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health officials and devise a plan by which broad-casters might receive explicit information quicklyin programmes of a medical nature. Anothercommittee of business associations is to report I.amendments to the code of ethics of the National IAssociation of Broadcasters. Opposition takes thestandpoint that any remedy or device which is notillegal has a right to advertisement; the largerbroadcasting companies, however, agree that no

remedy should be so advertised if it rests under anykind of suspicion. The Welfare Committee of theNew Jersey State Medical Association has also takensome steps in opposition to radio quackery. Thesecretary of the Board of Medical Examiners hasbeen kept informed of radio speeches that amountedto the practice of medicine and one man has alreadybeen convicted on a charge of practising medicinewithout a licence.

First-aid in Industry.A method of organising first-aid and accident

prevention work in industry has been worked out byDr. D. L. Lynch, medical director of the New EnglandTelephone and Telegraph Company. At first he.attempted to spread a knowledge of first-aid bymedical instructors, but he has found it more successfulto train picked representatives from among theemployees and to let them train their fellow work-men. These lay instructors are selected for qualitiesof leadership and once they have grasped the principlesthemselves are especially efficient in explaining themto other workers who in their turn are more willingto ask questions from a fellow employee. Thesetrained .men help to popularise modern methods ofaccident prevention and to bring for early treatmentmany cases that would suffer neglect but for aconfidential intermediary. Many of the medicalsocieties throughout the country are now reconsideringthe official attitude of condemnation towards medicalmen employed by " contract " with industrial

concerns. If one may judge from editorial expressionin some of the State medical journals the professionis about ready to endorse this form of medicalpractice.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Road Accidents and Voluntary Hospitals.THE burden put upon the voluntary hospitals by

road accidents is steadily increasing here as in England.At the recent annual meeting of the MonkstownHospital the chairman, Dr. W. M. Wright, stated that90 cases of motor accidents had been treated in thehospital during the year, costing. double the amountexpended in respect of all other accidents. Many ofthose injured are well-to-do people, who make littleor no contribution to the hospital funds. And,again, for a high proportion of the road accidentssomeone is made amenable at law, and therefore liablefor damages. In the great majority of such casesthe hospital gets nothing. The board of MonkstownHospital passed a resolution asking that a law shouldbe passed to render insurance against third partyrisks compulsory on all motor-drivers, and makingthe cost to voluntary hospitals in case of motoraccidents a first charge on the insurance money.

The Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.The senior surgeon to this hospital, Mr. A. B.

Mitchell, has retired from active duties in the wardsto the great regret of his colleagues. He has beenelected consulting surgeon, and his administrativeabilities will be retained in its service in his capacityof vice-chairman of the board of management. Heis succeeded in the wards by Mr. P. T. Crymble,surgeon to out-patients. Mr. G. R. B. Purce has beenelected assistant surgeon.

The late Dr. Charles Dundee. ’

Dr. Charles Dundee, who died unexpectedly at

Ballycarry on April 3rd after a brief illness, belongedto a medical family well known in County Antrim.He was the son of Dr. C. Dundee, of Ballycarry, thebrother of Dr. W. B. H. Dundee, of Ballynure.He was educated at the Royal Academical Institution,Belfast, and Edinburgh University, where, he qualifiedin 1913, taking the D.P.H. a year later. During thewar he served with the Ulster division, and wasgravely wounded, losing his left arm. He receivedthe Military Cross for great gallantry under fire.After demobilisation Dr. Dundee was appointedassistant tuberculosis officer for Co. Antrim. Hehad a charming manner, and was as popular amongpractitioners as he was in the public health service.Moreover, he took an active interest in the farmingcommunity amid which he lived.

