953

Physiological SocietyAs already announced, this society is holding a joint

meeting with the food group of the Society of ChemicalIndustry to discuss diet from the chemical and physio-logical points of view. It is being held to-day, Friday,Oct. 20th, at 8 P.M., at the London School of Hygieneand Tropical Medicine, Keppel-street, W.C., and the

speakers will include Prof. H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S.,Mr. A. L. Bacharach. Prof. S. J. Cowell, Prof. J. C.Drummond, Dr. M. W. Goldblatt, Dr. R. D. Lawrence,and Mr. A. S. Parkes, F.R.S. On the following day,at 3.45 P.M., the society will hold a semi-annual meetingin the Sherrington school of physiology, St. Thomas’s

Hospital.Fellowship of Medicine and Post-Graduate MedicalAssociationA course of gynaecology will be held at the Chelsea

Hospital for Women from Oct. 23rd to Nov. 4th ; onein diseases of the nervous system at the West End Hospitalfor Nervous Diseases from Oct. 30th to Nov. 4th ; andone in urology at St. Peter’s Hospital, from Nov. 6th to18th. A week-end course in diseases of the chest has beenarranged at the Hospital for Consumption, Brompton(Oct. 28th and 29th), and one in gynaecology at theSamaritan Hospital for Women (Nov. 18th and 19th).The subjects of other forthcoming courses include ophthal-mology, at the Central London Ophthalmic Hospital(Oct. 30th to Nov. 18th) ; obstetrics at the City of LondonMaternity Hospital (Nov. 4th and 6th) ; medicine, surgery,and gynaecology, at the Royal Waterloo Hospital (Nov. 6thto 25th) ; diseases of the chest at the City of LondonHospital, Victoria Park (Nov. 13th to 25th) ; and venerealdisease at the London Lock Hospital (Nov. 13th to Dec. 9th).

Congress of Hydrology at ToulouseA largely attended meeting of the Congres International

d’Hydrologie, de Climatologie et de Géologie Médicaleswas held at Toulouse from Oct. 4th to 8th, with excursionsto neighbouring spas and health resorts. In this four-teenth meeting of the triennial congress the internationalcharacter was more marked than hitherto, although allthe proceedings were still in French (with the exceptionof one " rapport libre

" and some speeches at functions),and no official arrangements were made for translation.Medical delegates were present from Belgium, Germany,Great Britain (Dr. Malcolm Campbell), Spain, Sweden,Holland, Persia, Greece, and various French colonies,and at most of the principal discussions one opening paperwas read (in French) by a representative of some othercountry. Under the head of Hydrology the principaldiscussions were those on tonic cures for children and onthe spa treatment of non-suppurative, primary infectionsof the nervous system (a general introductory survey ofwhich was given by Sir James Purves-Stewart). In bothdiscussions emphasis was laid on the necessity of suitingthe choice of a resort to the season and the individualstate of the patient, and the value of different climates atdifferent stages or alternating according to the season.There was also an interesting paper on the use of spasin the Army Medical Service. Under Climatology theprincipal conditions considered were those forming thegroup of pulmonary tuberculosis. The term " medicalgeology " as used by the congress included the chemicalstudy of waters, this time principally the thermal medicinalwaters of the Pyrenees (with Spanish and French reports),and also their origin and captage, and the measures

necessary to protect them and regulate their use. Onthis last point a valuable report was made by Prof.Timbal of Toulouse. The congress was presided over byM. le doyen Paul Sabatier, the veteran holder of theNobel Prize in chemistry, and Prof. J.-E. Abelous of thefaculty of medicine of Toulouse. Its excellent organisa-tion was largely due to Dr. G. Serr, professor of hydrologyof Toulouse, and his assistants. The delegates andmembers received delightful hospitality.The International Society of Medical Hydrology, which

held a general meeting of members on the 6th, was repre-sented in the congress by its president, Dr. P. Ferreyrolles,of La Bourboule, by Dr. W. G. Willoughby, of Eastbourne,the hon. secretary (Dr. Armin Keller), and the generalsecretary (Miss W. T. Thompson).

