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continued experiments with rats that it is less likelythan ergosterol or irradiation to produce a mineralimbalance that results in calcification of the organs.Hellwig has shown (Arch. Pathol., April, 1931) thatan excess of calcium induces goitre in rats. Perhapssome of the virtue of irradiated ergosterol in ricketslies in its activation of the thyroid as well as in itsliberation of calcium from storage to be depositedin the bones. In a series of papers, preliminaryabstracts of which have already appeared, we expectto furnish considerable information regarding ther6le of the balance between iodine and unsaturatedhydrocarbons and fats in several deficiencies nowclassed as avitaminoses.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,F. E. CHIDESTER.

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WestVirginia, August 29th, 1932.

MEDICAL NEWS

Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons ojGlasgowAt the close of the meeting on Sept. 5th, Mr. Walter

Hurst, J.P., F.L.A., who had recently retired from the posi-tion of secretarv to the Faculty, was presented by thePresident, Dr. R. Barclay Ness, on behalf of the Fellows.with a bureau and wallet with cheque, as a mark of apprecia-tion of his work, extending over 25 years. Mr. Hurst tooka keen interest in the success of the library, becomingfamiliar to a, remarkable degree with its 120,000 volumes.As acting librarian he was able to help those whose workled them to dig deep in its literary treasures.

West London Hospital Post-Graduate College’

The winter session begins on Oct. 13th, when Sir WilliamHale-White will give the opening address, at 3.30 P.M., onBacilluria.

St. George’s Hospital Medical SchoolThe annual prize distribution will be held at 3.0 P.M.

on Saturday, Oct. lst, when Dr. E. Kaye Le Fleming willgive an address on the General Practitioner : his Relation-ship to the State, the Public, and his Profession.The annual dinner will be held on the same evening at the

Hyde Park Hotel, at 7.15 for 7.45 P.M., when the chair willbe taken by Sir Crisp English.

Westminster HospitalA post-graduate course in general medicine and surgery

will be held from Sept. 19th to Oct. 1st for men graduatesonly, under the auspices of the Fellowship of Medicine.Lectures or demonstrations are given every morningfrom 10.30 A.M. to 12.30 P.M., and two or three every after-noon between 2 and 4.30 P.M. Further particulars can beobtained from the secretary of the Fellowship of Medicine,1, Wimpole-street, London, W.1.

Royal Sanitary InstituteA meeting will be held on Sept. 30th, in the Guildhall,

Portsmouth, when discussions will take place on MunicipalEngineering Works in Portsmouth, to be opened by Mr.Joseph Parkin; and on the Public Health Service : -a

Retrospect and a Forecast, to be opened by Dr. A. B.Williamson ; Dr. Charles Porter presiding.

Medical Society of Individual PsychologyThe first meeting of the session will be held, under the

chairmanship of Prof. W. Langdon Brown, on Oct. 13th,at 11, Chandos-street, London, W.1, at 8.30 P.M. In theabsence of Dr. Adler, Dr. Leonhard Seif, of Munich, willgive an address in English on the Individual and theCommunity. This lecture is free to medical practitioners.On Oct. 14th Dr. Seif will address doctors and educationalistsin Birmingham on Educational Aspects of IndividualPsychology, and on Oct. 15th he will address the York MedicalSociety on Individual Psychology and Neurosis. OnOct. 17th, 19th, and 21st, Dr. Seif will lecture, under theauspices of the Individual Psychology Committee, at theSchool of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel-street,London, W.C.1, at 8.30p.M. Lecture I. will be on theTendency to Freedom from Conflict in Life and Neurosis ;Lecture II. on Resentment and Revolt : and Lecture III.on Individual Psychology and a Philosophy of Life.These lectures will be open to the public at a small charge.

