1076 PORTUGAL OF TO-DAY.

PORTUGAL OF TO-DAY.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

III.1

LISBON AND THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONGRESS IOF MEDICINE.

II HAVE so far in these notes referred only incidentallyto Lisbon and that district of Portugal in which the capital Iis situated and it is not proposed to do more here than to Itouch lightly on the beauties and interest of this the bestknown and perhaps the most picturesque region of the wholecountry. The view of Lisbon and the magnificent harbourformed by the broad expansion of the Tagus near its mouth iis justly considered one of the finest of any of the seaports

now. The tremendous earthquake to which the writer referatook place in 1755 so that at the time the above lines werewritten this terrible disaster which practically destroyed thecity and killed some thousands of people would still be com-paratively fresh in the memory of man. The terrible havocworked by the earthquake necessitated the city beingpractically rebuilt. the character of the new city whicharose out of the ruins of the old being largely influenced bythe designs of the then Prime Minister, the Marquis ofPombal, one of the ablest men whom Portugal has ever pro-duced, and to whose memory many of the finest buildingsof the present city may be said to serve as permanentmonuments.Readers of Byron’s " Childe Harold " or of descriptions of

Lisbon by other less well-known writers up to the middle ofthe nineteenth century will find that till that time the

capital had an unenviable reputation for the filthy state ofits streets and the abominable stenches with which the

FiG. 1.

Porta de Coimbra, Busaco.

in Europe and has been compared with the view of Con-stantinople in point of situation and splendour of appear-ance. The approach to the city from the Atlantic has beendescribed by many writers but the following description byone of Wellington’s officers, which has been quoted byCommander the Hon. H. N. Shore in a recent book on

Portugal, may perhaps be reproduced here as giving ascomplete and at the same time as succinct an idea of theview of the city from the Tagus as any. He says : "Onawakening next morning and looking around me the sceneappeared one of enchantment. The world was basking in ablaze of golden light such as I had never before witnessed.Lisbon sate, queen-like, enthroned upon her hills, surveyingher beauty in the Tagus,-calm and majestic, as if the

earthquake which had hurled her to the dust had never islept below, or would never wake again." This description,written somewhere about a century ago, might equally apply I,1 Nos. I. and II. were published in THE LANCET of March 24th

(p. 856) and 31st, 1906 (p. 934), respectively.

atmo3phere of the city was laden. During recent years,however, improvements have been many and far-reaching,and modern Lisbon can be said to hold its own with anycontinental town as regards cleanliness, while as regards itsmany fine buildings and broad streets and squares it can

compare favourably with most of the European capitals.The magnificent Praca do Commercio, better known as

" Black Horse Square," is said to be one of the finest sites inEurope. Both it and the fine" Avenida " are monuments ofthe skill and design of the famous Marquis. Of the variousecclesiastical buildings the Church of Belem is perhapsmost worth visiting, a fine specimen of Gothic architectureand an example of the ornate carving in stone which somany of the churches in this country present. The churchwas built to commemorate the safe return of Vasco de Gamafrom his voyage of discovery to India and is situated at thespot where the famous navigator embarked.

In these brief notes it is, of course, quite impossible evento mention the various churches, palaces, gardens, and build-ings of the city that are well worth seeing, but visitors to

1077PORTUGAL OF TO-DAY.

the Congress will find that every facility will be giventhem of seeing everything that is of interest, either medicalor otherwise, and their movements about the town will bemuch aided by the extremely good service of trams of whichthe city can boast. Lisbon as the capital of the country,the centre of the Court and of the Diplomatic Services, andthe seat of Government, may be said to have lost to someextent the peculiar characteristics of a Portuguese town andto have become assimilated in type to other European capitals.Thus towns such as Coimbra, Oporto, or Braga, though muchless pretentious than the capital, retain the national cha-racteristics far more in many ways and to visitors seeing thecountry for the first time will on that account probably bemore interesting if less imposing. Apart from the Diplo-matic and Consular Service the British colony at Lisbon iscomposed of some 700 people, most of whom are engaged incommerce, either shipping or the exportation of cork, wine,and other things. There are an English church and clergyman,

which as a monument of engineering skill is unsurpassedby anything now existing of its kind. The standardof health in the better parts of the city is rela-

tively good, but among the poorer people dirt, over-

crowding, want of ventilation, and disregard of themost elementary sanitary precautions largely contributeto increase the mortality from epidemic diarrhoea,tubercle, small-pox, and other more or less preventablediseases. The summer in Lisbon is often extremelyhot and even at this time of year the heat of the sun is afactor to be reckoned with-a fact that the members of theapproaching Congress will do well to bear in mind. Apartfrom sunstroke, which is not common at this time of year,the minor effects of exposure to the sun without insufficientheadgear, either in the way of sickness and headache, orof violent naso-pharyngeal catarrh, may be sufficiently severeto deprive a visit to the city of much of its pleasure, if notto necessitate lying up for a few days.

