Dic. 26, 1903.] INEBRIATE REFORMATORIES. [ 1653 tried. until, as a rule, when the dentist is eventually visited, formatory. - The new Chesterfield Reformatory, which is extraction is the only possible treatment. This, of course, arranged more on the plan of a private residence, has been ought not to be, and among the classes earning good wages it opened for the reception of these better cases only. No in- seems to be due mainly to indolence, ignorance, or careless- mates are received direct from the courts, but they ness, for we believe it to be true that reasonably skilled con- are chosen for transfer from other institutions entirely on servative dentistry is now available for them at rates within account of goodJ conduct. A further departure in the same their means in all large centres of population at least, and direction is the conversion of the Royal Victoria Home, Hor- would be even more general but for the laxness of the law field (which was formerly- a receiving house for the Brentry and the slackness of authorities and magistrates permitting Reformatory), into a " discharging house," cases being trans- all sorts of ignorant quack dentists to impose upon the ferred there for the six months previous to release on licence credulity of the public. With regard to the very poor how- or discharge, in order to accustom them to the life of a town ever, the case is different; the Poor Law, so far as we know, and to a modified form of freedom. In conjunction with this makes little or no provision, and the dental hospitals are scheme the Inebriates Reformation and After-care Association quite incapable of dealing with the immense mass of work may be mentioned, having practically the same aim. The which ought to be done. Inspector speaks strongly on the subject of the earlier com- The determining cause of dental caries is to be found in the mittal of cases, giving exceedingly convincing illustrations activities of certain microbes commonly present in the mouth. and reasons to prove his contentions. Some of these are produced by fermentation of the food lactic A very interesting section of the report deals with the group and other acids which dissolve the lime salts of the teeth, while of cases known as " criminal inebriates" convicted on indict- others attack the dentine directly. So long as the enamel ment after committal for trial from the summary jurisdiction remains intact they produce no effect, and even when the den- courts. The numbers of these have been respectively during tine is exposed, if its surface be smooth, they do little harm, the four years I898 to 1902, 7, 17, 26, 46. Out of a total of 96 as was proved by the old practice of levelling, smoothing, and of these cases, 78 wereconvictedofneglectorcrueltyto children, polishing the surface of exposed dentine. The first essential the convictions being due to the energy of the National Society for the production of caries is some depression or cranny in for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. About 400 children which food particles are retained, and where they undergo benefited by their action. The Inspector shows that the decomposition. The points of contact between the teeth may application of the Act in other directions has evidently afford such nooks, as may also natural depressions in the not been at all commensurate with its possibilities. He crown, or slight congenital defects. For instance, deep pits or instances the numerous and repeated cases of attempted clefts may exist in otherwise sound and well-formed teeth, suicide due to drunkenness which escape treatment and and the bottoms of such clefts are commonly not covered incur punishment, where the opposite mode of procedure with enamel; in such ccases caries is an almost inevitable would be entirely to the public advantage. In this con- result, but if treated early excellent and permanent results nexion he instances many other offences and crimes of may be obtained. But it cannot be said that caries traceable violence which could only be prevented by the proper to collections of food in other depressions is equally inevit- control of the offenders in inebriateinstitutions. For instance, able; on the contrary, strict attention to cleanliness by "during 1901 25 persons were convicted on indictment of removing the pabulum of the microbes will be an effectual attempt to murder, 77 of manslaughter, 98 of felonious preventive of caries. wounding, and 536 of wounding not amounting to felony. There is no doubt that even in the artisan class small