[Report 1929] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City.

  • Leeds City Council
Date:
1929
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1929] / Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    74/288 (page 60)
    The Yorkshire Council of the British Empire Cancer Campaign.— The Council has continued to prosecute its investigations into the causes of cancer and in this direction has accomplished much useful work, details of which may be obtained in the annual report recently issued. But the publicity side has not been inactive and by means of lectures, demonstrations in connection with Health Exhibitions and press notices, it has sought to carry knowledge and enlightenment of the subject to the public of all classes. A new feature in its activities was the organisation of a series of four lectures on various aspects of the subject to medical men. The lecturers were all men of the first rank and experts on the subject which ensured a good attendance of practitioners from all over Yorkshire at the meetings. The importance of a post-graduate course of this kind cannot be over-estimated because knowledge of the subject has advanced so rapidly in recent years that many— even of the younger practitioners—already find themselves somewhat out-of-date. It is hoped that it will be found possible to repeat the course or even extend it on some future occasion. Fur Dermatitis.—A typical case of the above was seen during the year. The patient, a woman aged 35 years, purchased a cheap fur collar and a pair of fur cuffs at a large store in the city. One week after commencing to wear these, she suffered from a definite dermatitis in the form of a blotchy erythema. The distribution of the rash was confined to the neck, chin and both wrists. The rash quickly cleared on the patient ceasing to wear the furs. The origin of the fur was Belgium and it was also dyed there. A specimen of the fur was submitted to the City Analyst (Mr. C. H. Manley) who reported thereon as follows :— The furs consist of partly dyed rabbit hair and contain a chemical irritant, viz., meta-phenylene diamine or one of its oxidation products. In my opinion this fur base has been incompletely oxidised during the second stage of the dyeing process, thus causing dermatitis.” Inquiry was made at the store where the offending furs had been purchased. Although many furs of the same consignment had been sold there had been no other complaint. It can only be concluded that the woman had some idiosyncracy or that the furs had been subjected to an unusual amount of moisture in the form of perspiration or rain.