ally exists which can properly be called new. Whatever is, always was, and must be old, and from the beginning.

Chemistry knows all. To her nothing is new. She simply now and then withdraws the veil which obscures the imperfect human vision, and reveals to her favorites, little by little, that which she may have before blazoned at noonday, in the pre-historic times, to her favored priests, who then kept alive the sacred fires upon the altars within her temples.

She has her favorites, and she lifts a corner of the curtain to such superb students as Edison, Tesla and Roentgen, from which come glances and flashes of a light incomparable and brighter than the noonday sun, to teach us how limited is the sum of present knowledge of the great truths of nature, and how little the wisest man does really know of what may be some day attainable and general human knowledge.

Truths are truths, entirely independent of human appreciation or perception, and the limitations of human knowledge do not offset, change or even modify them.

The knowledge of a few of the mysteries. of electricity furnished to mankind by the wizard Edison were truths before, and would have been truths had Edison died in his boyhood; and the quality of the cathode ray was neither changed nor modified by the genius of Roentgen in his recent discovery.

The microscope, the spectroscope, the marvels of photography; the ripe labors of the bacteriologist; the whole field of advance in antiseptic surgery; the wonderful inventive genius of man in the construction and adaptation of instruments and appliances for surgical work; electricity as a force in the delicate mechanics of surgery, and notably of the saw, with its almost incredible velocity, so admirable in delicate operations upon bone and cartilage, and of producing at will, and in exact locations, intense heat, not to enumerate many aids now at the ready surgeon's hands, place the surgeon of to-day on an immeasurable height above even the surgeon of 1861.

The railway surgeon then enters a field quite new in the domain of surgery in the past, but he is armed cap a pie and he has a great future.

The first railway was built after the close of the first quarter of our century. It was

a slow growth at first, but has become now, upon the American continent especially, the foremost factor in development and in the advancing march of civilization.

In surgery it has a field wholly its own. It represents and protects an enormous class, whom it treats in cases of accident, and whom it has to regard as well in preventing against accident, and in avoiding so far as possible by precautionary measures:

1. The employes of the railways.

2. The great public who travel upon them. The mission of railway surgery in the immediate future should be:

I. To arrive at the highest stage of excellence in ability to treat the injured.

2. To establish the hospital as a fixed system in railway service, the better to execute the first great duty, and to give to the most exposed class, the employe, the very highest and best surgical service combined with the greatest economy to both railway and sufferer, be he employe or passenger.

3. Prevention of injury upon railways so far as possible.

4. Improved sanitary measures in the interest of the general public in the transportation of passengers to prevent infection or the spread of contagious diseases.

Suture in Veins and Arteries.

Dr. Sabanyeff of Odessa reports two cases of this kind. In the first the suture was applied to the femoral vein wounded during incision of the inguinal glands; in the second to the femoral artery. In the latter case the patient died from the original disease, and Dr. Padalka found by microscopical examination that the healing of the wounded artery took place from without inward. Dr. Heidenhans (Centralblatt für Chirurgie) cites two previously recorded cases, one involving the com.. mon femoral and the other the common iliac. He reports an instance in his own experience, in which in removing cancerous glands from the armpit an incision was made in the main artery. The bleeding was arrested by digital compression and the edges of the arterial wound were brought together by a continuous suture of catgut. Bleeding was thus completely arrested. The lumen of the vessel was not apparently diminished. The sutures held in spite of strong arterial pulsation. The patient made a good recovery. The axillary ar tery could be felt pulsating along the whole extent of the armpit.-Medical Record.

The extremity terminals of our body are of special interest to the railway surgeon, first because they are the parts with which he has most frequently to deal; secondly, the injuries thereto are usually of the contused and lacerated variety; thirdly, the wounds are always primarily infected, and lastly, there is practically always a monetary element connected with the case and consequently with its result. While these points are in no sense new, we desire to call attention to the increasing conservafism which our present methods and means of treatment of wounds unquestionably justifies.

At a recent surgical convention the subject of hand injuries were generally discussed, and some of the results reported were quite remarkable. Conservatism was the unanimous verdict. There can be no doubt but that the very free blood supply of the hand, like that of the face, better fortifies these tissues against the invasion of pathogenic micro-organisms than other parts of the body. And it is also unfortunately a fact that in no part of the body

are the effects of suppuration more disastrous than in the hands. While we are favored, then, by nature as to the probability of sepsis, our patients are especially endangered by the character of their occupation and by our failure to secure asepsis. As to our duty to the unfortunate whose future is to a certain extent in our care, there would seem to be no doubt, regardless of the pecuniary considerations of the case. It resolves itself into the simple question of right and wrong. It is right to preserve, and wrong to destroy, that which can be saved, and if there is any question as to the viability of the tissues of these parts, the cause of humanity demands that the injured party be given the benefit of that doubt. This general proposition should be qualified by a certain element of expediency, and that is providing the parts can be rendered useful. A stiff finger or one devoid of its flexor tendons is a menace to both the hand and life of the average railway employe, and therefore it is as positively wrong to save a useless finger as it is to unnecessarily sacrifice parts of a doubtful one. The determining element of the viability of an injured tissue is the circulation, and while nature is the great restorer, uncleanliness is its greatest antagonist. The teachings of the day are cleanliness at the cost of any amount of time and regardless of the discomfort to the patient. With absolute cleanliness secured at the first dressing practically all of the danger disappears. In parts so readily accessible as the hands and feet, thorough cleansing and absolute disinfection would seem to be easily obtainable, and yet we are reluctantly convinced that the large majority of wounds of these members are allowed to suppurate even in these, the closing days of the nineteenth century. Our books and journals are full of new powders and solutions for the easy securance of asepsis, but the circumstances under which nine-tenths, if not more, of the injuries are treated, render short routes impracticable. It matters not whether we use chemical antiseptics or not, as long as we secure asepsis, but usually some potent germicide, in addition to mechanical measures, will make our disinfection more certain. By maintaining asepsis there is absolutely no danger in attempts at conservatism, even with necrosis of large areas