atten- It is certain that a very large proportion of these had been tion is paid to the brushing of teeth night and morning, and led into crime by drink, and yet only one was sent to an as one gets lower down in the social grade it may safely be inebriate reformatory." surmised that it is almost absolutely neglected, and will be All the 96 "criminal inebriates" above mentioned were neglected until the ignorance prevailing on the subject is received into certified reformatories, and in only two cases lifted. As in most other social problems of the day, the solu- was it found necessary to remove them to a State tion lies with the growing generation. Let them be taught inebriate reformatory. Aremarkable fact is noted by the in the elementary schools the evil consequences, direct and Inspector, namely, that, taken as a whole, the "criminal indirect, of neglect of the teeth. The great importance of inebriates" have proved more amenable and more hopeful using a good toothbrush should be impressed upon them, than the "drunk and disorderly" group committed from as well as the strengthening effect upon the gums of cold police-courts. water; and charitable societies might use their money In the drunk and disorderly group 6i8 persons were well by distributing toothbrushes and tooth-powder. Bad committed to reformatories previous to December, 1902. teeth prevent proper mastication; people are reduced to eat- They are classified into four groups: Amenable and hopeful, ing soft foodstuffs: the teeth get no exercise, and dyspepsia- 70.5 per cent.; refractory and violent, 11.4 per cent.; a disease so much found among the poor-is the inevitable insane, s.o; and defective from other causes, 13.1. Of result. The children should be discouraged from eating these the Inspector says: "It was easy enough to select quantities of cheap sweets-sweet-shops have the same the amenable and hopeful cases, but it proved extremely attraction for the children of the labouring classes as public- difficult to judge as to the hopelesness of the remainder." He houses have for their parents-any pocket money they instances four of the very worst cases, now discharged and are allowed to have being spent upon cheap sweets. doing well. Provision by the Poor-Law Authorities and by charitable The Inspector puts the case for the State inebriate reform- agencies of more ample opportunities for obtaining conserva- atory in a nutshell. The 24 persons detained in these institu- tive treatment should be forthcoming, while quack dentistry tions are so detained in order to allow the proper application should be vigorously put down in the interests of the labour- of reformative influences to 500 persons elsewhere. These ing poor. cases are classified as: Insane, io per cent.; borderland, 70 per cent.; sane, but bad, 20 per cent. The Inspector recommends that it should not rest with INEBRIATE REFORMATORIES. reformatories to refuse cases, but that all that are committed THE Report of the Inspector under the Inebriates Acts for the should be accepted and dealt with as is found possible. He year I902 gives evidence of highly satisfactory results. gives weighty reasons for keeping even the irreformable in Whereas in I899 there were 88 committals to certified reform- safety in these institutions rather than in the prisons, work- atories under the Act, in I902 there were 714 committals. The houses, and asylums, into which they drift in the end. He Inspector, however, points out that for various reasons de- says of the reformatories-" About 500 of the worst possible pending partly on the point of view of the magistrates, partly characters are now in these institutions, receiving constant on the conditions of admission to the various institutions, care and attention, all living sober and many of them the Act cannot be said up to the present time to be in opera- industrious lives. We are giving such persons an opportunity tion to anything like its fullest possible capacity. Progress of recovery which has been denied them hitherto, and which has, however, been steady, two new reformatories have been will convert some of them into decent members of society, added during the last year, and eight of these institutions are into wage-earners instead of burdens upon the sober section now at work. Much work is still being done with regard of the community. We are relieving many hard-working to the classification of the cases. A perfect classification in men and women of untold misery, and at the same time pre- one institution is almost impossible, but a