E d i t o r ’ s C o m m e n t " The old order changeth, yielding place to new i / \ s this will b e the final edi- / h \ ti011 ° f the Jo u rn a l that I L - J A will edit, I w ould like to th an k the few stalw arts w ho s u p ­ p o rted m e w h ile at th e h elm . T hese are the regular referees who were acknow ledged in the Jo u rn a l, m em bers o f the Editorial Board, especially Sheena Irw in-Carruthers and Sielie Eales, who later took on the task o f Scientific Editor, and Lo-An R oux, w ho patiently typed the Jo u rn a l w ith im proved visual im p a c t ov er the years. I have enjoyed the six years that I spent w ith th e Jo u r n a l b u t did n o t achieve all the goals that were set in 1 9 9 2 . O ne o f these was a desire for a tw o-w ay c o m m u n ic a tio n w ith m em bers o f the SASP b u t over the years I on ly received three letters addressed to the Jo u rn al. The first was a blast from a young academ ic w ho slated the Jo u r n a l as bein g u n scien tific and the second was a response to this letter su p ­ p o rtin g the p u b lic a tio n from across our border. T he third letter is pu blished in this ed ition and I am grateful to Dr H annah Reeve Saunders w ho has always been a ch a m p io n o f P hysioth erapy. A lth ou gh we have m ade m any changes and, I believe, im prove­ m ents to the Jo u rn a l, n o n e o f these were recognised by my peers. POTTED HISTORY " B e not th e first by whom th e new a r e tried - N o r y e t th e last to lay th e old a s id e " P op e 1 6 8 8 -1 7 4 4 O u r Jo u rn al was first p u blish ed in Ju n e 1 9 2 9 due to the efforts of A nne Hodges. She was followed by G Sch erm b ru ck and J M acFarlane w ho changed the nam e o f the p u b ­ lication to P h y sioth era p y in 1 9 4 8 and in 1 9 5 4 it becam e the SA J o u r n a l o f P h y s io th e r a p y . W h ile Lois D yer was at the h elm a letter was pu blished b y Je a n Blair in 1 9 5 5 stressing that ways had to be found to stim ulate interest and e n th u sia s m a m o n g read ers to share ideas and know ledge. W h at has changed sin ce then? T h e next E d itor was Elizabeth B otting w ho ran the Jo u rn a l for 17 years before h an d in g over to N arina G ilder and later Lyn Davids. T hrou gh M edical D is trib u to r s , Lyn e sta b lish ed a research prize in the hop e o f s tim ­ ulating research and encourag in g w riting for the Jo u rn a l. T h e award was n o t m ade in 1993 due to lack o f w orthy research articles b u t in 1 9 9 5 S ie lie E ales and M agda Senekal w ere awarded the prize for th e ir a rtic le titled " O p tim al Physiotherapy in Stab W oun ds of the C hest" w h ich was p u blish ed in May 1 9 9 4 . A su b -com m ittee was form ed in 1 9 9 5 to investigate ways o f s o licit­ ing a rticle s and im p ro v in g the standard o f the Jo u rn a l. U n til the recom m en d ation s from the su b ­ c o m m itte e w ere fin a lised , n o m eetings o f the Editorial Board w ere held. It will be up to the new editorial Board, to be con ven ed by the n ew Editor, to ch o o se the best re s e a rch a rtic le s fo r 1 9 9 5 and 1 9 9 6 . INTERNATIONAL PHYSIOTHERAPY CONGRESS C on gratu lations to the W estern C ap e for organising a very interest­ ing and inform ative con gress p ro ­ gram m e. T h e 4 0 0 delegates repre- Tennyson 1809-1892 s e n tin g 2 2 c o u n tr ie s w ere im pressed b y the e x cellen ce o f the plenary sessions, the variety o f the w ork sh op s to cater for all interests, the clockw ise precision o f the p ro ­ ceedings and the fine social fare. W ell done Pat Bow erbank, Sheena Irw in-C arru thers and all the w o rk ­ in g c o m m itte e s. H o p efu lly the Jo u r n a l will be able to publish som e o f the papers given by local and overseas speakers. How ever the proceedings w ere printed and m ade available during the last day o f C on gress, for w h ich the organis­ ers are to be congratulated. T he profession has gone far sin ce the first P h y sioth erap y C o n fe ren ce w as held in 1 9 2 4 and it is c o m ­ forting to realise that the w ork of the early pioneers is bein g carried on w ith enthu siasm and d edica­ tion by the new v olu nteers w ho will take us into the n e x t m illen n i­ um . M any c h a n g es have b e e n m ade in o u r profession, in our Society and in our Jo u rn a l and I was glad to be part o f this growth. I lay dow n the reins w ith som e sadness but w ish m y su ccesso r w ell and 1 am sure o u r Jo u rn a l will go from strength to strength w ith the assistan ce from all o u r m em ­ bers. J O BEEN HAKKER " Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view that stand upon the threshold o f the new " W aller 1606-1687 SA Jo u r n a l o f Ph y s io t h e r a p y V o l 53 No 2 3 R ep ro du ce d by S ab in et G at ew ay u nd er li ce nc e gr an te d by th e P ub lis he r (d at ed 2 01 3. )