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Now, although leukaemia may in one directioncome very close to cancers, in the other it mergesinto a series of clinical pictures which seem to havelittle or nothing to do with cancer. And in all cases,including the lymphosarcoma or sarcomatosis type,it is sharply divided from cancer by being at itsinception a generalised disease. Cancer is at itsinception strictly localised. There is a further hintof some fundamental difference in nature in the factthat a sarcoma of bone, for instance, will expand andthin out the bone over it which a leukaemia marrowwill never do, and in the fact that sarcoma impairsthe function of an organ to the extent of its involve-ment of that organ, whereas a whole organ-e.g.,a kidney-may be pervaded with leukaemic growthand yet suffer no perceptible impairment of function.Other differences might be cited, and even if

experts may not consider them conclusive there isno question but that they raise doubts which oughtto be settled. If any part of modern cancer researchis being based on what is in fact leukaemia, con-clusions arrived at are ipso facto suspect until theabove-mentioned disparities are explained andharmonised. No one seems to have thought it worthwhile to attempt such explanation and précis writersoften fail to mention what sort of growth is beingdealt with. It follows that readers are involved indifficulties and are inclined to doubt the proprietyof endowing cancer research without any definitedecision as to what constitutes cancer.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,Sevenoaks, Kent, May 16th, 1926. GORDON WARD.

Obituary.JOHN HEDLEY CROCKER, M.D., D.S.Sc.VICT.ON May 17th Dr. J. H. Crocker died suddenly at

Brighton, where he had been living for some yearsin retirement. He was 67 years of age. Born of aWest Country family he was brought up in Tavistockand came to London to study medicine at CharingCross Hospital, where he distinguished himself as

a student and held house appointments. Aftervoyages to China and Japan as ship’s surgeon, hewent to Eccles to take charge of a Friendly Societies’Medical Association, but soon afterwards took upprivate practice in the town and made a name forhimself as a very able practitioner who took a greatdeal of trouble over his cases. Dr. Crocker hadqualified as M.R.C.S. Eng. in 1884. In 1892 hegraduated with first-class honours in the VictoriaUniversity and two years later, whilst in privatepractice, took the M.D. at Victoria University andalso the diploma in Sanitary Science. This wasfollowed by his appointment to the public healthservice. In general practice, his tact and charm ofmanner and his remarkable gift for winning theconfidence of his patients had been immense assets,and also his aptitude for conveying to patients innon-technical language an accurate idea of theircondition. These qualities of mind and characterstood him in equally good stead when, partly forhealth reasons, he turned to administrative work.He became successively medical officer of health forEccles, and for the new Manchester Port after theopening of the Ship Canal, and finally went toRichmond, Surrey, where, in spite of a serious opera-tion and poor health, he carried on his work with keeninterest. Even when he retired to Brighton he didnot lose touch with everyday affairs, and he seemed tohave several years of useful and well-earned retirementbefore him ; as a member of the East Sussex CountyCouncil his advice and knowledge of public healthwere in constant demand. In each of the communitieswhich he served during his life Dr. Crocker won a

high reputation, and many colleagues will rememberhim as a good friend, always ready to do a good turnto others, and with a capacity for enlivening theoccasion. He leaves a widow and one child.

HENRY BROUGHAM GUPPY, M.B.,C.M. EDIN., F.R.S.

THE death of Dr. H. B. Guppy at Martinique onApril 23rd, at the age of 72, brings to an end a longcareer of scientific observation and investigation.The son of the late Dr. T. S. Guppy, of Fahnouth,he was educated at King’s School, Sherborne, and atQueen’s College, Birmingham, proceeding to St.Bartholomew’s Hospital. and the University ofEdinburgh for his medical training. Graduatingin 1876, he entered the Naval Medical Service, andwas sent out to the Far East; it was as surgeon ofa surveying schooner in the Western Pacific that helaid the foundations of his scientific work. Whilstengaged in oceanography he made use of his oppor-tunities to study the formation of coral reefs in theSolomon Islands, and on leaving the Navy in 1885devoted his attention to this branch of natural history.In 1887 he investigated coral reef formation in theKeeling Islands and Western Java, and his interestwas attracted at this time towards the problems ofplant dispersal, which mainly occupied his lateryears. On this and similar subjects he made manyshrewd notes and deductions, and in recognition ofhis work on the geographical distribution of animalsand plants, he received the gold medal of the LinneanSociety in 1917 and was elected F.R.S. in the followingyear. Dr. Guppy was a man of an intensely inquiringturn of mind, and a good illustration of his abilityto do valuable work wherever he happened to be isfound in a contribution to the Proceedings of the RoyalPhysical Society of Edinburgh, in which he describesa mass of observations on changes of temperature inthe small and large rivers and ponds in the immediateneighbourhood of Kingston-on-Thames, and indicatestheir importance to the flowering and propagation ofplants. As an author he will be chiefly rememberedfor three books : " Observations of a Naturalist inthe Pacific (1906), " Studies in Seeds and Fruits "(1912), and Plants, Seeds, and Animals in the WestIndies and Azores " (1917). Each of these containsa wealth of information invaluable to the studentof plant geography, and it is in the last of them thatDr. Guppy develops his differentiation theory,according to which the restricted biologic groupsrepresent derivatives of cosmopolitan types differen-tiated in correspondence with the integration ofenvironment, and especially climatic environment.Several other books also reflect his wide interestsand thoughtful mind.

