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Notes and News

UNNATURAL DEATHS

IN England and Wales in 1970 the death-rate from

accidents, poisonings, and violence was 46 per 100,000population 1—a rate of the same order as that for pneu-monia (87), bronchitis (62), and cancer of the trachea,bronchus, and lung (62). Most of the deaths in this cate-

gory (E 800-999) were accidental, but there were 3960deaths from suicide or self-inflicted injury, 349 fromhomicide, and in a large number of cases (1125) it was notclear whether the injury was deliberate or accidental. Themajor causes of accidental death are motor-vehicle accidents(6709) and falls (5633). Other incidents which accountedfor more than 100 accidental deaths in 1970 were:

Deaths from suicide have been falling steadily year byyear since a peak of 5639 in 1963, and the major factor herehas been the contribution made by deaths from poisoningby gases in domestic use. While total suicides fell by1679 between 1963 and 1970, suicide by gas fell from2363 to only 501.

TRAINING DOCTORS IN ASSESSMENT OFSCHOOLCHILDREN

NEw courses for training doctors who undertake theexamination of educationally subnormal or mentallyhandicapped children are to be introduced to replace theexisting courses, which are provided by the extramuraldepartment of the University of London jointly with theNational Association for Mental Health, and also by theUniversities of Bristol, Leeds, and Newcastle. A circularfrom the Department of Education and Science to all

principal school medical officers and directors of educationin England explains that there is universal agreement amongthose who have been arranging these courses that theyshould in future be organised by medical departments ofchild health, and that they should concentrate less oninstruction and practice in the administration of intelligencetests and more on training and practice in a comprehensiveexamination, including especially neurological examination;theoretical work would need to be more broadly based onnormal and abnormal child development, and on anappreciation of the importance of multidisciplinary assess-ment. The University of London courses will be discon-tinued after that scheduled for September/October, 1973;discussions are taking place with the Institute of ChildHealth concerning the organisation of a new approvedcourse. The courses in Bristol, Leeds, and Newcastlewill probably take a new form this year under the auspicesof the departments of child health and social medicine,in collaboration with local authorities. Additional coursesmay also be provided at other universities.

ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION

A REPORT of a study correlating therapeutic principleswith planning and design of facilities for the treatment ofalcohol and drug dependence has been sponsored and

1. Registrar General’s Statistical Review of England and Wales forthe Year 1970; part I, tables, medical. H.M. Stationery Office,p. 479. £4.10.

published by King Edward’s Hospital Fund forLondon.’ It is written by a psychiatrist, a nurse, and anarchitect from Pinel House, the alcoholic unit at Warling-ham Park Hospital, which was opened almost twenty yearsago and was the first N.H.S. treatment centre for alcoholics.The principles underlying the treatment of alcoholand drug dependence by group methods, including familytherapy and the use of Alcoholics Anonymous and othervoluntary bodies, are linked with design requirements ofunits for the combined treatment of alcohol and drugdependence. The authors of this report describe their ownand other treatment centres in Britain and America.

In 1962 a Ministry of Health memorandum recom-mended that each regional hospital board should provideat least one special unit for the treatment of alcoholism,and by 1971 there were 22 treatment units. However, theSouth-West Metropolitan Board, serving a population ofabout 3-2 million, already has 2 units both of which nowhave waiting-lists for admission.

It is appropriate that this report has been publishedwithin a year of the Secretary of State for Social Servicesannouncing that he intends to make E2 million availablefor improving facilities for the treatment of alcoholics.

A LIVING FOSSIL ON FILM

THE coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnœ), the only knownsurvivor of an important group of predatory fishes whichflourished in the Devonian period, has been captured onfilm for the first time, by members of a British, French,and American expedition which has just spent 3 monthsin the Comoro islands. The fish lived about 6 hours-long enough for it to be filmed swimming-and after deathit was dissected and the parts preserved for laboratoryexamination. Until 1938, when the first living ccelacanthwas identified by J. L. B. Smith, the Crossopterygii-theclass to which Latimeria belongs-were thought to havedied out some 60 million years ago. The first ccslacanthwas caught off East London, South Africa, but all sub-sequent catches (the latest is the 71st) have been from theComoros, which lie in the Indian Ocean between Mada-gascar and the African mainland.The ccelacanths, which are usually 4-5 feet long and

weigh about 100 lb., have a number of interesting primitivefeatures, and they differ little from their extinct predeces-sors. The most notable characteristics are the deep body,the lobe-like posterior dorsal, anal, and paired pectoral andpelvic fins, and the trilobed tail. The cranium is dividedinto two articulated parts, while the maxillae have beenlost and other jaw elements greatly reduced. Fossil cœlo-canths, but not Latimeria, had a remarkable ossified air-bladder.

