On the eve of the International Society of Surgery's 13th congress here medical enigmas which have perplexed the world's leading surgeons formed the "shop talk" for delegates already assembled at convention headquarters.
The problems as varied as the world-renowned delegates who proposed them, ran the gamut from socialized medicine in England to the treatment of 20-pound spleens caused by malaria along the Mediterranean coast.
Meanwhile, eminent medical men from more than 40 nations began to converge on New Orleans Sunday as the congress pre-pared to open its six-day meeting1 at the Roosevelt Monday.
The meeting will be the second ever held in the United States, and New Orleans was chosen in honor of Dr. Rudolph Matas, in-ternationally known surgeon who is the only living past president of the society.
Lord Webb-Johnson of London, for eight years president of the Royal College of Surgery of England, termed Britain's present medical system "a very drastic experiment." He added, however, that "after only a year, it is too early to determine whether the apparent defects are due to the time-lag in getting the machine into motion or to inherent defects in the plan."
"Time may prove what we have contended from the outset," he added, "that the main danger lies in the interference with independent practice. A person is entitled to an independent professional opinion in any field—law, medicine or architecture."
