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a few sheaves from my stack and secretly add them to his; he will not perceive it, and, therefore, cannot refuse them.' This plan he immediately executed. That night the married brother awoke, and said to his wife: My brother is young and lives alone, without a companion to assist him in his labors and console him under his fatigues; it is not right that we should take from the field as many sheaves as he does; let us get up and secretly go and carry a certain numDer of sheaves to his stack; he will not find it out to-morrow, and, therefore, cannot refuse them; and they did so accordingly. The next day both brothers went to the field, and each was much surprised to find the two stacks alike, and neither could account for it. They pursued the same course for several successive nights, but as each carried to his brother's stack about the same number of sheaves, the stacks still remained equal, till one night both determined to stand sentinel, in order to find out the mystery. The result was that the two brothers met, each bearing sheaves for his brother's stack." And tradition has it, that the ploughed field became the city of Jerusalem, and the spot where the brothers met became the site of King Solomon's temple. This beautiful legend teaches the lesson I wish to convey. Be kind to your professional brethren. Increase their reputation if you can, but do nothing to diminish it. Carry a dozen sheaves to your brother's stack, but take not one from his.

Lastly. They would have you be liberal in your principles and tolerant of the opinions of others. Be not the bigoted devotees of any exclusive theory, nor the blind adherents of any particular party or sect. Do not forget that others have as much right to their opinions as you have to yours; and that in this land, and under this government, there must be no proscription for opinion's sake. Any man who makes medicine a profession, and who grapples successfully with disease, is a physician and ought to be recognized as such. No matter by what name he may be called, no matter at what school he may have graduated, if he understands his profe ion, if he relieves human suffering, he is a

physician, and is entitled to all the privileges and immunities of a physician. And every practitioner who tries to do good, who labors for the benefit of humanity, is your brother, and is worthy of your respect and your friendship, Away, then, with all intolerance! Away with all sectional bigotry! Away with all party hate! They are a disgrace to our civilization; they are a disgrace to our humanity. Let us look forward to the time when the bickerings of medical sects shall cease, when Allopathy, Homeopathy, Hydropathy, and Eclecticism shall be at peace, when Judah shall no more vex Ephraim, nor Ephraim Judah, but when with one heart they shall labor together, and with one voice together shall they sing.

And, now, ladies and gentlemen, I and my colleagues bid you farewell. It is not without reluctance that we sever the tie that has bound us together. We part with mutual esteem, as I trust, and in sincere friendship. In going from us, you carry with you our best wishes for your health, happiness, and success. Let us hope that you will regard your past instructors as your future friends; that you will cherish a kind feeling for your Alma Mater, and regard her reputation as in some degree identified with your own. And, now, go forth from this place in sincerity of heart and honesty of purpose. Gird up your loins for the march of life, and put on your armor for the battle of life; and may the God of heaven go with you and bless you! And when, in your professional career, you have been successful in treating disease and relieving human suffering, see to it, that you become not presumptuous, self-conceited, or vain. Remember you are but the honored instruments of a Superior Power; and that, after all, "It is God who healeth our diseases, and redeemeth our life from destruction."

30 East 19th St., New York.

A Case in Practice.

BY J. M. COMINS, M.D.,

Prof. of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children in the Eclectic Medical
College of the City of New York.

a

I was called on March 10th, 1869, to see Mrs. lady about forty years of age, of a nervous sanguine temperament, who has usually enjoyed good health, save in gestation. She is the mother of four healthy children. I found her enciente, for the sixth time, about two months advanced, having aborted two years since; at about the third month of utero-gestation. I found her suffering extremely from gastritis, not being able to retain any thing upon the stomach. Nourishment of any kind, or drinks, or even a teaspoonful of water would excite severe retching and vomiting. Her eyes were much inflamed. She had sore mouth, of a very aggravated nature, much resembling "nursing sore mouth." The tonsils were very much enlarged and very irritable, making it quite difficult to swallow; and the whole of the organs of the throat were badly swollen, interfering with respiration. She had a leucorrhoea of an acrid character, and quite profuse, which had produced severe vulvitis; the labia were very much congested, and swelled nearly as large as a man's arm, so that she could not approximate the limbs. She was suffering extremely from want of rest, not having slept much for the last two or three weeks. There was an extreme nervous excitement, bordering on mania. Her pulse was about one hundred and thirty, hard and wiry. I first gave her syrup of rhubarb and potassa, (neutralising cordial), in small doses, which was soon rejected; I gave pepsin to aid in digestion; I tried various kinds of food; I gave opium, morphia, gelseminum, and several other sedatives. I tried stimulants and anti-spasmodics, such as capsicum car. ammonia camphor, nux vomica, &c.; I tried tonics, hydrastis can., wild cherry, cal. bark, iron; and I tried counter-irritation also, but all to no purpose. She seemed to be growing constantly worse. To relieve the vulvitis I applied soothing compresses, poultices, and astringent washes; for

