astronomy and letters

1087

Correspondence.

HALOGEN ERUPTIONS WITH LESIONS ONTHE TONGUE.

" Audi alteram partem."

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-It is pleasant to find that my short note onHalogen Eruptions in THE LANCET of Nov. 6th(p. 952) has called forth so interesting and informativea response from Dr. Parkes Weber. There is one pointin the wording of his letter which, perhaps, I may beallowed to make more clear. His opening sentencesmight give the impression to anyone who had notread my paper that I had overlooked the case pub-lished by him in 1923, in which, as in mine, there wasa lesion on the tongue. That, of course, is not thecase, and I am sure that he had no intention ofconveying such a meaning, because my words, whichhe quotes in full, were taken from an article publishedin 1906-that is, 17 years previously to the publicationof his case. At the time that they were written, sofar as could be ascertained from the then currentliterature, they were correct. No similar case inwhich the tongue was involved had been then recorded.

It is interesting to note that Dr. Weber looks upondefective renal elimination as playing a part in causingthese fulminating outbreaks of iododermia after smalldoses of the drug. That, as I said in my note, was,for a long time my opinion, and it seems reasonable.Whether it does play any part or not it is evident fromDr. Semon’s case that such a part is not essential,at least if defective elimination is to be estimated bythe presence of albuminuria. Dr. Weber’s concludingsentence raises a point of some historical interest.It is quite true, as he points out, that these rarerhalogen eruptions have sometimes been diagnosedas syphilitic, and when this happened fuel in the formof further doses of iodide of potassium was promptlyand hopefully added to the flames. This was, as hesays, before the days of the Wassermann test. Perhapsit is hardly realised by the younger generation whatchanges this test has brought about.Before its advent one of the most delicate and

important functions which the specialist in dermato-logy was asked to perform, was to settle whether agiven sore or rash was or was not of syphilitic nature.Some few dermatologists became extremely expertat this. They were quite as realiable in their decisionsas are the most experienced connoisseurs in variousbranches of art, but like these they were occasionallydeceived by clever imitations which was rather aserious thing to happen. The discovery of the spiro-chaete and the use of the Wassermann test haveremoved the supreme court of appeal for syphilisfrom the dermatologist’s consulting-room to thelaboratory of the pathologist, and in so doing havewidened its sphere of influence in that cases cannow be submitted for judgment not only where thereis direct evidence on the skin or mucous membranes,but also where it is only indirect, as in lesions of theinternal organs.

Science has here replaced art to the advantage ofmedicine. I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

Sheffield, Nov. 13th, 1926. ARTHUR J. HALL.

ASTRONOMY AND LETTERS.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-The review of Dr. J. H. Bridges’s work andlife, which appeared in your issue of Nov. 13th,emboldens me to draw attention to the curiousinability of even scholars and well-educated writersto realise simple facts in astronomy. Bridges was agreat social reformer, a scholar, and an eminentlyintelligent person, and yet I find that, besides makingthe slips which your reviewer pointed out, he made anextraordinary error as regards a star. On p. 140 ofMrs. Liveing’s book I find a letter to his wife dated

June, 1876, in which he speaks of a star to be chosenas especially hers.

" What shall it be ? Not the red Arcturus which liftsitself up for a short space above the southern horizon atmidnight and will be seen no more till summer comes again."

Bridges should have remembered his Hesiod,Works and Days, 11. 564-567.

E&tgr; aV 15 &xgr;&kgr;o&ngr;&tgr;&agr; µ∈&rgr; &tgr;&rgr;&pgr; ∈&lgr;X∈µ&rgr; &kgr;&rgr;∈&lgr;&sgr;&eegr; Z∈ µ&agr;&rgr;&agr;, &dgr; pa -r67? &sgr;&rgr;&rgr;’ApKToSpOS &pgr;&rgr;&lgr;&pgr;&ngr; ∈&rgr;&ngr; &ngr;’&OHgr;&kgr;∈&agr;&ngr;ITPWTov &pgr;&agr;µ&phgr;&agr;&ngr;&ohgr;&ngr; &pgr;&rgr;&lgr;&lgr;∈&tgr;&agr; &kgr;&rgr;&ngr;&phgr;&agr;.

And apart from that Arcturus can be seen both torise and set about the middle of November. Butthe average writer seems to think that a staror especially the moon can be in any part of theheavens at any time of day or night, and at anyseason in the year which suits the convenienceof the writer. The locus classicus, of course, is thepassage in the first edition of " King Solomon’sMines," where Rider Haggard made an eclipse ofthe sun last for over two hours and that, too, onthe day of the full moon. Another eminent andwell-read living writer makes the full moon to be" just rising in the east " at a quarter before midnightin October in the south of England. As a varianton this another novelist has a fine descriptive passage

" Near the horizon line in the west the sun.... plungedprecipitously downward..... In the east a slender crescentshewed the moon at her birth ! "

This, however, was on the west coast of Africa, whereanything may happen and perhaps that is the reasonwhy the author put a " ! " after his statement. Infuture, however, we may hope that novelists and otherswill take pains to be more accurate, for one of theablest novelists of to-day, Miss Rose Macaulay, has,with that devilish insight into human frailty whichis so marked a characteristic of her work, said in" Crewe Train " p. 143, " Never mind, practicallyall novelists slip up now and then over the moon :it would be rather priggish and pedantic not to.The literary moon doesn’t really matter." But afterall, as an eminent analytical chemist and one whoselife was spent on insisting on the value of essentialaccuracy, by name Sherlock Holmes, said, " Whatdifference does it make to me or my work, whetherthe sun goes round the earth or the earth goes roundthe sun ? "-I am. Sir. vours faithfullv.

I Nov. 15th, 1926. HIPPARCHUS JR.

GERMAN MEDICAL WOMEN.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—In last week’s issue of THE LANCET yourBerlin correspondent gives some figures regardingGerman medical women which appear to be based oninsufficient knowledge or some misreading of thestatistics. He states that there are 31 medical womenin Munich, 15 in Frankfort, and a total of 327 in anGermany. For the correct figures and a very interest-ing analysis of them, I should like to refer him to anarticle entitled " Die deutsche Aerztin " in the lastissue of the " Vierteljahrschrift deutscher Aerztinnen, "the organ of the German Association of GermanWomen Doctors which has already 626 membersalthough it has not been in existence two years.The real figures, based on the Aerztliche Hand-

buch," would appear to be :Large towns .......... 943Medium towns ........ 279Smaller towns and country .... 173

Total.... 1395

In Berlin alone there are 400, in Munich 84, and inFrankfort 31. The whole question of the irregulardistribution throughout the provinces is an interestingone. Baden has the highest percentage of womendoctors as compared with the population, and TJpperWestphalia the lowest.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,L. MARTINDALE,

Hon. See., Medical Women’s International Association.