to himself. Selection is not always in a position to adapt man and animals to the altering conditions of life. This is particularly well seen in the infective diseases. The infections are numerous, and the dangers of spread are much increased through the habits and customs of modern life. Phagocytosis is only a vital manifestation of cells, which has for its object their nutrition. If particles or bacteria are not suited for the nutrition of these cells they are thrown off again. Thus in infective disease processes occur which are adapted for the protection of the individual; but others also exist which favor the bacteria or the causes of disease. In diphtheria, tetanus, cholera, the most potent and useful event lies in the production of substances antagonistic to the bacterial poisons. The knowledge of these processes has contributed greatly to the prevention and treatment of disease. It would be wrong to assume that such active bodies are present in all infective processes. In conclusion, pathological processes must be divided into the useful and the harmful, of which the former are to be promoted and the latter hindered. Further advances on these lines are to be expected in the future, but those advances are not made by applying the results of observations obtained in one infective disease indiscriminately to all other diseases.-Brit. Med. Jour.

DISEASES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

Ectopic Pregnancy of Old Date. Fort (L'Abeille Med.) relates that a woman who ten years previously had thought herself pregnant, and had appiled for the help of a midwife at her expected term, had latterly suffered a great deal from the troubles caused by a hard tumor which had existed ever since her supposed pregnancy. His diagnosis was fibroma of the ovary, instead of which he found a fetus. Denis, in a laparotomy done. on account of vesical and intestinal troubles, found a fetus that had been twelve years in the abdominal cavity without showing signs of maceration or forming a lithopedion. The death of the fetus had not caused any particular symptoms, not even labor pains.

Placenta in Ectopic Gestation.-Vignard (Sem. Med.), in two cases where a dead fetus was extracted, fixed the sac to the lower end of the wound, leaving the placenta. A few strands of gauze were loosely packed in the sac, and withdrawn at the end

of the third or fourth day. Afterwards the cavity of the sac was left quite untouched, and the orifice simply dressed with the rest of the abdominal wound. No evil results ensued, and the placenta in each case was slowly absorbed.

Pyosalpinx Bursting in Pregnancy. — Fabricius ( Wiener medizin. Presse) operated on a patient five months pregnant, who was admitted into hospital with symptoms of acute peritonitis. When the peritoneum was opened the right tube was found dilated and ruptured, much pus escaping into the peritoneum. Drainage was established, but was naturally unsatisfactory, and the patient became worse. Artificial abortion was therefore induced by means of a bougie. Drainage thus became easy, and the patient soon recovered, but a fistulous track remained when the patient was exhibited at a society.

Hematoma of the Vulva after Normal Labor.-Lefranc (Abeille Medicale) detected a hematoma of the right labium majus two hours after delivery. It grew rapidly larger under the eyes of the observer, extending to the anus and the Douglas' pouch. It was laid open, and packed with iodoform gauze. The forceps had not been used. The patient was free from cardiac or vascular disease, and there was no trace of varix, no narrowness of the vagina, and no contraction of the pelvis. Most probably the vagina (which was involved in the hematoma) had become detached from the subjacent tissues to a considerable extent..

Uremia in Pregnancy without Eclampsia. — Levitsky (Annales de Gynéc. et d'Obstét.) noted symptoms of uremia in a primapara a month before delivery. It would appear that labor was normal; on the second day of childbed, however, the patient became semi-comatose and perfectly blind. The urine contained casts, and was highly albuminous. Notwithstanding these formidable symptoms no convulsions occurred. The patient recovered speedily. Thus, says Levitsky, uremia alone does not cause puerperal eclampsia.

SURGERY.

A Ring on Penis Fourteen Years.—An extraordinary case of a ring buried in the penis for fourteen years has recently been reported. In September last Dr. Leflaive was called to a patient who complained of not being able to urinate except by drops and

with exquisite suffering. On being questioned, the patient confessed that when twelve years old, at school, he passed his penis. through a brass curtain-ring, when the organ swelled considerably, so that the ring could not be withdrawn. In spite of his sufferings the boy kept the matter quiet. By degrees the ring ate its way through the skin into a circular groove, and in course of time the parts healed completely over it, so that it was lost to sight, his sufferings being all the while almost intolerable. Twelve years afterward the patient married, but at the first attempt to fulfill his marital duties the penis became greatly inflamed and contact very painful. He bore valiantly with his infirmity for two years longer, but at last had to appeal for medical aid. When examined, the prepuce and the glans were found to be enormously swollen and of a plegmonous aspect. It was impossible to find the meatus, and all attempts at catheterism. increased the agony. About the middle of the penis could be seen a circular white band representing a cicatrix, and at this point could be felt the ring, embracing the cavernous bodies. After having chloroformed the patient, Leflaive made a longitudinal incision through the dense cicatricial tissue, which gave issue to a certain amount of pus; at the bottom of the wound could be seen the ring. A director was passed under it, and the foreign body was cut through by means of bone forceps, and thus removed. The patient recovered quickly. Nowhere else in the annals of medicine can be found a case of a metallic ring thus buried for so long a period without calling for surgical interence. Medical Press and Circular.