injection I used hydras can. in decoction, and sul. zinc in weak solution, carbolic acid, preparations of iron, &c., with no other benefit than affording the patient some temporary comfort. I could give her nothing that seemed to do her any permanent good, and could but try to induce rest and sleep, which I did by hypodermic injections of morphia, about one-tenth of a grain night and morning. My patient became extremely emaciated. She was slowly but surely dying of anæmia. What could I do? I had tried all the remedies that seemed applicable to her case, and I must soon lose her or resort to something not laid down in the books.

Having in this way consumed about four weeks of valuable time, I resolved to induce miscarriage, and after a full statement of my opinion to her and her friends, I injected about four ounces of tepid water, high up in the uterus by the aid of a uterine syringe. No unfavorable symptoms followed. Uterine contractions commenced very soon, and the expulsion of the whole contents of the uterus took place about forty hours thereafter. From that time forth the patient improved rapidly. Within twelve hours after the expulsion, she was able to retain nourishment in the stomach, and slept quietly without the morphine injection. The discharges from the bowels for the last two weeks, having been mostly mucous and jelly like, now began to assume their natural condition, and very soon became normal both in quality and quantity. She is now completely convalescent. She has always suffered during gestation, but never so severely as in the instance described. Without the least doubt she would have died of anæmia--died a wild raving maniac, had I not relieved her of the foetus. Who can suggest a better remedy?

100 East 26th Street, New York.

PERISCOPE.

On the Treatment of Asthma by Belladonna.

IN a paper published in the Lancet, Dr. Hyde Salter speaks highly of the beneficial effects derived from the em

ployment of belladonna in the treatment of asthma. He thinks the peculiar excellence of belladonna as a sedative consists in its power of diminishing reflex irritability. He cites several cases in which its value was peculiarly marked. His method of employing it is as follows: He orders ten minims of the tincture of belladonna three times a day, the quantity to be increased day by day until the characteristic effects of the drug are produced. In those cases in which the paroxysms come on at night, he directs the patient to begin with ten minims on going to bed and gradually increase the dose until the head and sight become affected. In some cases 40 minims can be taken without any appreciable inconvenience. He concludes the paper as follows:

I believe one reason why belladonna has not had a greater reputation as a remedy for asthma is that it has not been given in large enough doses. I think that, like lobelia, it must be given in doses sufficiently large to produce its physiological effects, otherwise we have no right to say that it has been fairly tried, or to conclude that it has been a failure if it has not achieved a cure. I think to give ten minims three times a day in some mixture is simply worthless. I have seen now numberless cases in which both belladonna and lobelia have been consigned to the limbo of failures, when a fresh trial of them, on the plan of gradually increasing the doses till an ultimatum has been reached, has proved them to be perfectly successful remedies. Sometimes, but very rarely, belladonna will relieve asthma when given short of a physiological dose; sometimes, but still rarely, it fails to give any relief even when pushed to its full physiolog ical effects; the common thing is for it to fail till so pushed, and then to succeed. When I find belladonna has only been taken in the ordinary small doses, without any increment, I always regard it as not having been tried at all.

The advantages of administering it in the way I have described are:

1. That, giving it at night, you bring the full force of the drug to bear upon the disease at the time at which is is most liable to come on, and thus, if you are successful, tide your patient over the critical time.

2. By gradually feeling your way up to the required dose, you are able ultimately to reach without fear a dose which you would be unwilling to prescribe without such a tentative approach.

3. In those cases in which the therapeutical dose is reached before the physiological—that is, in which the asthma yields before the sight or head is appreciably affected,-it enables