Association will be held in Philadelphia, on Monday, May 31, 1897 (the day preceding the meeting of the American Medical Association). Editors and publishers, as well as every one interested in medical journalism, cordially invited to attend, and participate in the deliberations. Several very excellent papers are already assured, but more are desired. In order to secure a place on the programme, contributors should send titles of their papers at once to the Secretary, Chas. Wood Fassett, St. Joseph, Mo. THE next meeting of the Society for Medical Research will be held on Thursday, April 8, at 8:30 P.M., in the laboratory of the Cincinnati Medical College. There will be the following demonstrations: DR. HEFLEBOWER: Excised ossicles. DR. CRANE: (1) Effect of polarized light upon a quadri-urate; (2) sodium bi-urate from urine; (3) another form of sodium bi-urate; (4) magnesium urate. DR. BETTMANN (postponed from last meeting): Some rare pathological conditions from the female genital tract. ACADEMY OF MEDICINE.-Monday evening, April 5, 1897: "Gastro-Intestinal Disturbances of Incipient Phthisis," Dr. G. A. Fackler; "Motor Insufficiency of the Stomach," Dr. H. W. Bettmann. MARCH 30, the graduating class of Pulte Medical College numbered thirty. WE quote from the American Year-Book of Medicine and Surgery, Gould, 1897, Department of General Surgery, by W. W. Keen, M.D., and John Chalmers DaCosta, M.D., of Philadelphia, the following: "Trial has been made of Eucaine in the out-patient surgical department of Jefferson Hospital, and the results have been most satis: DR. Correspondence. AN OPEN LETTER. CINCINNATI, March 24, 1897. STARLING S. WILCOX, Chairman, and Others, Columbus, O. Dear Sirs: Your circular letter, with a copy of the resolutions of the Columbus Academy of Medicine, was received, and I have given the subject the thought that its importance demands, and after careful reflection can only say that the plan does not meet with my approval. The State Board of Medical Examination and Registration is already burdened with onerous and important duties. If it fully discharges these, if it secures the enforcement of the law which called it into being, we have no right to expect more of it. That it will not be able to do this many begin to fear. To many it begins to look as if the Board is a failure. If we now add to its burdens the duty of determining who may begin the study of medicine it will probably break down under the additional load. Is it not better to wait awhile and see if we can masticate what we have already bitten off? But suppose we secure the creation of a new board and empower it by law to examine prospective students as to their fitness to enter upon the study of medicine, does any one presume for a moment that its action would be sustained by the courts? Who has the right to say, "This you may study, but that you may not study?" Who has the right to shut the gates of knowledge against any one? I am not a lawyer, but I venture the opinion that no court in any constitutional government on earth would sustain such a law. lute despotism, would attempt to dictate No free State, nothing but an absofactory. In the removal of ingrown toe-nails we have a procedure which brings a local to its subjects what branches of knowlanesthetic to the test, and in these usually pain-edge they should pursue. ful operations Eucaine has proved more satisfactory than cocaine, the anesthesia from Eucaine being more profound and prolonged say, and wide-spread than is that from cocaine." And who shall draw the line and "You may study arithmetic, but not algebra; you may study anatomy, but not surgery; physiology, but not the practice of medicine." It may seem unwise to you and me for one with a very limited general education to attempt the difficulties of the study of medicine. We may advise such an one not to attempt it, but who empowered us to say to him, "You shall not?" We may counsel him that such an attempt will probably result in partial or complete failure, and then our duty is done, the limit of our authority is reached, and he must do what every one, in every condition of life and amidst all its difficulties must do, decide for himself. In the second place, who has the right to say to whom you and I shall teach medical knowledge? The very name "doctor" signifies "teacher,' and we all from the first day of our professional lives to their end daily teach to every one, and especially to the ignorant and povertystricken, how to treat the sick, and that best part of medical science, hygienehow to keep from getting sick. Suppose I see fit to go further, and undertake to teach the whole of medical knowledge to those who are unfit to receive it, what power is there in the State to bid me nay? It may be a fruitless endeavor, predestined to failure, but that is my business, and the State has no right to interfere unless I am doing some one a hurt. If I see fit to attempt to teach a deaf-mute idiot to decipher cuneiform inscriptions it may be an act of extreme folly, but what business is it of the State? I may be making a fool of my self, but is the State to interfere to prevent every one from making a fool of himself? If it does it will have its hands full. The true relation of State to individual is that as long as one does no harm he should be permitted to do as he pleases. But suppose it were possible to enact and enforce the proposed law, what effect would it have upon the medical profession in Ohio? The students that now go to Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus would then go to Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville, and the medical colleges of Ohio would close their doors. Is that desirable? Our schools may not be up to an ideal standard, they may not be all that we could wish, but I believe all of them are doing faithful, conscientious teaching, doing