further experi- venting the exercise of an evil influence over a still greater ment has been initiated by the new Lewes Reformatory. It number of young persons and children. We are reducing Thas been arranged to remove the best and most hopeful crime both now and for the future, and we are lessening street eases from contact with the inmates of the ordinary re- violence and disorder. I think it would be dificult to find a 1654 B=l. "PATENT MEDICINES." [DEC. 26, so,, more useful work-one which more thoroughly combines Saline Aperients. eeonomic principles with the dictates of science and humanity, Eno's Fruit Salt: Sodium bicarbonate, tartaric and citric acids. or one more deserving of the fullest possible co-operation and Lamplough's Pyretic Saline: Citric acid with potassium and sodium bicarbonate. support." Abbey's Salt: Tartaric acid with sodium bicarbonate, magnesiurm sulphate and sugar, Cough Mixtures and Lozenges. "PATENT MEDICINES." Keating's Cough Lozenges: Ipecacuanha, lactucaria, squill, liquorice, DR. ROBERT HUTCIISON delivered at the tragacanth, and sugar. recently London Owbridge's Lung Tonic: Balsam of tolu, oil of aniseed, and oil of Hospital a lecture on patent medicines. cloves. He observed that students of medicine would be expected Balsam of Aniseed: Contains aniseed and other ingredients with sooner or later to express an opinion on these preparations, ' gr. morphine in every ounce. and that that opinion could not be intelligent unless they knew something of the composition of the remedies. In Dr. Preparations for Gout and Rheu matismn. Hutchison's jucLgement it would often be their duty to con- Eade's Pills: Sodium salicylate, guaiacum, and aloes. demn patent medicines, but they must be prepared to give a Gloria Tonic: Colchicum, guaiacum resin, and sodiumii iodide. reason for doing so. Blair's Gout Pills: The active ingredient is colchicum. According to law, a patent medicine must be a genuine Preparations fer Headache and Neuralqia. original invention, and a complete description of it must be Antikamnia: Sodium bicarbonate, antifebrin, and (?) caffeine. filed at the Patent Office, so as to be easily obtainable by the Bromidia: Potassium bromide, chloral, hyoscyamus, cannabis indica, public; neither of these requirements, however, was fulfilled oil of aniseed, syrup, and water. by the majority of the preparations to which the term "patent Bunter's Nervine: Creosote, chloroform, camphor, balsam of tolu, medicine " was applied. It would not be unfair to describe and alcohol. most of the preparations of the patent medicine vendors as Kaputine: Antifebrin and sugar (coloured). quack remedies. The chief means by which patent medicines Kay's Tic Pills: Iron sulphate, quinine, and soap. were made to succeed was persistent and audacious advertise- Preparations for Asthma. m.nt. It was monstrous that people should be allowed to Crevoisier's: Belladonna, foxglove, stramonium, sage, and potassiun produce in the public mind an exaggerated dread of disease nitrate in equal parts. simply to serve their own ends. It was intolerable that false Hair's Cure: Potassium iodide and tar water. hQpes should be raised in persons suffering from incurable Plant's Cigarettes Leaves of stramonium, lobelia, and green tea. diseases, in order that money should be made out of a patent Tucker's Cure: Atropine, cocaine, hypo-nitrous acid, and various medicine. The medical profession ought to make some balsamic extracts, administered by means of an a6rizer. organized effort to suppress this obtaining of money under * Remedies for Obesity. false pretences. He advocated a Committee of the British Trilene Tablets: Sugar and a vegetable constituent of unknown nature. Medical Association to inquire into the composition of these Grey's Specific: Contains 47.2 per cent. of free sulplhur and a bitter so-called remedies and to expose them. (? gentian). In the meantime, however, they must all do what they Mrs. Frost's Anti-Obesity Remedy.