Suicide In India

Source: The British Medical Journal , Sep. 7, 1878, Vol. 2, No. 923 (Sep. 7, 1878), pp. 379-
380
Published by: BMJ

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25248108

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 ;r. sare journal- states that the, recetrynoti-ed m cl p tof Death was,returned, with the addition that more caution ou
New Zealand referred to in these colums as Koromiko, would appear taken by the sanitary authority, and that the chemist who
to be a species of Veronia, perhaps Veronica elliptica, Forst., or V. acid should be severely censured.
parvyfjora, Vahl., to both of which the name Koromiko is applied.
This is given on the authority of Hooker's Handbook of the ASew Zealand SCURVY TREATMENT.
Flora. THE minor courts sometimes take a more direct and com
view of the facts than courts of higher appeal. Captain Lew
MR. G. N. KEYWORTH, at the Dublin Pharmaceutical Conference, barque Abercarne, of Swansea, was charged at Cardiff with
described a method of preparing a perfumed iodoform. Since the to serve out lime-juice on a voyage from Bombay to Rangoon,
recent publication in this JOURNAL of the papers by Mr. Berkeley Hill scurvy broke out and the carpenter died. He was fined fiv
and others on the therapeutical use of iodoform, this drug has come a-day for fifty-five days, and ordered to pay the costs. Su
into considerably increased use. Its somewhat pungent, volatile, and Markham, C.B., and Sir George Nares ought to assist in p
unpleasant odour has proved to be an obstacle which some have en. of this fine; since the latter by example, and the former by r
deavoured to overcome by the use of a collodion film, others by the precept, have urged upon mariners that scurvy proceeds fr
combination of tannin. Mr. Keyworth's perfumed solution is prepared confinement, darkness, and anything or everything else than t
by shaking tincture of iodine with a fragment of fused potash until the to serve out lime-juice in the absence of fresh provisions. W
colour is removed, and covering the odour of the iodoform produced neglect is rewarded in high quarters, instead of being adeq
by the addition of the eau de Cologne or lavender water. The author primanded, it is likely to be imitated by less enlightened pe
also speaks of lint that has been dipped in this liquid and afterwards Captain Lewis, looking to Arctic precedents, may naturally
dried as being a very good application to indolent sores. Baycurn, a he too, like his crew, has been scurvily treated.
drug which, according to Mr. Symes, is yielded by the Statica Brasili
ensis, was described by him to the Conference as worthy of trial for its ANOTHER yet worse case is reported this week. The shi
alleged virtues as a discutient and astringent in cases of enlargements at Falmouth, with the whole crew, numbering twenty-five
and glandular swellings. " Mr. Williams made an interesting adden. scurvy, that the pilot had to assist her into port. She s
dum to his paper read at a former meeting of the Conference on the
Cardiff in September last year for Singapore, and had a hu
power of glycerine to prevent the diffasion of hydrocyanic acid. He fifty-two days' voyage, during which some of the crew fell ill
On her return voyage for Liverpool, the disease develop
stated that a solution made three years ago, containing 373/ per cent.
ously that if the voyage had been protracted much longer
of hydrocyanic acid, 37Y2 per cent. of glycerine, and 25 per cent. of
water, had been found, on testing it a week ago, still to contain about must have proved fatal.
37 per cent. of the acid."
I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE YELLOW FEVER IN AMERICA.
NEW ORLEANS telegrams, under date September 3rd, repor
A CORRESPONDENT from Odessa gives the fo
mortality from yellow fever last week, the fourth since the o
number of deaths, etc., among the military docto