Presentation to a Medical ManOn his retirement from the post of senior surgeon at the

Blackburn and East Lancashire Royal Infirmary, after25 years’ service. Mr. R. Y. Aitken has been presented withhis portrait in oils. Lord Moynihan made the presentationon Sept. 1st.National Maternity Hospital, DublinThe corner-stone of the new buildings was laid on

Sept. 7th by Dr. Wall, Bishop of Thasos. The buildingwill cost some £220,000, and the expense will be mainlydefrayed from the results of the sweepstakes. Hitherto,the work of the hospital has been conducted in two ratherunsuitable houses in Holles-street, but the committee hasnow succeeded in obtaining a site with a frontage onMerrion-square.Increased Hospital Fees at BangorThe committee of management of the Carnarvonshire and

Anglesey Infirmary have increased the scale of charges forpatients. Hitherto the fee has been 12s. 6d. per week,but it is now to stand at a minimum of 21 Is. per week witha subscriber’s recommendation, and a minimum of £1 11s. 6d.without a recommendation. Out-patients will be charged6d. for each attendance, with consideration for cases inwhich the charge cannot be met. These increases are

necessitated by the higher cost of maintenance. ’

Anti-War Congress : International MedicalCommittee

This committee, consisting of doctors from Amsterdam,Berlin, London, Paris, Prague, Vienna, and Zurich, metduring the congress held at Amsterdam from August 27thto 29th. and drafted an " appeal against war." The appealsets out statistics showing the casualties in all countriesduring the war, and draws attention to the increasedmorbidity which it brought in its train. The committeepropose to collect and spread information on the catastrophiceffects of war on the public health.Irish Hospital SweepstakesThe audited accounts of the Irish Hospital Sweepstake on

this year’s Derby. which were issued recently, show thatthe total receipts were £4,128,485, and that the amountpayable to the hospitals was £516,060. The prize fund was£2,804,552; sta,mp duty absorbed .6258,030, and a similaramount was taken bv the Ministry for local government.The expenses were £291,812.

INFECTIOUS DISEASEIN ENGLAND AND WALES DURING THE WEEK ENDED

SEPT. 3RD, 1932

Notifications.-The following cases of infectiousdisease were notified during the week :—Small-pox,10 (last week 13) ; scarlet fever, 1332 ; diphtheria,710 ; enteric fever, 89 ; acute pneumonia (primaryor influenzal), 413 ; puerperal fever, 27 ; puerperalpyrexia, 126 ; cerebro-spinal fever, 24 : acute polio-myelitis, 29 ; acute polio-encephalitis, 3 ; encephalitislethargica, 3 ; continued fever, 3 ; dysentery, 85 ;ophthalmia neonatorum, 90. No case of cholera,plague, or typhus fever was notified during the week.The number of cases in the Infectious Hospitals of the

London County Council on Sept. 6th-7th was as follows :Small-pox, 20 (last week 24) ; scarlet fever, 1095 ; diph-theria, 1253 ; enteric fever, 15 ; measles, 389 : whooping-cough, 426 ; puerperal fever, 21 (plus 6 babies) ; encepha-litis lethargica. 230 ; poliomyelitis, 4 ; "other diseases,"116. At St. Margaret’s Hospital there were 15 babies(plus 10 mothers) with ophthalmia neonatorum.

Deaths.-In 117 great towns, including London,there was no death from small-pox, 2 (0) from entericfever, 11 (1) from measles, 2 (1) from scarlet fever,19 (5) from whooping-cough, 24 (5) from diphtheria,75 (18) from diarrhoea and enteritis under two years,and 13 (4) from influenza. The figures in parenthesesare those for London itself.The deaths from diarrhoea were 2 fewer than in the previous

week : the highest figures being Liverpool, 11 ; Croydonand West Ham, each 4. The fatal cases of enteric feveroccurred at Hastings and Grimsby. Three of the deathsfrom measles were reported from Liverpool. Diphtheriaclaimed 5 victims at Hull.

The number of stillbirths notified during the week was252 (corresponding to a rate of 39 per 1000 total births),including 39 in London.