667THE ICE-CREAM SEASON.

observed by her parents. She presented the usual form Jof S-shaped scoliosis with rigidity. The head was per-

sistently tilted to the right. She.was wearing spectacleswhich had been obtained from an optician and sufferedfrom migraine. She was sent to Dr. Gould who found that

her refraction was as follows : right eye + 0’87 + 0.0’62,axis 75° ; left eye + S. 0 5 + C. 1-25, axis 90°. The

ametropia appeared to have been at least a factor in the

development of the scoliosis, for though the usual gymnasticand manipulative methods secured increased flexibility ofthe spine and greater muscular development, the head

remained tilted to the right until the ametropia was

corrected. After wearing suitable glasses for several daysthe head assumed a more normal position.

THE THIRD CONGRESS OF MEDICAL RADIOLOGYAND ELECTROLOGY.

THIS Congress, originally fixed to be held in the autumn atAmsterdam, has had its place of meeting transferred toMilan. Professor Bozzolo of Turin, one of the first amongEuropean physicians to prove the efficacy of radio-

therapeutics in diseases of the circulation, has been chosenpresident of the organising committee. An adjunct to theCongress, at once novel and instructive, will be the

"Esposizione" of apparatus illustrative of radio- and

electro-therapeutics, many continental firms being repre-sented in the exhibition rooms. All professional mendesirous of assisting at the Congress are requested to

communicate with the Secretary, Dr. Carlo Luraschi, 11, ViaSant Andreu, Milan.

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THE ICE-CREAM SEASON.

ON August 30th and 31st respectively an irquest and apolice court summons were heard in London which were

complementary the one to the other. The inquest was uponthe death of a child, aged eight years, and was held at

Stepney. Evidence showed that the child had eaten some ice-cream wafers bought from an Italian in the street. She was

attacked with sickness and died on the following day. Mr.N. W. W. Meadows, who attended her, stated that her sym-ptoms were exactly those of cholera. He considered that deathwas due to exhaustion from epidemic diarrhoea acceleratedby eating ice-cream probably made under insanitary con-ditions. A verdict of death by misadventure was returned.On August 31st at Marylebone police court Angelo Romano,an ice-cream vendor, was summoned by the St. Pan eras

borough council for failing to take proper precautions forthe due protection of the ice-cream sold or stored on hispremises from infection or contamination. Dr. J. F. J.

Sykes, the medical officer of health, in giving evidence, pro-duced a utensil found on the defendant’s premises whichwas used for the purpose of making up what are called ice-cream wafers. In the corners and angles was a quantity offermenting and decomposing milk. Dr. Sykes remarkedthat there had been many cases of ptomaine poisoning inthe district and that many children had died from diarrhoeaafter eating ice-cream. He farther stated that anyonepartaking of ice-cream taken from the utensil in the con-dition in which it was found would probably become ill.Mr. Paul Taylor expressed surprise at Dr. Sykes’s remarkthat many children bad died from diarrhoea after

eating ice-cream, and fined the defendant 20s. and costs,saying that the case showed how important it was

that the Act of Parliament should be enforced. So-called ice-cream, which is chiefly made of milk and eggs,is very popular among the poorer classes in hot weather andia method of preparation in many cases is filthy in theextreme. The Act of Parliament is doubtless sufficient if

enforced with vigour but the difficulties in the way of

inspection are very great. However, the well-known and

extremely poisonous effects of dirty ice-cream shouldstimulate local health authorities to do everything in theirpower to prevent the manufacture of this sweetmeat under

such grossly insanitary conditions as is not infrequently5 shown to be the case.

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A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OFMEDICAL LEGISLATION IN NORTH

AMERICA.

IN the American Medical Library and Historical Journalfor April, 1905, Mr. Charles Perry Fisher, the librarian of theCollege of Physicians of Philadelphia, publishes the full textof a Bill which possesses some historical interest. It wasentitled An Act to Regulate the Practice of Physic andSurgery within this Commonwealth ;" it had its first readingin the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth ofPennsylvania on March 24th, 1794, and was " ordered to

be laid on the table." It was to have been broughtup for its second reading on March 31st, but it was not readat that meeting and no further reference to it can be found.Apparently, therefore, the Bill did not become law. It is

known, however, that medical legislation in America is ofmuch older date than this, for Dr. Francis R. Packard in his" History of Medicine in the United States," published in1901, states in the chapter on Medical Legislation in theColonies that the General Assembly of New York on

June 10th, 1760, passed a law regulating the practice ofmedicine in the city of New York, and that on Sept. 26th,1772, an Act was passed to "Regulate the Practice ofPhysic and Surgery within the Colony of New Jersey."The Bill of 1794 consisted of four sections, the second ofwhich provided that unqualified practitioners " shall forfeitand pay for the first offence the sum of fifty pounds ......

and for the second and every subsequent offence shall forfeitand pay the sum of one hundred pounds." One of the clauses.stated that the Bill did not prohibit any person from drawingteeth, bleeding, or cupping, or from giving assistance incases of sudden emergency.

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF A RECENTLYDISCOVERED AFRICAN ARROW POISON.

Dr. Charles Bolton has investigated the toxic properties ofan arrow poison which was obtained by Dr. D. Alexanderfrom a medicine-house at Ghasi, a pagan town in NorthernNigefia.1 According to Dr. Alexander the poison, whenfresh, forms a semi-fluid, sticky, black substance ; it issmeared on sticks and is scraped off and heated when re-quired for re-dipping the arrows. It appears to contain the

juice of a variety of fig, the placenta of which is used in themanufacture of the poison. Dr. Alexander states that hesaw a native shot in the abdomen with a poisoned arrow andthat death resulted, apparently from failure of the heart, inabout 25 minutes. Dr. Bolton dissolved the poison in

0’86 per cent. salt solution for intravenous injectioninto animals, including cats, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and

frogs. He found that the poison selects muscular tisssuefor its action, but there is no evidence that it pro-duces any action upon the central or peripheralnervous system. It paralyses the voluntary muscles andcauses death by a direct action upon the muscular tissue ofthe heart. The first effect of the poison is to stimulate

directly the muscular coats of the arterioles and thus tocause a rise of arterial pressure, with the result that the

vagus centre in the medulla is excited, causing a slowing ofthe rhythm of the heart, together with a fall in the arterialblood pressure. The irritability of the heart muscle is

greatly increased and soon the vagus fails to hold it in

check; as a consequence the rhythm of the heart is

1 Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, July 23rd, 1906, p. 13.