their best to fit their students for the responsibilities of practice and the difficulties of life. They are much better than none, and around them as a nucleus crystallizes much that is best in the profession, and from them emanates an influence that the profession would deteriorate without. The same students who would be driven from our schools by such an act would return with diplomas from colleges outside the State and fill up the ranks of the profession, and the Board of Registration would be powerless to prevent it. That young men entering upon the study of medicine should possess a good preliminary education few will deny, but just what that education should consist of might be hard to decide. All the good of the proposed plan. may be secured through another channel, and without invoking the aid of the State, and that is by an action of the Association of Medical Colleges. Medical colleges are corporations organized for a business purpose, and have unquestionably the right (which the State has not) to say who shall and who shall not become their matriculants. While the State has no constitutional right to say to the individual, "You shall not study this," or "You shall not teach that," colleges have an undoubted right to say, "We will not accept you as a student unless you come properly prepared." Such an action of the Association would be uniform and bear equally upon all the schools of the whole country, and would not drive students from Ohio to neighboring States for their medical education. I hope that it is unnecessary for me to say that I am in hearty accord with every right plan for the elevation of the standards of the profession, but while we are seeking a plan let us be sure that we are choosing the right one, Let us not invoke the aid of the State to do what we can do ourselves, or call upon Hercules to lift our cart out of the mire until we have put our own shoulders to the wheel. The medical profession has cared for itself (and pretty successfully, too) for two thousand years, and it can do so now without the humiliation of casting itself at the feet of the State Legislature. Very respectfully, THE SCIENCE OF OSTEOPATHY. COLUMBUS, IND., March 25, 1897. Editor LANCET-CLINIC: Do you know anything of a class of people in the State of Missouri who practice what they term the "science of osteopathy." They claim to have a branch office at Crawfordsville, Ind., managed by a man named Still. If you can give me any light as to this, either by personal letter or through the LANCET CLINIC, it will be a great accommodation to an Ohio medical graduate. Fraternally, A. M. KIRKPATRICK. [The science of osteopathy is a combine of the old bone-setter's art, spiritualistic faith cure and Christian science, constituting a method for the practice of charlatanry upon the innocents who are credulous. With some neurasthenics and hysterical cases it is altogether probable that they have met with a degree of success in their methods of treatment. In some instances their massage work may do good by breaking up some old abnormal adhesions. I think that is all. Their methods of business are those of the charlatan, and quackish in the extreme. By their labors with the weak-minded they are likely to land some of them in hospitals for the insane. Their science is the science of imposition upon credulity and nothing more.] THE Columbus Medical Journal has removed from 150 E. Broad Street to its new quarters, 68 Buttles Avenue, Columbus, O. Bibliography. ANOMALIES AND CURIOSITies of MediCINE: Being an Encyclopedic Collection of Rare and Extraordinary Cases, and of the Most Striking Instances of Abnormality in all Branches of Medicine and Surgery, derived from an Exhaustive Research of Medical Literature from its Origin to the Present Day, Abstracted, Classified, Annotated, and Indexed. By GEORGE M. GOULD, A.M., M.D., and WALTER L. PYLE, A.M., M.D. Imperial Octavo, 968 pages, with 295 Illustrations in the Text, and 12 Half-tone and Colored Plates. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 925 Walnut Street; 1897. Prices: Cloth, $6.00 net; Half Morocco, $7.00 net. Sold only by Subscription. This is one of the most fascinating medical books that has ever been issued for the use of physicians; while so full of interest it is also full of useful knowledge Man in normal conditions is supposed to be understood and known, but in abnormal states, which may be encountered at any time and in any place, make this work a book of reference for all time. There is much in the work that is of special value as pertaining to forensic medicine. The authors contemplate increasing their fund of anomalous cases, and request their professional friends to assist them by contributions in this line. To make an exhaustive review would but it be beyond the limits of our space, may be mentioned that there are quite exhaustive chapters on genetic anomalies, pre-natal and obstetric anomalies, prolificity, major terata, minor terata, anomalies of stature, size and development; longevity, physiological and functional anomalies, surgical anomalies of the head and neck, of the extremities, thorax, abdomen, genitourinary system, and miscellaneous surgical anomalies, types and instances of disease, skin diseases, nervous and mental diseases, historic epidemics, concluding with a complete index. THE twenty-third Annual Report of the Cincinnati Sanitarium, for the year 1896, is at hand, and tells of the continued success of this admirably conducted private hospital. This was the pioneer private hospital of this vicinity, and its usefulness is indicated by its prosperity and patronage. All ventures in the private hospital business have not been so successful as this; in fact, very few ever will meet with a corresponding favor, but it illustrates what may be accomplished in such directions. quence and interior city of size located on navigable rivers. Sanitary science and hygiene are developed by the bureau by means of experimental work conducted in the various hospitals and stations at its command. Surgeon General Wyman is to be congratulated upon the work that is being accomplished by his corps, as well as for his excellent administrative ability. Two examinations for assistant surTHE Annual Report of the Super-geons have been conducted during the vising Surgeon General of the Marine- year, by which three were added to Hospital Service of the United States the corps. for the year 1896 is upon our table. The report is full of interest from title to index. THE essentials in securing ideal healing are asepsis, absence of avoidable trauma, complete hemostasis, dryness of the wound surface, accurate approximation of wound surfaces and rest during the healing process.