Dr. Guppy was twice married, but leaves no children.He lived at Fowey in Cornwall.

THE LATE MR. HUGH BRAUND KENT.

Mr. H. B. Kent, who died at Tongshan on

Nov. 24th last, was a man of considerable ability,and, although only 43 years of age, had distinguishedhimself in North China as a surgeon. We are indebtedto Dr. John Fawcett for the following particularsof his career and work.Hugh Braund Kent was the fourth son of Mr.

Horace Kent, barrister-at-law, of Cholsey Mill, nearWallingford, Berkshire, and was educated at OxfordHigh School. Entering Guy’s Hospital in 1904,he became popular amongst his contemporariesand proved his merit as a student. In 1908 hegraduated in medicine in the University of Londonand was appointed clinical assistant at Guy’s in thefollowing year. Circumstances, however, compelledhim to enter some kind of practice and to foregothe house appointments which would have followed.In 1909 he left hospital and accepted a post in theColonial Service in West Africa; in the followingyear he went to Tongshan as principal medical officerof the Kailan Mining Administration and the ChinesePeking-Mukden Railway.When Kent took over this work in July, 1910,

there was a hospital for foreign residents and for the

1 Vol. xii., 1894.

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Chinese at Tongshan, but it was by no means fullyequipped for the practice of modern medicine andsurgery. By the time of his death last year the hospitalhad undergone a great change ; it had been greatlyextended and thoroughly fitted out for work ofalmost every kind. To effect such an improvementthe cooperation and support of his employers were,of course, essential, but it was Kent’s initiative,perseverance, and recognised ability which ensuredthat they were freely given. In his relations withthe Chinese he was remarkably successful, and heso won their confidence as even to overcome theirprejudices against surgical operation. The moneyrequired for the hospital’s X ray apparatus wassubscribed mostly in small sums by the Chinesethemselves.

Fifteen years is a short time in which to establisha reputation as a first-class surgeon, and yet Kentdid it in spite of grave disability at times from ill-health. For the last 13 years of his life he sufferedrecurrences of illness bad enough to render manymen permanent invalids ; but his ill-health seemedonly to brace him to renewed activity. In 1919 heobtained leave to come home and work for the degreeof M.S. Lond. and again in 1923 for the diploma ofF.R.C.S. Eng. In both of these examinations hewas successful.

" The value of a man’s life," writes Dr. Fawcettin an appreciative note,

" is measured not in lengthof days, but in what he accomplishes in the short ’,space allotted to him, and in that sense Kent keptthe measure filled to the brim. Nevertheless, hisfriends here and in China cannot cease to deplore thefact that he died so young and withal so full of promisefor the future ; happily he ripened early and livedlong enough to reap some of his sowing, althoughthe full harvest was never garnered.... He had thetrue surgical instinct, the keen eye and sure hand,and the confidence based on knowledge ; he possessedthe mind and will to overcome difficulties, the inabilityto recognise defeat. In fact, he was the very type ofEnglishman eminently fitted for the pioneer workhe undertook in a foreign country-work whichredounded not only to his own credit, and incidentallyto that of his parent medical school of which he wasso fond, but at the same time was of incalculablebenefit to his fellow creatures in that great and farcontinent of China to which he devoted the bestyears of his short life."

JAMES MACDONALD, M.D.EoiN.Dr. J. Macdonald, who died on May 10th at Carlisle

in his 70th year, had a large practice in the city.He was born in Edinburgh and educated at theEdinburgh Royal High School and at the University,where he took his M.A. degree before he was 18 yearsof age. In 1881 he graduated in medicine and workedas assistant to doctors in Newcastle and Manchesterbefore going to Carlisle in 1884. Some two yearsafterwards he entered practice on his own account,and his services were in such demand that his work

soon became very heavy. In 1895, however, he foundtime to write a thesis on diphtheria which gained himthe M.D. degree and was commended. For about40 years, moreover, he was medical officer to theCarlisle Fever Hospital and he held a number ofother public appointments in the neighbourhood,including that of medical officer to the Carlisle RuralDistrict Council. Before the Insurance Acts cameinto force he also served the Sick Society carried onby the workers at Messrs. Carr’s factory, and since1917 he had been chairman of the Cumberland PanelCommittee. He was also deeply interested in thework of the British Medical Association. Many kindsof sport found in him an active supporter, and onewho had knowledge as well as enthusiasm ; he playedRugby football for his school and university. Dr.Macdonald was twice married and leaves a widowand two sons, one of whom is likely to carry on hisfather’s practice. Another son was killed duringthe war.

