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same parishes, because it is well known that there are districts
in London remote from hospitals in which small-pox has prevailed
to a greater extent than in any hospital district. The above
questions were fully discussed by the Society of Medical Officers
of Health recently, in connection with papers read by Dr. E. T.
Wilson, of Cheltenham, a well-known sanitarian; Dr. Tripe,
Medical Officer of Health for Hackney, in which parish Homerton
("Eastern") Hospital is situated; and by Dr. Gwynn, Medical
Officer of Health for Hampstead, in which parish the " Northwestern
" Hospital is situated. Dr. Wilson, approaching the
subject impartially, and from a purely scientific point of view,
entertains grave doubts as to the correctness of Mr. Power's views.
Dr. Tripe has practically accepted the aerial theory, and when Dr.
Gwynn wrote his paper he was fully persuaded of the truth of
that theory, but at the close of the discussion, he admitted, with
equal courage and candour, that the charge against the hospitals, on
the aerial dissemination theory, must be held to be " not proven."
The question, which may still be considered sub judice, is,
whether the hospitals are the cause, per se, of the undue degree
of prevalence of small-pox in their vicinity ? and it will be interesting
to learn what more Mr. Power has to say on the subject as
the result of that further enquiry in regard to Fulham Hospital,
which he has been conducting for the last twelve months. In
any case it is to be desired that the question may be systematically
and so thoroughly investigated as to enable a confident judgment to
be arrived at, for if the theory of aerial dissemination, as broached
by Mr. Power, does indeed furnish the true explanation of the
greater incidence of small-pox, in the vicinity of hospitals, it
will be difficult to justify the retention of hospitals for smallpox
in London : unless, indeed, it can be shewn that the danger to
the public health would be even greater under the system of
home treatment, which was practically almost universal prior to
the opening of the Asylums Board Hospitals, when, however,
during many years, small-pox had not prevailed in a severely
epidemic form in London. One point of interest seems to have
been established, assuming the aerial theory to be true, viz., that,