582 
International  Congresses. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    December,  1909. 
A  very  great  variety  of  subjects  was  discussed  at  the  general 
meetings.  Among  the  speakers  were  a  number  of  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, prominent  lawyers  (including  the  lord  chief  justice),  railway 
officials,  officers  of  the  navy  and  army  (including  the  surgeon- 
general),  teachers,  clergymen,  and  others.  Much  attention  was 
given  to  temperance  teaching  in  the  public  schools,  the  relation  of 
temperance  to  life  insurance,  the  treatment  of  the  inebriate,  and  the 
economic  and  legal  aspects  of  the  alcohol  problem.  One  of  the  most 
important  of  the  general  meetings  was  devoted  to  "  Alcohol  and 
the  Efficiency  of  the  National  Services,"  at  which  representatives 
of  the  naval,  military,  postal,  railway,  and  legal  professions  spoke. 
The  extraordinary  growth  of  total  abstinence  in  the  British  army 
and  navy  was  especially  emphasized;  40  per  cent,  of  the  army  in 
India  are  total  abstainers.  This  growth  of  total  abstinence  in  the 
army  was  attributed  by  the  surgeon-general  to  a  very  considerable 
degree  to  the  improvements  that  have  been  made  in  the  surround- 
ings of  the  soldier,  such  as  improved  housing  and  food.  One 
speaker  pointed  out  the  need  of  giving  much  more  attention  to  the 
physical  welfare  of  the  sailors  of  the  merchant  marine.  The  unhy- 
gienic conditions  under  which  many  of  them  live  were  held  to  be 
the  chief  cause  of  their  intemperance  and  the  deterioration  caused 
by  these  two  factors  (intemperance  and  lack  of  hygiene)  was  called 
a  national  danger. 
An  extensive  exhibition  was  held  in  connection  with  the  con- 
gress. This  consisted  largely  of  charts,  books,  etc.,  used  in  the 
temperance  instruction  in  schools  of  different  countries.  An  impor- 
tant feature  of  the  exhibit  was  a  series  of  posters  prepared  by  the 
boards  of  health  of  various  cities  of  England  on  the  relation  between 
alcoholism  and  disease.  These  posters  consisted  largely  of  brief 
quotations  from  the  parliamentary  commission  on  physical  deteri- 
oration and  are  displayed  in  railway  and  other  public  places. 
There  were  about  1400  members  of  the  congress  and  practically 
all  of  the  civilized  countries  were  officially  represented.  The  con- 
gress was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  British  Government,  which 
had  representatives  from  each  of  the  leading  departments.  The 
congress  adjourned  to  meet  at  The  Hague  in  191 1. 
En  route  from  London  to  Budapest  I  visited  the  offices  of  the 
ministry  of  agriculture  of  Belgium,  under  the  auspices  of  which 
the  articles  of  agreement  concerning  the  unification  of  potent 
medicaments  in  different  pharmacopoeias  were  prepared ;  these 
articles  were  signed  by  the  leading  countries.    This  work  of  bring- 
