bleeding and purging, and secundum artem, and the doctor had no further responsibility, his conscience at least was clear, he had done all he could.

Not

I well remember an old country doctor, in a small town in Northern Vermont, who had practised his profession for fifty years. The living, or a major part of them, in that vicinity had been ushered into being by this good old man, and did n't really see how they could die without his help. Once upon a time, as the old legends begin, he had two patients sick of a fever; both of them alike, as he averred. The nurse thought he would try an experiment, so he gave one the medicine as had been prescribed, and good care and nursing to the other, and not a particle of medicine. One died, and the other recovered. long after the doctor called to condole with the family, as was his custom. He couldn't see for the life of him why one of his patients died and the other lived. They were both sick alike, both had the same medicine and care, and he could n't see why they did n't both die, or both recover. The nurse stepped to a drawer, remarking that he "guessed" they did not both take the medicine, and brought forth that which he had carefully laid away. "There," said he, "the one who had the medicine died, the other who had none is alive. and well." The old man did not use any profane words, he was a Christian man of the most Orthodox stamp, I have little doubt he thought a good many. He blamed the nurse for not having followed his directions to the letter, even though the patient had died.

Some

- but

But to return from this digression. Speaking of calomel, you know that the old school largely conceals the fact of its use, so great is the popular prejudice against it. I don't really see the difference between "eating the devil and taking his broth." prescribe calomel, and then lie about it, while others substitute some other mercurial preparation. I know a physician who puts in almost every prescription a little of a black powder. Inquiring of a druggist, I learned that they had to keep in stock the black sulphuret of mercury for this man's especial accommodation. He didn't give calomel, he could say to his clients, -no, not he: he could never think of such a thing. And you will find on inquiry that this man is not alone.

If these men had the manliness to acknowledge their obligation to our school for their innovations, they would exhibit more honesty than they do now. They will expel our physicians from their societies, will refuse to meet us on equal terms in consultation by the bedside, will too often refuse to meet us socially or treat us civilly in social life, yet will not scruple to gather up the results of our study and experience, and give no

credit to the source whence they derive their knowledge. Some of the most valuable remedies used by them, extensively too, at the persent time, were proved and introduced by us; for instance, Cactus, Bell., Acon., Drosera, Hepar sulph., and many others. But in their bungling way, like the minister, who, at the request of the old lady, prayed for rain, and lo, it came and washed her garden away, they overdo the thing. And again, it is not uncommon to meet those among their clientage who will tell you that "Dr. So-and-so practises homoeopathically as well as the other way." Well, if he does, let us thank God and take courage: some good may come out of Nazareth after all.

Witness the smallness of the dose which is coming more and more into use: parvules, granules, one-hundredth grain doses of Phosphorus, Strychnine, etc., first and second dilutions of homœopathic medicines, as Merc., Tart. em., etc.; and yet, we are not homoeopaths, and these are not homoeopathic preparations, - oh, no, not for all the world!

Seriously, gentlemen, to what is all this tending? To the enlargement of the sphere of homoeopathy, or to the breakingdown of the antagonism between the two dominant schools of medicine? I wish it were, but fail to see it. Our benign method of cure is destined to spread more and more; but no man of this generation will see the allopathic school ignoring and forsaking their hoary traditions, and becoming absorbed in the new. The walls erected by bigotry and prejudice are too high and strong, their substructures are laid too deeply in human ignorance, to be overthrown in one century. Homoopathy flees from darkness and ignorance, and seeks and flourishes in light and knowledge. The more cultured and refined a community, the better the soil for homoeopathic culture. Not many years ago, the allopathic physicians of Chicago, in one of their meetings, raised a great hue and cry. "What shall we do about these homoeopaths?" said they; "they are doing all the business on the avenues, while we are driven into the outskirts and have to take their leavings." Thus it is and ever has been. A low and grovelling mind can only see power in the thunderbolt, that smites, and shatters what it smites; while the greatest forces in nature manifest their power in imperceptible ways, like the sunbeam, which gives life and beauty to all nature, and gravitation, which controls all the motions of the universe and gives stability to all things. So the most highly intelligent mind is prepared to see the might of the infinitesimal dose of the rightly selected remedy, where the grosser intelligence can see power only in the crude doses. which assail the organism with their sledge-hammer blows.

All we homœopaths have to do is to keep on the "even

tenor of our way," adhering to the principles of our school, founded on eternal truth, cease our strifes and divisions, and with care and patience cultivate our noble art and science, and the world will sooner or later come to acknowledge our law of cure, and bow to the genius of the great master who elaborated the beneficent law of medicine, "Similia similibus curantur." If our law is a law of nature, and we all believe it is, - then in the end it will prevail, and the harsh and oftentimes injudicious and injurious methods of the old school of medicine will be consigned to the realms of the past, and it will only be a wonder in the ages of the future how a system of so many contradictions could have held sway so long. Medicine, like the Christian religion, should come to the world like the good Samaritan, to bind up the wounds of humanity, "pouring in oil and wine," and not to increase the agony of suffering by harshness, or to render still more brittle the already attenuated thread of life, by measures that assail the vitality of this delicate organism, trembling upon the very verge of existence; and if the fatal event cannot be averted, to smooth the bed of death, and make the last hour as peaceful as the breathing of the summer's zephyr.

Homœopathy is the good angel who will do all this. With a hand as soft and gentle as the great Father can make it, it touches the suffering organism, bids the tumult cease, says, "Peace, be still," and there is a "great calm."