Treatment of Hemorrhoids by Whitehead's Method. — Delorme (Méd. Mod.), at the Tenth Congress of the French Surgical Association, spoke very favorably of Whitehead's treatment of hemorrhoids, which he regards as the method of election in cases of large internal or extero-internal piles forming a prominent circular mass. In eighteen cases thus treated by the author the results were very satisfactury, as the operation was followed by primary union, exact apposition of the skin and mucous membrane, the formation of a supple and dilatable cicatrix, and freedom from both retention and incontinence. The cure is a radical one provided the gut be incised above the zone of venous dilatation. The immediate hemorrhage, though sometimes

embarrassing, is rarely profuse. The following are regarded as indispensable conditions of the success of Whitehead's operation: The incision to be made above the limits of the affected mucous membrane; the selection of a strong suture; careful preservation of the sphincters, especially the external; the maintenance of absolute rest of the perirectal muscles until the complete development of firm union.

DISEASES OF THE NOSE, THROAT AND EARS.

Therapy in Acute Rhinitis. Dr. H. J. Mulford (Am. Medico-Surgical Bulletin) states that he has been able to break up or cure a cold within twenty-four hours by prescribing podophyllin, gr., or calomel, gr., every hour for five hours, and powders or tablets containing lithium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, to be taken in water every three hours. The author further says: "It is readily seen, after understanding acute rhinitis, why the classical treatment fails. Drugs that encourage a certain condition do not cure that condition; and a method which employs such drugs is irrational. We must conclude, therefore, that the classical treatment of acute rhinitis is irrational."-Laryngoscope.

Dobell's Solution.-Dr. Edw. Pynchon (Annals of Ophthal and Otology) gives twenty different formula for this popular alkaline solution, and then adds his own as follows:

First mix and triturate the two salts and place same in a onegallon bottle, adding one-half of the glycerine; let stand twentyfour hours uncorked, with frequent agitations. Add remainder of glycerine, and let stand again uncorked, with frequent agitations for twenty-four hours. Lastly add the listerine, and let stand for twenty-four hours, when it is ready for use. By the admixture of the glycerine with the salts a foaming" is produced, which means a liberation of carbon dioxide and the production of a glycerole. Dilute one ounce of the mixture to one pint of water.-Laryngoscope.

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Effect of Drugs on the Secretion From the Tracheal Mucous Membrane.-The following is a summary of the author's work (James Calvert, Jour. of Phys., 1896, XX., Nos. 2 and 3, pp. 157-164.):

1. Alkalies increase secretion.

2. Potassium iodide increases secretion.

3. Emetine markedly increases secretion.

4. Saponin in small doses does not increase secretion; in large doses it diminishes secretion.

5. Cold when applied to abdomen increases secretion.

6. Heat when applied to abdomen diminishes secretion. Am. Med-Surg. Bulletin.

Notes on the Electrical Variations Generated in the Acoustic Nerve by Sound.-Drs. H. Beauregard and E. Duprey state that the object of these experiments was to determine the limits of auditory sensation in animals (Bulletin de la Societe de Biologie, 1896). They employed for this purpose the galvanometer of D'Arsonval with a micro-metric scale, which permits very feeble currents to be recognized. These experi

ments were made in frogs.

The acoustic nerve having been exposed, it was divided and an electrode applied to the section and another to the tympanum. The electrodes were attached by a thread of copper to the galvanometer. The section of the nerve gave rise to a perceptible current, which was accentuated by the action of noises when these were made near to the nerve. Shrill noises had more effect than grave ones. These experiments were verified in other animals. F. M. R.

OPHTHALMOLOGY.

Lemon in Ophthalmia Neonatorum.-Jozef Szawelski (Gazeta Lekarska) fully endorses Pinard's statement that instillation of a few drops of fresh lemon juice into a newborn infant's eyes, immediately after birth, is an excellent means of preventing purulent ophthalmia. The instillation is said to be quite painless. As a rule the juice does not cause any conjunctival irritation. Only now and then there may appear slight catarrhal phenomena, which, however, quickly subside without any treatThe writer emphasizes such advantages of the method as its simplicity, harmlessness, etc.

ment.