THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS

1
94 he begins to discover its solace. For here he becomes able to judge, as no other man can, of their relative sig- nificance. He does not share the pity that runs through the crowd as some chalk-faced patient, with his arm in a sling, walks slowly and painfully along the pavement, for his prophetic instinct shows him this same man, two or three months hence, wielding a spade or hunting four days a week, leading, in fact, a perfectly healthy physical existence in accordance with the sphere in which he lives. On the other hand, the woman with the curious red spot upon her face, half hidden by hair and a veil, affords him a far more sombre chapter for reflection. For whether it be lupus, or epithelioma, or a rodent ulcer, and whether it be treated or not, it will have meant, when these same months have passed, a far greater obsession of bodily and mental pain than that of any broken limb. Such cases as these are fairly balanced and the medical man has no greater distress in his perambulations of the streets than the average observant layman, only he pities those whom the layman does not observe, and sees no great hardship in the plights that must appeal to the uninitiated. In the last of the pathological groups to which we shall refer the medical man’s knowledge is really useful. For we must all know the picture of the chronic invalid and cripple who year by year drags his deformed limbs before the pitying eyes (and purses) of his fellow-citizens and it is not difficult to imagine the feelings that are harrowed by so sorry a sight. As often as not, too, these victims wear an expression of the profoundest suffering which may impose upon many but cannot often deceive the trained eye. To the medical man it is perfectly evident that these ankylosed joints can have caused no pain for years. He recognises some old tuberculous trouble, arrested long ago, and never likely to recur unless the misguided patient shall submit to a so-called cure at the hands of a bone-setter, who will break down the adhesions and light up the old trouble afresh at the expense of an apparently straightened limb. The medical man, again, can tell very quickly that these con- genitally dislocated hips are no warrant at all for the anguished look of their possessor whose abilities for the enjoyment of life are probably as great as those of most of his commiserators. Such cases as these, and they are too common upon our streets, cause the medical man to smle rather than to sigh and here his education will spare him many of the pangs that assault the softer-hearted of his comrades. And so the streets stretch out before him an infinite field for research and wonder and filled with all manner of substance for meditation. And with it all it is well to remember the exuberant sea of vitality that must abundantly overwhelm the pathological, even in the streets of London. And, doing so, the medical man of to-day will hesitate perhaps to subscribe to the opinion of old Sir THOMAS BROWNE in his " Religio Medici," that the world is ’’ not an inn, but an hospital ; and a place not to live, but to die in." 1. ING’S COLLEGE HOSPITAL -The executors and trustees of the late Miss Marianne Frances Hasker have promised a donation of £20,000 towards the fund for the removal of King’s College Hospital to South London. Annotations. "Ne quid nimis." THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS. Professor T. McCall Anderson, Mr. T. F. Chavasse, Dr. P. S. Jones, Dr. W. J. Smyly, and Dr. E. S. Stevenson have each had conferred upon them the honour of knighthood. Professor Thomas McCall Ander.-on, who is Regius professor of medicine at the University of Glasgow and the representa- tive of his alma mater on the General Medical Council, graduated M.D. of Glasgow with honours in 1858 and obtained the Fellowship of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in the same year. As the dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Glasgow and as examiner in medicine and pathology to the Army Medical Service and the Indian Medical Service he has done good work in the interest of his profession and is the author of several books on cutaneous diseases and tuberculosis. Mr. Thomas Frederick Chavasse, the senior surgeon of the Birmingham General Hospital, is a justice of the peace for the county o’f Warwick. He graduated M.D. of Edinburgh in 1878 and obtained the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of that city in the same year and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, honoris cacnsa, in 1899. He is the author of various surgical monographs and has been a frequent contributor to the medical press. Dr. William Josiah Smyly, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, graduated M.D. of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1875, and became a Fellow of the College of which he is now President in 1884, having obtained the Fellow- ship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1877. He is a contributor to Allbutt and Playfair’s System of Gynaecology and Quain’s Dictionary of Medicine. Dr. Philip Sydney Jones, M.D. Lond., F.R.C.S. Eng., is honorary eon- sulting physician to Prince Alfred Hospital and to Sydney Hospital, Australia, and Dr. Edmond Sinclair Stevenson, M.D. Brux., F.R.C.S. Edin., is a member of the medical council of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. The military branch of the medical profession is represented by Surgeon-General Charles McDonagh Cuffe, C.B., who has been promoted to Knight Commander of the Bath ; Surgeon-Major Thomas Egerton Hale, V.C., a survivor of the Crimean War, and Surgeon-General William Launcelot Gubbins, M.V.O., Principal Medical Officer of the Western Command in India, who have been made Companions of the Bath ; and Colonel David Bruce, F.R.S., R.A.M.C., and Lieutenant- Colonel and Hon. Colonel William Coates, R.A.M.C. Volunteers, who also received similar honours in the civil division. To each of these gentlemen we offer in the name of the medical profession hearty congratulations. PROPOSED CHARTER FOR THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. THE annual representative meeting in Oxford last year instructed the council of the British Medical Association to take the steps necessary to obtain the alterations in the memorandum of association contained in the Birming- ham resolutions, subject to such modifications as might be required to harmonise them with the present articles. One of the Birmingham resolutions would have given power to the Association to expend money for the defence, promotion, or maintenance of the honour or interests -of the medical profession, including in particular taking or defending legal proceedings. The matter was

