1448

bacteriological and chemical

analysis
freely discredited, and the situation was not
the
personal feeling imported into scientific
helped by
The
position was clearly a case for an indedisputes.
pendent tribunal, and as the question was one of the first
importance from a sanitary point of view we decided that it
fallacious.

Methods both of

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CORSET.

were

Mr. Arbuthnot Lane, in a paper which appears on another

column, draws attention to one disadvantage of civilisation
affecting most of us in the present day. He points out that
,
, owing to our habit of either standing or sitting on chairs for
16 hours out of the 24 the trunk is kept erect, and therefore
was also a very proper one for THE LANCET to investigate.
The first part of our report is published this week and there is a tendency for the viscera to drop. Nature, he says,
It is endeavours to overcome this tendency by the formation of
deals with the chemical side of the question.
bands which help to hold up the viscera, but these
suggested that in the light of these results the chemical : peritoneal
in their turn may set up kinks in the hollow
bands
analysis of disinfectants, when based upon accurate methods, ;" acquired
and
viscera
so bring about disaster.
Hence, he is led
promises to assume an importance which hitherto has not to
the
of
a
advocate
use
well-fitting corset-i.e.,
been recognised. This view will be found to be strengthened
when the facts brought to light in these analyses are taken one which will exercise a firm pressure in a backward
into account with the results of bacteriological examination, and upward direction on the abdomen below the umbilicus,
and will leave the upper part of the abdomen free.
which forms the second section of the report.
The English corset as at present manufactured he regards as
harmful, but the straight-busked French shape is, he says,
THE BIRTHDAY HONOURS.
much less harmful, and " if skilfully made and applied
THE most aistinguisnea name amongst tne tew scientlile
serves to exert a moderate pressure on the lower abdomen."
men who have received recognition in the recent distribution
We fear that some very radical change will have to be made
of Birthday Honours is that of Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe, in the dress of women before
they will consent to wear a
T.R.S., Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Owens College, corset merely for reasons connected with health. At present
Victoria University, and late Vice-Chancellor of the the corset is worn for two main
reasons-firstly, to afford a
University of London, who has been given a seat in firm basis for the support of the skirts ; and secondly, to
His Majestys Privy Council, a distinction which Huxley
accentuate, or to manufacture, certain characteristics of the
always maintained was the proper award for high scientific female body, commonly termed "the figure." The developservice to the country. There are only three medical men in ment of the corset, so far as its evolution can be traced, is
,the list. Among the new Knights is the name of Mr. James
Until recently it was probable that
Matthew Moody, L.R.C.P. Edin., M.R.C.S. Eng., who has the women of the
did not wear anything to
civilisations
early
been the medical superintendent of Cane Hill Asylum for a
of
their
that
bodies
which lies between the
compress
part
quarter of a century and was at one time senior assistant last ribs and the crest of the ilia. But various objects
medical officer at the Brookwood Asylum, Woking. The discovered in Crete
by Mr. Arthur Evans and his fellow
award is a proper, if tardy, recognition of the great value of workers show that the
people of that island in very early
the work done by asylum medical officers. Mr. George times
were, at all events, represented in pictures and on
Herbert Pollard, M.P., M.D., C.M. Edin., who also receives a
seals as having waists compressed to an abnormal extent.
knighthood, is a barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple, and has The date of these pictures is placed at 4000-3000 B.C.,
,been a Member of the Eccles Division of Lancashire since
and reproductions of some of them have been exhibited at
1906. In 1897 he was elected to the mayoral chair of the
Burlington House. One of them is reproduced in Miss Jane
borough of Southport, of which place he is a Justice of Harrisons Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion,
the Peace, In the Uolonial list is the name of Mr. James
showing the Mountain Mother and her Mystes, both with
Augustine Haran, M.D. Dub., medical officer of health waists rather smaller than their necks. Coming to the
.at Mombasa in the East Africa Protectorate, who has been
Greeks of more historical times, we find mention in
made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of
of a device called strophion, a strip of
Aristophanes
.St. Michael and St. George.
Miss Annie Fletcher has
linen very similar to the modern bust-bodice, and like it
received the decoration of the Royal Red Cross in re- used for the
purpose of elevating and supporting the breasts.
cognition of devoted service rendered by her to Their It was also called " mammillare " by the Romans, and in the
Majesties the King and Queen since 1902. Although not a case of very large mammary development it was made of
member of the medical profession, the Right Hon. Sir Savile
leather, as appears from an epigram of Martial. In someCrossley, Bart., M.V.O., who has been made a Knight what earlier times we find the fashionable ladies of Rome
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, has been indeseverely dealt with by Terence (ob. B.C. 159). In his play
fatigable in his work for hospitals, especially in con- jEMMMc/<Ms, ii., 3, 21, he says ::
nexion with the Kings Fund, the Metropolitan Hospital
" Haud similis virgo est virginum nostrarum quas mat res student
Demissis humeris esse, vincto pectore, ut gracilea sient
Sunday Fund, and the Hospital Saturday Fund. We
Si qua est habitior paullo, pugilem esse aiunt, deducunt cibam.
heartily congratulate him upon his well-deserved honour.
Tametsi bonast natura, reddunt curatura junceas."
Mr. Somerville Arthur Gurney, who has been made a
The girl is not like our girls who their mothers are anxious should
Knight Commander of the Victorian Order, is treasurer of have narrow sloping shoulders and their chests tightly bound up, that
,the West Norfolk and Lynn Hospital, and was informed of they may be slender. If any one of them is rather more fleshy than
usual they say she looks like a prizefighter and cut down her food. Not.
his approaching honour when the King visited Lynn last week withstanding that Nature is good enough, they make them by careful
to inspect an art loan exhibition, of which Mr. Gurney attention as slim as a rush.
Professor William Everyone knows how young girls were disciplined in the
was chairman, in aid of that hospital.
who
has
also
been knighted, eighteenth century with backboards and tight stays, but
Augustus Tilden, D.Sc., F.R.S.,
,is at present Dean of, and Lecturer of Chemistry in, the Royal from the above quotation it is evident that the Roman girl
College of Science, London, and has held the highest official was none the more exempt from the tyranny of fashion. It
positions in the profession to which he has devoted his dis- is easy to see how the simple strophion gradually grew
,tinguished attainments. Amongst the most popular of the larger and stiffer until it culminated in the formidable stays
new honours will certainly be those awarded to Sir Ernest H.
and stomachers of Elizabethan times, and the corset
- Shackleton and Dr. Sven Hedin, K.C.I.E., both of whom remained much the same down to the early years of the
,have shown such physical endurance and indomitable pluck nineteenth century. More sensible views now prevail, and
dn their respective fields of exploration.
few women compress themselves as their mothers and