VIENNA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

A Fatal Accident with Diathermy Apparatus.A FEW weeks ago public attention was aroused bv

an accident which caused the death of a well-knownphysician specialising in electrotherapy. The physicianwas seen by a servant when he was standing in frontof the apparatus, the lid of which was open, withboth his hands inside the machine making someadjustment. Suddenly she saw a bunch of sparksdarting from the apparatus, heard a scream, and sawher master fall to the floor. She ran to him andscreamed for help, but some time elapsed beforeanyone came to the scene of the accident. Even whenmedical help was procured, it was first thought thatthe physician, who had suffered from heart trouble,had had an attack of angina pectoris ; thus valuabletime was lost before artificial respiration was

instituted. When the real cause of the accidentbecame evident it was too late. Subsequent investi-gation showed that the physician had been thevictim of his own insufficient precautions. He hada pair of indiarubber shoes on his feet and indiarubbergloves on his hands, but these latter were not in’perfect condition. He had evidently switched on

the current whilst working on the apparatus, in theattempt to find the origin of a fault in the machine,believing that he had insulated himself. Thisaccident has caused alarm among patients who areunwilling to undergo medical diathermic treatment.though it has been publicly stated that diathermy isabsolutely free from danger to the patient. Theunfortunate physician met his death only becausehe unscrewed the lid of the machine and meddledwith the fittings without turning off the currentof 220 volts which passed through his body. Thisis the first instance on record of death caused throughthe medical diathermy set.

Treatment of Detachment of the Retina by Ignipuncture(Gonin’s Method).

At a recent meeting of the Vienna Medical SocietyProf. Lindner demonstrated nine patients on whomhe had successfully performed the so-called Gonin’smethod of operation for detachment of retina. Themethod consists in cauterising the torn edge by meansof an electric cautery. Prof. Gonin uses the cauteryfor four seconds, whilst Prof. Lindner leaves it insitu for from 8-15 seconds. Dr. Guist, Prof. Lindner’sfirst assistant, has constructed an apparatus whichworks like a perimeter, with which he is able to locatethe exact point to be cauterised. Hitherto thedifficulty of locating this spot has been a greatdisadvantage of the method, so that Guist’s applianceis a distinct and important advance. Prof. Lindnerclaimed that in detachment of less than four weeks’

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standing over 50 per cent. of permanent cures could I

be obtained by the galvanocautery. Older cases ofdetachment, however, rarely gave very satisfactoryresults. This new " method, although now practisedby its author for several years, has not many adherentsoutside of Switzerland, where Gonin works, andLindner’s clinic is probably the only place in Austriawhere this operation is being systematically tried out.

Legal Protection of the Title dentist."The Board of Education has recently issued two

orders which are the result of protracted negotiationsbetween the dental section of the WirtschaftlicheOrganisation (Union of Practitioners) of Austria andthe Government, concerning the right of a medicalman to style himself " dentist." This is the firstinstance in this country of legal protection of thetitle of a specialist in any one branch of medicine,and it is expected that it will soon be followed by ageneral declaration of what training a specialist musthave in order to claim this title. According to thenew regulations a dentist must first of all pass allthe examinations necessary for qualification as a

doctor in this country ; then he must work for atleast two years at a dental clinic, and, moreover,pass an examination showing his proficiency inanatomy, pathology, and surgery of the teeth, andmechanical dentistry. Furthermore, he must practisein dental work exclusively, and may not combine itwith any other branch of medicine. Of course, anymedical man is entitled to do dental work as a partof his other medical work, but he is not to call himself Identist, but remains a general practitioner.

Detection of Diseased Arteries by Uroselectan.At the last meeting of the Gesellschaft der Aerzte

Dr. Sgalitzer, from Prof. Eiselsberg’s clinic, togetherwith Dr. Kollert, showed a new method for the exa-mination of arteries by means of X rays. The arteryis laid bare under local anaesthesia, and 10-15 c.cm.of uroselectan-an organic compound of iodine, inwhich the iodine is firmly attached to the organicmolecule, is injected into the artery with a fineneedle. There is no danger of iodism, as has beenamply demonstrated by using this drug in pyelography,and no free iodine appears in the urine. As theinjection into the artery is sometimes painful, it isdesirable to give a few whiffs of ethyl chloride toinduce light general anaesthesia. If the arteries arebelieved to be diseased, the strictest aseptic con-

