February 27, 1902] 



NATURE 



403 



THE MILROY LECTURES ON TYPHOID 

 FEVER. 

 pROF. CORFIELD gave the first of his course of Milroy 

 Lectures on typhoid fever at the Royal College of Physicians 

 on Thursday last. 



After an introduction, in which he defended the name typhoid 

 fever as that used by Louis and Tenner, and as being the least 

 objectionable name to give to the disease, and pointing out that 

 the name of enteric fever is a bad one, not only because it 

 gives the name to a general disease from a particular lesion, but 

 because it suggests the false idea that the disease is due to that 

 lesion, he proceeded to give a short history of the subject from 

 the beginning of the last century, first introducing a hitherto 

 unknown author, Dr, Christopher Mayr, of Vienna, an unopened 

 copy of whose Latin work on fevers, published in Vienna in iSo6, 

 he had found in the library of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical 

 Society of London. He stated that there is no other copy of 

 this book known in London, whether in the British Museum or 

 anywhere else, and that the leaves had not been separated when 

 he found it. This author gives an admirable classification of 

 fevers into genera and species, the different varieties of typhus 

 forming his second genus, and including typhus fever and the 

 oriental plague, which were confused together until long after 

 that time, the occidental plague or American yellow fever, all 

 of which he regarded as contagious, and three varieties which 

 he regarded as non-contagious and which were evidently, from 

 his excellent description, varieties of typhoid fever. 



This author also gave a most interesting disquisition on the 

 contagion and on the causes of these diseases. It is remark- 

 able also to note that he includes phthisis pulmonalis among the 

 fevers, though he does not say whether he regards it as contagious 

 or not. 



Dr. Corfield then gave an account of the work and views of 

 MM. Louis, Chomel, Gaultier de Clanbry, Montault, Rochoux, 

 and other French physicians, some of whom considered typhus 

 and typhoid as the same disease and others as different 

 diseases. 



After alluding to the work of a number of other investigators, 

 especially Dr. Lombard, of Geneva, and Dr. Shuttuck, of Boston, 

 he gave an account of an important paper, read by Dr H. C. 

 Barlow before the Parisian Medical Society on February 6, 1840, 

 on the distinction between typhus and typhoid fevers. In this 

 paper Dr. Barlow described the differences between the two 

 diseases, and decided positively that they were quite distinct 

 from one another. 



Two months after this, Dr. Alexander P. Stewart also read 

 a paper on the same subject before the Parisian Medical Society, 

 but, contrary to the opinion generally held, he did not advance 

 the knowledge of the subject in any way by his paper, and, in 

 fact, did not lead us as far as Dr. Barlow had already done. 



The work of Prof. Forget, of Paris, on follicular enteritis (even 

 a worse name for the disease than enteric fever) was next alluded 

 to, it being quite clear that Prof. Forget thoroughly understood 

 what typhoid fever was and that it was a different disease from 

 typhus. 



Such was the position when Dr. William Jenner (afterwards 

 Sir William Jenner, Bart., G.C.B., president of the Royal 

 College of Physicians) undertook the investigation of the 

 question. As he had been resident medical officer of the 

 London Fever Hospital, he had had an excellent opportunity, of 

 which he made the best use, of observing cases, both of typhus 

 and typhoid fevers, and in 1S49 he published his admirable paper 

 on the identity or non-identity of those diseases. He proved to 

 a demonstration that they were different diseases, and in a sub- 

 sequent paper also proved that without a doubt their causes were 

 different. 



It was reserved, however, for Dr. Charles Murchison, in his 

 able paper read before the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society 

 of London in 185S, to demonstrate that typhoid fever is caused 

 in some way or other by water, air and soil contaminated with 

 foul organic matters. In his great treatise on the continued fevers 

 of Cireat Britain, he maintained that the poisons of those diseases 

 were generated de novo ; that of typhoid fever from decomposing 

 excrement. 



In 1873, Dr. William Budd produced his masterly work on the 

 disease, proving that " typhoid fever is in its essence a con- 

 tagious or self-propagating fever." 



