Resolved, That the several component societies forming this State Society, be requested to adopt these resolutions.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be mailed to the several life insurance companies that have reduced the fee from $5.00 to $3.00. At the Boston meeting of the American Medical Association, Doctor Mayo, in his presidential address, referred to the question of fees for life insurance examinations in the following terms:

"We come now to consider some abuses from which the physician suffers. It is a matter of professional pride that, in the general condemnation of the life insurance companies, although every other part of the control has been shown to be corrupt, no breath of scandal has touched the medical department. Yet the local examiner has the most cause of all to be dissatisfied. The New York Life, some years ago, cut the fee for examination forty per cent, apparently not as a matter of economy, for at that time the most corrupt practices existed, but rather to enable the agent more easily to pass 'new business' at any cost. This action has lately been imitated by the Equitable and some others and has resulted in forcing the resignation of many of their best examiners. The general officers have taken great credit on themselves for voluntarily reducing their salaries twenty per cent. It is a rank injustice that the one body of men who have emerged clean from the insurance scandals should suffer the most for the crimes of others. A thorough medical examination to prevent fraud by the admission of unsafe risks is essential. With few exceptions the line companies pay a fair fee and less should not be accepted. The casualty companies. such as the Maryland, are the worst offenders, and some concerted action should be taken to compel them to mend their evil ways."

Acting upon the suggestion of the President the following resolution was introduced and referred to the Committee on Miscellaneous Business:

Resolved, That a standing committee on insurance is hereby created to consist of five members, two of whom shall be the President and Secretary, and the other three to be nominated by the President and confirmed by this House of Delegates. It shall be th duty of the committee to consider the relations and duties of the medical profession of this country to the insurance business, both companies and policy holders to confer, treat and act with authorized representatives of any of these interests, and it is authorized to speak and act for the profession in all matters relating to its duties and to give publicity to its plans and purposes at any time through The Journal, or otherwise, as may be deemed best.

This committee, which includes, besides the President and Secretary, Doctors E. Elliot Harris, Albert D. Price, and William D. Haggard, submitted the following resolution to the House of Delegates:

Resolved, That a committee be created to consist of five members, two of whom shall be the President and the President-elect and the

other three to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the House of Delegates.

That they shall consider the insurance question in its relation to the medical profession, and it shall have power to act and confer with the representatives of the insurance companies and policy-holders on behalf of the medical profession represented by this Association.

It shall give publicity to its plans and purposes at any time in The Journal or as may be deemed best.

That the resolution of Doctor D. M. Work, of Colorado, asking for an endorsement in the matter of the examination fee question which has been confirmed by many county medical societies.

That the Committee recommends that it is in spirit with it; yet in view of the fact that a committee is created to deal with these questions, it asks that the resolution in question be referred to the Committee on Insurance.

The following Committee on Insurance was then appointed by the Chair:

John H. Musser, Pennsylvania, Chairman; William H. Mayo, Minnesota; Joseph N. MacCormack, Kentucky; Joseph D. Bryant, New York; Frank Billings, Illinois.

The resolution of Doctor Work alluded to in the resolutions of the Committee on Miscellaneous Business, is as follows:

Resolved, That the American Medical Association heartily endorses the action of many of its component county societies in their refusing to accept a reduction of the fees heretofore paid for life insurance. examinations by certain so-called old-line companies.

This is the status of the matter as considered by the Michigan State and American Medical Associations. At the seventh annual meeting of the American Association of Life Insurance Examining Surgeons, which was lately held in Boston, the question of fees was discussed. This association is composed of physicians who are closely identified with the present agitation, and consequently the following preambles and resolution, adopted by that body, will be of exceeding interest:

Whereas, It is generally understood by every practitioner throughout the country that the examiner who does his full duty must often cause the rejection of undesirable risks and the consequent loss of business to the company and of commissions to the soliciting agent; and,

Whereas, The interests of the insured and the welfare of the company represented by the examiner make it necessary for him to exercise his judgment, to make a careful differentiation of risks and to try by every means in his power to recommend only those applicants whose physical condition is up to the standard and whose examination discloses no undue influence which might prevent the living out of the estimated expectancy; and,

Whereas, Recent disclosures in connection with life insurance affairs have demonstrated (1) inexcusable negligence, (2) criminal carelessness, (3) dishonest practices on the part of the highest executive

officers, and a total abandonment of the responsibility always pertaining to a trusteeship, in a concerted effort for personal profit; therefore be it Resolved, That we favor the complete separation of the medical from the executive department of every mutual insurance company. We favor the election of the medical director in the same way and manner as the election of the executive officers, namely, by direct vote of the policy-holders.

We favor suitable legislation in all States, with a view of making this recommendation effective.

We depreciate the action on the part of certain state and country medical societies to assert that members shall be expelled from membership or shall be deprived of the privilege of consultation with their fellows unless they agree under no circumstances to make an examination for less than $5. We agree that a reduced fee is inadequate to the value of the service rendered, but we assert that no hardship should be imposed upon the individual practitioner. We favor in place of this, to enter an earnest protest against the attempt of certain companies to reduce the fee. We assert most positively that economy in insurance methods should not begin with the medical examiners-it should take cognizance of the irregularities-to use no harsher word-which the Armstrong investigation has brought to light. It should favor reform, but it must maintain an efficient corps of medical examiners, which is only possible by paying a fee to some degree commensurate with the importance of the service rendered.

MINOR INTELLIGENCE.