ditions must be observed. The injection is in thefirst place done for diagnostic purposes ; hithertoten patients have been so treated. In some cases(one a case beginning gangrene of the big toe) aremarkable improvement has been the unexpectedresult. The authors, who have been assisted by asurgeon, Dr. Demel, have hitherto tried this methodonly on the arteries of the extremities, and havedemonstrated the presence of emboli, thrombi,endarteritic, and arterio-sclerotic changes or spasticconditions. By combining the uroselectan injectionwith vaso-dilating substances, it is possible todifferentiate spastic from organic stenosis of thevessels. If deposits of lime are visible in the arterialwall, before injection, the evidence is in favour oforganic disease. If spastic conditions are found,treatment with yohimbin (1-5 mg. per day) issaid to give good results, especially in ischaemicconditions like nicotine-intoxication or syphiliticendarteritis. Investigations of the capillaries underthe finger-nail margin after uroselectan injectionsgave very interesting results. They show that theseinjections distinctly influence the circulation in thecapillary system in the direction of increased pressureand flow of the blood stream. The indications forthe new method are as yet not established. But inaneurysm of the peripheral arteries and in variouspathological conditions of the venous system itshould give useful results. So far it has served tolocalise exactly the site of an embolus, and the siteof election for amputation in cases of peripheralocclusion of an artery.

CONFERENCE ON BIRTH CONTROL.THE GIVING OF INFORMATION BY PUBLIC HEALTH

AUTHORITIES.

A CONFERENCE organised by the National Union ofSocieties for Equal Citizenship, the Society for theProvision of Birth Control Clinics, the Women’sNational Liberal Federation, and the Workers’ BirthControl Group, to discuss the giving of informationon birth control by public health authorities, was heldat the Central Hall, Westminster, on April 4th.

Birth Control and the Population Problem.Dr. KILLICK MILLARD (M.O.H., Leicester), who

presided at the morning session, said he was impressedby the profound change in the public attitude tothis question in the last few years. The principalobject of this conference was to emphasise the demandto the Ministry of Health to remove the embargoagainst the giving of information on birth control atmunicipal antenatal clinics. If birth control was to bejustified as a national policy it must be based onsomething broader than individual hardship-that is,on the assurance that there were sound national andinternational grounds for believing that unlimitedincrease of population was not desirable.

Mr. HAROLD WRIGHT gave an able exposition of theMalthusian doctrine, and explained that the demandfor increasing population might be met either by afalling death-rate or a rising birth-rate, but there wasall the difference in the world between the two interms of human well-being and happiness.’ Mr. Wrightregarded birth control as an unmixed good, both fromthe point of view of the individual and of the race asa whole.

Birth Control and Maternal Health.The CHAIRMAN referred to a statement made by

Dr. Vernon Davies in the House of Commons recently,that competent gynaecological and obstetric surgeonswere opposed to birth control, and quoted figures ofanswers received by him to a questionaire on thissubject to prove that the opposite was the case.Mr. HAROLD CHAPPLE, F.R.C.S., based his arguments

on three fundamental questions : (1) Were there anymedical grounds on which married people neededinformation about birth control ? (2) Had they aright to it ? (3) Were the public health authoritiesthe people who should supply it ? F He believed theanswer to all three questions to be in the affirmative.The out-patient department of any hospital wouldsupply ample evidence on the first point. - A womanwith several children, suffering from an uncompensatedheart and again becoming pregnant, a tuberculouspatient, or a woman with kidney disease, furnishedthree gross and obvious examples of cases whichexisted in thousands. People who objected to birthcontrol asked why it should not be possible to exertsuch self-control that these catastrophes never

occurred. Mr. Chapple thought that people whoput that forward as a serious suggestion must haveeither a very limited or a very fortunate experience.For those obliged to share a bed it would impose aphysical strain too great to be borne. In some personsthe sex urge was comparatively slight, in others analmost overwhelming force. Much clinical experienceled him to the conclusion that there was no such timeas a " safe " period. The underlying principle ofbirth control was in line with the medical view ofprophylaxis. Modern devices might occasionallyproduce a little local soreness, but Mr. Chapple hadnever seen a case in which real harm had been done.These methods were available to the well-to-do, whyshould they be withheld from people whose one sourceof information was that of clinics ? This kind ofteaching could not be given in the out-patient depart-ments of hospitals. Knowledge need not be thruston people who did not want it, those who did want ithad a right to it. He urged local authorities to help