas of Membership should be
ssued to 102 successful candidates.A report was read from the finance committee which
stated that for the quarter ending Michaelmas, 1904, the.neome of the College exceeded the " expenditure in respect)f income " by .6665 ; though the income had decreased byE320 the expenditure had also been reduced by 221. The
report was approved.A report was presented from the committee of manage-
ment on a communication which had been received from theBoard of Education in reference to a proposal for organisinga system of school certificates. It was referred to a specialcommittee to advise as to the form of answer to be sent,the Council approving of the general terms of the reportmentioned.
Mr. H. T. Butlin was elected as the representative of theCollege in the Senate of the University of London in thevacancy occasioned by the resignation of Sir Henry G.Howse.A letter was read from Mr. R. M. Banks thanking the
Council for its resolution of condolence in reference to thedeath of his father, Sir William Mitchell Banks.A letter was read from the clerk of the Privy Council
transmitting, by direction of the Lord President of theCouncil, a copy of a letter addressed to the General MedicalCouncil stating that the Lord President had had under con-sideration the proposal of the General Medical Council forthe establishment of a register of medical students and theimposition of a registration fee not exceeding 1, and thathis lordship had also received communications on the subjectfrom the Presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians ofLondon and Surgeons of England and suggesting that, "inthe circumstances, it might be expedient for the MedicalCouncil to confer with the Colleges with a view to thepreparation of a scheme providing for their cooperationtowards the desired end on a basis that would in some formor other recognise existing rights."
"
A letter was read from the clerk of the Privy Counciltransmitting, by direction of the Lord President of theCouncil, a copy of a note from the Portuguese Charged’Affaires forwarded to his lordship by the Secretary of Stateinviting the attendance of representatives at the FifteenthInternational Medical Congress to be held at Lisbon in
April, 1906.A letter was read from the secretary of the Royal Sanitary
Institute inviting the College to send delegates to a confer-ence and exhibition on School Hygiene to be held in Londonin February, 1905.A letter was read from the president and honorary secre-
tary of the Royal Institute of Public Health inviting theCollege to send delegates to the next annual Congress of theinstitute to be held in London from July 19th to 25th, 1905.The President and the Vice-Presidents were authorised to
appoint all these delegates.The PRESIDENT reported that he had accepted an invitation
to unveil the Cadge Memorial window in Norwich Cathedralon Dec. 6th.The PRESIDENT stated that the vacancy in the court of
examiners occasioned by the expiration of Mr. Bernard Pitts’speriod of office would be filled up at the next ordinary meet-ing of the Council on Dec. 8th and that Mr. Bernard Pittswould be a candidate for re-election.The SECRETARY reported the notices of motion for the
annual meeting of Fellows and Members on Nov. 17th.
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER OFCALCUTTA FOR 1903.1
DURING the year 1903 it would appear that the registeredbirth-rate for Calcutta was 15 ’ 5 per 1000 of the population,and as Mr. Cook remarks that the true birth-rate there
1 Report of the Health Officer of Calcutta for the year 1903. ByJ. N. Cook, D.P.H. Cantab., Health Officer. Calcutta: Printed at theCorporation Press. 1904. Pp. 28.
