872 DYED EASTER EGGS.-IRISH URBAN MORTALITY IN 1909.

(e.g., ophthalmology, dentistry, dermatology, genito-urinarydiseases, &c.), or an advanced course at the London or

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. As regards theapplication of these arrangements to existing officers, thesubcommittee was of opinion that in making its recom-

mendations as to which officers of upwards of five years’standing should be placed on the new scale, the principalmedical officers should not take into consideration tne ques-tion whether the officer has already taken a course of post-graduate study of any kind. All medical officers so recom-mended should be required to take the approved course or asubstitute for that course, or, should they claim exemption,to satisfy the Secretary of State that they have alreadytaken such a course of study. The recommendations of the

subcommittee seem thoroughly wise to us. They lay properstress on the necessity for the officers of the West African

Medical Staff keeping abreast of scientific knowledge,general and special, while they are sufficiently elastic.

DYED EASTER EGGS.

THE custom of colouring eggs at Easter-time is innocentenough, but some discrimination needs to be made in regardto the choice of a dye for the purpose. It is true that the

tinctorial power of aniline dyes is very intense and thattherefore even a highly coloured egg would contain a veryinfinitesimal quantity of colouring substance, but we haveknown the dye to permeate the shell and to saturate

the real egg substance. This might well happen, since !,in order to colour eggs they are immersed for sometime in a bath containing a hot solution of the dye. As

long as there is any doubt as to the innocuousness of the

colouring agent the eggs should certainly not be eaten.

Amongst the dyes used for the purpose are (1) vesuvin orBismarck brown ; (2) fuchsine (violet-red) ; (3) eosin (red) ;(4) methyl violet ; (5) naphthol yellow ; (6) azo-orange ;

(7) naphthol green ; (8) methylene blue; (9) saffron substi-

tute (yellow) ; and (10) safranin (pink). Of these Nos. 5,8, 9, and 10 have been shown to be poisonous, and thereforetheir use should be forbidden. There is really no excuse forusing harmful colouring substance.] in foods, since there isnowadays such a wide choice of perfectly harmless materialsfor the purpose. Still, injurious materials may be used inignorance of their actual nature, and some of them we haveseen actually recommended in trade manuals.

IRISH URBAN MORTALITY IN 1909.

THE marked excess of mortality in Irish towns, comparedwith that which prevails in the largest towns in England andWales, implies serious defect of sanitary condition and ofsanitary organisation and administration. In the 22 town

districts of Ireland, for which the Registrar-Generalpublishes weekly returns of vital statistics, with an

aggregate enumerated population of 1,142,308, the crude

death-rate during the 52 weeks of last year was equal to19’2 per 1000, whereas in the 76 largest English townsthe crude rate during the same period did not exceed 14’7.Thus the rate of mortality in the Irish towns last yearexceeded that in the English towns by 30 - 6 per cent. ; or,stated in another way, in equal numbers living, 131 deathsoccurred in the Irish towns to each 100 deaths occurringin the English towns. It is true that the age-constitution ofthe Irish population implies a higher death-rate thanthat of the English population, owing to the high rate ofemigration from Ireland of young adults, among whom a lowdeath-rate naturally prevails. The effect of this abnormalityof age-constitution in the Irish population is, however,probably less marked in town than in rural populations, andtherefore cannot account for any considerable proportion of the I

excess of the death-rate in Irish towns. In the comparison,moreover, of the mortality statistics of the 22 Irish towndistricts with those of the 76 English towns, it must

be borne in mind that while the population of theIrish towns averaged only 52,000, the average popula-tion in the English towns was 216,000 ; and further, thatthe population of 16 of the 22 Irish towns ranged between7588 and 13,426, whereas the smallest of the English townshad a population exceeding 50,000. The death-rate last

year among the 22 Irish towns was equal to 20-9 per 1000 inDublin (against 14-2 in London), 18-2 in Belfast, 22-1 inCork, 17-2 2 in Londonderry, 16-7 7 in Limerick, and 19’1 1 inWaterford ; while in the 16 smallest town districts the meanrate was equal to 17’7 per 1000. It is noticeable that therate of mortality from the principal epidemic diseases lastyear in the 22 Irish towns did not exceed 1’4 per 1000, andcorresponded with the rate from the same diseases in the 76English towns. The death-rate, however, referred to ’’ fever

"

(principally enteric), which affords a reliable test of sanitarycondition and of the effectiveness of sanitary administration,was equal to 121 per 1,000,000 in the Irish towns, whereasit did not exceed 58 per 1,000,000 in the 76 English towns.Infant mortality, which in the whole of Ireland has long beenconsiderably below the rate prevailing in England and

Wales, shows a marked excess in the Irish towns. In the 22town districts of Ireland the deaths of infants under one

year of age during last year was equal to 132 per 1000 birthsregistered, whereas in the 76 English towns it did not exceed118 per 1000. In Dublin the death-rate of infants was equalto 141 per 1000, and in the five next largest Irish towns it

averaged 134 ; in the 16 smallest town districts the meanrate of infant mortality was equal to 105 per 1000. These

mortality statistics point conclusively to the unsatisfactorysanitary condition of the Irish towns, and suggest the

necessity for the greater activity of the local sanitaryauthorities. It is, however, an unfortunate fact that thedeath-rate in Ireland has been practically stationary in recentyears, while the recorded rate of mortality in England andWales has shown a steady and continuous decline.

SPIRIT OF NITROUS ETHER IN MIXTURES.

SwEar spirit of nitre is a frequent source of trouble indispensing, and when anything goes wrong with an apparentlysimple mixture containing it, it is quite usual, and often quiteproper, to put the blame on this ingredient. A correspondentrecently asked why it is that an emulsion containing almondmixture, tincture of squill, ipecacuanha wine, and sweetspirit of nitre " sometimes blows up," and almost from forceof habit we look for the explanation to the spirit of nitrousether. The emulsion contains only 1 drachm of the last-named ingredient in 10 ounces, so that under ordinary condi-tions an explosion would not be expected. It is not improb-able, however, that there is something wrong with thealmond mixture. This is made from compound powderof almonds which contains about 8 per cent. of gumacacia; some Australian gums contain tannin, andif the gum used in the preparation of the compoundpowder of almonds is Australian gum, the explanation ofthe explosion is not difficult. Tannin is incompatible withsweet spirit of nitre, the effect of mixing the two beingto decompose the ethyl nitrite, while oxides of nitrogenare evolved. The reaction in the present case would beslow, as the amount of tannin present would be small, andsufficient gas to burst the bottle would not be given offbefore the bottle had been corked for some little time. Gumacacia containing tannin should not be used in medicine,but since there appears to be no other explanation ofthe explosion, our correspondent should examine the