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continues to develop there and competition in-

creases. Here it seems probable that a relativelysmall amount of official investigation and first-handinformation at the place of origin could save muchof the time and labour now given by inspectingofficers at the home ports and markets, and wouldalso produce more efficient control over thisimportant section of our food-supply. ’

Annotations.

THE PREVENTION OF VENEREAL DISEASES.

«rre quid nimis."

WE understand that conferences have recentlybeen held, under the chairmanship of Sir ThomasBarlow, to consider the formation of a NationalCouncil for Combating Venereal Diseases. Those

present have included Sir Rickman Godlee, SirFrancis Champneys, the Bishop of Southwark, MajorLeonard Darwin, Sir William Osler, Sir CliffordAllbutt, Sir Henry Morris, Sir A. Pearce Gould, SirWilmot Herringham, and Mr. Charters Symonds.It has been decided to form such a national council,consisting of representatives both of the medicalprofession and the general public. With this objecta circular letter is about to be issued stating theobjects of the movement, explaining its organisa-tion, and inviting the recipients to join the council.This movement is in no small degree the outcomeof the work and recommendations of the specialcommittee of the Royal Society of Medicine, whichhas been in existence now for over two years, andwhich originated in a conference between the RoyalSociety of Medicine and the Eugenics EducationSociety. ____

BASEMENT HOUSES.

SOME useful practical suggestions as to theremodelling of basement houses were made atthe congress of the Royal Sanitary Institutewhich has just been held at Blackpool. Mrs.Cloudesley Brereton, who has given much atten-tion to this subject in consultation with sanitaryengineers and architects, laid stress upon the

growing inconvenience of basement dwellings inmodern conditions of town life, and put forwarda series of plans for dealing with basements inhouses of different character and rental. It isadmitted by all that in much house property,particularly where the dwelling has been sublet intotenements, the basement is often in every respectinsulted for healthy living. This fact has been

recognised in recent housing legislation whichprevents the use of underground rooms for sleepingwhere they are insufficient in height or where theydo not comply with the regulations of local authori-ties as to light, ventilation, and other matters. InLondon the conditions have been very striking, andthe Local Government Board has lately issued amodel series of regulations for this purpose, andunder these regulations and the powers of thePublic Health (London) Act much has been doneto prevent the occupation of the worst type ofbasement. The basement houses dealt with byMrs. Brereton, however, are those of a better class,where, though the complete disuse of the base-ment can hardly be insisted upon on public healthgrounds, its presence creates many difficult problems

in domestic organisation and accentuates the diffi-culties of securing domestic service. Public opinion,in fact, has revolted against the basement house,and the inconveniences of basement rooms in Londonhouses are responsible in great measure for migra-tion to the outskirts and for the large number ofempty houses so often found in typical Londonstreets of middle-class dwellings. Property ownersmight often give more consideration to thequestion of adapting such dwellings to modernrequirements, and would in many cases findthemselves well repaid for the capital outlayrequired. Mrs. Brereton’s remedies for the mostpart consist in removing the kitchen to the groundfloor, where it would adjoin the dining-room, andadapting the basement rooms as storerooms, work-shops, boxrooms, and the like. In some cases,where there is sufficient space or area in front, theunderground room can be opened out to serve as acovered playground or even to store a small motor-car, though the original planning of the dwellingrarely can permit this modification. The numberof habitable rooms will be reduced, but this isnot always a drawback, and the loss of space canbe compensated for by domestic labour-savingappliances. Some of these are suggested by Mrs,Cloudesley Brereton in a manner which deserves Ii

attention from those owning or living in houses ofthe kind here in question.

GOLF BALLS: A WARNING.

THE structure of a golf ball does not attract asa rule the interest of the player; his only concernabout it is that its composition shall be durableand such as may add possibly to the flight of thetee shot, and that it shall be true on the green.The ball may possess a power for harm of whichhe is not aware, but which he certainly shouldbe on his guard against in view of a distressingaccident which befel a golfer a short while ago.The pathological circumstances of the case are

briefly noted in our columns to-day by Mr. Walter H.Jessop, ophthalmic surgeon to St. Bartholomew’sHospital, while the victim of the accident has alsotold us the story. Some curiosity having been

expressed as to the composition of a certain ballin his presence a serious attempt to satisfy this wasbegun by stripping the ball of its cover and ofits tight rubber bandaging beneath. All wentwell until the inner liquid core was apparentlypierced in the endeavour probably to get rapidlyat the mystery of the centre. There was suddenlyset free a semi-fluid mass which came out withsuch force as to be projected on the ceiling. Un-

fortunately some of this mass struck the dissectorsharply in the eye, which resulted in a serious

injury, the surgeon to whom the patient came

at first believing that irreparable mischief hadbeen done, with a prospect possibly of the powerof sight being for ever destroyed. We are

glad to learn, however, that the outlook issince more favourable, and that eventuallythe sight and the injured tissue may be restored.The possibility of a golf ball behaving thus maynot be generally known, and in ordinary circum-stances would never be discovered, bub neverthe-less some protection is needed, we think, againstthis concealed danger. In the present instanceit was curiosity as to the structure of the ballwhich led to the accident. The fate of a golfball no longer good for golf, perhaps becauseit has lost its true shape or because it has