558 



NA TURE 



[Oct. 9, 1884 



are probably in most cases the owners of the properties 

 needing sanitary amendment. In England, on the con- 

 trary, Dr. Finn points to the frequency with which rural 

 sanitary authorities combine amongst themselves, and at 

 times also with urban authorities, in the appointment of 

 a single officer of health, to whom it is then possible to 

 give such a salary as will command the entire services of 

 a really competent and independent officer. The conten- 

 tion is true to a certain extent, but it must be remembered 

 that the same system which Dr. Finn describes as faulty 

 in Ireland is precisely the one which the poor-law in- 

 spectors, to whom the English Local Government Board 

 originally looked for advice in this matter, secured through- 

 out a very large portion of England when first the ap- 

 pointment of medical officers of health became com- 

 pulsory in 1S72, although it is true that the same Board 

 has during the past five or six years been striving its 

 utmost to undo the arrangement then carried into effect. 

 It was originally felt that a local officer whose other duties 

 necessitated his constant presence in every portion of his 

 district would be the most competent of all to advise as to 

 its sanitary circumstances, the more so as he, of all others, 

 would have the earliest information as to the existence of 

 preventable sickness and death. At first sight the idea 

 seems a very plausible one, and if the principal duties of 

 an officer of health were to be performed on the occur- 

 rence of disease, it might still find intelligent supporters. 

 But it is essentially the prevention of the conditions lead- 

 ing to such diseases, and not their remedy after the dis- 

 ease has occurred, that should be looked for from the 

 officer of health, and it is daily becoming more and more 

 apparent that wider districts, supplying wider experience 

 and commanding more skilled services, tend to this, rather 

 than narrow areas which are only looked after during the 

 performance of multitudinous duties of a more pressing 

 character. It is not that the dispensary or poor-law medi- 

 cal officer is necessarily incompetent to perform the duties 

 expected of an officer of health, for in England such 

 officers at times hold both appointments with consider- 

 able advantage ; but the great mistake which was origin- 

 ally made in England, and which has been repeated in 

 Ireland, was to regard men as competent to perform the 

 duties of one office merely because they held another 

 office involving the performance of totally different duties. 



The present is, however, a period of transition in this 

 matter, and the public cannot expect to secure the highest 

 procurable services until degrees and diplomas in sanitary 

 science shall be so universally taken by those who seek 

 public health appointments, that it shall always be pos- 

 sible to find candidates possessing the needful guarantee 

 that they are competent to perform the duties of medical 

 officer of health. The principle of combination by several 

 authorities to secure the entire services of a single officer 

 of health over a reasonably large area tends to efficiency, 

 and most of such officers recently appointed have been 

 able to prove their fitness for the post by the possession 

 of some such diploma as we have referred to, and which 

 can now be procured in each of the three divisions of the 

 United Kingdom. 



We have given this matter some prominence because 

 of the importance which attaches to it wherever medical 

 officers of health are appointed, but the Institute dealt 

 at Dublin with many other subjects which are of equally 



pressing importance in Ireland. The need for improved 

 dwellings for the poor, for adequate supplies of whole- 

 some water, for efficient means of drainage, and for some 

 proper methods for the disposal of refuse, are urgent re- 

 quirements in many parts of Ireland. The lack of them 

 causes needless mortality and sickness, and the methods 

 by which they may best be supplied were fully indicated. 

 As a test of the needs of the country in these respects, 

 statistics as to deaths and sickness need to be intelli- 

 gently examined, and amongst the contributions to the 

 Congress few papers were of more value than that in 

 which Dr. Grimshaw, Registrar-General for Ireland, dealt 

 with the statistical measures of the health of communi- 

 ties, and so explained how a proper estimate of the health 

 of a district may best be arrived at. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHENOLOGY 

 Bei/7'iige zur Phiinologie. By Dr. Egon Ihne and Dr. 

 Hoffmann. (Giessen : Published by the Authors, 1S84.) 



PHENOLOGY, the observation of the first flowering 

 and fruiting of plants, the foliation and defoliation 

 of trees, the arrival, nesting, and departure of birds, and 

 such like, has attracted the attention of naturalists from 

 time to time for nearly 150 years. Some have continued 

 their observations for several years and have formed 

 therefrom a " Calendar of Nature" ; others have gone still 

 further and have tried to deduce more general results. 

 But the subject is beset with difficulties, especially when 

 an observer endeavours to procure the aid of others, and 

 this has proved so great at times that the work has not 

 flourished as much as it deserved. The subject has been 

 most carefully studied by M. Ouetelet of Brussels, and his 

 writings have served as the basis for most of the subse- 

 quent attempts which have been made at organising a 

 System of observation. Dr. Egon Ihne of Giessen, in 

 connection with Dr. Hoffmann, whilst endeavouring to 

 form a series of Charts of plant-flowering for Europe 

 generally, has consulted all accessible works likely to 

 contain any information on the subject. This informa- 

 tion is most generally scattered through the Transactions 

 and Reports of Botanical and Local Societies, but still there 

 is much to be obtained from other works, whose titles 

 would not lead one at first to consult them for the purpose. 

 The number and minuteness of the notices mentioned by 

 these Professors, shows that they must have spent a long 

 time in preparing this work, and very valuable service 

 has been rendered to Phenology by publishing the list of 

 sources from which information can be obtained. The 

 total number of works noticed is 196, and naturally those 

 published in Germany are most numerous. It will, how- 

 ever, surprise many to find that, whilst 102 German works 

 are noticed, Great Britain with only 21 comes next, 

 leaving 73 for the rest of Europe. It must be evident, 

 therefore, that, notwithstanding the great care taken in 

 compiling this list, there must be many works not noticed 

 which contain phenological information, and the Authors 

 would doubtless welcome notices of any works omitted 

 from their list. 



The main part of the book consists of a short account 

 of the progress of Phenology in each of the countries of 

 Europe, followed by a list of the works published in that 

 country, with such short notes as may suffice to explain 

 the nature of the information each contains. To this is 