-Med. Record. The importance of this department of the National Government cannot be overestimated, and every year it becomes more and more useful. The whole quarantine business of the Nation's territory is in the hands of this bureau, URINARY sediment can be preserved in addition to which there is a hospital for several months by covering with a at every seaport or harbor of conse-5 per cent. solution of formal. ... SEASONABLE THERAPEUTICS The Treatment of Influenza or La Grippe It is quite refreshing these days to read of a clearly defined treatment for Influenza or La Grippe. In an article in the LancetClinic, December 28th, 1895, Dr. James Hervey Bell, 251 East 32d Street, New York City, says he is convinced that too much medication is both unnecessary and injurious. When called to a case of influenza, the patient is usually seen when the fever is present, as the chill, which occasionally ushers in the disease, has generally passed away. Dr. Bell then orders that the bowels be opened freely by some saline draught, as hunyadi water or effervescing citrate of magnesia. For the high fever, severe headache, pain, and general soreness, the following is ordered: Antikamnia Tablets (5 gr. each), No. xxx Sig. One tablet every two hours. If the pain is extremely severe, the dose is doubled until relief is obtained. Often this single dose of ten grains of antikamnia is followed with almost complete relief from the suffering. Antikamnia is preferred to the hypodermic use of morphia because it leaves no bad after-effects; and also because it has such marked power to control pain and reduce fever. The author says that unless the attack is a very severe one, the above treatment is sufficient. ... After the fever has subsided, the pain, muscular soreness and nervousness, generally continue for some time. To relieve these and to meet the indication for a tonic, the following is prescribed: R Antikamnia & Quinine Tablets, No. xxx This tablet contains two and one-half grains of each of the drugs, and answers every purpose until health is restored. Occasionally the muscular soreness is the most prominent symptom. In such cases the following combination is preferred to antikamnia alone: This is what the pallid anæmic individual needs from whatever cause such blood poverty may arise. The best way to "build blood" is to administer Pepto Mangan ("Gude" This palatable combination of Organic Iron and Manganese contributes to the In order to be sure of obtaining the genuine Pepto-Mangan "Gude" prescribe M. J. BREITENBACH COMPANY, Sole Agents for U. S. and Canada, ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ j j j j j j j j j j j j j SEASONABLE THERAPEUTICS The Treatment of Influenza or La Grippe It is quite refreshing these days to read of a clearly defined treatment for Influenza or La Grippe. In an article in the LancetClinic, December 28th, 1895, Dr. James Hervey Bell, 251 East 32d Street, New York City, says he is convinced that too much medication is both unnecessary and injurious. When called to a case of influenza, the patient is usually seen when the fever is present, as the chill, which occasionally ushers in the disease, has generally passed away. Dr. Bell then orders that the bowels be opened freely by some saline draught, as hunyadi water or effervescing citrate of magnesia. For the high fever, severe headache, pain, and general soreness, the following is ordered: R Antikamnia Tablets (5 gr. each), No. xxx Sig. One tablet every two hours. If the pain is extremely severe, the dose is doubled until relief is obtained. Often this single dose of ten grains of antikamnia is followed with almost complete relief from the suffering. Antikamnia is preferred to the hypodermic use of morphia because it leaves no bad after-effects; and also because it has such marked power to control pain and reduce fever. The author says that unless the attack is a very severe one, the above treatment is sufficient. After the fever has subsided, the pain, muscular soreness and nervousness, generally continue for some time. To relieve these and to meet the indication for a tonic, the following is prescribed: R Antikamnia & Quinine Tablets, No. xxx This tablet contains two and one-half grains of each of the drugs, and answers every purpose until health is restored. Occasionally the muscular soreness is the most prominent symptom. In such cases the following combination is preferred to antikamnia alone: Antikamnia & Salol Tablets, No. xxx grains of each drug. Then again it occurs that the most prominent symptom is an irritative cough. A useful prescription for this is one-fourth of a grain sulphate codeine and four and threefourths grains antikamnia. Thus: R Antikamnia & Codeine Tablets, No. xxx Sig. One tablet every four hours. Dr. Bell also says that in antikamnia alone, we have a remedy sufficient for the treatment of nearly every case, but occasionally one of its combinations meets special conditions. He always instructs patients to crush tablets before taking. |