MEDICAL CONGRESS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1981, 11 February 1914, Page 8

MEDICAL CONGRESS

*- SECOND DAY AT AUCKLAND, WIDE RANGE OF SUBJECTS BACTERIAL RESEARCH. t THE WAR ON CONSUMPTION J (By Telegraph.—Press • Association,) Auckland, February 10. j Interesting papers were read "in caell 1 .of tlie eleven sections of the Medical ! Congress to-day. Dr. W. F. Litchfield, of Sydney, de- ■ livcred an address tinder the section > for "Diseases of Children." He disf cussed the question of babies' homes ; and foundling hospitals, dealing with the difficult subject- of the ' care of 1 babies born under sad circumstances. : His remarks also applied "to institu» ■ tions which admitted children under ! one year without their mother. The • results obtained in these infants' asy--1 lums,. ho said, were uniformly bad. For instance, in the asylum at Randals 1 Island, New York, the mortality in 1899 was 90 per cent., and, at the Naples Foundling Hospital, out of 856 infants admitted 853 died. The high mortality was attributed to weakness induced b.v a want of individual attention, and all that is' implied by the word "mothering." In tho report of tjje State Children's • Council, of Adelaide, it is stated that one society reduced the mortality by placing out children in homes instead of maintaining, tho institution. The children were in an institution from 1890 to 1898, ■ and the death rates were:—lß96, 98 per cent.: 1897, 99 per cent.; 1898, 100 per cent. Placing them out began in 1899. and tho mortality dropped to 38 per cent, immediately; in. 1900, to 31 per cent.: in 1901, to 19 per cent.; in 1902, to 11 per cent.; and in 19M, to 10 per cent. The .Departments in most of tho Australian States had adopted: the policy of boarding out .infants as against institutions. Various philanthropic bodies, however, bull persisted in housing babies in asylums, though statistics showed that this method was a bad one. Naval & Military Section. Colonel I', H. Fraschi. in the cottrse of his address in the naval and military section, referred.to the recent introduction of the Australian Defence Act, and the examination and training of young cadets, who are yearly drafted into the militia. This, ho said, had occupied all the leisure time of the, Australian Army Medical Corps. Two burning questions, pressing for attention,, tho exnet proportion of those who wero fit and able to enlist as trainees, and wliat were the tropical diseases that might at any time affect any expeditionary force. It was,, ho pointed out, of the -utmostvalue .to ascertain the. best means- to diminish the number, p-f unfit, it should be incumbent on officers t:o carry out a strict physical examination, of all the young male inhabitants,.and to make a searching tost of tho soundness, strength, and .virility of tho rising generation. second problem dealt with the possibility of having to send an expeditionary force to tho Northern Territory, which was sparsely inhabited, and likely to be the point of invasion. A great number of' unknown diseases probably lurked in the .vast tropical region of the Territory, said the do«fcor.' Dr. 11. H. Puilein, of Adelhide, delivered an address in the Eye, par, and } Throat Section. He mentioned,' two new methods of conservative treatment of chronic suppurative ear disease.. Ail excellent appliance for carrying Out each of these procedures was shown and explained. Tho results quoted proved, in the opinion of his hearers, the value of the methods recommended. School Children's Health, The health of school children, with special reference to inspection and hygiene, was dealt- with by the Public .Health Section, which was presided ever by Dr. 0. Savill. Willis, principal medical officer to the Department of Public Instruction _ of New South Wales. Ho drew attention to the progress that had been, mado in'the direction of using the schools as an aid iti checking the spread of disease, and declared that the schools afforded an excellent opportunity for doctors to make investigation. Various sources of direct and indirect infection had been eliminated, and lie contended that the closure of schools was now recognised in tho majority of cases as a most crude and unseientifte way of dealing with outbreaks of disease. Sunlight and fresh air. wero the most reliable means of removing . possible infection, but should be aided by soap and water. , Dr. ; Jano S. Greig, of Victoria., contributed a paper on "The Hygiene of tlie Children of the School." She dealtwith the practical and personal aspect, and pointed out that the teachers could assist materially in improving the conditions by holding "handkerchief and teeth drill," and insisting on cleanliness of clothing. , A conference of tho representatives from Victoria, Queensland, West Australia, and New Zealand with Dr. Willis, president, was held to consider matters affecting uniformity in the inspection of schools. Asylums of To-day. In' the Psychological, Medicine, and Neurology 'Section the presidential address of Dr. Chisholm Ross Was read by Dr. Godfrey, of tl» Melbourne Hospital for the Insane, The address reviewed the progress made in the treatment of mental disorders during the - last thirty years. Dr. Ross Contrasted the conditions when be started asylum work in 1884, with tho methods and appliances of the present day, and illustrated the immense strides made ill administration and treatment within that period., He laid special emphasis on the value of efficient staffing, and.pointed out tho improvement that- had taken place ill our-mental; hospitals in this respect. In the old ,davs a home for ■ the 'detention of the insane, was an asy- ] luin in the simplest acceptance of the ! .term, whereas mental hospitals were . iiow subdivided-'into numerous departJ nicnts. A particularly important fea- ■ turo of these institutions. was the es- | tablishment of receiving houses for the > observation of border-line cases. The r president, in summing up, contended that j the mental hospitals of Australia com- • 1 pared very favourably to-day with those t of England, and the Continent of t Europe. ~ A psychological paper of deep inter- , est to tho profession was one read by j . Dr. Andrew Davidson. It was ■ on- . titled "The Universal Recognition by Medical Schools of Neurology and Mental Disorders as a Compulsory Subject." The theme was dealt with along ' necessarily technical lines, but jt .claim- j ed wide interest as illustrating the increasing hold which the psychological aspect is obtaining among men of niedicino in .their combat with mental and nervous disorders. Modern Medicine & Bacteriology. j In tho Section of Medicine a brilliant--1 address was delivered by Dr. Sinclair j -Gillies, who dealt in ft general way with , the wonderful advance made in medi- , cino, and particularly with bacteriology; j and preventive medicine. Of ordinary 3 bacteria, two of tho most interesting wero those responsible for or.terie ievor and tuberculosis. Enteric fever was now fast disappearing, thanks to the recognition of' its bacteriological .nature. 1 ' and mode of conveyance, Tuberculosis,