Gentlemen, ours is a holy calling, a heavenly mission. God invests the true physician with a blessed privilege, and places him in a position next to that of the minister of his holy word. It is the province of the latter, by the agency of the "still, small voice," to remedy the spiritual souls of our race, and show that it is "not by might nor by power" that the world is to be elevated and saved, but "by my spirit"; while the former, the true physician, — by equally gentle ways, shall administer to a body diseased and ready to perish, and demonstrate to the world that "die milde macht ist gross."

Let us keep our banner spread to the breeze, inscribed with the noble name of Hahnemann, with our formulated law of cure, and let us adhere to the cause of the true science of medicine till it becomes the acknowledged science of the world. We need not be ashamed of our principles: "Magna est veritas, et prævalebit." God speed the glorious day!

A POPULAR doctor, while escorting a lady home the other evening, attempted to relieve her cough and sore throat by giving her a troche. He told her to allow it to dissolve gradually in her mouth. No relief was experienced, and the doctor was somewhat chagrined, the next day, when the lady sent him a trousers button, with a note saying that he must have given her the wrong kind of troche, and might need this one. Homeopathic Journal of Obstetrics.

THE DIAGNOSIS OF PRESENTATIONS BY ABDOMINAL PALPATION.

BY G. R. SOUTHWICK, M. D.

THOSE Who may wish to know more of the subject than the few points given here are recommended to read monographs by Drs. Mundé, of New York, and Pinard, of Paris; the latter is in French. Directions will also be found in Schroeder's "Geburtshülfe," edition of 1882. Plairfair mentions it, but is not complete.

The most favorable time is during the last two weeks of pregnancy, and before labor pains have become strong. The position of the woman should be on her back, legs flexed, and corsets or bands loosened. It It is better to have the abdomen bare, but in many cases a very thin cloth may cover it.

The physician's hands should not be cold, as they will provoke uterine contractions, which hinder success. If they are excited, examine between pains.

The entire palmar surfaces of both hands should be used in examining, as more will be felt than with the finger ends. They are to be applied so as to oppose each other, and bring the various parts of the child between them.

The most important parts to find are the head, back, breech, and foetal heart. The head is distinguished by its stony hardness, large size, and crease formed by the neck between it and the body. The breech is similar but not so hard, is smaller, and does not have the crease. The back is recognized by greater resistance of the side in which it lies. As a rule, the foetal heart is also heard on that side, and known by a distinct double beat, not a murmur. It is well to place the finger on the mother's pulse while listening, that the two may not be confounded.

Very slow, irregular beats indicate the child's life is in danger from asphyxia. It is difficult to determine how slow a pulse indicates immediate danger. According to Schroeder, "If the heart sounds between the pains are 150, and during the pains become 120, and this condition constantly decreases in about the following manner, 140 to 110, 130 to 100, 120 to 90, 110 to 80, the child is certainly in danger." Have examined a large number of cases, and found I could not rely on the number of beats to tell the sex. Have seen males born with 160 beats per minute at the time of the examination, and females with 120. The unaided ear or a wooden stethoscope is better to use for the foetal heart than a Camman's binaural stethoscope. The latter requires to placed in the exact spot - often hard to find before anything can be heard. The feet are distinguished as small, easily movable projections, sometimes giving a blow to the

examining hand, and are always on the side opposite the back. Occasionally the thigh can be traced from the breech.

Here, as elsewhere, it is better to have a method in examining. Standing at the patient's side and facing her feet, press the fingers of both hands into the pelvis, on either side, just behind the symphysis pubis, and try to bring their ends together; the head will probably be felt between them.

The presenting part may be usually felt, also, by laying the palm of the hand on the symphysis and grasping the head, if a cranial presentation, between the thumb and fingers pressed into the pelvis. Then facing the patient, the back is to be palpated for and the upper part of the uterus examined, where the breech is usually found. If the breech is at the fundus, the feet lie to one or the other side, nearly on a level with it.

In a first cranial presentation, the head is behind the symphysis pubis, the back directed to the left side of the uterus, the breech at the fundus uteri a little to the left, and the feet opposite. The foetal heart is most distinctly heard midway between the umbilicus and the left inferior spine of the ilium. The second cranial is the converse of the first, and described by substituting right for left in the above. The third cranial is sometimes hard to determine. The principal points are: back nearly posterior on the left side, feet more anterior, and foetal heart heard more distinctly at the left side, sometimes not very distinct if the body is a little removed from the anterior uterine wall. The fourth cranial is the converse of the third, and described by substituting right for left, as above.

In a first breech, the head is felt at the fundus uteri, the crease separating from the back, which lies a little to the left. The fœtal heart is most distinct at, or nearly on, a level with the umbilicus and to the left. The feet are not felt. The second is the converse of the first. The third is distinguished from the first by the heart being more to the left and small parts more in front. Sometimes the chin can be felt. The fourth is recognized in a similar way.

Transverse presentations are known by the transverse lengthening of the uterus, absence of head or breech behind the symphysis, either or both of which are palpable elsewhere. If the back is anterior, it is resisting, and the heart easily heard more to the side where the head lies. If the back is posterior, the abdomen is more elastic, heart not easily heard, extremities usually felt anteriorly.

If the child is found, early in labor, in an oblique, not transverse, position, head to the one or other side of the pelvis, and we have the patient lie continuously on that side in which the head is found, the latter, which may be considered as the short