an interesting subject.

1449

graathnothers did. For this relief credit is due to the ensure the success of the Congress committees have been
development of exercise among women and to the use of the formed in the various countries which will take part in the
bicycle and the motor-car. But, as Mr. Lane points out, the Congress, and the following scientists have already consented
use of a corset constructed to aid instead of to weaken the
abdominal muscles is a matter which concerns the medical
profession in a marked degree, and it may be that in time
the influence of medical men who study the matter will
enable fashion to go hand in hand with good sense.

as presidents of the committee in each country :r

Professor Lenard (Germany), Professor Exner (Austria),
Professor Oetvos (Hungary), Professor Castillo (Spain),
Professor Barus (United States), Professor Langevin (France),
Professor Rutherford (Great Britain), Professor Blaserna
(Italy), Professor Birkeland (Norway), Professor Lorentz
(Holland), Professor Ferreira da Silva (Portugal), Professor

to act

THE FATE OF THE LONG-HEADED BLOND RACE.

Hurmuzescu

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and

Ireland was particularly happy in its choice of Professor
Guatav Retzius of Stockholm as Huxley lecturer for the i
current year. He is a son of Anders Retzius, who in 1840
divided mankind according to the shape of their heads into
Gentes Doliahoeephalae and Gentes Braehyeephalae, and thereby
laid the foundation on which the great superstructure of
modern craniology has been reared. In delivering the Huxley
lecture at the new premises of the Institute in Great RussellTHE