the epidemic, exceeded I,oOO. Eleven deaths have occurred
from the commencement of the war.
Sick. Died. Wounded. Killed. Rouge, and demands for help have been received from th
Doctors .. .. .. 692 .. .. 94 *. .. 2 .. .. - There were eighteen deaths at Vicksburg on Monday. It is e
Assistants .. 1,915 .. .. 2I7 .. 28 .. .. 13
Apothecaries .. 48 .. 5.. .. that I,700 persons are now ill with the fever at that place,
Veterinary Surgeons 30.. .. .. 5 .. number is rapidly increasing. From Memphis, fifty-three- d
terday
But now the horrid business is over and everybody seems glad. are reported. The negroes are now quiet. At L
Those
young men who were allowed to leave their medical courses
there wereatten
thecases among fugitives in the town, one pro
various universities to assist the military surgeons haveThebeen
sameordered
terrible reports are received from the fever-stricken
back to resume their studies. The Secretary for War has ordered rations for twenty days to
to 2,000 of the suffering poor of New Orleans.-The reports
AT a special meeting of the trustees of the Bristol Royal Infirmary,
United States show that the yellow fever epidemic still r
the following resolution was passed: "That the Board, in acknow
disastrous as ever. The fever has appeared at Hollyspring, M
lecging the valuable services rendered by Mr. CrossbyDelhi,
Leonard Louisiana,
tc, the and Brownsville, Tennessee. The inhab
Bristol Royal Infirmary for upwards of eighteen years past,from
flying deeplythose places to avoid the epidemic. There were
regrets his resignation of the office of surgeon, and begs to offer
cases and 83 him
deaths at New Orleans on Tuesday last; at V
their sincere and warmest thanks for the very able and 36 devoted
deaths; manner
and at Memphis, 84. In several houses in the lat
in which he has discharged his important duties during dead
the long
haveperiod;
been discovered unburied. The members of the
that Mr. Leonard be requested to accept the office of honorary
relief and are dying fast. More physicians and nurse
societies
consulting surgeon to the infirmary, with which office they feel sure
arriving to his
replace those who have fallen victims to their c
able counsel and sound advice will still be cheerfully rendered
devotion. for the
benefit of the institution."
SUICIDE IN INDIA.
POISONING BY CARBOLIC ACID. SURGEON-MAJOR LYONS, in an extremely interesting report, records
THE following must be added to the constantly growing thelist
following observations. Deaths from poisoning by opium are, at
of poison
ing by the use of caustic disinfectants. An inquest has anybeen
rate held
in theatBombay Presidency, as a rule suicidal; opium or
Tollesbury, near Maldon, upon a boy aged 13, named arsenic,
Hume. theHe
firstandmore frequently than the second, being the poison
a companion were playing in the yard of the Plough selected whenInn,
and Sail suicide by poison is contemplated. It is worth notin,
that while
when they entered a shed in which there was a stone bottle in the Bombay Presidency the means of suicide rank, in
containing
carbolic acid, which had been left there by a carrier fororder of frequency,
the inspector to drowning first, hanging second, poison third, and
the local sanitary authority, for use in fever-cases. Thewounds
corkfourth,
was not in England and Wales the order of frequency is, hang
sealed or tied down, and the poison-label was not observable.
ing first, wounds Thesecond, drowning third, and poison last. While on
two boys, supposing that the bottle contained beer, drew thisthe
subject,
cork, it and
may not be considered out of place to mention one or
Hume drank of the contents. He was immediately two taken
otherill, and,
points of interest which appear from a comparison of English
after some hours of extrme suffering, died. A verdict
andof Accidental
Indian returns of suicide. The returns of the Registrar-Generl

