CO885-(7-8) — Page 569

94

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

8

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

4

Looking, therefore, to the excellence of the staff, the complete equipment of the school as regards apparatus, &c., and the abundance of material available for study, I think that we may safely say that the course of instruction at the London School of Tropicul Medicine is the best in the world.

I annex to this memorandum a statement showing the destinations of the various students who have already passed through the School, and it will be seen that no less than seventy different places (exclusive of forty-four destina. tions unknown) are included in the list.

It

then that the school is turning out appears every year an average of seventy students, trained in the best institution of its kind in the world, and that these students are being distri- buted throughout the whole of the tropics, and are, therefore, being brought into contact with every

form of tropical disease. The advantage to the world at large, and to our -tropical Colonies in particular, of an organisation of this kind cannot be overrated, and it is practically certain that among these trained men one or more really great investigators will be eventually found who will solve some of the numerous problems connected with tropical diseases, and the more scientific treatment of tropical diseases at the present time by the ordinary doctors who have been trained in the school must result in a great saving of life.

Up to the present time the school has paid its way on the receipts from tuition, and from board and lodging fees; thus, for the period from the 1st October, 1899 (when the school was opened), to the 31st December, 1899, there was a small deficit of £14 178., for the year 1900 there was a surplus of £78 98., and for the year 1901 there was a very small deficit of 138. 4.

.

Owing, however, to the great success of the school, it is now necessary to place inatters on a wider basis. The present school buildings are now far too small, whether from a tutorial or from a research point of view; and the committee have, for want of accommodation, been compelled to send some of the applicants to the Liverpool school. There is only proper accommodation for sixteen students in the laboratory, and, at the present time, twenty-two students are working there, some of whom have to work the whole time by artificial light. It must also be borne in mind that, owing to the difficulty which has existed until recently of getting doctors for West Africa in consequence of the South African War and the consequent necessity of sending out at once the few men whom we have been able to secure without waiting to let them go through the usual two months course of instruction, we liave lately been sending few or none of our newly appointed

5

West African doctors to the school. I also find that the West Indian Department have been sending none of their newly appointed doctors. Fortunately we have now nearly completed our medical establishments in West Africa, and, as soon as this has been done, it is proposed to form a reserve of doctors who will be trained in advance at the school, and will be ready to take up an appointment as soon as it falls vacant. The number of 22 students mentioned above does not therefore represent the normal attendance at the school, and twice the present laboratory accommodation is really required. Research laboratories, a lecture theatre, and museum. are also much needed, and the library should.be enlarged.

The residential accommodation should also be much increased, as the value of the instruction is enhanced when the students are always on the spot and in a position to watch every phase of the disease they are studying. At present there is only room for six resident students, and it is considered that there should be accommodation at any rate for 20.

With a view to meeting the growing needs of the school. the Committee entered into contracts last month for the carrying out of the following works :—

Medicine

Foundations of tropical school

buildings

185

---

Ground floor of tropical school

106

Cellar floor

Covering to pathway.........

52

30

Superstructure

of medical

8.532

3,905

school

New Kitchens-

Foundation Superstructure

***

(The cost of half of this may possibly be borne by the Seamen's Hospital Society, although the enlargement would not have been neces- sary had it not been for the school.)

New Mortuary ...

、

93

2,069

2,162

105 1,041

1,146

Foundations

Furniture and Fittings—

Laboratory fittings,

micro-

scopes, furniture, &c. (say)

2.060

Total

9,213