QUAKER EVENTS SOUTH Local Meeting for Business will be held after our MEETING Meeting for Worship on Sun 25 April. Same Zoom link.

April 2021

South Edinburgh Friends are very welcome to join the following Edinburgh Central Meeting events. All via Zoom: details from [email protected]

Singing Group – meets every first Tuesday (so March 2nd) at 7.30 pm Online coffee – bring your own to an online conversation, 10.30 on 1st and 3rd Thursdays, and also 5th Thur 29 April. (note: new Zoom link)

Book Group – 12.15 (after Central MfW) on Sun 25 Apr, Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane.

MEETINGS FOR WORSHIP

Some meetings may be resuming limited in-person meetings in future weeks, but we do not expect to be able to do this at the Open Door. Portobello and Musselburgh are looking at very limited numbers meeting in person when it is permitted. 20-25 Friends each week have been joining our meetings via Zoom, every Sunday 10.30-11.30 am. After a 5 min break we then share conversation over coffee. On 1st and 3rd Sundays we share coffee in smaller breakout groups. If you have technical problems joining, Martin Burnell has kindly offered to help. Joining instructions for Zoom meetings are sent in emails. You can find how to join our email list at https://quakerscotland.org/south-edinburgh

SPECIAL COLLECTION Our collection in April will be for Railway Children.. “We believe in a world where no child ever has to live on the streets”. Originally in railway stations in India, now all over the world. Deirdre Armstrong will The World Turned Upside Down (details back page). speak to this. More at www.railwaychildren.org.uk Well it still is. where you can also donate directly.

South Edinburgh Quakers Newsletter 1 Meeting for Business of 28 February 2021

Full minutes, including accounts, circulated separately. Highlights from Rici Marshall Cross: • Notes from our discussion of how to hold our meeting for worship for business • We will be holding our next Meeting for Learning about Transgender issues on Sunday 14th March • We agreed to delay arranging a meeting with our MSP until after the May election. We will consider what to discuss with them once we know who they are (and whether they are part of an opposition party or a party in government) • In 2020 we made a financial excess (income over expenditure) of £3,347. We agreed to make a donation to Area Meeting of £2,500 and offer a loan in addition of up to £1,500 if they need it to help with cash flow. We agreed to give £500 to The Open Door, either through renting the window to display Loving Earth Project textile artwork and remind passers by that South Edinburgh Quaker Meeting still exists, or as a donation as a gesture of goodwill and friendship. • We agreed to consider longer term principles for our financial reserves, and a small group will consider this and bring suggestions to our next meeting • We agreed to cover the cost of the updated book of members in order to avoid the complication of collecting payments. Friends may wish to make a donation of £3/£4 to general funds when it is convenient. We plan to deliver books to friends living locally via a small group of volunteers in the meeting, and post books to those living further away (expected towards end of March).

Our next Meeting for Business will be held on Sun 25 April after Meeting for Worship.

The changing shape of meetings

You may have received General Meeting’s book of members recently. Thanks to the delivery team. On the quaker.org blog, Penny Elliott picks a few things from the Tabular Statement that counts Friends every year. https://bit.ly/3coPb7a Quakers (and most other churches) have seen slipping attendances over recent decades. The median meeting size is now 21, versus 24 10 years ago. However a quarter of meetings grew in size over that time. General Meeting for Scotland recorded our 2020 Tabular Statement as 678 Members, 550 Attenders, and 119 children. There is more local detail in the minutes of March’s Area Meeting.

GM Minutes record also a desire to consider organisational rearrangements might facilitate the working and developing of Quakers in Scotland.

