MAX HAMILTON.Stanley Royd Hospital,

Wakefield,Yorkshire.

S. M. RABSON.

sending a standard card asking for a reprint. It is true thatmany requests for reprints are received from individuals whohave not read the original paper when published and who areunlikely to make further use of a reprint, but I doubt whethermany people do this sort of thing for long. Most requests forreprints probably come from those who are genuinely interested,and the others must be regarded as part of the price for thedissemination of new knowledge.

SiR,—The experience of Dr. Faulds (Feb. 11) withrequests for reprints is a familiar one. Years ago I receiveda request from a prominent specialist. In the medicallibrary, one night soon afterwards, I diffidently approachedthe great man and thanked him for thus recognising mywork. Both in manner and in word he let me know he hadnever heard of me. His secretary routinely sent postcardrequests for reprints of all papers in his field.

In the 1930s I always enclosed a stamp with my letterrequesting a reprint. Once, instead of the reprint, I got a cardfrom the author asking for 15 or 20 cents, adding that his payas a research-worker did not permit him to do otherwise. In

forwarding the money I asked whether there was a differencebetween letter-writers and card-writers. There was: of about18 letter-writers, almost all sent the money, while only a handfulof the others, numbering 50 or 60, did so.What is one to do ? When requests for reprints are many and

the supply is limited, only letters should be honoured. Card-writers should shift for themselves. Q.E.D.

1. Sharp, A. A., Howie, B., Biggs, R., Methuen, D. T. Lancet, 1958, ii, 1309.2. Blood, 1959, 14, 1354.3. Ciniewicz, O. W. Urol. pol. 1956, 9, 179.

DIAGNOSIS OF HYPOFIBRINOGENÆMIA

P. D. ROBERTS.St. Margaret’s Hospital,

Epping, Essex.

SIR,-Dr. Aidin (Feb. 25) implies that chemicalestimation of fibrinogen forms a reliable basis for the

diagnosis of hypoiibrmogenaemia in obstetric hxmorrhage.In this condition clot formation may be obviously grossly

defective and the thrombin time and titre quite abnormal, yeta chemical estimation of fibrinogen on the same specimen cangive a normal result.1 There is a discrepancy in these patientsbetween " effective " fibrinogen, as measured by the thrombintest, and total fibrinogen, as estimated chemically. In addition,accurate biochemical measurement of fibrinogen in these casesis too lengthy a procedure, and the rapid ammonium-sulphateprecipitation method is of doubtful accuracy.

In this condition there is no time to test for fibrinolysins,and the results of such tests do not help in the immediatediagnosis and treatment of the patient.The diagnosis of this condition and the indication to treat

immediately with an adequate infusion of fibrinogen shouldrest on observation of the clot and a thrombin time and titretest.1 2

DUPUYTREN’S CONTRACTURE

O. W. CINIEWICZ.

SIR,-In his letter (Feb. 4), Dr. Forgan mentioned thatin his venereological practice he never found Dupuytren’scontracture associated with Peyronie’s disease.Some workers, however, have noted a not infrequent

coincidence of these conditions. I myself, in a series of85 cases of Peyronie’s disease, published in a Polishurological periodical (Urologia Polska),3 described 8 casesassociated with Dupuytren’s contracture.

Obituary

JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH STOPFORDBARON STOPFORD OF FALLOWFBELD

K.B.E., Kt, M.D. Manc., Hon. Sc.D. Cantab. and Dubl., Hon,D.Sc. Leeds, LL.D. Manc. and Lpool, D.C.L. Durh., F.R.C.P"

Hon. F.R.C.S., F.R.S.

THE honours, degrees, and titles which stand underLord Stopford’s name at the head of this column reflectthe renown which he earned as neurologist, admini.strator, educationist, and statesman. His unofficial tideof " prince of vice-chancellors

" reflects the affection andadmiration in which he was held by all who worked wit);him.

He was born in 1888 at Hindley Green, near Wigan, and ischristian names were chosen by his grandfather, who was anorganist at Upholland, but they failed to influence his develop.ment, for he later admitted that a great symphony means nomore to me than a tune on a barrel organ

" and claimed thetin whistle as his only instrument, on which he was a defectiveperformer. Instead at Manchester Grammar School and theUniversity of Manchester he showed a bent for science, aswell as for football, and he retained his taste for both.

Before qualifying in 1911 he was appointed to a

university demonstratorship in anatomy and, afterholding resident hospitalappointments, he returned tothe department to work underGrafton Elliot Smith. Hisclassic studies of the blood-

supply to the pons and medulla,for which he was awardedthe M.D. and gold medal in

1915, already showed the

practical and clinical biaswhich was to distinguish allhis research. As one of his

colleagues later put it, "

Stop-ford has never been over

interested in embryology as ageneral study, that Saharathat has desiccated so manyof the anatomical schools ofthe world. What interested him in anatomy was the sick

man, and the help that a more precise knowledge ofstructure could bring to explain his symptoms and torelieve his sufferings."The 1914-18 war gave him further clinical oppor.

tunities, and with a grant from the Medical ResearchCouncil he began to study gun-shot injuries of the perl-pheral nerves. Later he joined Mr. (now Sir) HarryPlatt at the peripheral nerve injury centre which wasestablished after the war at the Ministry of PensionsHospital at Grangethorpe, and together they publishedan important series of papers. Stopford continuedhis studies on nerve injuries and compression for overfifteen years and they culminated in the publication of hisbook on Sensation and the Sensory Pathway in 1930, Forthis work he was elected F.R.S. in 1927.

During the war he had already become lecturer in

anatomy at Manchester and in 1919 he succeeded ElliotSmith in the chair. With this appointment began hiscollaboration with Prof. E. D. Telford. They shared avariety of interests, ranging from diseases of the blood-vessels to the cultivation of auriculas, and to this periodbelong Stopford’s studies of the sympathetic nervous

system.

R.Lam.Po.Tang I