27 JULY 1901, Page 3

As regards the possibilities of cure the Congress is appa-

rently most sanguine, Lord Lister, for example, having seen decided cases of consumption completely cured. He even ventured to hope, if the public will assist the profession, that tuberculosis may one day be entirely extirpated. The best expedient is residence in a sanatorium where all preventives can be steadily employed, and such sanatoria are rising all over the Continent; but failing them, long sea-voyages untie' good conditions, good air, and what is popularly known as open-air treatment seem most in favour. It is most important as well as most interesting to hear from such an authority as Dr. Theodore Williams that the temperate air of England is one of the best for many cases of chronic consumption,—the idea that it is too cold applying, it would seem, only to special cases. The doctors all rely, however, mainly on disinfection, which in East Prussia has reduced the deaths from tuberculosis from 311 per 10,000 in 1889 to 21.8 in 1897. Disinfection must, however, be enforced by law and by the opinion of the people, who alone can ensure its being fully carried out.