DOCTORS CHARLES D. AARON and Gilbert S. Field, two Detroit physicians, are in Europe.

THE next meeting of the American Medical Association will be held at Atlantic City, New Jersey.

THE Osteopathic licensing bill, which recently passed the New York Senate, was afterward revoked by the Assembly.

DOCTOR HAL C. WYMAN, of Detroit, and Miss Lulu Weeks, of Mount Vernon, New York, were united in marriage on June 12, at the home of the bride.

AN amalgamation of the old territorial medical associations of Oklahoma and Indian Territory has been effected, and the new organization will henceforth be known as the Oklahoma State Medical Association.

THIS year's meeting of the British Medical Association will be held in Toronto, Canada, from August 21 to 25. A large attendance is anticipated both from England and from the United States. The address in Medicine will be delivered by Sir James Barr, and the address in Surgery by Sir Victor Horsley.

DOCTOR F. F. WESTBROOK has been elected to the deanship of the Minnesota University department of medicine and surgery, vice Doctor Parks Ritchie, resigned.

DOCTOR GEORGE BLUMER, formerly professor of pathology and bacteriology in the Albany Medical College, has been appointed to fill the chair of medicine at Yale University.

A BILL appropriating a total of $350,000, or $50,000 annually for seven years, for the work of exterminating the mosquito has been signed by Governor Stokes of New Jersey.

THE Order of the Rising Sun has been conferred upon Doctor Jokichi Takamine, the well-known Japanese chemist of New York City, by His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.

PLAGUE continues to reap a fearful harvest in India. During the week ending April 28 over one thousand seven hundred deaths out of a possible twenty thousand cases were reported.

DOCTOR BACON, a prominent Connecticut physician who died recently, left a legacy of $100,000 to the Hartford Medical Society. The bequest will be utilized as an endowment fund.

DOCTOR THEODORE A. FELCH, of Ishpeming, has been appointed a member of the Michigan State Board of Registration in Medicine, vice Doctor Joseph B. Griswold, of Grand Rapids, resigned.

MAYOR MCCLELLAN, of New York City, has appointed a commission to cooperate with a like body from Jersey City in the establishment of protection of the waters of the harbor against pollution.

THE Health Department of Chicago will shortly gain possession of the eight municipal ambulances which have been under police control. The vehicles will then be under medical supervision.

THE new medical buildings of Harvard University will be dedicated this fall, the ceremonies being scheduled for September 25 and 26, 1906. Faculty invitations have already been issued to alumni.

DOCTOR ALBERT BECKET LAMP, formerly of Harvard University, has been appointed to the directorship of the Havemeyer Laboratory of Chemistry, New York University, vice Doctor Morris Loeb.

IN connection with the opening of the new cancer research laboratory at Heidelberg, an international congress on the subject is contemplated. The event will be held from September 24 to 27, 1906.

DOCTOR CHARLES W. PILGRIM, until recently superintendent of the Hudson River State Hospital, has been appointed to the presidency of the New York State Lunacy Commission, vice Doctor William Mabon, resigned.

THE great prevalence of typhoid in Pittsburg and vicinity has led the Pennsylvania Commissioner of Health to demand that the cities and villages situate on the tributaries of the Allegheny disinfect all refuse before dumping it into the streams.

THE American Journal of the Medical Science which, until recently, has been under the editorial control of Doctor Francis R. Packard, will henceforth be guided by Doctor Aloysius O. J. Kelly, who has been elevated to the editorial tripod.

PROFESSOR WILHELM OSTWALD has resigned the chair of chemistry at the University of Leipzig. Displeasure caused by the indifference of coworkers at the institution toward his chemical researches is said to be the reason for the relinquishment.

MILWAUKEE has an ordinance which compels physicians to report injuries which incapacitate the victom for a period of two weeks or longer. An average of more than one hundred seventy-five a month has been recorded thus far this year.

THE Lyman D. Morse Advertising Agency, well-known medical advertising purveyors, has increased its scope, and will henceforth be known as the Morse International Agency, with offices at 19 West Thirty-fourth Street, New York City.

THE effectiveness of the sanitary regime instituted by the Americans in the canal zone is apparent. According to the last official report, that region was infested with only one case of yellow fever, and disease of all kinds is rapidly being eradicated.

THE House of Representatives passed the Pure Food bill by a vote of 240 to 17 on the 23d instant. The enactment differs considerably from the original measure proposed by the senate, having been subjected to the adoption of several amendments.

THE recent death of Doctor Louis A. Wiegel, of Rochester, New York, from burns received in experimenting with the r-rays, should serve as a warning against undue exposure, especially of the hand, when operating radiographic apparatus.

THE Minnesota State Board of Health has decreed that henceforth tuberculous teachers shall not be employed, inasmuch as confinement in school buildings not only militates against the recovery of teachers but endangers the health of the children as well.

THE plaintiff in a damage suit which recently occurred in Nebraska was granted a verdict for $600 against a physician for injuries alleged to have been received in an x-ray examination for the detection of a vesical calculus. Damages to the extent of $6,000 were claimed.

DOCTOR JOHN J. MARKER has been reappointed general superintendent of the Wayne County Home at Eloise. Other positions filled by the Superintendents of the Poor are: assistant superintendent, Doctor William B. James; house physician, Doctor Romeo H. Earl.

A SOCIETY for the promotion of cremation has been formed in Belgium. Inasmuch as this method of disposal has not gained foothold to an appreciable degree in that country the new organization will conduct a campaign by means of lectures, tracts, expositions, et cetera.