MG. 2.

Entrance to the Monastery, Busaco. It will be noted that the spire of the church is capped with a sphere instead of a cross.This custom was intrcduced by Manoel the Great, 1495-1521, who chose for his motto Psalm xxxvii , v. 3, " Spera in Domino."He spelled it "sphera" and from his time many churches were surmounted with a sphere as the emblem of Hope.

a-good social club, as well as cricket and other atheletic clubs. 1The many improvements in Lisbon during the last 25 years Ihave contributed very largely to raise the standard of health ’,in the city and if, as in most of the southern towns, thedeath-rate remains relatively high, this must in great Imeasure be attributed to the prolonged heat and drought of I,the summer months and no doubt to some extent to the want Iof adequate isolation of cases of infectious disease to which II referred in discussing the public health of Oporto. For- Itunately for the health of Lisbon, the city enjoys an

Iabundant and pure water-supply, an inestimable advantagein a country where practically no rain falls sometimes for Itwo or three months together in summer and where sanitary imeasures are, to say the least, indifferently enforced. The i

water-supply of Lisbon is brought a considerable distance by Ithe magnificent Alcantara aqueduct, some 200 years old,

THE APPROACHING CONGRESS.

While various arrangements may be changed or modifiedbefore the commencement of the Congress, intendingmembers may rest assured that nothing will be leftundone to render their stay in the capital as interestingand pleasant as is possible. Careful arrangements are

being made to insure that the large number of visitorsshall be comfortably lodged in those parts of the city thatare most convenient and close to the buildings in whichthe Congress will meet and foreigners may rely on beingtreated with the most courteous hospitality not only by theirmedical eonf’t’ères but by the people of Lisbon generally.The opening s6ance will be held in the hall of the Geo-

graphical Society and in the same building an exhibitionwhich promises to be of much interest has been organised by

1078 PORTUGAL OF TO-DAY.-MANCHESTER

those responsible for the management of the section forcolonial and naval medicine. The subsequent meetings ofthe various sections will be held in the new buildingsof the Lisbon Medical School and plans of the roomsdevoted to the various sections have been printed. Apartfrom the organisation of the work of the Congressvarious arrangements are being made to entertain the largenumber of visitors that the occasion will bring into the

capital. Three large general fetes will be held, one of which, itis understood, will consist of a large garden party, and detailsof the other two are to be announced shortly. In additionthere will be various receptions and dinners and a bull-fightet rancienne portll!!aise will take place especially for theentertainment of tne members of the Congress. In case anyintending visitors should have scruples about attending thelatter entertainment they may rest assured that a Portuguesebull. fight presents none of those features of cruelty andbeastliness that are so characteristic of Spanish bull-fights.The disgusting brutality incidental to the maiming andgoring of horses that takes place at a Spanish bull-fight hasno counterpart in Portugal, where the bull’s horns are tippedwith leather and where the great object of the rider is to

preserve his horse from being touched or "insulted " by thebull at all. Again, whereas the bull in Spain never leavesthe ring alive, in Portugal the animal receives no morehurt than that incidental to the sticking into his insensitiveneck of the small barbed points of the gaily decorated dartsthat it is the object of the bull-fighter to insert. This is

hardly the place to describe a bull-fight at length, but incase any members of the Congress’ should hesitate to attendone the writer can assure them that they will be extremelyunlikely to see anything really cruel or objectionable. Whatthey will be certain to see, given fine weather, is a verypicturesque spectacle and an exciting exhibition of extremeskill, pluck, and activity. In a bull-fight ft l’anclenne

portugaise, such as has been arranged for the Congress, thepicturesque element is much enhanced by the adoption of thecostumes and ceremonies characteristic of the old days whenPortuguese chivalry was at its height, and in all probabilitymany of those entering the ring will be members of some ofthe most distinguished families of the country, to whom

bull-fighting appeals much as hunting or pig-sticking appealsto the sporting Englishman.The short time at the disposal of the majority of the

members of the Congress will probably prevent any longexcursions from the capital, especially as the country is

badly supplied with railways and the train services, withfew exceptions, are slow and infrequent. For those who can

spare the time either before or after the Congress there are anumber of places in the neighbourhood that are particularlyinteresting, such as Batalha, Mafra, Torres Vedras, andBusaco, the two former on account of their buildingsand the two latter on account of the scenery and par-ticularly on account of their importance in the history of thePeninsular war. The Special Commissioner of THE LANCEThas recently indicated how these can be most convenientlyvisited. (See Fig. 1.) Others who are unable to get so farafield from Lisbon will at least be able to visit Cintra, famousfor the remarkable beauty of its scenery, the picturesqueCastello da Feua and the ruins of the old Moorish castle, orCascaes and Mont Estoril, the fashionable watering-places towhich Lisbon society resorts to escape the grilling heat ofthe city in the summer months.

