THE MEDICAL CONGRESS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14898, 11 February 1914, Page 11

THE MEDICAL CONGRESS.

OPEXTXG- OF BUSINESS SESSIONS. ' LVTERESTING PAPERS. (FBESS ASSOCIATION TKLEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, February 10. it the Medical Congress this mornSinclair Gillie, president of So medkal section,, read a most important paper on the advance made m •- Sine Ho dwelt upon < lls " • °7crv oi what had been termed "ultra•Scroiropicar' or -filterable" viru.es to wh o«e action be put down rabies, yelw fever in man. pleuro pneumonia L and momh din-ase in animals. He enlarge upon the nm«sity of tackgj consumption, and sa.J that ho Sred that a satisfactory euro by anti- ■ S had not so far been d^cove.red. £c time had arrived when steps should be taken to rftamp <> ut syphilis like !i -ny other contagion* disease. CA«K OF HAKIKS. •%, W F. Liclifield, of Sydney, de- !•„',! in iddress urid«r the section o! Stofildren. l,r. Li-hfield disS briefly the o.msrion oi .aim* S s an ,l foundlins ho*!'*" 1 *- dealing Sth tho difficult subject nt tln> rare oi habics born under sad cirnunstam-c*. His remarks applied to institutions β-bich admitted childroii under one year viihout tbeir mothers. The results obtained in these intant asylum* were nnifomally bad For instance, in the ssvlnm at "Randals T.-land. Now Wk, the mortality-was. in l&W. 90 por cent., and at the Naples Foundling Hospital, oat of 856 infants admitted, 853 died. ' There was abundant evidence from all parts of the world, tho speaker continued. t« ■ sire conclusive support to his assertion. The high mortality was attributed to a state of weakness indncffd , by a' want of individual attention, .and all that was implied by the word "mothering." In the report of the State Children*' Council of Adelaide, it was stated that one society reduced- tho mortality by placing out chitdren in homes instead of maintaining*, them in the institution. The children were in the institution from * 18.% to 1898, and the death rates wero— 18?G, 98 per cent.: 1897. 99 per cent.; 1808,-100 per cent. Placing them out began in 1899, and the mortality dropped to 56 per.cent, immediately, in 1000 to 31 per cent., in 1001 to If) per rent., in 1902 to 11 ncr cent, and in ISfU to 10 per cent. The Health Departments in most of the Australian Slates. Dr. Li>hfipld wfint on to say. had adopted a ' ;»licy of boarding out infants, and had tei their faces ac.iin.st institutions for habies. Various philanthropic bodies, lioireror, still T>ersi.sted \n housing babies ir asylums. Statistics compiled choired i'at'tlio method was a bad one - in even' respect. EXAMINATION OF CADETS. Colonel R. B. TYaschi, in the course of his address in the naval and military • section, referred to tho recent introduction of the Australian Defence Act, ' and the examination and training of Toung cadets who were yearly drafted Into the military. This, he said, had occupied tho leisure time of the Australasian Army Medical Corps. Two horning questions pressing for attention were tho exact proportion of fit able to enlist as trained, and to make " a *earching test of the soundness, i-treugth, "and virility of the rising generation. The second problem dealt with the possibility of having, to send an expeditionary force to their Northern Territory, which was sparsely in- ' habited and likely to be the point of .invasion. ■ A great number .of unknown '.df&eases probably lurked in the vast tropical: region of tho territory said the doctor.., . . •■•.•■- ■:■< - ■ Colonel Purdy said that the organi- . sat ion for the. evacuation of the sick and wounded constituted the crux of the medical problem Jn war,, and the system 'adopted' formed the basis of tne entire medical service in the field. ,' 7 DISEASES OF THE EAR. Jn. 31. H. Pullein, of Adelaide, delivered an. address, in the eye, ear and throat section. In the course of his. address, he introduced two now methods of ,«jnservative treatment of chronic suppurative ear disease An excel- ■ lens appliance for carrying out each of • theao iprocedures was shown and explainoo. .The results "quoted proved; mftho, opinion of his hearers, the value _ of.,the methods recommended. HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN. "The health of .school children, with special reference to ' inspection and hyeiene," was dealt with by thejmblic health section, presided over by Dr. C. Savjll Willis, principal medical officer to the Department of Public Instruction, New South Wales. In the course of an address on school closure and infectious .diseases, the president drew •ttentiori to the progress fchat Lad been made in. the direction of using the school as an aid in checking ' the jßrcad of disease, and declared that the schools afforded an excellent oppor- , tunity for doctors to make investigation. Various sources of direct and indirect infection had been eliminnted, s«d ho'contended that the closure of Schools was now recognised in the majority of ca-ses as a most crude and Unscientific way of dealing witn outbreaks of disease. Sunlight and fresh W were the most reliable means of leinoving possible infection, aided by *oap and water. , ••■ T>f. Jane S. Greig. of Victoria, contributed a paper on the hygiene of the . Muldren of tho school, dealing with toe practical and personal aspect, and pointing. out that the teachers could t assist materially in improving the conQrtions by holding handkerchief and teeth drill, and insisting on cleanliness oficlothiug. conference of representatives from Victoria. Oueensland, West Australia, ami New Zealand, with Dr. Willis as ■pMJSident. was held to consider tnatters affecting uniformity in the inspection of the schools.

