Volume 49 · Issue 12 · 1935

Among the objects of our Association, to further medical knowledge and to uphold the standards of medical education are the most pressing. How far we have succeeded may be gauged from the Report on the Council of Medical Education appearing elsewhere in this issue. It seems that having fought advance guard action against inertia, we are now in a position to take part in a general forward movement under the leadship of the Ministry of Education. Realizing the importance of medical education the Minister has recently created the National Commiasion on Medical Education which has now brought out a monthly publication "医育 (Medical Culture)" under its aegis.

Spinal anaesthesia has been used for fifty years. It may be divided into two main types; (1) low spinal, below the mid-thoracic region and (2) high spinal, above the mid-thoracic region. It is entirely with the former that the present paper is concerned; I consider that high spinals are dangerous and not justifiable.

It is interesting to find a disease entity cropping out in dfferent races; especially interesting is the observation in different races of the less well understood diseases from the standpoint of etiology. I find no report in medical literature of pseudohypertrophic muscular dystrophy occurring in Chinese children. The following two patients were admitted to the Pediatric Division of Cheeloo University Hospital in 1933 and 1935 respectively. As it will be seen from the description, both patients showed characteristic symptoms and signs of the disease. During the last year, another child with similar symptoms and signs clinically was examined, but refused complete study.

Volumes have been written on kala-azar during the past three decades. Investigators in both India and the Mediterranean region have published clinical descriptions of the disease in its more or less fully developed stage. There is, however, scanty reference in the literature to its early manifestations. Standard text-books on tropical diseases as well as monographs on kala-azar(1 and 2) contain no detailed description of the salient features of the disease in its early stage apart from mentioning the various possible modes of onset. Rogers (3) referred to three cases of early kala-azar which simulated typhoid fever. Low (4) described a similar case which presented considerable difficulty in diagnosis as it showed so few of the ordinary symptoms of kala-azar. One of us (5) recently reported an early case in which tuberculosis and undulant fever were at first suspected.

Throughout the year 1932 daily readings were observed of the ultraviolet value of Tsinan sunlight as measured by the acetone-methy-lene blue gauge. The acetone-methylene blue gauge was selected because it is universally used, dependable, economical and readily available.

Many investigators have demonstrated that the ultraviolet rays of sunlight are capable not only of effecting a cure in rickets but also are able to produce such changes in foods that when they are ingested the rachitic process will be either prevented or corrected. It is known that in the prophylaxis or cure of rickets recourse must be had either directly to the ultraviolet action of sunlight or its substitutes. The general clinical use of ultraviolet light of non-solar origin is beset with considerable difficulty both from the technical and economic aspect. Wishing to have an estimate of the ultraviolet value of the sunlight available for our use we planned a series of experiments covering the seasons of a year.

The Third Biennial Conference, which was held in Canton from Nov. 1st to 8th was attended by nearly 400 delegates who came by land and sea from all quarters of China, even from Chengtu, Szechuen, Kirin and Sianfu, Shensi. They were attracted to the Conference because of the historical celebration in honour of the 50th anniversary of the beSinning of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's medical and revoIutionary work and of the tooth anniversary of the Canton Hospital where scientific medicine was first taught in China by Peter Parker. Another less ostentatious reason was to, see for themselves the civic progress made in the famous Southern Metropolis which has been re-modelled, reconstructed and administered by Chinese. What they witnessed was beyond their expectation and after being nearly killed by kindness and hospitality, they were vividly reminded of the well-known proverb "to eat one must go to Canton."