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herds with a total of 37,897 cattle over one year oldhad been examined, and 2478 had been found healthy,whereas 1227 contained one or more infected cattle.With approximately a third of the herds and 14 percent. of all the cattle of Bornholm infected, theprospect of getting rid of the disease quickly and atsmall cost seems to be slender-the more so as

throughout Denmark as a whole 2-3 per cent. of allthe herds show new infections every year. ButDr. Nyrop pins his faith in the future on recentexperiences in Norway where in the course of onlyfour or five years the picture has been completelychanged. The Norwegian campaign was started in1935, with the state and the farmers sharing theexpenses entailed by the slaughter of infected cattle.Among the 200,000 Norwegian herds were 3014found to be infected between 1935 and 1938. ByFeb. 28, 1939, 2860 of these herds had been rid ofthe infection-i.e., 94-9 per cent.-a prodigiousachievement in record time. In the second quarterof 1936 there were 127 newly infected herds notified,whereas in the second quarter of 1938 this figurewas reduced to 18.

IRELAND

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT)

THE ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE

IN his presidential address to the Irish MedicalUnion, delivered on June 8, Dr. P. MacCarvill statedthe reasons why the union had found it necessary toadvise medical men to refrain from joining the IrishArmy Medical Service until the conditions of payand pensions should be improved. On June 15 thepublic press contained a statement from the Depart-ment of Defence purporting to be a reply to state-ments in an address of the president of the union.The arguments put forward by the departmentdepended largely on comparisons between the payand pensions of (1) medical officers and non-medicalofficers in the Irish Army, and (2) medical officers inthe Irish Army and in the British and other armies.It concluded with the proposition that " any suggestionthat the medical profession is being unfairly or

unreasonably dealt with is altogether unwarrantedand not founded on fact."

Dr. T. F. O’Higgins, a member of the Dail anda member of the executive committee of the MedicalUnion, replied in the morning papers of June 16 tothe contentions of the department. He showed thatin the comparison that had been made betweenmedical officers in the Irish Army and those in otherarmies allowances in kind had been considered in thecase of the former but not in the case of the latter.Moreover, the department had committed itself tothe statement that " the rates of pay of medicalofficers in the Irish Army were, up to the date ofthe promulgation of the revised rates for medicalofficers, generally higher than those paid to medicalofficers in the English and American armies." Dr.

O’Higgins, quoting the figures, shows that this state-ment is untrue as regards all ranks higher than thatof captain. He shows also that the rank of captainin the Irish Army is practically stationary, as underthe old rates of pay there were only five officers whoheld higher rank, and from 1924 to 1939 no promotionhigher than the rank of captain had been made. Itis astonishing that a government department shouldfind it proper to attempt to mislead the public onpoints of fact in order to defend a scheme of payand pensions which is not capable of genuine defence.

Dr. O’Higgins points out that under the presentscheme a medical officer will on retirement receive asmaximum pension approximately one-third of his

pay, whereas an officer in other branches of the armywill receive approximately two-thirds. He mighthave added that no medical officer in the army atthe time of the promulgation of the recent regulationscan by a step of promotion obtain any increase of pay.He will have increased responsibility but notincreased remuneration.

INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICEANNUAL DINNER

Major-General Melville presided at the annualdinner of the I.M.S., held at the Trocadero on June 14,and proposed the toast of The Service. He had, hesaid, received a telegram of good wishes from theDirector-General. He spoke of the dinner as " rathera self-centred thing," while bidding the guests cordialwelcome. During the year since they met last nocatastrophe had occurred; recruiting was in factmost excellent, and the last batches were as good asthey ever had been. He counted III officers present ;they illustrated the enormous variety of careers opento members of that service. To the new recruits heoffered a word from his own experience. A man,he said, became an administrator when he had oneother officer under him. Maladministration makesthis officer a discontent ; a slight makes him anassassin. He reluctantly bade goodbye to Sir ThomasCarey Evans as dinner secretary. Invited to respond,Sir Thomas remarked he was a good listener andhoped everyone had enjoyed their dinner, the menuof which was Sir Richard Needham’s choice. TheChairman’s health was proposed by Colonel Proctor,who said that Melville gave his juniors the impressionthat he regarded them as highly competent, andthey had to live up to it.

Guests at the dinner were Sir Frank Brown, C.I.E.,Dr. Hugh Clegg, Sir Wilson Jameson, Mr. D. M.Cleary, Dr. Egbert Morland and Prof. James Young.Officers present were as follows:-

Major-Generals: Sir Frank Connor, D.s.a., A. W. M.Harvey, Sir John Megaw, I.C.LE., C. W. F. Melville,c.B., H. R. Nutt, Sir Leonard Rogers, K.c.s.i., C.I.E.,F.R.S., G. Tate, c.i.E.

Colonels: H. Ainsworth, Sir Rickard Christophers,C.I.E., O.B.E., F.R.S., H. M. Cruddas, C.M.G., O.B.E.,H. R. Dutton, c.i.E., A. B. Fry, C.B., C.S.I., D.S.O.,J. Fuller-Good, C. A. Gill, T. A. Granger, C.M.G.,C. R. M. Green, W. H. Leonard, c.B., H. M. Mackenzie,c.i.E., F. P. Mackie, c.s.l., O.B.E., A. J. Macnab, c.B.,C.M.G., Sir Richard Needham, c.I.E., D.s.o., A. H.Proctor, D.s.o., C. H. Rheinhold, 2.c., H. A.Stranger-Leathes, Ashton Street, -F. F. StrotherSmith, R. G. Turner, C.M.G., D.S.O., W. L. Watson,o.B.E., C. N. C. Wimberley, C.M.G.

Lieut. -Colonels: : W. G. P. Alpin, o.i3.E., F. J.Anderson, c.i.E., M.c., R. S. Aspinal, C. H. Barber,D.s.o., F. A. Barker, c.i.E., o.i3.E., A. N. Bose, o.B.E.,G. T. Burke, c.i.E., H. P. Cook, H. F. Cormac, M.c.,D. G. Crawford, J. M. Crawford, o.B.E., J. B.Dalzell-Hunter, o.B.E., 1. Davenport-Jones, S. C.Evans, J. K. S. Fleming, C.B.E., B. Gale, E. S. Goss,M.C., P. Fleming Gow, D.s.o., V. B. Green-Armytage,F. Griffith, A. E. Grisewood, W. L. Harnett, C.I.E.,S. N. Hayes, H. Hingston, E. A. V. Hodge, c.i.E.,J. M. Holmes, E. V. Hugo, C.M.G., M. L. C. Irvine,R. Kennedy, D.s.o., H. H. King, C.I.E., E. W. O’G.Kirwan, C.I.E., A. C. Macrae, C. McIver, G. E.Malcomson, W. A. Mearns, C. Newcombe, c.I.E.,D. V. O’Malley, a.B.E., J. B. Lapsley, M.c., J. C. H.Leicester, c.I.E., A. V. Lopes, G. Lynn Rigby,