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PACIFIC MEDICAL JOURNAL.

EDITOR:

WINSLOW ANDERSON, A. M., M. D., M. R. C. P. LOND., eto.

The Editor is not responsible for the views of contributors.

All communications should be addressed to PACIFIC MEDICAL JOURNAL, 603 Sutter St., San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO, MAY, 1894.

Editorial.

SANITARY CONVENTION.

The State Sanitary Association held its second annual meeting at San José on the 16th ult., the day before the meeting of the State Medical Society. In establishing an Annual State Sanitary Association, the present members of the State Board of Health have done a great work for the State. It will be found in after years that they builded better than they knew. The Sanitary Association will be the means of spreading knowledge of hygiene among the people, and until they have a better appreciation of the causes, the manner of propagation and the prevention of contagious and infectious diseases, it will be quite impossible to enforce proper sanitary measures. But to judge from a communication to a San José daily paper by a physician, and from remarks made by other physicians in the State Medical Society on contagious diseases, the State Sanitary Associa tion will have to do some primary educational work in the medical ranks also. We recommend these gentlemen to read Sternberg, Koch, Pasteur, Frankel, Shoemaker, Welsh, Eisenberg, Vierordt, Strümpell, etc., etc. After they peruse these works carefully we feel sure that they will agree with the gentlemen of the Sanitary Convention in thinking that grave-yards are not healthy places to sleep in, and tubercular wives are not healthy companions to sleep with. Physicians who take an active interest in the dissemination of sanitary knowledge among the people find their work greatly retarded by the medical men who do not keep themselves abreast of the times. The Convention was well attended; every one present seemed to be interested and enthu

siastic. The papers and discussions were confined principally to three subjects, viz: Tuberculosis, Cremation and Sewage. If the importance of a subject is to be measured by its influence on the health, happiness and longevity of a community, then there is not in the whole range of science, three more important subjects or more worthy the consideration of scientists than these.

THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.

The twenty-fourth annual meeting of the State Medical Society convened April 17th, 1894, at San José. The programme was unusually complete, and the papers were of more than average excellence. There were really too many papers and not half enough time for discussion. We were disappointed in seeing so few members present. This was due, in part at least, to the coming meeting of the American Medical Association. But why the Society should only have a membership of 360 out of 2,700 regularly licensed physicians in this State is at first sight less easily explainable, unless it be due to the unpopular manner in which the Society is conducted, particularly in the matter of the election of officers.

The members of the Society have never listened to a better presidential address than that delivered by Dr. C. G. Kenyon. It was thoughtful and earnest, and replete with good common sense and practical suggestions. Dr. Kenyon-deserves credit for the dispatch, decision and dignity with which he presided, as well as for his firmness in preventing the reading of an improper paper on the floor of the Society.

The reception and banquet given by the Santa Clara County Medical Society was a most creditable and enjoyable affair. It is to be regretted that more of the members could not have participated.

The President-elect, Dr. G. L. Simmons, of Sacramento, commands the respect and confidence of the profession in the State, and we feel sure he will receive the unqualified support of every member of the Society.

OWING to the many interesting and valuable papers read and discussed at the Sanitary Convention and State Medical Society last month, we have devoted this number of the PACIFIC MEDICAL JOURNAL almost exclusively to their consideration.

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONGRESS.

The Eleventh International Medical Congress, held in Rome, March 29th to April 6th, was presided over by the distinguished Professor Bacelli, Minister of Public Instruction of Italy. The kindly interest, hospitality and patronage extended to the Congress by the King and Queen of Italy have helped to bring together the most illustrious physicians in the world. The social arrangements of the Congress were given that prominence which make these gatherings so enjoyable. The King and Queen gave a garden party, and most of the public institutions were thrown open and many of the private palaces and residences were at the disposal of their guests-a precedent which our American congresses and medical societies could with profit follow.

The next International Congress will be held in St. Petersburg or Moscow, as his imperial highness, the Czar, may indicate. This will give many of us a rare opportunity of seeing one or both of those famous old cities.

DEATH OF BROWN-SEQUARD.

The distinguished neurologist died in Paris, April 2nd, 1894, in his 77th year. He was born at Port Louis, Mauritius, in 1817, his father being a Mr. Brown, of Philadelphia, and his mother a French woman, Mlle Séquard. In 1864 he was given the chair of Physiology and Diseases of the Nervous System in Harvard University. In 1878 he succeeded Claude Bernard as Professor of Physiology of Experimental Medicine at the College de France, Paris, which position he held until the time of his death. He was the author of more than five hundred publications, and the last surviving French honorary President of the Continental Anglo-American Medical Society.

DB. WM. V. KEATING died April 8th, 1894, in his 71st year. PROFESSOR CORYDON L. FORD, M. D., LL. D., died at Ann Arbor, the middle of April, 1894.

DR. J. RUSSELL REYNOLDS, F. R. C. P. Lond., F. R. S., has been reelected President of the Royal College of Physicians of London.