Smith was unfortunate, for most of the internal organsof his coelacanth had been removed by a taxidermist beforehe could examine the fish. Coelacanth structure has ofcourse been thoroughly studied since that time, and someparts of the latest specimen have been prepared for electron-microscopic examination-the first time this has been

possible.

University of EdinburghProf. C. 1. Phillips has been appointed to the Forbes

chair of ophthalmology.Professor Phillips, who is 46, was educated at the High School

of Glasgow, Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen, and the Uni-versity of Aberdeen, graduating M.B. in 1946 and M.D. in 1957.Following a house-surgeon appointment he served for 2 yearsin the R.A.M.C. before taking the D.P.H. at the University ofEdinburgh. After further house-appointments he was assistantin the department of anatomy at the University of Glasgow.1. Alcohol and Drug Dependance—Treatment and Rehabilitation.

By W. P. James, C. E. Salter, and H. G. Thomas. 1972. Pp. 98.£1.50. Obtainable from King Edward’s Hospital Fund forLondon, 14 Palace Court, London W2 4HT.

856

He moved to London for his training in clinical and surgicalophthalmology, and was resident registrar at Moorfields EyeHospital and senior registrar in the eye department at St.Thomas’s Hospital. He was also a research assistant at theInstitute of Ophthalmology and chief clinical assistant at Moor-fields Eye Hospital. In 1958 he was appointed consultant

ophthalmic surgeon to the United Bristol Hospitals. During thisappointment he spent a year in the department of ophthalmologyat the University of Harvard Eye and Ear Infirmary as an Alex-ander Piggott Wernher travelling fellow. In 1963 he became con-sultant ophthalmic surgeon to St. George’s Hospital, London.Since 1965 he has been professor of ophthalmology at the Univer-sity of Manchester and honorary consultant ophthalmic surgeonto the United Manchester Hospitals at Manchester Royal EyeHospital. His main research interests are intraocular pressure andglaucoma, microsurgery, and hereditary disease.

General Medical CouncilThe Disciplinary Committee of the Council has ordered

the suspension, with immediate suspension, from theMedical Register of the names of Noel Patrick Burns (toJanuary 4, 1973) and Arthur Slora (to Dec. 31, 1972).It has also ordered that the suspension of the name ofPatrick Laurence Lyons should be extended to July 31,1972.

Appointments

Birmingham Regional Hospital Board:ADDY, A. P., M.B.Leeds, M.R.C.P., D.C.H. : consultant paediatrician,

Dudley Road (Birmingham) group.AKHTAR, MUHAMMAD, M.B.Peshawar, F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anæs-

thetist, North Staffordshire group.BARRETT, K. E., M.D.Lond., M.R.C.PATH. : consultant pathologist

(haematologist), South Birmingham group and the Board ofGovernors of the United Birmingham Hospitals.

BEGG, H. B., M.B., M.R.C.O.G., F.R.C.S., D.OBST.: consultant obstetri-cian and gynaecologist. South Warwickshire group.

BiswAs, T. K., M.B.Calcutta, F.F.A. R.C.S. : consultant anaesthetist,West Bromwich group.

COCKS, N. M., M.B.Dub1., D.P.M.: consultant psychiatrist, Shrewsburygroup.

DALLIMORE, J. S., M.B., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anaesthetist, Hereford-shire group.

DAWBER, R. P. R., M.B.Sheff., M.R.C.P. : consultant dermatologist,Mid and North Staffordshire groups.

DUGROw, MARy, M.B.Birm., F.F.A. R.C.S. : consultant anaesthetist,East Birmingham group.

EvANS, R. F., M.B.L’pool, F.R.C.S. : consultant in accident surgery,South Birmingham group and the Board of Governors of theUnited Birmingham Hospitals.

GYDE, 0. H. M., M.B.Lond., M.R.C.PATH. : consultant pathologist,(haematology). East Birmingham group.

HARVEY, L. P., M.B.Birm., M.R.c.o.G.: consultant obstetrician andgynaecologist, Coventry group.

JONES, B. C., M.B.Lond., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anaesthetist, Burton-on-Trent group.

KERR, G. D., M.B., M.R.C.P. M.R.A.C.P. : consultant physician, Shrews-bury group.

KosTER, H. G., M.B.Lond.: consultant hsematologist. RegionalBlood Transfusion Service.

LEEDHAM, P. W., M.B.Lond., M.R.c.PATH.: consultant pathologist,Shrewsbury group.

McDowELL, A. W. T., M.B.Glasg., D.P.M. : consultant psychiatrist,Coventry and South Warwickshire groups.