The Services.ROYAL NAVAL MEDICAL SERVICE.

Surg. Capt. R. F. Clark is placed on the Retd. List withthe rank of Surg. Rear Adml.

Surg. Lt.-Comdr. H. B. Padwick to be Surg. Comdr.Surg. Comdr. A. R. Davidson is placed on Retd. List with

rank of Surg. Capt.J. M. Sloane to be Surg. Lt.Lt. W. H. Mobley is placed on Retd. List.

ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER RESERVE.

Prob. Surg.-Lt. R. W. H. Tincker to be Surg. Lt.

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Maj. J. W. C. Stubbs is restd. to the estabt.Capts. R. A. Flood, C. C. Jones, J. Rowe, and H. C. D.

Rankin to be Majs.The undermentioned are restd. to the estabt. : Maj.

R. G. Meredith, half-pay list, late R.A.M.C. ; Capt. C.Armstrong, half-pay list, late R.A.M.C.Temp. Lt. A. L. Moorby relinquishes his commn.

ROYAL ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS.

Lt.-Col. R. A. Cunningham, having attained the agelimit of liability to recall, ceases to belong to the Res. of Off.

MILITIA.

Capts. II. C. G. Pedler, E. S. Rowbotham, and J. Melvinto be Majs.

TERRITORIAL ARMY.

Capts. A. M. Johnson and C. A. Webster to be Majs.Capt. H. L. Barker (I.M.S., retd.) to be Capt.M. L. Sutcliffe to be Lt.The King has conferred the Territorial Decoration upon

the undermentioned officers : Lt.-Cols. A. W. Moore andP. H. Mitchiner ; Majs. W. F. Denning, H. E. S. Richards,and A. L. S. Tuke ; and Capts. (Maj. Prov.) H. Pinto-Leiteand A. C. M. Savege. -

ROYAL AIR FORCE.The undermentioned are granted short service commis-

sions as Flying Officers for three years on the Active List :R. J. 1. Bell, R. G. Freeman, and D. Oliver (who is secondedfor employment at the Hull Royal Infirmary).

Flight Lt. M. Coghlan relinquishes his temporary com.mission on ceasing to be employed.

Flight Lt. D. McLaren is promoted to the rank of SquadronLeader.

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INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE.

Majs. J. Taylor, A. D. Stewart, R. A. Chambers, R. H.Bott, J. Morison, S. G. S. Haughton, A. S. Leslie, J. F.James, A. P. G. Lorimer, H. B. Scott, G. McG. Millar,H. H. Thorburn, F. H. Salisbury, and C. R. O’Brien to beLt.-Cols.The King has approved the retention of the temp. rank

of Capt., on perm. appt. to the I.M.S., as Lt. by E. T. N.Taylor.The King has approved the retirement of Lt.-Col. G. E.

Stewart.Col. A. N. Fleming, A.D.M.S., Sind-Rajpatana District,

has been appointed Honorary Surgeon to the King,in succession to Col. P. Dee, retd.

Maj. J. S. S. Martin, Indian Station Hospital, Multan,officiates as Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Servicesat Army Headquarters, vice Maj. G. R. Lynn, on leave.Maj. A. F. C. Martyn to be Specialist in Dermatology,Rawalpindi district, vice Maj. W. B. Rennie, vacated.Capt. C. G. G. Keane to be Specialist in Otology, EasternCommand, vice Capt. C. H. C. Byrne. Capt. G. A. Hildrethto be officer in charge, Brigade Laboratory, Bynnu, viceLieut. K. M. Bharucha.

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DEATHS IN THE SERVICES.Lieut.-Colonel Lewis Allen Irving, O.B.E., A.M.S., retd.,

who died on May 15th, aged 76, at 22, Westgate-terrace,S.W., was the youngest son of the late Major-GeneralAlexander Irving, R.A. Educated at Dublin and in Germanyhe entered the Service as assistant surgeon in 1871, becominglieut.-colonel after 20 years’ service, and retiring in 1898.He saw service in South Africa and India, and was com-mandant of the Military Lunatic Hospital, Netley. Laterhe became a medical officer for recruiting in the Londondistrict, and on the outbreak of war was engaged in the reliefof Belgian refugees. For his services he received the O.B.E.in 1918, and the Belgian Order of Leopold. After the warhe interested himself in the Chelsea branch of the Incor-porated Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Help Society and theEmergency Help Fund of the British Red Cross Society.