South Edinburgh Quakers Newsletter 2 622

while the patient is on the table. The portion A was spe- March 8th, 1879) ; and the two small trays, c e, which cially designed in order to allow the head to be placed in the can be folded down, are found to be very useful for placing, dependent position during operations on the mouth, throat, ofconvenient to the operator’s hands, a small basin containing ace, &c. (see Professor Annandale’s paper in THE LANCET carbolic solution, for dipping instruments into and carrying

1522

gained by cultivating the plant on high elevations, where it absorption-dammed-up discharge with consequent imperfect of the and overflow of grows and where it never attains anything like the roughened edges pad perhaps soiling slowly the clothes-is remedied. The improved "towels, like the and of the on warmer, height proportion plant grown lower, original "towels," are, of course, intended to be burnt after and probably moister levels. Thus, to take one example, at use, and are sold at one penny each. Darjeeling, 7000 feet above sea level, the yield is said to be but 200 to 300lb. per acre, while on the plainswith of vul-Assam,with the view of Mr. Holt’s so far Out other Listerian precautions. Castors covered THE "HOLDFAST"vindicating ENEMA WITHoperation, ANCHOR where the level is only 100 to 500 feet above the sea, itas no meansSYRINGE, a limited from the canised india-rubber have been added to the legs since the my experience, by END. one, goes, averages from 800 to 1200 lb. per acre. The former teas, how-vague, serious, and unsupported charges so unhesitatingly drawing was taken, which render it easy of movement. The Wn have received from Messrs. W. H. and ever, are moderate in price, and there is considerable interestbrought against it. Were it my object toBailey contrast differentSon, table has been made Archibald instru- a of their new enema attaching to theby fact, we think,Young, that we surgical have been able tomodes38, Oxford-street, of operative specimenprocedure, I might refer tosyringe. two fatal ment maker to the and There are two to bedear noticed about thisfriends instrument: of confirm by ourRoyal own analyses Infirmary, and examination57, Forrest-road, the important cases (the patientspoints being personal my own) 58, North-bridge,dietetic advantage Edinburgh. claimed for them, which is that whileresuitingfirst, it ison entirely external free fromurethrotomy, metal; and, the secondly, operation the endhaving beenwhich is in theone solution case to bethe late Mr.is fashionedHutton onof this they do not lack the refreshing qualities of tea as regards performedplaced by injected city,the a surgeonof second the toknown none, as anda sucker, in the so otherthat it by adheres no less a IMPROVEDflavour and substance,REGULATING yet they areDIGITORUM. destitute of that harsh- principle toy personto the than basin, the and late thus Professor the annoyance Syme. so Icommon could alsowith referthe to ness which in teas is ascribed to a of A MODIFICATION ofpowerful the dumb piano has beenpreponderance contrived at olderleast formsone fatal of syringe case resultingof either having on internal to hold uretbrotomy,the end under the Messrs.astringent ofsubstances. which is water or of it out is been done away with. and the by Horn, Elgin-road, STOUT.Croydon, designed instrument employedseeing slip having entirelyMaisonneuve’s, one of our most skilful surgeons. to strengthen (WHITBREADthe movements & Co., LIMITED, of the 277, fingers GRAY’S-INN-ROAD, by rhythmical E.C.) operator being hospital I I am, Sir. yours. &c., exercise. It consists of a series of five or more This is a moderately priced and genuine maltpiano-keys, liquor, con- RAWDON MACNAMARA, the resistancetaining of6’43 which per cent.can beof absolutenicely regulatedalcohol by fromweight an and THE ASSOCIATIONSurgeon to the OFMeath FELLOWS Hospital, and OFSenior THE Surgeon to the Westmoreland Lock Hospital. ounce to 8-01a per cent.or morevolume if ; malt extractives,and the 7-46 per cent.of ; ROYAL COLLEGE OF pound, by required, degree Stephen s-greenn, Oct. 9th, 1880. SURGEONS resistancenitrogenous is shown matters,by an index0’75 perat cent.the side.; and Anothermineral matter,im- OF . provement0’29 consists per cent. in a Itmeans is free of fromregulating undue theacidity, touch and, of theas the To the Editor· of THE LANCET. above shows, contains to a an those keys from one-eighthanalysis to seven-eighths satisfactoryof inch, degree as re- A MEETING of thein committeeTHE of theof Association of Fellows which when made with SIR,—I observe LANCET the2ndinst. areference foradditional the nourishingof properties the musclesbeer, more of the of of was held at quired purpose exercising fully. Royal College caseSurgeons England burnt is well known to Its flavonr is butby Mr. Tcevan to a of mine in which death followed Messrs. malt,in the of theirpossess. seemripe to 5.30 P.M. on June 5th, at 101, Harley-street, W. Mr. Horn, wording prospectus, above Mr. Teevan assumes that becauseGeorge the mellow. thePollock, theoperation. President, the chair. The minutes of suggest