428

to Dr. Hill by the Lord Mayor, was given last week byAlderman Cook, chairman of the health committee. Anumber of members of the council and officials, includ-ing Dr. J. Robertson, the new medical officer of health,were present. In proposing the health of the guest of theevening, Alderman Cook said that Dr. Hill might be saidto have seen almost the birth-certainly the beginning oforganisation on anything like an adequate scale-of thesanitary department. At first the committee was calledthe borough inspection committee. Later it became thesanitary committee and after the Public Health Act cameinto force the health committee. He (the chairman) enteredthe council in November, 1872, and Dr. Hill was appointedmedical officer in the December following. Their connexionhad, therefore, been long. In those days there were only eighthealth inspectors, now there were over 30. It went without

saying that the sanitary state of the city in those days wasfar from good. The death-rate was over 25 per 1000 andthere were thousands of middens poisoning the air, the totalarea of which was reckoned at that time at about 13 acres.

Nothing worse could be imagined. They had got rid of

nearly all those middens and they were going in for furtherimprovements. Alderman Cook also alluded to Dr. Hill’sconnexion with the closing of the city wells, the building ofthe city hospital, and other incidents of his career.

Vaccination Zees.

The attention of the board of guardians has been calledby one of its number to the great increase in the amountof the vaccination fees which has been one of the results ofthe Act of 1898. Prior to that Act any person wishing to bevaccinated free of cost had to apply at the vaccinationstation; now the vaccination officer has to call if theauthorities receive a notification to that effect, and it seemsthat many persons who formerly employed the family prac-titioner for this purpose now save his fees by engaging theservices of the public official. Taking the four years priorto the Act of 1898 becoming operative, it is found that thefees paid in respect of the parish of Birmingham wererespectively as follows: 1896, £387 ; 1897, f:361 ; 1898, .8345 ;and 1899, Z293 ; or an average of f:346 per annum. Thatwas on a scale whereby the guardians paid 2s. 6d. for eachsuccessful vaccination. Under the new Act an order wasissued by the Local Government Board making the mini-mum payment 5s., in addition to which the surgeonreceives ls. for the registration of every child-whethervaccinated or unvaccinated-born in the parish should thebaby reach the age of four months. As a result the

aggregate of fees, which had been steadily declining, hasmuch increased, as will be seen from the following totals :1900, .81132 ; 1901, £1164 ; 1902, £1154 ; and 1903 (the officialyear ends on March 31st), .81877. This gives a yearlyaverage of .81333, as compared with E346 for the precedingfour years-an increase of practically £1000 per annum.The board of guardians has on various occasions complainedto the Local Government Board as to the amount of the feesand has been met with replies that the communicationshave been received. At their meeting on July 29th theguardians passed a resolution pointing out that they had forthe past five years called the attention of the Local Govern-ment Board ’ to the very excessive sums they have beencompelled to pay in fees to the vaccination surgeon" andemphatically protesting against "the indifference withwhich these protests and remonstrances have been treated bythe officials of the Local Government Board." The clerkwas instructed to send this resolution to the Board in

question.August 4th.

________ __

WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Aberdare Valley Colliery b’aergeons. UNTIL about three years ago the colliery surgeons in the

Aberdare Valley received 2d. in the pound of the colliers’ earnings as payment for their services. This poundage wasincreased to 3d. upon the representation of the surgeonsthat their out-of-pocket expenses had very considerablyincreased, noticeably in connexion with the salaries of their assistants. Within the past few months an agitation hasbeen going on among the men employed in the Aberamanand Cwmaman collieries having for its object the adoption

of a new scheme of medical attendance and at publicmeetings held on July 20th definite proposals whichhad been drafted by a committee of the workmen wereapproved. There are at present three surgeons engagedunder the poundage system and they pay the wholeof the expenses of their practices. Under the new

scheme it is proposed to engage one medical officer ata salary of C600 per annum and five assistants each at ayearly salary of oB2QO. The committee is to defray all theexpenses of the undertaking, including the supply of drugsand instruments, stable expenses, house rent and taxes,and expenses of management. During the year endingJune 30th, 1901, the poundage produced oB4668 and it isestimated that under the altered conditions there will be asaving of oB1500 or .62000, which sum it is intended to usein the maintenance of a cottage hospital. The scheme

upon paper appears to work out well, but there are so

many objections to its practical working that it is a

little surprising to find it meeting with the approval ofsome of the leaders among the workmen. First of allthe estimate of income is based upon the earnings ofthe men when wages were high and it is very doubtfulwhether this estimate will be maintained in the future; whilea strike of any considerable duration would ruin the scheme.During the strike of 1898 for nearly six months manysurgeons did not receive any payment at all from thecolliers, although their surgery and other expenses were stillgoing on and they continued to attend their patients. Theproposal to employ assistants in place of some of the presentsurgeons is hardly likely to be satisfactory, if for no otherreason than the constant change which will be taking place.A really satisfactory and competent assistant will not stayvery long in a colliery district at a salary of oB200 per annumwhen he can earn quite as much as, or even more, in a localityhaving pleasanter social and physical surroundings. Lastly,there is the question of the engagement and control of theassistants. If they are engaged by the committee of work-men difficulties of the gravest character will arise and themen may one day find the machinery of their medical serviceat a standstill. It would be interesting to know what thewives of the colliers think of the proposed alteration.

Butchers and Tuberculous Meat.The butchers and cattle dealers of Cardiff, Swansea, and

the surrounding districts are endeavouring to arrange ascheme whereby after a certain date no cattle above a givenvalue shall be purchased either by auction or privately unlesssuch cattle are warranted by the vendors free from tuber-culosis. At a conference of butchers held at Cardiff on

July 27th a committee of butchers, farmers, auctioneers,and cattle dealers was formed and a resolution was referredto them expressing the opinion that all cattle of not lessvalue than E8 per head, calves and pigs of £1 10s., andsheep of .61 sold in Glamorganshire or Monmouthshireshould be guaranteed by the vendor free from disease. Itwas stated by one speaker that a large firm of Newportcattle dealers had instituted a system of insurance and

during the past three years had paid Z300 in compensationfor cattle which had been sold by them and were ultimatelyfound to be unfit for food.

-Duties of a Workhouse Medical Officer.An inquest was recently held on an old man who had

died in the Newton Abbot (Devon) workhouse on a Sundayand the board of guardians at their meeting, which tookplace on July 30th, were informed that the jury consideredthat the guardians should request their medical officer tovisit the workhouse on Sundays in future. It was explainedat the meeting that in such matters it was left to the discre-tion of the superintendent nurse to telephone to the medicalofficer if his attendance on that day was required and thatthere was not the slightest reason for him to visit in thisinstance, as the patient died from exhaustion due to old age.The guardians eventually resolved unanimously to let the

communication lie on the table.

August 3rd. _____

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Royal University of Ireland.AT a meeting of the Senate of the Royal University of

Ireland held on July 31st it was unanimously resolved, onthe motion of Sir Christopher J. Nixon, M.D., to admit