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rid circumstances under which the ship had been taken possession of, fitted the Hermione for sea us a Spauish national frigate. (Spain was at that time at war with England).
Could we descant upon the humanity or gen- eral kind behaviour of the Hermione's late captain, it might serve to heighten, if anything could heighten, the guilt of his murderers; but a regard to truth compels us to state that Capt. Hugh Pigot bore a character very opposite to a mild one; in short, he has been described to us by those who knew him well as one of the most cruel and oppressive captains belonging to the British Navy,
Many of the Hermione's mutineers were afterwards taken, and suffered for their crimes; crimes that, had they each a dozen lives, merited the sacrifice of the whole. If the Ali Pacha of the ship had been the sole victim of their rage, the public indignation might have been appeased the instant the daily practices of the tyrant became known; but the indiscriminate slaughter of their officers, even to the young clerk and midshipmau, gave a shock to public feeling which vibrates even yet when the subject is touched upon.
That the mutineers of the Hermione should turn traitors to their offended country was the natural cousequence of the enormity of their guilt. Of those subsequently taken and brought to punishment, some. from repentanee. others from bardened shamefulness, confessed their guit, and gave minute details of the horrid transaction,
What berame of the Hermione after she fell into the hands of the Spaniards in the shameful manner as related above will be related in a subsequent article.
P. J.
THE TUNG WA HOSPITAL.
THE PRINCIPAL CIVIL MEDICAL OFFICER CONDEMNS IT.
Dr. Atkinson, the Principal Civil Medical Officer, in his report for 1897, published in Saturday's Gazette, makes the following remarks on the 'I ung Wa Hospital:-
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
[October 1, 1898.
The patients voluntarily present themselves there for treatment as they do at the Government Civil Hospital and the Alice Memorial and Nothersole Hospitals in this colony.
power, is in a very rude and insufficient state; | treatment. it is, in fact, a chaos of unfounded conceits, contradictory notions, and pompous phrases.
"They appear to have failen into a petrified fixedness which nothing but the most powerful external agents can more.
+
They affect to understand temperaments by the pulse. When one of the medical sages was requested to declare that of the writer he laid his fingers along the wrist, appeared to think deeply while he interrogated the impulse, and, after a little, suid, gravely, that the element of metal predominated.
'Surgery, in any proper sense of the word, has no existence among the Chinese; as might have been concluded, without observation, from their total ignorance of anatomy. They set and support fractures of the extremities after the fashion of au ordinary farrier, and they are moderately successful in the reduction of simple dislocatious; but anything requiring know- ledge of structure, or the nice application of mechanical power, is beyond their reach.
Together with the bone-setting and punc- turing noticed above, Chinese operative surgery consists a most entirely in the application of moxas, which, although it was not witnessed by the writer, is said to be practised extensively. Of scientific principles, it is needless to say
that it is destitute.'
Dr. Thomson goes very fully into the ar- raugements in force at this institution.
Thy patients who apply for almission are mostly poor people of the artisan class: coolies, etc., dud nearly all have an ingrained dread of the foreigner and his methods.
so-called
Western
The doctors are not trained at all as We understand training, and are really nothing but quacks; they do not pretend to bave any know. ledge of surgical treatment; indeed, there is no such thing in the hospital as a surgical instru- ment; their pauucoa for all surgical injuries and diseases being the inevitable pitch-plaister; they never administer chloroform.
Once in 1895 when I demonstrated the use of a catheter to them in a patient suffering agonies from distension of the bindder they smiled com- With regard to this institution a Commission appointed by His Excellency Sir William Ro. | placently and seemed highly amused, but it did uot seem to occur to them that such a know- binson, G.C.M.G., fully inquired into its work- ing and organisation and the report of this Com-ledge would be useful. Similarly, they appeared mission, together with the evidence taken before amused at the ease with which a' dislocation was it, was issued from the Goverument printing reduced under chloroform. office in September, 1896,
One result of this was the appointment of Dr. Thomson as visiting surgeon to this institu- tion.
His report for the year 1897 will be found in enclosure IV.
In conjunction with Dr. Thomson Mr. Chung King-ne, who has been trained in Western medicine at Tientsin and was subse. quently house surgeon for eight years at the Alice Memorial Hospital, was appointed re- sident surgeon to this hospital.
The existence of this hospital, in which it appears that more than four-fifths of the inmates are treated by so-called Chinese methods, is somewhat anomalous in a British colony.
It is not for me to discuss the matter from the point of view of the statesman who, doubt- less, has to consider the desirability of humone- ing to some extent the prejudices of the Chi nese population, who in this colony out-uumber the Europeans by the proportion of twenty to
one.
. It is my duty to look at the matter from a medical point of view and thers can be very little doubt from that point of view that the so- called Chinese medical methods are really noth- ing but empericism or quackery. As Dyer Ball states in his work on "* Things Chinese " :--
Ca
Medical works claim attention from the numerous writers on his branch. The oldest work was written several centuries before the Christian era.