rather more power forPREPARED the instrument, SOUPS. as a means of had heoccupied suffered from renal disease. On patientthe last dropsyof the committee were read and confirmed. thanA. it can claim ; but as a cou- meeting restoring (LONDONstrength, AGENCY: CHADWICK,justly 7, CARLTON-STREET, REGENT-STREET, to my notes, I find that such was not the case. trivance for S.W.)muscular exercise of the it is referringA letter from the Secretary of the College was read stating facilitating fingers He had ascites from diseased and as a a A very satisfactory feature of these preparations is that, that the President of the Collegeliver, had appointed Monday,complication the a useful mechanism, and as such has been found stricture. The introduction of a catheter was certainly a very’ 10th tight at 4 for the of the in spite of being "tinned," they yield highly nourishing inst., P.M., reception proposed depu-and I of value. ___ diflictilt and practical extremelytation from the Associationaccompanied of byand great pain,to be liquor which possesses all the characteristics of fresh soup. it better to split thanFellows, subject himasking to continual Two kinds were submitted to called "turtle’ furnishedthought with the names of those the THE LADIES’ SANITARYus, respectively TOWEL. I am bound to thatconstituting I do not attributedeputa- the ! irritation.tion and with the matterssay which the Surprising Quakers for invalids" and ’’ beche-de-mer soup," the latter being madedeath to the special on the deputationI believe he THIS consists of soft which lias been treated with intended to operation;before the committee contrary,of the Council. The from the fresh teatwool, fish, which has afforded a source of food obtainedbring much relief. a It therebycommittee then took into consideration the of reform disinfectingmuch substance. the mandarinsappears toand be well adaptedChinese for for 1 have several times Holt’spoints and prized by wealthy to be upon the committeeperformed of the Counciloperation, my Inventors of the sanitary towel the which it is intended to fulfil, but while the pressedso far as appointed purposecenturies. The soups were quite free from objectionableexperience,to receive deputationsdanger from the to Fellows life is concerned,of the College is bydecidedly the for it at three a %N-c favourable, I feel it the more to state this dis- price chargedpreservatives, remainsand we could trace shillingsno injurious dozen,metals. They deputation from the Association andnecessary the composition of the reasons I cannot are it to come into common use. This is n as, for other which need not here go into, The British Medical Journal of Aug 7 - expectexcellent and satisfactory substitutes when the materialtiiietly,deputation. I haveA letter abandoned was read thefrom Dr. Ward Cousinsin favour of internalthe misfortune,cannot for bethis towelor has advantages, not the least of operation accepting easily freshly procured. invitation of the committeeTHE to standvol. at the 1880 first mentions this new invention after use. urethrotomy. (Vide LANCET, i., 1878,approaching p. 200.) which is that it must be immediately T am Sir vnnrc truly destroyed election as a representative of the views of the Association, The are Brothers from Messrs Southall and Barclay of towels mannfactured by Messrs. Southall Liverpool,and the honorary Oct. 6th, secretary188( reported that Mr. C.C. E.B. KeetleyLYSTER. and Barclay, . and Mr. Victor Horsley were unable to come forward as Birmingham, after it was presented by a Dr New Inventions. candidates. The selection of Mr. A. T. Norton and Dr. J. Galabin to the Obstetrical Society in 4 WardGLASGOW Cousins asSOUTHERN the candidates MEDICAL of the Association SOCIETY.-At was then the thirty-seventhunanimously confirmed, annual it baing understoodof the that Mr. Willett’sSouthern IMMEDIATESOUTHALL’S NEW SANITARY TOWEL. re-election should also be meeting Glasgow THE TREATMENT OF STRICTURE Medical Society, held onsupported. October 7th, the office- weeks previously. In January of the same year The committee then to draw a circularfollowing letter THE sanitaryOF THEtowel of URETHRA. this firm, as originally devised, hasbearers for the session proceeded1880-81 were up :-President : to be issued to the Fellows of the the con- Dr Sampson Gamgee, also in Birmingham, been a great convenience to women of all classes as a cleanlyT. F. Gilmour, L.R.C.P. Ed.College Vice-President: detailing Neil To the Editor of THE LANCET. cessions already gained for the Fellows appointedby the agency of the and economical method of dealing with catamenial troubles. Carmichael, andM.D., the F.F.P.S.G.further alterations Treasurer: in the Charters E. McMillan, and invented the sterile dressings made of a thickSIR,—In your issue of the 2nd inst. appears a letter from L.1’,.C.S.Ed.Association, William It consisted of a pad of absorbent cotton-wool enclosed in a which theSecretary: Association was Carr, M.B.,to L.R.C.S.secure. Ed. Horace in which he alludes to letter Editorialby-laws William endeavouring Mr. Manders, with a thin of non-absorbentmy cotton- A Secretary:from