AUSTRALASIAN MEDICAL CONGRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 8

AUSTRALASIAN MEDICAL CONGRESS.

:. LEADING TOPICS. From day to day brief cabied reports of the discussions on. important papers read at the congress .at Sydney 1 were transmitted. Appended are somewhat fuller reports of the discussions referred to :

VALUE OF VACCINATION. Professor Allen, of Melbourne,.: read a valuable paper on and Vaccine Therapy," the Harveian Theatre being crowded throughout the lecture and the discussion that followed. Most of the paper and the argument was technical, but there was a great deal of the matter that was,of public interest. Professor Allen said that the foundations "of the knowledge on vaccines and serumtherapy were laid by Jenuer' iowards the end of the eightenth century. In Germany vaccination and: re-vaccination were com--pulsory, and smallpox had practically been stamped out. For the 10» years ending 1908, in a population of 62,000,000, the greatest number of "deaths in any one year •was 65, and so infrequent had the disease become that for ihe admission- of cases Berlin how relied merely on a- pavilion Of 12 beds off one of the general hospitals. A startling demonstration recently occurred close to Australia. At Caluya, a remote island in the Philippines, a case of smallpox was discovered. About 1000 cases, with 400 deaths, followed before help arrived, and 200 i of the inhabitants deserted the island altogether, while 100. others were vaccinated, with the result; that not one ' case occurred amorij? them. * ' A system of exemption had commenced in the United Kingdom in 1898, and had increased, till in 1910 of 456,533 births 110,851, or nearly 25 per cent., received exemption. About 365,000 out of a population of 1,315,000 in Victoria to-day were not vaccinated, and the professor estimated that 98 per cent, of the population above the age of 10 were liable to attack. *- Referring to anti-toxins for diphtheria, the lecturer said that in a hospital in Paris, for the four years ending 1893 and preceding' the adoption of anti-toxin, the average inortality was 51.7. per cent. There was an immediate fall" of one-half with the ;inti~duetion of ■■'"anti-toxin.' i Dr R. R. Stawell, the faiiiona Melbourne consulting physician, said -that as far as the use of vaccine was concerned, the success attained was so suggestive that one felt that the failures were not going to be and were only due to the limitations of medical knowledge. Dr Soholes, of Melbourne, pointed out that in 4000 diphtheria cases that had come under his own notice, and 2000 with which h© had indirectly had to do, there had been no bad results after the use of antitoxin. ',, ' Dr J. F. Flashman (Sydney), said he thought that vaccine was only an auxiliary to other systems of treatment. It was being relied upon too much without the assistance of better-known remedies. AN ATTACK ON THE MOSQUITO.

Dr W. T. Hay ward (Adelaide) delivered the presidential address in the medical section of the Congress, on " Some Phases in the Evolution of Treatment of Disease." " I well remember a distinguished Edinburgh graduate telling me," said Dr Hayward, " that all but 12 drugs might be deleted from the British Pharmacopoeia. We have made great steps. No one will dispute the statement that the treatment of disease has vastly improved during the last 40 years. This is 6hown by increased' longevity, and the diminution of the deathtate in all civilised countries.

" The extended knowledge of bacteriology has caused us to endeavour to .treat diseases of microbe origin by serum therapy. The glorious history of the students of tropical medicine teems with the triumphs obtained by the workers in the laboratory, and 1 the eelf-sacrificing efforts of its votaries. One need only allude to their work in Ouba, Panama, and South Africa. We are fortunate in having in the Commonwealth a member of our profession now occupying a high position in one of the States, whose •work in fchi9 direction is recognised by /all scientists. I allude to his Excellency Sir Wjlljam MJacgregor. I trust that his presence and assistance will stimulate the efforts, of our Queensland friends in their endeavour to discover methods that mav if not exterminate, at least mitigate that Australian scourge—the mosquito."

SPIRITUAL HEALING. The influence of mind over matter has been brought prominently before medical men by the report of the committee of the British Medical Association on the question pf "spiritual healing." The report declares that there is, abundant evidence of the efficacy of mental suggestion in the treatment of many disorders; that these disorders are mostly functional, and that pain may be all eviated'm. cases of organic disease, and a certain amount of improvement take place.

','lf this.be so,'* remarked Dr T. W. Hay ward, "and I think the majority of physicians and general practitioners will admit that it is so, we have in mental suggestion a therapeutic agent of great power. To a certain extent we" exercise it daily, frequently, unconsciously. Ought we not to endeavour to develop it, and be in a position vo utilise it .systematically .in suitable oases;. I see ._ nothing , irrational or astonishing in the idea that one: can influence the body by means of, the mind. Pleasure,, or pain can show a dilation ofthe capillaries of the face; anger; can c&use them to contract; fear will : induce rhythmical contraction and relaxation of the muscles, also loss of control of carts of the body; it will also produce violent action of the sweat glandb. . Here we have definite physical results due to the exercise of the mind in the shape of emotions. The manifestations of these emotions can be induced by another individual. Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that other physical changes could be induced by. other stimuli? There was something in the saying of an old writer that "every physician should 1 be a metaphysician." But the trend of medical education is utterly opposed to this aspect. Physics take the place of metaphysics, and the greater part of the education of the medical student is devoted to matters of infinite detail." TUBERCULOSIS.

Speaking on the subject of the treatment of what may be termed "our bete noir—tuberculosis " —Dr W. T. Hay ward 1 (Adelaide) said, "We must admit that, so far, our efforts have not been crowned with the success we should desire; but the future is hopeful; we are making progress; our death-rate is decreasing, and we are gradually learning what are our powers in the fight with the fell disease. Though I cannot for a moment agree with those optin.ists who talk about tuberculosis being stamped out in 25 years, I fully believe that the authorities of the next generation will have a very different tale to record from those of to-day. • THE SURGEON'S KNIFE CONDEMNED.

Is the free use of the surgeon's knife, a thing to be desired? Dr T. W. Hay ward, of South Australia, thinks not. The '■ doctor remarked: "Greatly as I appreciate the oarvices of the surgeon, I do trust that our surgical friends, will restrain their ardour and not consider: that every pain in the right-iliac region indicates'thejnecessity for appendictomy (in plain -words; an operation),, nor trouble in the epigastrium, gastro enterostomy. Though Ido so with bated breath, I feel hound tO : admit-~.ths>t in my opinion every case of appendicitis does not require appendectomy to be performed. I think we should learn to discriminate."