"It has been supposed from their minate account of the human body that the Chinese, at onetime, practised dissection. If so, however, the remembrance of it has long been forgotten, and their toedical works are characterised by groundless theories,”
Dr. Wilson, Inspector of Naval Hospitals and Fleets, in his work" Medical Notes on China," states-
**The healing art among the Chinese, with much pretension to learning and practical
During the year 1895 and 1896 I was assisted by the late Mr. U I Kai and frequently endea Foured to interest them in the different methods of surgical treatment especially enforcing the absolute necessity of cleanliness and of incising abscesses, etc., instead of covering them with pitch-plaister as is their wont, and thus expos. ing the patients to retention of pns and the dan- gers of septicæmia.
Seeing how futile my efforts were I reported to the Government every case which, in my opinion, was being mal-treated,
I stated in my evidence before the Commis- mission that from a medical point of view I con. sidered that the hospital should be abolished. and I still think so.
The object and purpose of the institution was the proper treatment of the indigent sick amongst the Chinese population (see Ordinance No. 3 of 1870, sections 3 and 16)
As an asylum for destitates and a resting place for the dying, I think it does very useful work and would recommend its maintenance and cout.nuance for these purposes; but as a hospital for the treatment of the Rick maintain that it should not be recognised in a British colony.
It corresponds more to a workhonse at home with the exception that it is not maintained out
|
The experience at Singapore is similar to that here, viz., that the number of Chinese who seek admission to the general hospital, which cor- responds to our Government Civil Hospital, where they have to pay, has increased of late. years. (See Report of Tung Wah Hospital Commission, page LXVI and LXVII. )
To return to Dr. Thomson's report, "each patient is on admission asked by a bead coolie whether he prefers Chinese or Western treat- ment.”
The method of ascertaining the causes of cannot be considered scientific, as death Dr. Thomson says "after cross-examina- to tion of the friends and relatives the symptoms and duration of the deceased's and 8 consideration of the ap- illness pearance of the body a fairly accurate idea, as to the canse of death for purpose of the Hon. ourable Registrar General's statistics is ob- tained."
It would be better in all doubtful cases, where the cause of death is uncertain, and might be duo to diseases such as plague or typhoid fever, that the incts of the case be reported to the Police Magistrate so that an order may be obtained from him for a post-mortem examina- tion.
com-
Now that the hye-laws for the compulsory reporting of infectious, contagious, or municable diseases are in force in this colony, it is more important than ever, if the public health is to be safeguarded and maintained, that notification of all such diseases should be made. From Dr. Thomson's report I gather that very few, if any, post-mortem examinations have boen held during the year.
:
Much good has been doue and numerous minor improvements have undoubtely been effected, e.g.:~,
(1) The abolition of sandal-wood burners in the wards.
(2) Backs put in the lockers.
(3) Substitution of tin trays for wicker baskets.
(4) Iron screens to fire-places.
(5) Removal of commodes, as far as possible. from 'le wards.
If the Tung Wa is to be retained as 8 hospital I advise from a sanitary point of view:-
(1) The substitution of a water-closet system in place of the present plan of removal of ex- creta, etc.
(2) Erection of suitable and roomy wards in place of the Ko Fong wards.
THE CONGESTED CONDITION OF THE YARN MARKET.
The following letter from Mr. H. M. Mehta to the President of the Bombay Millowners' Association, with enclosure, has been forwarded to us for publication :
WADIA.
To the Honourable, Mr. N. N.
C.I.E., President, Bombay Millowners' A's. sociation, Bombay.
Dear Sir, The Chinese merchants of this colory dealing in Indian yarn having unitedly come to the conclusion, in order to tide over the present exigencies of the yarn trade in this market, chiefly brought about by over-supplies from India, Japan, and other sources,, without the usual outlets open for their ordinary con- sumption, that a representation should be inade by wire to the mills affiliated with your Asso- ciation to urgently impress upon them the ne- For the indigent Chinese sick I would sug-|cessity of adopting for the time being a short- gest the advisability of the Government's es- tablishing:
of the rates.
A hospital similar to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital at Singapore, which is open to all nationalities but in which the great balk of the patients treated are Chinese.
The medical staff at this hospital consists of both Europeaus and Asiatics, the Asiatics being employed only as dressers, under the direct supervision of the Colonial Surgeon in charge, and of two qualified European or Eurasian apothecaries.
European methods of treatment are insisted on. No opposition is or, as far as is known, has been experienced to European medical'
time movement, with a view to bring about a curtailment of production and consequently of shipments, conveyed to me the request of sending a wire to your Association to the effect of their views.
A copy of their letter conveying the request I beg to enclose with this in order to place the views of the Chinese merchants in their full entirety as to the present over-laden juncture before your Association, and I hereby beg to confirm the transmission of the following mes- sage on the 8th instant :-
Chinese merchants unitedly urge, necessity mills working short-time. Rebellion Kwangsi, Kwangtung seriously interfering-closing ont-
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