however, still bulked largely, as a curse of tho civiliscd man. In Great Britain'it accounted for ono death in every three between the ages of 20 and 46, and in Australia some S7OO persons died from it every year. It was, therefore, no wonder that we had been thoroughly aroused to its importance, and the lieed for its extermination. In England and tho United States tho death-rate had' been considerably reduced, tho factors including improved genera) hygiene, improved Jiousing, an improved standard of living, and the regulation of the sab and. inspection of foodstiuffs (especially milk), the recognition of the necessity .of fresh air and efficient ventilation by day and night, and the regulation of occupations exposing the worker to irritating dust and gasiis. Every advance in sanitation had had its share in fighting tho disease, hut of late the attack on it had been moro direct-. The doctor dealt bri6flv with the modern sanatorium system of combating the disease. Ho argued that cases must bo diagnosed and treated at a much earlier stage than was formerly taught. Tho stethoscope, was yielding some of its priority in diagnosis to tho thermometer, the weighing machine, the microscope, the •X-ray, and tlio specific reaction of the tuberculin test. .Dealing with tho subject of specific immunisation, Dr. Gillies said that since Dr. Koch first brought tuberculin before tho profession there had been preparations too numerous to mention, and' they all hadj their advocates and detractors. Where there was ft long list of drugs credited with the- cure of any disease, it- might bo assumed in the first place- that the disease frequently rccurred, and, iu the second, that none of t'ho drugs was a satisfactory cure. So it was, he feared., with, tuberculosis. No bacterial preparation had so far established its claim to a c-ure.