MANSER, JOHN, M.B.Wales, F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anaesthetist,Dudley and Stourbridge group.

MATEU-LOPEZ, ENRIQUE, L.A.H.Dubl., D.M.J., D.P.M.: consultantpsychiatrist, Mid-Staffordshire group.

RIDDOCH, DONALD, M.B.Birm., M.R.C.P. : consultant neurologist,West Bromwich, South Warwickshire, and Coventry groups.

RoscOE, BRUCE, M.B.Birm., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anaesthetist,South Worcestershire group.

SHEPPARD, LouISE, M.B.Lond., F.F.R., D.M.R.D.: consultant radiologist,Coventry group.

SHERVINGTON, P. C., M.R.C.S., M.R.C.O.G., D.OBST.: consultant obstet-rician and gynxcologist, South Worcestershire group.

SMITH, A. M., B.M.Oxon., M.R.C.P.E., M.R.C.O.G., F.R.C.S.E. : consultantobstetrician and gynaecologist, Wolverhampton group.

SRIVASTAVA, P. C., M.B., PH.D. Lucknow: consultant haematologist,Burton-on-Trent group.

SUGRUE, D. L., M.D., M.CH., N.U.I.: consultant venereologist, Midand North Staffordshire groups.

TANSEY, M. A. L., L.R.C.P.I., F.R.C.S.E.: consultant orthopxdicsurgeon, South Warwickshire group.

Diary of the Week

APRIL 16 TO 22

Monday, 17thUNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF SOUTH MANCHESTER

5 P.M. (Withington Hospital.) Dr. Wilfred Sircus: Clinical Signifi-cance of the Parietal Cell.

Tuesday, 18thROYAL ARMY MEDICAL COLLEGE, Millbank, London S.W. .15 P.M. Dr. D. C. Morley: Contingency Planning for Children in a

Tropical Disaster Area.

Wednesday, 19thROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND, Lincoln’s Inn Fields,

London WC2A 3PN5 P.M. Prof. F. R. Johnson: Absorptive Cells. (Arnott demonstration.)

INSTITUTE OF PSYCHIATRY, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, LondonS.E.5

5.30 P.M. Dr. Raymond Levy: Caricature and Madness.UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

5 P.M. Prof. Goran Sterner (Stockholm): Pneumonia in HospitalisedStockholm Patients.

Thursday, 20thMATHILDA AND TERENCE KENNEDY INSTITUTE OF RHEUMATOLOGY,

Bute Gardens, Hammersmith, London W.65 P.M. Dr. A. J. Palfrey: The Synovial Membrane in Rheumatoid

Arthritis.ROYAL SOCIETY OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, Manson House,

26 Portland Place, London WIN 4EY6 P.M. Dr. Kenneth Warren: The Immunopathology of Schisto-

somiasis.

Friday, 21stINSTITUTE OF LARYNGOLOGY AND OTOLOGY, 330/332 Gray’s Inn Road,

London WC1X 8EE5.30 P.M. Mr. J. A. M. Martin: Assessment of the Late-talking Child.

Pamphlets and Reports

Services for the Elderly at Home. This review covers

home-helps, meals-on-wheels, aids and equipment, home

nursing, services for the incontinent elderly, and chiropody. Thestatistical analysis shows that wide variations exist in the standardof services supplied by different local authorities, and also that, ingeneral, services are inadequate to meet needs. (Published forthe National Corporation for the Care of Old People by theBedford Square Press of the National Council of Social Services,26 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3HU. 50p.)

Report on Hospital In-patient Enquiry for the Year1968: part I, tables. The 285 pages of tables in this report arebased on an approximate 1-in-10 sample of hospital dischargesand deaths. The total records used in the H.I.P.E. analysistotalled 428,400 when psychiatry was excluded. Among maternitydischarges 630,894 were from hospital obstetric units and

170,307 were from general-practitioner maternity units. Thetotal discharges (psychiatry and maternity apart) came to justshort of 4 million, and of these just over 100,000 related togeneral-practitioner hospitals. (H.M. Stationery Office. E2.10).

Summary of Postgraduate Diplomas and Courses inMedicine. This useful list, which will be especially helpful tooverseas graduates, has been prepared by the B.M.A.’s PersonalServices Bureau. Specialty by specialty the diplomas, require-ments for eligibility, and details about suitable courses are

listed. Vocational-training schemes, usually of three years’duration, make a substantial contribution to the list, with thirty-seven (two-thirds of them recognised for the M.R.C.G.P.). Shortercourses for general practitioners, starting before September,1972, are summarised in a separate list. (Obtainable from thePress Information Department, B.M.A. House, TavistockSquare, London WC1H 9JP. El.)