TRAVEL IN PORTUGAL.

The time of year at which the Congress is held has beenmost happily chosen, as during the months of April and Maythe country in Portugal is looking at its best and it is safeto predict that many of those who see it under such favour-able auspices will leave with regrets and with resolutions toreturn. In my previous remarks on the climate, watering-places, and public health of the country I have attempted toindicate, as far as is possible in few words, the capabilitiesof the country as a resort for invalids or at least for thosein delicate health. The great drawback to Portugal as ahealth resort is the want of suitable accommodation and theprovision of such comforts and refinements as an invalidnaturally expects. There are, needless to say, goodhotels- at Lisbon, Estoril, Busaco, Oporto, and one or twoother of the more important towns, while the accommoda-tion at the various inland watering-places, though plain,is for the most part clean and healthy. At the

average country hotel, with few exceptions, comforts are

THE LANCET, March 17th, 1906, p. 791.

conspicuous by their absence. The floors are bare, the wallsusually are whitewashed, and the furniture is of the simplestand scantiest description, features which strike the visitorat first as being lacking in comfort and refinement butwhich have obvious advantages in a hot climate whereanimal parasites swarm wherever they get a chance. The-food provided is usually plain and not over digestible and thecrockery and cutlery are both coarse and inferior. As one

gets more into the country and farther from the beatentrack the inns get more primitive still, the food more coarse,and cleanliness of board and bed is at a discount. Theseconsiderations make it obvious that for an invalid the choiceof places at which to stay in this country is strictly limited,consisting as it does of two or three of the larger towns,one or two places along the coast, and a limitednumber of inland watering-places and "show" localities.To anyone possessing ordinary health and a tolerable

digestion, and especially to anyone who is not too fastidiousand does not mind roughing it " to some extent, Portugaloffers a much larger field for travel. To the archaeologistand historian the country presents many places of intereston account of the numerous Roman remains, the finespecimens of Moorish and Gothic architecture, and thevarious battlefields and fortresses connected with Wellington’scampaigns and the numerous wars in the Middle Ages whichthe country has seen. Evidences of artistic taste among thePortuguese, either past or present, are conspicuously absent,except in the case of certain old buildings and a limitedamount of a certain kind of blue and white pottery, theso-called Portuguese delft, the general idea of which, as.

the name implies, was taken from the Dutch, while the

special designs for ornamentation appear to have beenborrowed from Persia. (See Fig. 2.) The modern portu.guese, though fond of social amusements and especiallyof music, appear, as a class, to be very indifferent to thebeauties of nature and singularly deficient in artistic tasteThough there may be little to interest the student ofart, yet the country, owing to the beautiful scenery,bright colour-effects of the landscapes, and picturesquecostume of the country people, offers a wide field of workto artists themselves. Anyone travelling in Portugal merelyfor the pleasure of seeing the country and studying thecharacter and ways of the people would be well advised toget away from the few big towns to the country places,where the inhabitants, away from the civilising influences oftown life, though ignorant and primitive, will be found verypleasant and obliging people to be amongst. Of the various,country districts of Portugal, that of the Minho in the northis the one which would most appeal to an English visitor,whether an artist or otherwise. The beautiful mountainousscenery, bracing air, fertile country, and prosperity of thepeople combine to make this the most pleasant part ofthe whole of Portugal to visit and anyone who wishes to havean interesting holiday and a complete change and who iswilling to put up with primitive lodging and plain food mightdo far worse than spend some two or three weeks walkingor riding about in this district which is one of the mostbeautiful parts of a picturesque but little known country.

MANCHESTER.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Dru.qgists and Wedieal Advice.AN inquest was held on April 4th as to the death of an

elderly woman from peritonitis. On the previous Saturdaynight a neighbouring druggist had prescribed for her anddispensed his own prescription. On the Sunday morningshe died and the medical man who made the necropsystated that he thought the medicine would rather tend toaggravate her condition than otherwise. The druggist toldthe coroner he had been in the habit of prescribing insimple cases and from the information given him by thewoman’s daughter he did not think he would be doinghis duty had he not given her something to relievethe old lady." Without throwing any doubt as tothe sincerity of this individual druggist the questionnaturally arises, are all the prescribing druggists animatedby the same beautiful feelings, the sense of duty,and the tender philanthropy which, according to his ownshowing, actuated this Manchester member of the fraternity :

-*

The coroner, Mr. Gibson, in addressing the jury, said it was.