149

In England Now

A Running Commentary by Peripatetic CorrespondentsSMALL but elegant, the first post-war exhibition of the

Medical Art Society, now on view at the Royal Societyof Medicine, deserves a better attendance than it was

getting on the first afternoon. Leo Spira’s smooth andwinning ducks, carved in wood, set the note for a groupof artists chiefly moved by country sights, whether athome or abroad. Most memorable perhaps are the palecool -Indian scenes in water-colour of D. M. KellettCarding, with such unexpected depth and distance

conveyed in such light tones. In his " Teesta River "the still whites and greens build up to a towering land-scape like that of an Italian primitive ; but the shadowydoorway of " Pandrathan, Kashmir " is perhaps evenbetter. Several painters valued the English climate-C. A. Pannett in his " March Winds," and EmanuefMiller in "-Cloudy Weather." The quality of light in thesecond had something in- common with that of " Avenueat Helmieh, Cairo," by G. K. Gillan, whose sun-tiredretina had drained the colour out of yellow and darkenedgreens almost to black-an effect achieved in the Englishscene not by fatigue but by a trick of the stormy skies.-Two drawings were particularly telling-the ghostly

" Washing Day " of Sir Henry Bashford, where the dimlinen is barely seen against the tall tenement, and " TheHospital Ship, Vasna " by E. Puddy, showing a surgicaloperation at sea. The folds and creases of linen, theplanes of table and figures, and the dark heads groupedabout the work, must have been a strong invitation toso good a draughtsman.Among several pictures by Henry Wilson, " The

Flooded Thames," in greys and greens, was perhapsoutstanding, and of several bold works by Sir HaroldGillies, " Cliffs on Blackwater, Ireland was the mostarresting. John Parkinson’s agreeable Port in Brit-tany," and T. Holmes Sellors’s happy water-colour ofgrouped trees, after a drawing by Cox, both repay-attention. K. Shirley Smith’s " Caporetto and MonteNera " showed San Antonio floating on the wave of thegreen valley, a tiny ark below the transparent mountains.One or two pictures were not well hung, notably onecalled the " Evolution of Hearing " by F. Ayhner Hort,which was beyond the close examination of anyonebelow middle height.

Portraits were scarce ; apart from two uncataloguedlittle girls, there was only the fine head of the coloured" House Surgeon " by Elliott Blake. A picture ofunusual charm and humour was " China Horses " byA. C. Dalzell. Anyone who owns a set of such horses.knows well their splendid roundness, their rompingattitudes, the melting-candle quality of their legs, andthe limpid yellow-green of their glaze. But Dalzell hasbrought them to life by blackening their eyes and manes,and setting off their subtle colour against a dim lilacdesert and a bluish sky. They are at once alarming andattractive, strange Galateas of a Chinese Pygmalion.

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It is strange that little attention has been paid tooccupational hazards confronting the laboratory worker.True, some mention has been made of such trivial acci-dents as dioxan poisoning, and injuries from acids andother substances, but no-one appears to have describeda far more serious condition. This syndrome-provision-ally designated microtome sickness (syn. knife apoplexy)-is peculiar to laboratory technicians and othersresponsible for the welfare of microtome knives. Theonset is rapid and in severe cases an attack may terminatefatally within a few minutes. Non-fatal cases returnslowly to normal after showing signs of impaired mentalbalance for days.Before describing a recent case it is as well to stress

for the benefit of the uninitiated that a good microtomeknife-of the sharp non-section-scoring variety-isvalued beyond riches by its owner. It has been trulysaid that the chastity of his womenfolk is of far lessimportance to the laboratory worker than the edge ofhis knife. Good knives are rarely left unguarded fora moment, and special precautions-man-traps, barbed-wire entanglements, chains, and padlocks by the score-

have been used in many laboratories to repel the casualborrower.

There is one really good knife in our departmentunder the care of a gnarled and aged technician. Recentlythis worthy retainer chanced upon a lab boy sharpeninga pencil with the knife ; not a knife but the knife—boltsand shackles, thunder and lightning-THE knife. Withina moment a severe attack of microtome sickness (syn.knife apoplexy) was upon him. His eyes bulged almoston to his cheeks, his breathing became heavy, involuntaryshudders shook his entire frame, the skin became livid,and with a loud agonised shriek he fell to the ground,his hands and fingers making feeble clutching movementsin the air. There was a little froth on his lips, and alow moaning sound could be heard. Within an hour heregained more or less full control of his faculties, returnto normal being marked by the utterance of bad languageand murderous threats. Arrangements have been madeto provide safe passage of the lab boy to some far distantshore. *!jt * *

A certain labour exchange has a scheme for theemployment of epileptics, and our lady almoner hasreferred several patients there at my request. On arrivalthey seem to have been told in an offhand manner thatno employer will take them on. In spite of a certificateindicating what was suitable and what unsuitableemployment, one who was eventually given a job foundit so unsuitable that he had to leave after two days.Strings have now been pulled and all is well again, butthe trouble need never have arisen.

This illustrates well the difference between a plan inprinciple and in practice. The scheme was sound inprinciple, but the administration was appalling. Let usbe sure before introducing too many schemes that we havethe administrators to carry them out efficiently ; andby administrators I do not mean only the heads ofdepartments but the whole chain from top to bottom, fora chain is as strong as its weakest link, whether it be thefirst, middle, or last. ’

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In Somerset a cure for warts is to have them boughtfrom you. A young farmer told me how he had soldfifty or more which had grown on the backs of his hands.One evening in the Black Lion a strange man approachedhim and said he would buy the warts, if my friend waswilling to part with them. He protested that he wouldbe only too glad to give them away, but that, it seems,cannot be done with warts, and he had to name a price.So he sold them to the strange man for twopence, andwithin a week they had vanished.

If this treatment is to be more widely used Mr. Bevanmust get moving with the Verrucse (Treatment of) Bill,1948, so that (1) the procedure for registration of trans-actions may be drawn up, with penalties for selling anywart more than once ; (2) registered medical practitionersmay claim expenses legitimately incurred in buyingwarts ; and (3) a controlled price for warts may befixed (in consultation with the Board of Trade), andcircularised weekly to the medical profession.

Otherwise I can see this valuable remedy falling intodisrepute.

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When we had our annual bazaar at St. Malaprop’sthere were crowds of honoraries roaring in corners ;half the residents had crept from their posts to buysweets off the ration, and everywhere sisters and nursesbillowed starchily under foot. It was very crowdedand airless, and presently a woman fainted at the seniorcasualty officer’s feet. He rushed away in horror ;Theatre Sister ducked behind the home produce stall,and Sir Frank Pus became absorbed in a tea-cosy. Justthen a man thrust forward importantly : " Stand back,"he shouted, " I am a first-aid worker."

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Somebody asked my four-year-old niece if she wasgoing to be a doctor like her mummy and daddy. " Mygoodness, no," she cried scornfully,

" I’m going to be apatient."

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... And then there was the fellow who thought arhesus factor was a man who sold monkeys.