lrofessor Lebedew

(Kussia),

lro-

Butcher, Holyrood, Ealing, London, W,

street, Professor Retzius dealt with the increase of knowthe origin and distribution of European
which had attended the application of the methods
introduced by his father. A recent survey of recruits for the
Swedish Army revealed the fact that 87 per cent. of the
Swedes are "long-headed," while 73 per cent. have fair
hair. Professor Retzius regards his fellow countrymen as a
pure representation of the North European race-a race
still found in Scandinavia, North Germany, and Britain,
but at one time spread widely over Europe-from earliest
neolithic times downwards. They may be regarded as
the aborigines of Europe, not, as at one time widely believed,
Aryan invaders from Asia. Professor Retzius agrees with
those who take a gloomy view as to the future of this
ancient race. The qualities which made them great in the
past are just those that unfit them for the routine life
The round-headed darkof an industrial civilisation.
haired race which has replaced them in central Europe
has gained its victory by the possession of superior
industrial qualities, a superiority that threatens ultimately to overwhelm the fair-haired North European
stock. Professor Retzius is not one of those who believe
that an industrial mode of life can alter the shape of the
head or colour of the hair; the evidence in support of
such a hypothesis is altogether unconvincing. Such questions, of the very greatest importance to industrial nations,
can be settled only by a comprehensive physical survey of
the people.

(Houmania),

fessor Arrhenius (Sweden), and Professor Guye (Switzerland). Communications regarding the Congress may be
addressed to Professor Rutherford or Dr. W. Makower at the
University of Manchester, but anyone wishing to become a
member of the Congress should communicate his intention
directly to the general secretary, Dr. J. Daniel, 1, Rue de la,
Pr&eacute;v&ocirc;te, Brussels. Communications relating to the Biological
and Medical Section should be addressed to Mr. W. Deane-

ledge regarding

ILLUSTRATIONS IN A NEWSPAPER.

races

AN

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF
AND ELECTRICITY.

RADIOLOGY

WE are informed that arrangements have been made for

International Congress of Radiology and Electricity to
take place at Brussels in connexion with the exhibition to
be held there in 1910. The Congress, which will meet on
Sept. 6th, 7th, and 8th, will be held in three sections. In
the first section, general questions of terminology and
methods of measurement in radio-activity and subjects
connected with ions. electrons, and corpuscles will be dealt
with. The second section will be divided into various subsections, dealing respectively with fundamental theories of
electricity, the study of radiations (including spectroscopy,
chemical effects of radiations, and other allied questions),
radio-activity, atomic theory, cosmical phenomena (including
atmospheric electricity and atmospheric radio-activity). The
third section will be biological and will be devoted to consideration of the effects of radiations on living organisms.
The section will deal with purely biological questions as
well as with the use of various radiations for medical purposes, both for diagnosis and therapeutics. In order to
an

IN another column will be found an account of an interesting case of fracture of both patellse by direct violence in a
patient under the care of Mr. William Sheen. The first
illustration to this article is of a more frivolous nature than,
generally characterises our pictures, but we have admitted itfor the very good reason that it gives at a glance the exact
method, a rather complicated one, in which the injury was
brought about. The original sketch was not, of course,
intended for reproduction in the columns of a scientific
journal. In providing illustrations for articles for the scientific
press it must be remembered that the object of the author
should be not, in the first case, to produce an artistic result,
so much as to give a picture which will show exactly
what the writer means to express. It is quite possible tocombine extreme technical accuracy with perfect artistic
feeling-a good example of this is Turners drawing of a
windmill given in Vol. IV. of "Modern Painters," in contrast with another drawing of the same subject by Stanfield
-but for artists of a meaner kind it is generally necessary
to subordinate artistic finish to accuracy of detail or even to
make the illustration semi-diagrammatic, especially in pic-tures dealing with anatomical or surgical subjects. We have
been led to make these remarks both on account of the clever
sketch accompanying Mr. Sheens paper and also because
of a series of articles now running in our contemporary the
author, written by Mr. W. B. Plummer, on "The Art of Illus"
trating. Many of our contributors from time to time have
thought us captious with regard to the photographs,
drawings, charts, and diagrams with which they havesupplied us for the purpose of illustrating their articles,
because they have not been familiar with the processes of
reproduction. Everybody cannot know everything, and thetechnicalities of illustration for the press may not concern
medical men very closely. But the tendency of medical men.
being more and more towards illustrating their articles, we
recommend to those who are interested the study of Mr.
Plummers instructions. In these the mysteries of the line.block, the advantages and disadvantages of the wash
drawing, and the necessity of using certain materials.
are all explained in a very clear manner.
We may
to
two
refer
little
matters
which
havebriefly
us
from
a
frequently prevented
reproducing drawing or a
chart exactly in the form in which it has reached us. A
chart may be drawn so that the curve will reduce to a thirdor even less of the original size without losing clearness, but
only if the figures or the letters written upon it have been
drawn on a scale to allow of the reduction. As a rule, the-