'*:•- THE TOTE PLAGUE. . 'in the section of medicine, a brilliant address was delivered' by 3>r. omclair Gillies, who dealt iv a general way with the wonderful advance made vi medicine, and particularly.with bacteriology and preventive medicine of . ordinary bacteria. Two of the most - . interesting were those responsible for enteric and tuberculosis. Enteric lerer was now fast disappearing, thanks , to the recognition of its bacteriological T^ki re i*? d u,CKIe of conveyance. Tuberculosis still bulked largely as a 1 < n£f - Oi , C]Vlli^>d man - la Great 'J2?*? ! " alono ]t accounted for one irfoX ,n S Te,y thr< * between the ages and -Jo. and in Australia some *w persons died from it evei* vcar, Wore it was no wonder that people . ?«neen thoroughly aroused to its imWrtance and need for its exterminaStaL *l n ? n si and and the United dSS™?w the \ death - ra t-e had been con&£t t h f? u ? in S» improved stance of hying.. and regulation of (M^in and - 1 ! 1 l s P ection of foodstuffs taS^l y v of l and efficient ven«««ea by day and night, aai regu.a&oa of occupation exposing to ifri- ; J»tag dust and %veryl3. ; att3ck 3 b «m more • StiWl™ ? Mtomm s y st em of comS g J; h « ***»• He argued that ' stif n l te ,. dla Snosed and treated • SL Kht - r The stethoscope was " of ,te Priority in diag- - ewouiiv. Lk* -va-nseoDc. tho X rare

and tho specific reaction of the tuberculin test. Dealing with the subject of specific immunisation, Dr. Gillies said that since Dr. Kocli first brought tuberculin before the profession, there had been preparations too numerous to mention, and tiiey all had their advocates and detractors. Whore there was a long list of drugs credited with tho euro of any disease, it might be we timed in the first plow that the disease frequently recurred, and in the second that none of the drugs was i\ satisfactory cure, fto it wjw, ho feared, with tuberculosa. Fortunately tho tendency hiid boon towards recovery, but no bacterial preparation had so far established its claim to cure. -MENTAL DISORDERS. In tho psychological, mudiciiio, and neurology sectiou, the presidential addross oi Dr. Citibholm Ross was read by Dr. Godfrey, ot tho Hospital lor tlie Insane, Melbourne. Tho address reviewed the progress made in the treatment of mental disorders duriiig tho last thirty years. Dr. lloss contrasted the conditions when he started a-sylum work in 1884. with the methods and appliances of the present day. illustrating the immense strides made in tho matter oi administration unu treatment within that i>eriod. He laid emphasis on the value of efficient stuffing, and pointed out the great improvement that had taken place in mental hospitals in this respect. In the old days a home for the detention, of the in.sane was an asylum in the simplest acceptance of the term, whereas mental hospitals wero now subdivided into numerous departments, a particularly important feature of these institutions being the establishment of receiving houses for the observation of border-line case*. Tho president, in summing up the .situation, compared the work and etudy on mental disorder in Australasia with the methods in other countries and contended that the mental hospitals of Australasia compared very favourably to-day with those of England and the Continent of Europe. A psychological paper of deep interest to the profession was one read by Dr. Andrew Davidson o» "The. universal reeosinition by medical schools of neurology and me»ta' disorders as a compulsory subjects." The theme was dealt with nlons technical lines, but claims wide interest as illustrating the increasing bold which thensvchniocipfil asneet i<; obtaining amon" men of medicine in t''eir combat with mental and nervous disorders.