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ObituaryHUBERT JAMES NORMAN

M.B. EDIN., D.P.H.

Dr. H. J. Norman, superintendent of CamberwellHouse and a vice-president of the Royal Society ofMedicine, died in London on March 13 at the age of 67.He was born in Devon. where his father, Dr. J. H.Norman, had a moorland practice at Winkleigh, but hisschool days were spent in Edinburgh, and he qualifiedfrom Edinburgh -University in 1905. As a student heplayed rugby and later lie became a good squash andlawn-tennis player.

After he qualified he acted for a time as assistant toAlexis Thomson, then surgeon to the Edinburgh RoyalInfirmary, but Clouston’s lectures at Morningsideattracted him to the study of morbid psychology, andafter holding two temporary posts in mental hospitals.he joined the staff of Camberwell House in 1908. Laterhe became lecturer in mental disorders at the WestminsterHospital, and in 1925 he succeeded Dr. F. H. Edwardsas superintendent at Camberwell. His old chief writes :"

Probably no man had a greater knowledge of evolutionin the treatment of insanity than Norman, and he willbe remembered for his fine balance of judgment. Hecarefully weighed the pros and cons and never jumpedat a conclusion, and as an expert witness his testimonywas valued by the courts. Norman never spoke evil of

anyone : e he was modest of himself and eulogistic ofothers."

Besides acting as a vice-president of the Royal Societyof Medicine, Norman was president of the section ofhistory of medicine, to which he had been secretary foreleven years, and he had also held these offices in thesection of psychiatry. He had only lately retired from thepresidency of the Society for the Study of Addiction. Akeen bibliophile, he was an old member of the Authors’Club, where he met and held as friends many contem-porary writers. He had written a good deal himself,and besides his Manual of Mental Disorders (1928) hehad published papers on psychiatry in relation to

biography and history, including studies of John Bulwer,Nietzsche, Blake, and Swedenborg. In an early paperhe dealt with witchcraft, demoniacal possession, andinsanity, and he continued his researches into demonologyon which he planned to write further.

MAXIMILIAN WALTER GEFFEN

M.R.C.S., D.P.H.

Dr. Max Geffen died on March 24 at his home inHampstead, where he had been in practice since 1938,though during the past two years failing health hadlimited the work he could undertake. In 1917 hequalified from University College Hospital, and for theremainder of the war he served in the R.A.M.C. Afterholding house-appointments at his old hospital, hetook the D.P.H. in 1922 and became school medicalofficer for Bradford. Later, while in practice inKensington, he became a Labour councillor of the boroughand a member of the public-health committee..After he turned to general practice Dr. Geffen continued

his interest in public-health work, and he was for a timean assistant school medical officer of the L.C.C. Hewas also an examiner and lecturer on first-aid and home-nursing for the council. He was a medical officer to thebathing centre at St. Pancras, where his brother, Dr.D. H. Geffen, is bT.O.H., and he reported his observationson scabies there in the British Medical Jo2trnal in1944.

During the late war he was in charge of one of thefirst-aid posts in Hampstead, and no matter how fiercethe blitz (a colleague recalls) Geffen and his wife wouldreport for duty. ’’ Max," he continues, " was well readand socially minded. Inclined to be quiet and retiring,he was a great lover of home life. In all I havenever met a more kindly, thoughtful, and generousman."

Dr. Geffen is survived by his widow and by twosons of his first marriage, one of whom is Dr. T. J. B.Geffen.

Notes and News

OUTSIDE THE SERVICE .

ON March .5 in answer to a parliamentary question theMinister of Health announced that the following voluntaryhospitals in the London area had been disclaimed from theprovisions of the National Health Service Act:French Hospital and Dispensary. St. Joseph’s, E.8.Italian Hospital. St. Anthony’s Hospital, Cheam.British Dental Hospital. St. Veronica’s, S.W.14.King Edward VII Hospital for St. Michael’s, Worcester Park.

Officers. Hostel of St. Luke, W.1.Royal Masonic Hospital. St. Raphael’s, Brentford.Star and Garter Home, Rich- St. Raphael’s Colony, Potter,mond. Bar. -

Scio House Hospital for Officers. Pield Heath House.Putney. St. Teresa’s, Wimbledon.

Hurlingham Lodge Auxiliary Hostel of Gud, ClaphamHospital. Common.

Hawthorne Christian Science Home of Compassion, ThamesHouse, Hampstead. Ditton.

Stanborough’s Hydro, Watford. Convent of our Lady NursingSt. Andrew’s Hospital, Dollis Home, Hillington Court.

Hill. St. David’s Home, Ealing.Hospital of St. John and St. Etloe House, E.10.

Elizabeth. London Clinic for Psycho-St. Vincent’s Orthopaedic Hos- Analysis.

pital, Pinner. Catholic Nursing Institute.St. Saviour’s Hospital. Manor House.St. Joseph’s Institute, N.9.The majority of disclaimed hospitals and institutions have ’now been notified, and the list for England and Wales alreadycontains 179 names. ’

B.M.A. INDEPENDENCE FUND

THE. decision by the British Medical Association’s represen-tative body to establish an Independence Fund,l has beenfollowed by an appeal for subscriptions in a letter circulatedto the profession. The two main objects of the fund areexplained as being :

1. The provision of financial aid to practitioners who may sufferhardships as a result of their loyalty to the cause of the profession.

2. The organisation centrally and locally, through Local Indepen-dence Committees to be set up throughout the country, of suchsteps as are necessary to unify the profession in its expresseddetermination not to accept service under the National HealthService Acts until such amendments are made as will preserve thefreedom of the profession.The National Insurance Defence Trust has decided to

deposit with the fund an initial contribution of £400,000.AFTERCARE FOR THE MENTAL PATIENT

THE work of the Mental After Care Association, as Dr. IanSkottowe said at the annual general meeting on March 22,fills a gap which cannot be filled in any other way. Mr.Justice Birkett, who addressed the meeting, remarked on thenumber of defendants he sees on whose behalf it has to besaid that much of their conflict with the law is caused bymental trouble ; and he thought it characteristic of our

country that there is no work of social redemption to whichpeople will not give money and service. At the Nurembergtrials he had been struck by the fact that one defendant,Frick. had been cha.rged with the fact that as minister ofhealth he had countenanced, and indeed ordered, that theold, the sick, and the mentally ill should be condemned tomethods of destruction-a potent and sinister pointer to the

quality of life in a totalitarian State. Our country maydeserve much criticism, but at least for those who are sick orneed help there is a fund of compassion which finds expressionin such societies as this. Such associations derive, he said,from the quality of insight, the understanding heart, the dis-cerning mind. This one was founded on the simple observa-tion that when a patient left a mental hospital he oftenrelapsed because he was not ready for the strain of ordinarylife. The association completes and complements the workof the hospital, and its main purpose is the prevention ofrelapse.

Dr. Henry Yellowlees, chairman of the association, in

presenting the annual report, said that the M.A.C.A. con-valescent homes are active again and. that last year 500

mental-hospital patients were given a holiday by the sea..

Elmstead Lodge, which had been lent to the Polish govern-ment during the war and after, was returned in March, 1947,and is to be equipped and run as a model reablement centre.King Edward’s Hospital Fund for London have made a

special grant of C2500 towards the furniture and equipmentof this centre, apart from their usual annual grant to thework of the association. The association is about to be

1. See Lancet, March 27, p. 495.