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 2?4?4bt?hrM
show that the average death-rate from suicide in England andfountain
Wales ison July 24th, was bitten in the hand by a large retriever dog.
The wound,
65.17 per million of population; and, taking the'sexes separately, the which was too large to be cauterised, healed in about ten
days, and the boy returned to school. On Wednesday week, however,
death-rate from suicide among males is 98. i9 per million of population,
and among females 38.31 per million; i. e., in round numbers, he wasthe
attacked by hydrophobia, and died in a condition of raving
male suicide death-rate is in England and Wales three times as madness
great on Saturday evening.- The jury returned a verdict of
as the female suicide death-rate. In India, excluding the Punjab,
" Death in
from hydtophobia".
which the returns are so low as to throw great doubt on their accuracy,
the suicide death-rate, as shown by published statistics, ranges from FATAL CARRIAGE ACCIDENT.
49. xI per million in the North-West Provinces, and 50.59 perWEmillion
regret to learn that Dr. Wollaston, a well-known medical gentle
in the Bombay Presidency, to 77.34 per million in the Centralman ofPro
Lyme Regis and a member of the Town Council of that place,
has been
vinces. In each Indian province, as far as can be judged from pub.accidentally killed. Accompanied by Mrs. Wollaston, he
was,
lished returns, the suicide death-rate among -females actually on Saturday afternoon, returning home from Uplyme in his car
exceeds
the suicide death-rate among males, instead of being, as in England,
riage, when the bolt of one of the shafts came out. Efforts were made
only one-third of the male suicide death-rate. to stop the horse, which had taken a sudden start on the occurrence of
the accident; but, in the meantime, Dr. Wollaston became frightened
THE STUDY OF BOTANY BY FEMALES. and jumped out of the vehicle, leaving his wife inside. Falling with
THE Society of Apothecaries in London has this year instituted a against a wall at Colway Lodge, he was severely injured.
great force
He not
series of prizes for proficiency in Botany, open to young women was immediately
ex taken home, and, notwithstanding the unremit
ceeding twenty years of age: and the first examination was held in
ting attention of two medical gentlemen, never regained consciousness,
June last. The subjects were: I. Structural Botany; 2. Vegetable
but died on Sunday morning. Mrs. Wollaston was unhurt.
Physiology; 3. Description of Living Plants; 4. Systematic Botany;
and the questions had reference to general and not medical botany. THE DRAINAGE OF WINDSOR.
The text-books recommended were SirJoseph Hooker's Science AFTER
Primermany delays, the new drainage system for the borough of
on Botany, and Professor Oliver's Lessons in Elementary Botany. Windsor Theis now complete. The Town Council, acting as the sanitary
examination consisted of two parts. For the first, seventy-seven can have entered into a contract with Mr. Hille for the treat
authority,
didates presented themselves, and were examined, by written papers,
ment of the sewage by the process known as " Hille's system", and in
in the structure and physiology of phaenogamous plants. Twenty a few daysob the new works will be in operation. It is now more than
tained certificates of merit; and of these, nineteen appearedten at years
the since the Windsor Town Council was served with the first
second examination and competed for the prizes, which consisted of the
notice under the Thames Conservancy Act to discontinue the drainage
Society's gold and silver medals, and two volumes of Illustrations of the oftown into the river Thames. Having only about ten years
tlle Natural Orders, presented by Miss Twining of Twickenham. beforeTheconstructed a system of drainage at a heavy cost, this new re.
subjects of the final examination were the cryptogams, and microscopic sponsibility fell heavily upon the town. The corporation at once set
demonstrations. The three successful candidates were respectively to work19, with a view to devise some new system; but the town was so
17, and I5 years of age. The examination was conducted by the Rev.in by royal property that every proposed site for drainage
hemmed
M. J. Berkeley; and the papers written were reported to be of great
works was strongly opposed. About three years ago, a piece of land
merit. was obtained on the Ham at Old Windsor, about two miles distant,
and adjoining the Castle Sewage Farm, where it is intended to treat
"A WOLF-CHILD." the sewage by a combined system of precipitation and filtration. Under
THz following extract is from the report of the Delhi Asylum for the the direction of Mr. Hawkesley, C.E., a new outfall sewer from the
year 1877. point where the existing sewers concentrate to Old Windsor has been
" The so-called ' wolf-child' mentioned in my last report, and who constructed, crossing under the navigation cut to the Ham. This has
had apparently then fallen into a more abject state than ever from been a work of great difficulty. A portion of the sewer has been con
repeated epileptic fits, soon afterwards began to improve. She was structed in a tunnel; but at Old Windsor it had to be laid in a cutting
,temporarily at least cured of her epilepsy, and with returning health
in a wet sandy soil, at a depth of over forty feet. The tanks on the
she became lively and playful. She came to understand some things
that were said to her, but never attempted to speak. She was trans Ham are very extensive, and the buildings are most substantially built.
ferred to the Secundra Orphanage, Agra, in Tune last, the principal of The cost of the works, it is estimated, will be about /4o,ooo. The
that institution having kindly offered to take charge of her. In reply money has been borrowed, on the usual terms for such works, from the
to recent inquiries regarding her, I was informed that she has had no Public Works Loan Commissioners, repayable by equal annual pay
return of the epileptic fits, that she enjoys a game of ball with the lady
in charge, but does not take to the other children in the institution. ments in thirty years. Mr. Hille, who is to be paid a royalty of 15o
The pleasure she takes in play is stated to be the only gleam of intelli a year, will manage the works for a short time at his own charge, and
gence she has shown." will then hand them over in full operation to the Town Council. The
elimination of the Windsor sewage from the Thames will very nearly
DOGS AND HYDROPHOBIA. complete the task of purification above the intakes of the Metropolitan
SIR E. Y. HENDERSON Teports that the metropolitan police have con Water Companies.
tinued to enforce the Acts relating to dogs. The number -seized
during the year I877 was 24,537, of which 21,531 were sent to the THE SPIRIT-RATION.
Dogs Home, 2,905 restored to owners, and IO2 otherwise disposed of. THE fifth annual report of the Soldiers' Total Abstinence Associa
The total number of dogs seized by the police since the Act came into tion, which was formed for the purpose of suppressing as far as pos
force (I867) is II7,423. No case of hydrophobia has occurred either sible drunkenness in the British Army in India, has been published.
among these dogs or among the police, who are often severely bitten The Committee deplore that the rum-ration is still continued in the
by them. This appears strange enough, seeing how many cases of canteen; and they state that there is such unanimity among command
fatal hydrophobia have in that interval occurred in the metropolis. ing officers and medical officers against its continuance, that it is a
Meantime, we read that several distressing cases of hydrophobia have matter for astonishment that it is not swept out of the service without
occurred at Withington, near Manchester, very recently. An inquest any further delay. During the last six years, there has been a steady
was held at that place on the body of a boy named Thomas Birlin diminution of the consumption of liquors, which may be attributed in
Butler, who, while in the act of taking water from a drinking some degree to the influence of the abstinence societies in the army,

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