The Press. TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1906. THE MEDICAL CONFERENCE.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12444, 6 March 1906, Page 6

The Press. TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1906. THE MEDICAL CONFERENCE.

On behalf of the public of Canterbury we may heartily join with tho President of the Medical Association in his welcome to the visiting members of the Association oh the occasion of their annual Conference. Few of the annual gatherings held in tho colony aro more calculated to be of general benefit than the-assemblage of medical men from all parts of the colony. Such meetings afford valuable opportunities for tho interchange of ideas between the members, and they must help to promote knowledge of the latest developments in medical and surgical science. Dr. Morton Anderson suggested in his presidential address last night that the public may sometimes wonder what is the good of tho Medical Association. If any such doubts have existed they must be removed by his recital of the many beneficial movements in which the Association has taken an aotive part. It is probable, indeed, that the public has hardly realised the debt it owes to the Medical Association for its action in pressing upon the notice of the Government and of municipalities reforms which ' have made for better conditions of life. Sometimes the efforts of members seemed to bo unavailing, but as time went on they created, or directed, public sentiment, and sooner or later tho reforms for which they agitated came to pass. A good deal of the Association's work in this direction has now been taken in hand by the Health Department, but there still remain many opportunities doctors can influence the public in the direction of more healthful ways of life. Dr. Anderson's address was in its way an epitome of the gospel of health. A reference to the efforts of the local branoh of tho Medical Association to build a consumption sanatorium, a movement which will havo tho hearty sympathy of the Conference, naturally led tho way to some remarks on. the value of sunshine, fresh air, and rest as factors in promoting and restoring health. Medical men would probably admit that during tho past decade public recognition of tho importance of the first two has increased onormously. The careful housekeeper, alluded to by the President, who "opens " her windows two or three inches at " the top every morning and shuts them " just as carefully before night," is becoming extinct. Even tho fear of carpets becoming faded if sunshine is allowed to flood a room opsratei?, wo firmly believe, to a much less degree than formerly in condemning a house to the darkness of drawn blinds. Dust, un- ; fortunately, has to be guarded against in Christchurch to a much greater extent than should be necessary if streets were properly maintained and watered. But, on tho whole, appreciation of the importance of fresh air has advanced wonderfully, and any observant man, whose business takes him out of doors beforo the rest of the world is awake, will testify that the number of bedroom windows that aro open at night iv Christehuroh has inoreased tenfold during tho last ten years. On the other hand, there is probably greater need for a recognition of the value of rest than was ever tho case; it seems, as Dr. Anderson remarked, to bj "in danger of being forgotten "as a strengthening and cura- " tive agent in these days of " physical culture and the strenuous "u'fe." There is too great a tendency

to regard it as the last resort, to be

adopted only when other measures hare failed, usually not until it becomes compulsory, and sometimes when it is too late. A wider knowledge of-its value would be of great benefit, for on no subject is there greater ignorance. Few people really know how to restRest does not necessarily mean confinement to one's bed, but it does involve some ability to get out pf one's daily round, and to "let things slide" for a time. Thero are several other points in the President's address to which reference might be anade if space permitted. Readers will, however, note his allusion to the undue mortality among infants, and the Government's action in the matter, and to the comparatively low birth-rate in a country where the conditions of life arc so generally favourable as they arc in .New Zealand; Both are questions of the highest importance, involving our future as a race, and warranting, therefore, the most serious consideration.