DR. H. A. HARE, of 222 S. 15th St., Philadelphia, Chairman of Section on Practice, of the American Medical Association, desires us to say that he is anxious to have members on the Pacific Coast contribute papers to the section.

Licentiates of the California State Board of Examiners.

At a meeting of the Board of Examiners of the Medical Society of the State of California held April 5th, 1894, the following were granted certificates to practice in this State:

BLAKE, ALFRED EDWARD, San Francisco; Missouri Med. Coll., Mo., March 27, 1894.

BROWN, JOHN SYLVESTER, New York; Med. Dept. Univ. City of New York, March 24, 1891.

BROWNING, FREDERICK WILLIAM, San Francisco; Royal Coll. Phys. and Surg., Edinburgh, Scotland, May 4, 1888; Faculty Phys. and Surg., Glasgow, Scotland, May 4, 1888.

CARSON, J. L., Alameda; Northwestern Med. Coll., St. Joseph, Mo., March 2, 1894.

EASLING, P. W., Burrton, Kansas; Coll. Phys. and Surg., Keokuk, Ia., March 1, 1881,

FALES, WILLARD H., San Francisco; Harvard Univ. School of Med., Mass., June 28, 1882.

GAVIGAN, WILLIAM J., San Francisco; Barnes Med. Coll., Mo., March 20, 1894.

HOGG, ROBERT LETCHER, Paso Robles; Med. Dept. Univ. Louisville, Ky., March 13, 1893.

Kayner, DavID P., Sacramento; Castleton Med. Coll., Vermont, Nov. 21, 1849.

LEE, WILLIAM Ross, Los Angeles; Med. Dept. Univ. City of New York, March 25, 1890.

MACLEISH, ARCHIBALD LYLE, Los Angeles; Univ. of Edinburgh, Scot., M. B. and C. M., Aug. 1, 1881; Univ. of Edinburgh, Scot., M. D., Aug. 1, 1890.

MILLER, BRUCE, San Francisco; Coll. Phys. and Surg., Ill., Feb. 23, 1886. PINEO, WILLARD B., Minneapolis, Minn., Minnesota Hosp. Coll., Minn., Feb. 17, 1885.

POWER, HENRY D'ARCY, Sacramento; Lic. Society Apoth., England, July 5. 1883; Lic. Kings' and Queens' Coll. Phys., Ireland, March 12, 1886. REEVES, J. W., San Jose; Kentucky School of Med., Ky., June 30, 1887. REEVES, WILLIAM BENSON, Los Angeles; Kentucky School of Med., Ky., June 30, 1887.

REUM, CHARLES G., San Diego; Jefferson Med. Coll., May 2, 1893.

SMALL, A. B., New York, Memphis Hosp. Med. Coll., Tenn., March 1, 1888.

STANEFF, DIMITRIUS, Alameda; Cincinnati Coll. Med. and Surg., O., March 22, 1892.

STARR, FREDERICK R., Oakland; Harvard Univ. Med. School, Mass., June 29, 1892.

TRAVERSE, A. W., San Francisco; Rush Med. Coll., Ill., Feb. 19, 1889. WILLIAMSON, WILLIAM P., San Francisco; McGill Univ., Montreal, Canada, April 1, 1891.

1892.

WILSON, HENRY BAXTER, Fresno; Tennessee Med. Coll., Tenn., March 17 CHAS. C. WADSWORTH, M. D., Secretary.

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By W. F. McNUTT, M. D., M. R. C. S., etc.

Professor of Principles and Practice of Medicine, Medical Department, University of California.

(Read before the San Francisco County Medical Society.) Three years ago, when the State Medical Society met in Los Angeles, I reported five cases of vaginal hysterectomy for cancer. Since then I have made 14 vaginal hysterectomies, and four times have removed the uterus in part for cancer. It is not the purpose of this paper to deal with the etiology or pathology of cancer of the uterus. To my mind the operation has not met with the cordial support that it deserves; many physicians, surgeons and gynecologists still oppose it on the grounds that it does not cure, that it does not prolong life, that it is dangerous. Let me say to the gentlemen who oppose hysterectomy for cancer on the ground that the results are not as beneficial or permanent, as is extirpation of any other organ for cancer, the fault is not in the uterus, but in ourselves. We either fail to make an early diagnosis, or do not operate promptly when the diagnosis is quite certain. It cannot be that cancer of the uterus is more prone to return when removed early than cancer of the breast for instance. In other words, it is reasonable to suppose that cancer of the uterus will be confined longer to the uterus before implicating contiguous tissues than will cancer confine itself to the breast of lips or tongue, for instance, before affecting neighboring tissues or glands. The uterus is an organ suspended, as it were, by ligaments, which certainly are not as likely to partake of the diseases of the uterus as the contiguous tissues about the breast in case of cancer of that organ. The important question is, how can we make an early diagnosis of cancer of the uterus? It does not do to wait until the

VOL. XXXVII-21.

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