Dr. Corfield finally quoted from his own paper, "On the 

 alleged Spontaneous Production of the Poison of Enteric Fever," 



NO. 1687, VOL. 65] 



read before the Epidemiological Society in March, 1874, when 

 he combated the views of Dr. Murchison and maintained that 

 the disease was infectious and had a special poison, wh'ch was 

 not generated de novo, but was always derived from a previous 

 case of typhoid fever. The correctness of this view has now 

 been established by the discovery of the organism peculiar 

 to the disease. 



VESSELS WITH TURBINE MACHINER\. 

 'pHE introduction of the Parsons marine steam turbine into 

 practice has extended ever since the time the Turbinia 

 showed her marvellous qualities for speed, and was followed by 

 the two torpedo boat destroyers, H.M.S. Viper and H.M.S. 

 Cobra, which broke all previous records with a speed above 35 

 knots. The next steamer thus equipped was the King Edward, 

 an excursion steamer plyirg on the Fairlie-Campbeltown route, 

 and being the pioneer vessel belonging to the mercantile marine 

 fitted with turbines, created a considerable interest at the time. 

 The King Edward has now undergone a season's running, and 

 (says Engineering, January 24) in order thoroughly to test her 

 turbine machinery and coal consumption, data have been 

 tabulated from her and also from the Clyde passenger paddle 

 steamer of the same size named The Duchess of Hamilton, 

 thus giving a comparative statement of the two vessels for the 

 "running" throughout the season. The table is as follows : — 



Comparative Statement of Speed, Mileage and Coal Consumption 

 of the Paddle Steamer '■' Duchess of Hamilton " and the S.S. 

 ' ' King; Edward. " 



Duchess of Hamilton. 



Number of days running ... 

 Daily averag^ consumption.. 

 Average speed 



1758 tons 13 

 15,604 

 8-87 



King- Edward. 



On referring to the above table, it will be seen that the figures 

 of coal consumption per mile are satisfactory, and also the data 

 prove a decided victory for the steam turbine over the recipro- 

 cating engines, insomuch as although the King Edward is by 

 far the faster boat, her consumption of coal per mile is almost 

 as low as that of the Duchess of Hamilton. In a previous issue 

 we pointed out that one of the chief advantages gained by the 

 adoption of the turbine was the possible modification in the 

 " model " of the boat, as finer lines could be introduced for 

 speed purposes. The King Edward in this respect also, we under- 

 stand, has given entire satisfaction to her owners, and not un- 

 naturally another boat of the same type, but 21 feet longer and 

 with a speed of 21 knots, is being built, the Parsons Marine 

 Steam Turbine Co. being at present engaged on the machinery. 



It is also worthy of notice that the class of craft being built 

 with turbine machinery at the present time comprise three high- 

 speed yachts of large size, one being of the torpedo-boat type 

 with water-tube boilers, so, as is pointed out, the turbines will 

 have every opportunity of appearing at their best. The Parsons 

 Company have also a torpedo-boat destroyer with a similar 

 speed to the Viper (not being built to the order of the Admiralty) 

 which we are informed will have a less consumption both in 

 cruising and full speed than any other 30-knot boat in the 

 Navy. 



This vessel, which is named the Velox, was launched by hei 

 builders (hull and boilers), Messrs. R. W. Hawthorn, Leslie 

 and Co., on the Tyne on February 11, and measures 210 ft. 

 long, 21 ft. beam, with a moulded depth of 12 ft. 6 in., and to 

 guard against "buckling" she has been specially "stayed" 

 longitudinally. The Velox, to ensure economy at cruising 

 speeds, has fitted in her a novel arrangement of power wherein 

 engines of the ordinary reciprocating type are designed to work in 

 conjunction with,and.are coupled direct on to, the steam turbines, 

 the turbines being kept in reserve for the higher speeds only. 

 In considering coal consumption, it will be seen at once that the 

 engine arrangement introduced by Mr. Parsons forms a very 

 important item, because, as in the case of torpedo-boat destroyers, 

 but a small percentage of their steaming is spent on full speed 

 work ; and also, as is well known, as all steam engines (steam 