the Fellows’McFarlane, Association M.D. had Seal-Keeper a con. : layer of cotton wool between layers of gauze gauze covering, layer Alex. deputation Court Medical : John to you onwool the as subject a backing. of theThe treatment contrivance of stricturewas in every by the way ferenceNapier, with a M.D.committee of the Council ofNiven, the L.F.P.S.G.,in A. L. Eben. College that became known as Gamgee dressings"immediate. By superior February plan." to the Mr.ordinary he Manders was diaper, seemsbeing moreentirely absorbent, to mis- com- Convenerthe council-room ; of Kelly,the College M.D. on ;Monday, JuneDuncan, 10ch, atM.D.; and while it was offered to the at Jas.4 r Stirton,M. The M.D. members ; Hobt. of thePark, L.F.P.S.G.were Mr.The following fortable,the object cleanly, with which my letter was writtenpublic ; it deputation George apologising for not being able to supply samples,apprehend butthe cost gave of the the washing good of a diaper-viz , one penny. But it gentlemen,Pollock (President), with the oftice-bearers,Mr. A. T. Norton. form Mr.the Vincent council: Bell A. J. was not written with the view of one of was admitted that inconveniencecontrasting frequently arose planin the use Hall,(Rochester), M.D. ; Archd.Mr. Victor Pearson, Horsley, M.D. Mr. ; Wm.Herbert Wilson, Allingbam, L.R.C.S. news that Southall and Barclay’s were taking on the manufacturing, was operativeof thatprocedure sanitary with towel another, in consequence bat ofwritten the area solely of theEd.and William Mr. Percy Carr, Dunn M.B., (honorary Secretary. secretary). They were and mentioned a suggestion that they could bedischarge developed contracting as into the discharges advanced in the pad. received by the President (Mr. Christopher Heath) and The viscous nature of the catamenia was answerable for this Vice-Presidents (Mr. Reginald Harrison and Mr. Willett), disposable babies’ nappies. The patent for sanitaryfailure, towels which seems in some tocases, where the discharge was Mr. Howse, Mr. Morris, Mr. Rivington, and Mr. Tweedy. copious, led to serious discomfort as well as to injury Mr. T. Holmes, Mr. Parnell, and others were prevented have been lodged in August. In October 1880 Southallof the andclothes Barclay by the ’sarrest of the absorption. The from attending the deputation, and Mr. Bryant was unable manufacturers are now making the towel in a modified to appear on the committee. The suggestions for the altera- exhibited Gamgee’s dressing pads at the Midland formMedical by which Society the absorbent. qualities are enhanced. A pad tions in the Charters and by-laws, which had been previously is constructed of alternating layers of absorbent cotton-wool submitted to the committee and have appeared in our and gauze, and it has been found that when the discharge columns, were formally submitted and explained. A long The sanitary towel was revolutionary, but also expensive.has passed through Competiti a thin stratumon helped of absorbent lower cotton-wool the pricediscussion quickl ensued,y from and at 3dthe termination of it the deputa- its area, which in its passage through the wool had been tion was asked to furnish the committee with a précis of their to 1d each, 12 for a shilling (5p). ‘Cheaper than washinggradually ’contracted, later became immediately an upon advertising coming in contact slogan.reasons for urging the various proposed changes. This the with the gauze spread laterally and, as it were, made a fresh deputation undertook to do, and the oonference, which lasted start of larger area in entering the next layer of cotton-wool, for nearly two hours, terminated with a vote of thanks from During WW1 ‘Cellucotton’ made from wood pulp waswhen theused process in of bandages contracting and in spreading place was of repeated. cotton thewool deputation. Informal for the usecourtesy with which they had been In this way the tendency in the flow of the discharge to con- received and the attention with which they had been listened by nurses is said to have been the inspiration to maketract itssa areanitary is counterbalanced, towels from and the the sameinconvenience material of to by, whenthe President it bec andame the committee. suddenly in surplus after the war ended. Kotex, also Kleenex, were new products made from it. Online accounts often overlook early European developments, but Wikipedia’s page on the sanitary napkin (689 views/d) gets it right. The tampon (Wikipedia page 1,145 views/day) was a US invention without Quaker connections. It was patented by Eale Haas in 1931, and the idea sold to German immigrant Gertrude Tendrich, who created the Tampax company. Quaker journalist Thomas Penny (@ThomasWPenny) credits his grandmother Anna Southall with the original invention; perhaps that bit of detail is in the family archives. Southall and Barclay was a pharmaceutical manufacturer and supplier founded by Thomas and William Southall in 1820. In the 1890s they also produced photographic supplies and microscope slides for teaching. (Sir) Thomas Barclay, a later partner, described the number of workers increasing from 30-40 in 1860, to 800 in 1911.

