THE FIRST ANNUAL DINNER OF THE INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE

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warmth of his reception. He said he was touched pro-foundly to find that the affectionate loyalty which thosewho had worked under him had always shown him shouldhave persisted for so long a time. The kind words which hadbeen said and the way in which they had been received wouldalways remain with him as indications that his labours hadnot been altogether in vain.

Dr. St. Clair Thomson said that he had receivedhundreds of letters from old pupils who were unableto attend. One of them (Dr. Aikman, of Guernsey)had sent the flowers with which the room was decorated.A pleasant incident, showing that the feeling of

the present generation is no whit behind that of their pre-decessors, was the receipt of a telegram from the housesurgeons and house physicians of the Edinburgh RoyalInfirmary conveying their congratulations.The committee and Dr. Elder and Dr. St. Clair Thomson

(the honorary secretaries) are to be congratulated on

the success of this banquet, which will never be forgottenby those who were fortunate enough to be present.

THE FIRST ANNUAL DINNER OF THEINDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE.

THURSDAY, May 20th, saw the inauguration of a new andhighly interesting medical dinner at the Cafe Monico, whenthe members past and present of the Indian Medical Staffdined together for the first time. The chair was taken by theman who was marked out at once by every imaginable claimfor the post, Sir Joseph Fayrer, and he was supported bythe Secretary of State for India, Lord George Hamilton.The occasion was in every way successful. Upwards ofseventy gentlemen sat down to dinner, among whom wemay mention Sir Trevor Lawrence, Sir Joseph Ewart, Dr.Playfair, Surgeon-Generals W. R. Rice, C.S.I., J. Cuning-ham, C.S.I., P. W. Sutherland, De Renzy, Hooper. andColvin Smith ; Deputy-Surgeon-Generals Kilkelly, McKellar,Farquhar, Raddock, and Cayley ; Surgeon - ColonelsCostello, Porter, G. S. Sutherland, Richardson, Roberts,Riddell, Harris, and Cates ; Surgeon-Lieutenant-ColonelsHolmes, Massy, Bate, Lyon, C I.E , Eyre, Baker, Scully,Wright, Reid, Williams, Skardon, Griffiths, and Freyer (bon.sec.) ; Brigade - Surgeon - Lieutenant - Colonels Aitchison,Johnson, and Macleod; and Sargeon-Major Sir G. S. Robertson,K.C.S.I.; and the following guests : Lord George Hamilton,Sir William MacCormac, President of the Royal College ofSurgeons of England, Sir J. Dick, K.C.B., Director-General,R N., Surgeon-General Jameson, Director-General of the

Army Medical Staff, Dr. Dickinson, President of the RoyalMedical and Chirargical Society, Mr. Reginald Harrison, Pre-sident of the Medical Society, Mr. Richmond Ritchie, andDr. S. Squire Sprigge.

Sir Joseph Fayrer made an excellent chairman, and hisspeech in reply to the toast of the evening, proposed bySir William MacCormac, was fall of interest for all hishearers. He showed that the pride of the members of theIndian Medical Service in their department was justifiable,inasmuch as British rule over the brightest jewel of HerMajesty’s Crown might without exaggeration be consideredto have had its origin in certain concessions made by theEmperor of Delhi to Gabriel Broughton, surgeon of the EastIndia Company’s ship Hopewell. Sir Joseph Fayrer then wenton to mention the names, and in some cases the exploits, ofthe great men. past and present, of the Indian MedicalService in the three important and widely varying sections intowhich their work falls, linking the names of Hamilton andMacNeil, Falconer and Cieghorn, Keegan and Freyer, Cayleyand Robertson, and many others, into one chain of scientific,administrative, and military performance.Lord George Hamilton responded for the guests in a

sympathetic and thoughtful speech. Referring to the tripletrouble of cholera, plague, and famine with which our IndianEmpire has been sorely tried, he had words only of the highestpraise for the officers of the Indian Medical Service, uponwhom so much anxious and dangerous work has fallen inconsequence. Hf referred with emphasis to the fearless andunselfish conduct th ft went hand in hand in the service withmedical skill, and ’ - brought down the house " by a statementthat he considered a dispensary established on the way to

Chitral to be of more efficacy in the maintenance of peacethan a regiment of soldiers would be.

Surgeon - Lieutenant - Colonel Freyer, upon whom the

organisation of the dinner devolved, is to be congratulatedon the results of his efforts. A successful reunion was made-doubly pleasant to all by the presence and the appreciativewords of the Secretary of State for India.

HOSPITAL REFORM ASSOCIATION.

A MEETING of the Hospital Reform Association was held!on Wednesday afternoon last in the Victoria Hotel, Man-chester. The chair was occupied by Mr. Walter Whitehead,who explained the reasons of the society’s existence. Mr. T.Garrett Horder, the secretary of the Association, mentionedthat it had been said twenty-two years ago that, as far asManchester and Salford were concerned, the oft-heard cry ofthe abuse of medical charities was a thing of the past. rtwas for them to say whether this was still true. Fromwhat he had gathered in looking over the returns ofthe Manchester medical charities he was disposed to saythey were very much abused indeed, and that the presentsystem of investigation did not really do much towardspreventing the abuse.-The Chairman then moved: "Thatin the opinion of this meeting the time has arrived when aninquiry should be made into the mode of administeringmedical relief in the Manchester and Salford hospitals and’dispensaries; and it is further of opinion that such an

inquiry should be conducted by a committee which shouldbe representative of all the interests concerned."-Dr.Worswick seconded the resolution.-After the resolutionwas adopted the following committee was appointed: Mr.Walter Whitehead, Mr. G A. Wright, Mr. C. Behrens, Dr.Alexander Stuart, Dr. S. Woodcock, Dr. A. Godson, Mr. F.Scott, Dr. T. Harris, Dr. W. J. Sinclair, Dr. Lloyd Roberts.and Dr. Vipont Brown (hon. sec.).The meeting ended with the customary compliments to

the chairman.

Public Health and Poor Law.LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

REPORTS OF INSPECTORS OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENTOF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD.

Diphtheria at Hatley C’oc7zayne.-The story told by Dr. G.S. Buchanan, as to diphtheria in the little village of HatleyCockayne, in the Biggleswade rural district of Bedfordshire,is typical of an occurrence of that disease in rural areas.When investigation came to be made and obscure attacks.could be interpreted in the light of subsequent events, itwas found that sore-throat of an infectious character com-menced in the village in June, 1896, but even when a fatalattack took place owing to laryngeal complications it wasat first assumed that the malady which was being dealt withwas a form of follicular tonsillitis. But suspicion beingroused a more careful examination was made towards the-end of July, and it was discovered that there were then elevenattacks of diphtheria. The village consisted of four detachedhouses, including the rectory and two outlying farms, andfifteen cottages. In all but one of these latter, in whichthere were children, diphtheria occurred, twenty-three attacksof sore-throat of differing degrees of severity taking placeout of sixty-four residents in the cottages in question. Anumber of these cases were severe, in so far at least as sequela::were concerned, some of the post’diphtherial paralysis beinggrave and even fatal. The beginnings of the disease seemedlost in the earlier mild and unrecognised attacks ; but thediffusion of the malady was in large measure due to personalinfection contracted during either work or play ; and in thisconnexion it is noted that the day school and the Sundayschool were both held in a single small room attached to oneof the cottages. Unfortunately no isolation was attempted.It is stated that the hospital belonging to the rural dihtiicbwas being reserved for cases of enteric fever, which was atth3 time prevalent in the village of Moggerhanger. We hope