MEDICAL CONGRESS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8653, 11 February 1914, Page 9

MEDICAL CONGRESS

YESTERDAY’S PROCEEDINGS ■MANY INTERESTING PAPERS READ. INFANT LIFE PROTECTION. Press Association. AUCKLAND, February 10. interesting papers, tho majority of them of a highly technical character, were read in each of the eleven actions of the Medical Congress to-day. Many of them were keenly discussed. Dr AV. F. Litchfield, of Sydney, delivered an address under the section of diseases of children. Dr Litchfield discussed briefly the question of babies homes and foundling hospitals, dealing with the difficult subject of the care ot babies born under sad circumstances. His remarks applied*, to institutions which admitted children under one year without their mothers. The results obtained in these infant asylums wore, ho said, uniformly bad. Tor instance, in the asvlum at Randal’s Island, New York, the mortality was in 1899 90 per cent., and at the Naples foundling hospital out of 850 infants admitted 853 died. There was abundant evidence from all parts of the world, tho speaker continued, to give conclusive support to his assertions. The high mortality was attributed to a state of weakness induced by a want of individual attention, and all that was implied by the word “mothering.” In the report of the State Children’s Council of Adelaide it was stated that one society reduced the mortality by placing out children in homes instead of maintaining the institution. The children were in an institution from 1896 to 1898, ohd tho death rates were:—lß96, 98 per cent.; 1897, 99 per cent.; 1898, 100 per cent. Placing them out began in 1899, and the mortality dropped to 56 per cent, immediately,, in 1900 to 31 per cent., in 1901 to 19 per cent., in 1902 to 11 per cent., and in 1904 to 10 per cent. The departments in most of the Australian States, Dr Litchfield went on, had adopted a policy of hoarding out infants and had set their faces against institutions foi- babies. A r arious philanthropic bodies, however, still persisted in having babies in asylums. Statistics compiled showed that this method was a bad one in every respect.

MILITARY SERVICE. PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED. Colonel T. H. Fiaschi, in tie course of his address in the naval and militray. section, referred to the recent introduction of tho Australian Defence Act and the examination and training of. young cadets who are yearly drafted into the militia. This, he said, had' occupied the leisure .time of the Australasian Army Medical Corps. - Two burning questions pressing for attention were the exact proportion of fit men, able to enlist as trainees, and what are the tropical' diseases \ that might at any time affect any expeditionary force. It was, he pointed out, of the utmost value to ascertain the best means to diminish tho number of unfit, and it should he incumbent on tho officers to carry out a strict physical examination of all the young male inhabitants and to make a searching test of the soundness, strength, and virility of the rising generation. Tho second problem • dealt with the possibility of having to send an expeditionary force to the 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 doctor.

EYE, EAR, AND THROAT SECTION. Dr R. H. Pullein, of Adelaide, delivered the address in the eye, ear, and thi'ca-t section. In the course of his address ho introduced two new methods of conservative treatment of chronic suppurative ear disease., An excellent appliance for carrying .out each of these procedures was shown and explained. The results quoted proved, in the ’opinion of his hearers, the value if the, methods recommended. HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN. This subject, with special reference to inspection and hygiene, was dealt with by the public health section, presided over by Dr 0. Savill Willis, principal medical officer to the Department of Public Instruction, New South Wales. In the course.of an addx-ess on school closure and infections diseases the president drew attention to the progress that had been made in the direction of xxsing .the school as an aid in-.checking the spread of disease, and declared that the schools affox’ded an excellent- opportunity for. doctors to make investigation. • Various, sources of direct-and indirect infection had been eliminated, and he Contended that the closure of schools was,, now recognised in the majoi-xty of cases as a most crude and unscientific way of dealing with, outbreaks of disease. Sunlight and fresh air were the most reliable,, means of removing possible infection, aided by soap and water. Dr Jane S. Grexg, of Victoria, contributed a paper on the hygiene of the children of the school, dealing with the practical and personal aspect, and pointing out that the teachers could assist materially in improving the conditions by •holding handkerchief and teeth drill and insisting on the cleanliness of clothing. A conference of representatives from Victoria, Queensland, West Australia, and New Zealand, with Dr Willis as president, was held to consider matters affecting uniformity in the inspection of tho schools.