Transcript of THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS

Page 1: THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS

94

he begins to discover its solace. For here he becomes able

to judge, as no other man can, of their relative sig-nificance. He does not share the pity that runs throughthe crowd as some chalk-faced patient, with his arm in a

sling, walks slowly and painfully along the pavement, forhis prophetic instinct shows him this same man, two or

three months hence, wielding a spade or hunting four days aweek, leading, in fact, a perfectly healthy physical existencein accordance with the sphere in which he lives. On the

other hand, the woman with the curious red spot upon her

face, half hidden by hair and a veil, affords him a

far more sombre chapter for reflection. For whether it be

lupus, or epithelioma, or a rodent ulcer, and whether it

be treated or not, it will have meant, when these same

months have passed, a far greater obsession of bodily andmental pain than that of any broken limb. Such cases

as these are fairly balanced and the medical man has no

greater distress in his perambulations of the streets than the

average observant layman, only he pities those whom the

layman does not observe, and sees no great hardship in the

plights that must appeal to the uninitiated.In the last of the pathological groups to which we shall

refer the medical man’s knowledge is really useful. For we

must all know the picture of the chronic invalid and cripplewho year by year drags his deformed limbs before the

pitying eyes (and purses) of his fellow-citizens and it

is not difficult to imagine the feelings that are harrowed

by so sorry a sight. As often as not, too, these victimswear an expression of the profoundest suffering which

may impose upon many but cannot often deceive the

trained eye. To the medical man it is perfectly evidentthat these ankylosed joints can have caused no painfor years. He recognises some old tuberculous trouble,arrested long ago, and never likely to recur unless

the misguided patient shall submit to a so-called cure

at the hands of a bone-setter, who will break down

the adhesions and light up the old trouble afresh at

the expense of an apparently straightened limb. The

medical man, again, can tell very quickly that these con-

genitally dislocated hips are no warrant at all for the

anguished look of their possessor whose abilities for the

enjoyment of life are probably as great as those of mostof his commiserators. Such cases as these, and they aretoo common upon our streets, cause the medical man to

smle rather than to sigh and here his education will sparehim many of the pangs that assault the softer-hearted of

his comrades. And so the streets stretch out before him

an infinite field for research and wonder and filled with all

manner of substance for meditation. And with it all it is

well to remember the exuberant sea of vitality that must

abundantly overwhelm the pathological, even in the streetsof London. And, doing so, the medical man of to-day willhesitate perhaps to subscribe to the opinion of old Sir

THOMAS BROWNE in his " Religio Medici," that the world is’’ not an inn, but an hospital ; and a place not to live, butto die in."

1. ING’S COLLEGE HOSPITAL -The executors andtrustees of the late Miss Marianne Frances Hasker have

promised a donation of £20,000 towards the fund for theremoval of King’s College Hospital to South London.

Annotations."Ne quid nimis."

THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS.

Professor T. McCall Anderson, Mr. T. F. Chavasse, Dr.P. S. Jones, Dr. W. J. Smyly, and Dr. E. S. Stevenson haveeach had conferred upon them the honour of knighthood.Professor Thomas McCall Ander.-on, who is Regius professorof medicine at the University of Glasgow and the representa-tive of his alma mater on the General Medical Council,graduated M.D. of Glasgow with honours in 1858 andobtained the Fellowship of the Faculty of Physicians andSurgeons of Glasgow in the same year. As the dean ofthe Medical Faculty of the University of Glasgow and asexaminer in medicine and pathology to the Army MedicalService and the Indian Medical Service he has done goodwork in the interest of his profession and is the authorof several books on cutaneous diseases and tuberculosis.Mr. Thomas Frederick Chavasse, the senior surgeon of

the Birmingham General Hospital, is a justice of the

peace for the county o’f Warwick. He graduatedM.D. of Edinburgh in 1878 and obtained the Fellowshipof the Royal College of Surgeons of that city in the

same year and was made a Fellow of the Royal Collegeof Surgeons of England, honoris cacnsa, in 1899. He is

the author of various surgical monographs and has

been a frequent contributor to the medical press. Dr.

William Josiah Smyly, President of the Royal Collegeof Physicians of Ireland, graduated M.D. of Trinity College,Dublin, in 1875, and became a Fellow of the College of

which he is now President in 1884, having obtained the Fellow-ship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1877.He is a contributor to Allbutt and Playfair’s System of

Gynaecology and Quain’s Dictionary of Medicine. Dr. PhilipSydney Jones, M.D. Lond., F.R.C.S. Eng., is honorary eon-sulting physician to Prince Alfred Hospital and to SydneyHospital, Australia, and Dr. Edmond Sinclair Stevenson, M.D.Brux., F.R.C.S. Edin., is a member of the medical council ofthe Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. The military branchof the medical profession is represented by Surgeon-GeneralCharles McDonagh Cuffe, C.B., who has been promoted toKnight Commander of the Bath ; Surgeon-Major ThomasEgerton Hale, V.C., a survivor of the Crimean War, andSurgeon-General William Launcelot Gubbins, M.V.O.,Principal Medical Officer of the Western Command in

India, who have been made Companions of the Bath ; andColonel David Bruce, F.R.S., R.A.M.C., and Lieutenant-Colonel and Hon. Colonel William Coates, R.A.M.C.

Volunteers, who also received similar honours in the civildivision. To each of these gentlemen we offer in the nameof the medical profession hearty congratulations.

PROPOSED CHARTER FOR THE BRITISHMEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

THE annual representative meeting in Oxford last yearinstructed the council of the British Medical Associationto take the steps necessary to obtain the alterations in

the memorandum of association contained in the Birming-ham resolutions, subject to such modifications as mightbe required to harmonise them with the present articles.One of the Birmingham resolutions would have givenpower to the Association to expend money for the

defence, promotion, or maintenance of the honour or

interests -of the medical profession, including in particulartaking or defending legal proceedings. The matter was