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THURSDAY, JULY 14TH

Admission of Medical and Dental RefugeesMr. RILEY asked the Home Secretary if he was granting

permits to all alien refugees coming to this country whowere qualified doctors or dentists to practise their professionand was also granting permits to all such refugees whowere desirous of studying for these professions.-Sir S.HOARE replied : It has always been recognised that apolicy of unrestricted admission would be out of the

question. Only a small number of foreign practitionerscan be absorbed into the medical and dental professions,and it will be necessary to select this number with care.To assist me in making this selection it is proposed thatapplications shall be examined by a committee on whichthere will be representatives of the medical and dentalprofessions, and of the refugee organisations.Mr. RILEY : Is it not a fact that there is a shortage of

qualified practitioners in this country, and if that is thecase, will the right hon. gentleman give considerationto this matter ?-Sir S. HOARE: No, Sir. I am notinformed that there is a shortage of medical practitionersin the country.Mr. MATHERS : Has the right hon. gentleman received

intimation of the concern of doctors practising in thiscountry about the numbers who have already beenadmitted to practise here ?-Sir S. HOARE: I have haddiscussions with representatives of the principal medicalorganisations, and we both agree that discriminationmust be exercised. I think it will be found that we shallbe able to admit a limited number and at the same timemaintain effective discrimination.Mr. MANDBB : Do we not want to take up as generous

an attitude as we can on this matter in accordance withour long national tradition ?No further answer was given.Sir HENRY MORRIS-JONES asked the Home Secretary

whether he had arrived at any decision in regard to thenumber of medical practitioners of Austrian nationalitywho might be admitted to this country ; and whatrestrictions, if any, were imposed upon them in connexionwith the practice of their profession.-Sir S. HOAREreplied : I have been in consultation with representativesof the medical profession and I agree with them that thenumber of Austrian doctors who can be absorbed into the

profession is limited. Before coming to a decision as toa precise figure I should wish to wait until there has beenfurther opportunity of ascertaining how many of the

applicants are persons possessing special qualifications,or having special claims to consideration. In reviewingapplications consideration will also be given to suchquestions as what arrangements the applicant proposesto make for acquiring the necessary qualification to

practise in this country and in what part of the countryhe proposes to settle.

Sir H. MoBBis-JoNES : Will my right hon. friend bearin mind in his contact with this committee that many ofthe foreign practitioners are able to practise in this countryafter a very short period of study, whereas those alreadyin this country have to have a long and expensive course,and some of them might be penalised on that account ?-Sir S. HOARE : Yes, certainly ; that is a factor thatmust be taken into account.

Mr. LIPSON: Do the figures of the doctors of foreignnationality who have come to this country justify theanxiety which is felt in some quarters with regard to thesedoctors being allowed to come here, the majority of whomcome because of religious or political persecution ?-Sir S. HoARE : I believe that with cooperation between themedical profession, the refugees committee and the HomeOffice we can reconcile the two needs and afford a refugeto a certain number of refugees without flooding theprofession here with doctors who are not required in thiscountry.

Dr. EDITH SUMMERSK]ILL: Is it not a fact that manydoctors in this country believe that the Austrian doctorscan make a helpful contribution to medical knowledgein this country ?-Sir S. HoABB : Yes, I think that is thefact, and it shows how necessary it is to deal with theseapplications case by case on their merits.

Dependants of Insured Persons and Medical Benefit

Mr. GRAHAM WHITE asked the Minister of Health if

any estimate had been prepared of the cost of providingmedical benefit to the dependants of persons insuredunder the National Health Insurance Acts.-Mr. ELLIOTreplied : On the assumption that the term " dependants "is restricted to wives and children up to the school-leavingage, the cost of providing medical benefit to the dependantsof insured persons would be about 10,000,000 per annumif the annual charge per head were the same as that nowapplicable to insured persons themselves.

The Bragg-Paul RespiratorMr. DAY asked the Minister of Health whether his

attention had been called to the broadcast on July 8thasking listeners whether they knew where a Bragg-Paulrespirator, or " iron-lung

" could be found, to save thelife of a child ; and, in view of the fact that one couldnot be found in time and the child died, would he considerproviding these instruments from Government funds toseveral centres of Great Britain in order that they couldbe obtained at short notice by hospitals.-Mr. ELLIOTreplied : I am aware of the incident referred to and

regret that a respirator could not be found in this case.A certain number of respirators are already available athospital centres and my medical officers in their visits ofinspection are prepared to advise local authorities uponthe question of providing them in suitable centres. Underthese circumstances and having regard to the infrequentoccasions on which these appliances are required, I earthat the provision by Government funds of a number ofsuch appliances would not be justified.

Medical Examination of Juvenile DelinquentsMr. CASSELLS asked the Secretary of State for Scotland

what instruction had been given by his Department tojudges presiding in the Inferior Courts of Scotland quoadthe examination of juvenile delinquents by psycho-analysts prior to sentence being imposed.-Mr. WEDDER-BURN, Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, replied :No instructions are issued by my right hon. friend tocourts in Scotland. It has however been recommendedto all courts that on every occasion when there is anysuspicion of defect or abnormality a medical and mentalexamination should be conducted by the most skilful

specialist available.

THE LANCET 100 YEARS AGO

July 21st, 1838, p. 582.

From a leading article on the acceptance of theFellowship of the Royal College of Physicians by twolicentiates who had been among the signatories ofpetitions to the House of Commons denouncing theorganisation of the College.The President of the College is, we understand, disposed

to turn his partial success in the camp of the Licentiatesto account, as he does not anticipate that the manoeuvrecan be carried much further or much lower. He hasprepared a petite comedie, of which the following are theheads :-The renegadoes are to form an allegorical pro-cession at the earliest evening meeting, and to be led ascaptives in the train of the triumphant President. Theywill walk backwards into the library of the College,marshalled by Dr. THEODORE GORDON, carrying a lancereversed, while books in several languages, turned insideout, are suspended about the person of Dr. CoPLAND,the coats of the other renegadoes being turned, and appro-priately decorated. Dr. THEODORE GORDON will thenread the petitions of the Licentiates, and after eachparagraph solemnly recant and deny its truth, the Fellowsresponding every time in low recitative :

Dignus, dignus est intrare,In nostro docto corpore.