-The active ingredient is extract could in their private capacities to fight the evil. The public of fucus vesiculosus. looked to the medical profession for guidance in these matters Russell's Anti-Corpulent Cure: Citric acid (20 gr. to -1 oz.), glycerine, as in everything relating to health. If necessary the public and water; the pink tablet contains saccharine. must be edueated in the elements of physiology and the Cosmetic Applications. process must be begun in the higher ranks of life, for Mrs. Allen's Hair Restorer: Lead acetate; milk of sulphur, scente& quackery was not confined to any particular section of the witlh oil of cinnamon. community; it was certainly as rife in Belgravia se in Bethnal Tatcho: Purified oil of paraffin and essential'oil of lemon. Green. The upper classes, the so-called cultured classes, be- Koko: Borax, glycerine, and rose water. lieved in patent medicines and quackery to an extent which Harlene: Glycerine, alcolhol, anmmonia, and oil of cassia. was almost incredible. Dr. Hutchison concluded his lecture Mexican Hair Restorer: Lead acetate, precipitated sulphur,-glyccrine, by out and water. pointing that it ought never to be possible for a patent Ointments and Liniments. medicine vendor to say with truth that he had succeeded in Cuticuira : Vaseline and oil of bergamot. curing a case where a doctor had failed. That meant that Elliman's Embrocation: Acetic acid, turpentine, and white of egg. practitioners must give more attention to the treatment of Holloway's Ointment: Turpentine, resin, olive oil, lard, wax, and' disease, and particularly to the treatment of minor ills, than spernmaceti. they did at the present time. In the hospitals it was difficult Ilomocea: Camphor, oil of cajuput, and lard. to teach treatment as thoroughly as it should be taught, for St. Jacobs Oil.-Oil of turpentine, ol. succini, soft soap, and capsicum... there was so much else to be learnt that the management of Lineel Liniment: Zinc and magnesium chlorides with glycerine. slight ailments was apt to receive less attention than it Singleton's Golden Oiiltment An imitation of ung. hyd. nit. dil. deserved, If, however, medical students used to the full the Miscellaneous Preparations. opportunities afforded them of studying the scientific dia- Buer's Piles Cure: Ointment, gall, and hamamelis with lanoline gnosis of disease and its treatment, they would not when basis; powder, precipitated sulphur, and magnesium carbonate. they engaged in practice need to fear the competition of the Californian Syrup of Figs: Senna (active constituent), syrup of figs, charlatan and the quack. The following particulars were and cinnamon. given by Dr. Hutchison as representing the approximate in- Doan's (Backache) Pills: (I) White coated aperient (dinner pills), gredients of various patent and proprietary preparations com- podophyllin, aloin, rhubarb, and peppermint; (2) brown coated (back- piled from analyses, partly made specially for the purposes of ache), oil of juniper and a resinous constituent (? benzoin). the lecture, and partly derived from various sources believed Guy's Tonic: Phosphoric acid, tinct. cocci, infusion of gentian, anldt to be trustworthy. It was not contended that all the ingre- chloroform water. dients of Dalby's Carminative: Pulv. rhei, magnes. carb., glycerine, sugar, each preparation were mentioned, but those given ol. menth. pip., and ol. anethi, and a small quantity of laudanum. were believed to be those to which the particular preparation Chlorodyne: Chloroform, ether, lhydrocyanic acid, mlorphine, canna- owed such activity as it might possess. bis indica, capsicum, peppermint, treacle. Clarke's Blood Mixture: The active cozstituent is potassium iodide (about 6 gr. to the oz.). Aperient and Liver Pills. Oxien: Powdered sugar and starch and ol. gaultheriae. Beecham's Pills: Aloes, ginger, and soap. ozerine: Potassium bromide and ammonium iodide with chloroform, Baillie's Pills: Aloes, colocynth, oil of cloves, and-soap. water. Bile Beans: Cascara, rhubarb, liquorice and ol. menth. coated P: pip., Pinik Pills: Iron sulphate, an alkaline carbonate, and liquorice,.. with gelatine. coated with sugar and coloured witll carmine. Cockle's Pills: thickly I Aloes, colocynth, and rhubarb. Phosferine: Quinine, phosplhates, and hypophosphites. Barclay's Pills: J Seigel's Syrup: Aloes, capsicum. liquorice, and treacle. Carter's Little Liver Pills: Podophyllin (gr, k) and aloes soc. (gr. i) Steedman's Teething Powders: Calomel and starch. in~each pill, Warner's Safe Cure: Potassium nitrate (about lo gr. to the oz.), and Dixon's Pills: Taraxacum, podopliyllin, jalap, and soap. various diuretic herbs. Holloway's Pills: Aloes, rhubarb, saffron, Glauber's salts, and .Woodward's Gripe Water: Liquor magnes. carb,, ol. anethi, sugar- pepper. and a trace of alcohol. Page-Woodcock's Wind Pills: Aloes, ol. carui, and soap. Drink Cures. Scott's Pills: Aloin andecascara, with a soap basis. M.rs. Terry's contains sugar (98 per cent.), salt (2 per cent). Whelpton's Pills; Rhubarb, aloes, ginger, pulv. ipecac., and soap. Antidipso: Potassium chlorate and sugar.