1746 ARSENIC IN WHISKY?—ALLEGED "CONSUMPTION CURES."

object to provide sleeping accommodation on board. He

insists, however, that "a clean, weather-tight, well-venti-lated cabin, provided with a stove suitable for warmingand cooking purposes," ought to be provided in all

cases. With this recommendation we cordially agree. It

ia part of the duty of the Port Sanitary Authority tokeep all river craft under constant supervision, and

when it is found that one is in so insanitary a conditionthat it can be classed as a nuisance an order under the

Public Health Act is served and measures are usually takenat once by the owner to abate the nuisance. This methodof proceeding, however, is found not to be adequate, forthere are many cases in which cabins are undoubtedly unfitfor their purpose and yet fail perhaps to reach the point ofbeing "nuisances" within the meaning of the Act. As

everyone who has sailed much on the lower Thames is

fully aware, a large number of barges are used for carry-ing offensive cargoes, such as manure and house and

manufacturing refuse, and the river is undoubtedly the

best channel by which the refuse of London can be

removed, and as the prolonged retention of such offen-sive matter would be injurious to the community themore rapidly it can be got rid of the better it is. It followsthat no unnecessary restrictions should be put upon thistrade, but it is necessary that the process of removal shouldbe done as far as possible in such a way as to be injuriousneither to the general public nor to those engaged in the work. It is well that the efficient by-laws which havebeen made for the protection of the public are generallyobeyed. Daring the half-year under review, however,the owners of 11 barges were summoned for neglect incarrying out the by-laws and in each case a fine was

imposed. The by-laws at present in force have, unfortu-

nately, no reference to the health of the inhabitants ofthe barges. The craft which carry refuse are constructedwithout any attempt being made to prevent the foul gaseswhich arise from the cargo from passing into the cabin,and, as a rule, old barges are used for the trade. Dr.

Oollingridge points out that to ensure the purity of the air inthe cabin it is necessary that the barges should be con-

structed with a double bulkhead, that there should be aspace between the bulkheads, that this space should

be freely open to the air, and that a pump should beprovided to free it from foul fluids. These precau-tions, he urges, are inexpensive and easily practi-cable. They should be made compulsory. We entirelyagree with this recommendation, which would do no morethan enforce a necessary sanitary provision which is

already enforced in the case of all canal boats.2 There canbe no reasonable doubt that the unhygienic conditions whichexist on barges have a deleterious effect on the crews.The Thames bargee is not generally considered to be a

delicate person, nor is his appearance usually that of aninvalid-it might, indeed, be difficult to convince an

intelligent English jury that men of the physique of the

bargee are living under insanitary conditions. As a fact,however, the state of the barges has been so noxious in somecases that death has undoubtedly resulted from a neglect of ||

the structural conditions which have been indicated as |necessary in the case of vessels carrying foul cargoes. Dr.

Oollingridge quotes two cases which are absolutely convincingon this point. These cases are briefly as follows: OnJan. 30th, 1900, a ketch was found off Silvertown. On

examining the cabin the inspector found the master and Ihis wife both dead. They had been suffocated by the fumesof the cargo, which was "saccharine scum," a substancewhich gives off large quantities of carbonic acid gas, theinhalation of which was proved by the medical evidenceto have caused the deaths. The second case occurred

2 Regulations of the Local Government Board under Ganal BoatsAct, 1877 (47 & 48 Vict. c. 75), March 20th, 1878.

on July 30th, 1900, when two men were found deadin the cabin of a sailing barge. The cargo consistedof market and dustbin refuse in a state of decomposition.At the inquest the medical evidence proved that death wascaused by asphyxia due to gases given off from the cargo.An examination of the barge showed that there was a freepassage through which the foul air could pass from the holdto the cabin. In this case the jury recommended that

"barges conveying manure and other impure cargoes shouldbe specially constructed." Dr. Collingridge advises that

a by-law should be framed similar to the regulations inforce in the case of canal boats. We entirely agree withthe importance of this recommendation and see no reasonfor delay. We therefore earnestly commend the matter tothe consideration of the Port of London Sanitary Committeeand to the President of the Local Government Board.

ARSENIC IN WHISKY

IT was certain that there would be a tendency to exaggeratethe possibilities of evil arising from the recent revelation ofarsenic being found in the sugar used for brewing beer.After all, it is but natural to wonder whether arsenic mightpossibly gain entrance into preparations other than beer,which either contain glucose or are a product of itsfermentation. Thus sweetmeats, golden syrup, honey, jam,and, lastly, whisky have fallen under suspicion. It is

gratifying to know that so far, although a great numberof analyses have recently been made, arsenic, at anyrate in London, has not been found in the firstfour. It is fairly certain that artificially derived sugaris employed in the production of spirits and the questionremains to be answered whether if there were arsenicin the sugar it would pass into the spirit on distillation.

All spirits, of course, are distilled. We have this week

conducted a simple experiment which shows that arseniousacid does not pass over with spirit in the still. Indeed,if a spirit contained arsenic in the form of arsenious acid thelatter could be easily separated in this way. We placed afew ounces of whisky in a small still with about 20 grains ofwhite arsenic or arsenious acid and then proceeded to distilthe mixture. In spite of the very large poisonous quantityof arsenic in the still not a trace of arsenic passed over orcould be detected in the rectified spirit. The whole of thearsenic was left behind. According to this experiment,therefore, no fear need be entertained of arsenic occurring inwhisky, though the poison may be present in the sugarsubstitute employed. This experiment was undertaken becauseit had been reported that some of the cases at Manchesterand Shoreditch occurred in regard to patients who had notbeen beer-drinkers but whisky-drinkers. We have neitherreceived nor heard of any confirmation of these cases.

In regard to the epidemic of arsenical poisoning by means ofbeer we are glad to note that the Local Government Boardis addressing a circular letter to local authorities recom-

mending them to cause samples to be analysed both of beerand of other articles of food in which glucose and similarsubstances are used. Last week in an annotation upon the

subject we wrote: "We venture to suggest that a specialGovernment order should be issued instructing all countyauthorities to institute an analytical inquiry in their dis-

tricts." We are glad that the action herein intimated is to bedefinitely taken. -

ALLEGED "CONSUMPTION CURES."

SOME prominence has recently been given in the lay pressto another alleged cure for consumption. We regret thatthe correspondence was taken part in by a medical prac-titioner who wrote that he had used the " remedy in a largenumber of cases with great success. Such a statement in adaily newspaper cannot be too strongly deprecated, as itamounts to advertisement pure and simple. If any form