SOURCES: from The Lancet 1880 and 1895, the Tenement House Glasgow @TenementHouse11 and www.nts.org.uk/stories/tackling-the-taboo, and http://microscopist.net/SouthallBros.html According to the Science Museum, the pack in the image to the right was for sale in vending machines 19945-65.

Recommended watching: the movie Pad Man (2018) dramatizes the much more recent introduction of affordable sanitary towels in rural India. Currently available on Netflix

South Edinburgh Quakers Newsletter 3 NEWS HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Preparing for COP26 – scheduled for Glasgow in To Jacob, who will be 10 on the 2nd. November. Celebrate the natural world by making a short journey to any place that is sacred to you on Sat+Sun 10-11 April, take photos and post them. http://bit.ly/3bzcmtC Stitches for survival the Craftivism part of the preparations. You may recognise a face at https://stitchesforsurvival.earth

We have heard the sad news that Tony Davies, a South Edinburgh Friend before moving South in 2006, died in hospital in Plymouth on 23rd February. Many will remember in particular his concern for Palestine-Israel relations.

John King is at Findlay House, Fillieside Ward, Seafield Street, EH6 7LG. This is an NHS facility on the site of the old Eastern General Hospital.

FROM THE CHILDREN

INTERNETS

Our Twitter Account of the Month comes from stand-up comedian and ex-Edinburgh student Marjolein Robertson, @MarjoleinR – Shetland dialect snippets and jokes from their croft at Walls.

Children looking after their parents. From The World Turned Upside Down, or ‘The Folly of Man, exemplified in twelve comical relations’. 18th century woodcuts via Public Domain Review https://bit.ly/39jgr5b

Those whose attention span is up to 2 mins may also enjoy her series of funny short films at the

BBC’s The Social. Fave: Dating in Shetland. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062v49y All at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062v8wp

Our newsletter is usually published on the last Sunday of each month. Early forced rhubarb to [email protected] This edition, plus archives of previous issues, at www.quakerscotland.org/south-edinburgh

South Edinburgh Quakers Newsletter 4