Society for Relief of Widows and Orphans ofMedical Men .

At a quarterly court of directors held on Oct. llth,Mr. V. Warren Low being in the chair, three new memberswere elected and the death of one reported. Specialgrants amounting to f,84 10s. were voted to orphans,who had reached the age of 16, to enable them to continuetheir education. The sum of E625 was voted as a

Christmas present to the widows and orphans in receiptof grants : each widow over 75 years of age to receive1:15, under 75 10, and each orphan ;910. A widow ofa member who applied for relief was voted a yearly grantfrom the ordinary funds of 50, and one of 1:25 from theBrickwell fund. A widow, whose death was reported,and who had been in receipt of relief for four years, hadreceived in grants 300; her late husband, who waselected a member in 1903 and died in October, 1929,had paid in subscriptions 52 10s., the maximum amountthat an ordinary member can pay in yearly subscriptionsbefore becoming a life member. This society is entitledto grant relief to the necessitous widows and orphans ofdeceased members. Membership is open to any registeredmedical practitioner who at the time of his election isresident within a 20-mile radius of Charing Cross.Particulars from the secretary, 11, Chandos-street,Cavendish-square, London, W.I.London Hospital DinnerAlthough no statistics were produced to show that the

London Hospital had far outstripped all others duringthe past year, the old students who met at the Trocaderoon Oct. 12th were in conspicuously high spirits. Dr. P. N.Panton, who presided, seemed to be right in his opinion-as one who formerly came from outside-thatthe predominant atmosphere of the hospital is one of

vitality. (He wondered what would happen if Mr. A. J.Walton and Dr. Donald Hunter collided in a corridor).After speaking of developments such as the payingpatients’ scheme, now sanctioned, and the hostel, which"would contain 50 students this time next year, he turnedto his own specialty-clinical pathology. A concise defini-tion of it was,

" Clinical pathology is neither one thing northe other " ; but there were pure pathologists who saidit did not exist at all. This was no doubt the view of aphysician who wrote, about 1750, a book condemning thetheory that any man should pretend to diagnose diseaseby casting of urine : " I will have none of these damnedpiss-prophets," said he. Dr. Otto Leyton, proposing thechairman’s health, recalled his own experience as a clinicalpathologist, including the story of an urgent telegram(" Can hold out no longer; what shall I do ? ") from a ladywhom he had asked for a 24-hour specimen. Dr. LewisSmith, who looked none the worse for it, announced that,like the elephant, the horse, and the rat, he had now nogall-bladder. Sir William Goschen and Prof. WilliamWright obliged the company with neat anecdotes, andMr. Russell Howard gave extracts from his new historyof the hospital. The dental department, it appears, wasopened by Richard I., the funds going to the recovery ofthe Holy Land; in the eighteenth century students werefirst allowed to do dressings in the wards, and the housecommittee opened the septic block ; and in 1953 MissEllen Wilkinson, first president of the Soviet Governmentof Great Britain, opened the private wards. In conclusion,Dr. Robert Hutchison raised history to a higher note witha schoolgirl’s version of Drake’s famous declaration onPlymouth Hoe : " The Armada can wait, but my bowelscan’t." He also solemnly averred that a candidate in lastyear’s London M.D. examination remarked in an essay onangina pectoris that " the late Robert Hutchison used tosay that his life was at the mercy of any person whomade him lose his temper."

AppointmentsEASTWOOD, W. J., M.B., M.Ch. Liverp., has been appointed

Assistant Orthopaedie Surgeon, David Lewis Northern Hosp.FAWCITT, R., M.B., Ch.B. Edin., Radiologist, Whitehaven Hosp.MACDONALD, D., M.B., Ch.B. Glasg., Medical Superintendent,

Sanatorium, Kinross.SMALLWOOD, W. CAREY, M.B., Ch.B. Birm., M.R.C.P. Lond.,

M.R.C.S., Physician to Out-patients, Children’s Hospital,Birmingham.

TATLOW, R. E. T., M.D., F.R.C.S. Eng., Certifying Surgeon underthe Factory and Workshop Acts for Porlock, Somerset.