of tissues.

In railway employes the question of

usefulness of the parts should invariable be given precedence, whereas in those whose occupations do not entail any danger the cosmetic effect should very properly be given full consideration and under some circumstances even to the extent of saving useless members.

The Northern Pacific Hospital at Missoula.

The last issue of the Railway Age says: The Railway Age is a thorough believer in the advantages of a properly organized sur

the need of special hospitals for the employes of the companies is less apparent, but in the east also the railway hospital is gaining ground, and it is unlikely that in the near future any railway of any considerable size will be without its own hospital and its own corps of surgeons, under the direction of a chief surgeon, who should be as much an officer of the company as the general superintendent or the chief engineer. The work which has been done and is being done by the National Association of Railway Surgeons has gone a long way to impress on railway men in general the importance of this branch of railway

gical service on a railroad, in the hospital system and in beneficial and relief associations. If the three can be combined in one organization so that the employes who are members of the relief or beneficial association have some voice and ownership in the management of the hospitals, so much the better. Most of the larger companies of the west know by experience the advantages of having their own hospitals, for it is an advantage to the company as well as a blessing to the men. On eastern roads which, for the most part, run through well populated districts where adequate hospital facilities are always at hand in the frequent towns along the lines,

management, just as it has impressed on the medical profession the right of "railway sur gery" to be regarded as a distinct department of surgical science.

One of the prosperous and well regulated beneficial associations of the country is that of the Northern Pacific, the chief hospital being located at Missoula, Mont., under charge of Dr. J. J. Buckley. We give an illustration of the hospital building herewith. In a letter to the editors of The Railway Age, written at the end of September, Dr. Buckley said: "I only regret that I cannot show you the beautiful grounds filled with flowers and surrounded by fine trees."

Notes of Societies.

The Western Surgical and Gynecological Association.

The fifth annual meeting of the Western Surgical and Gynecological Association will be held at Topeka, Kan., Monday and Tuesday, December 28 and 29, 1896. The secretary, Dr. H. E. Pearce, desires us to extend to all regular physicians and surgeons a cordial invitation to be present and take a part in the proceedings.

Topeka is a delightful city, noted for its hospitality, and the local profession have arranged for the entertainment of all who will

come. A strong programme is assured. Opening session at I p. m., December 28.

American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, at its ninth annual meeting, held at Richmond, Va., elected the following named officers for the ensuing year, namely: President, James F. W. Ross, M. D., Toronto; vice-presidents, George Ben Johnston, M. D., Richmond, and John C. Sexton, M. D., Rushville, Ind.; secretary, William Warren Potter, M. D., Buffalo; treasurer, Xavier O. Werder, M. D., Pittsburg. Executive council: Charles A. L. Reed, M. D., Cincinnati; Lewis S. McMurtry, M. D., Louisville; A. Vander Veer, M. D., Albany; J. Henry Carstens, M. D., Detroit; and William E. B. Davis, M. D., Birmingham.

The next annual meeting was appointed to be held at the Cataract House, Niagara Falls, N. Y., Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, August 17, 18, 19 and 20, 1897.

Meeting of Wabash Surgeons.

The annual meeting of the Wabash Railway Surgeons' Association was held at St. Louis, Mo., November 5, and many prominent physicians from six states, who are connected with the Wabash road in a professional capacity, attended.

President E. R. Lewis of Kansas City presided at the sessions. In the afternoon General Manager Ramsey was present and made a brief congratulatory speech.

The following scientific programme was carried out:

"Traumatic Abscess of the Brain, with Report of Four Cases," by Dr. W. A. McCandless, St. Louis, Mo.

"Dislocation of Cervical Vertebra-Report

of a Case," by Dr. O. P. McDonald, Keokuk, Iowa.

"Therapeutic Value of Venesection in Disease and Injury," by Dr. J. W. Young, Bloomfield, Iowa.

"Fractures of the Patella," by J. W. Jennings, Millersburg, Ind.

A Paper-title not given, by Dr. W. H. Myers, Fort Wayne, Ind.

"Suppuration," by Dr. W. S. Powell, Defiance, Ohio.

"The Value of Drainage and Irrigation in Septic Inflammation, with Report of Cases," by Dr. T. B. Campbell, West Lebanon, Ind.

"Diagnosis and Treatment of Gunshot Injuries of the Abdomen," by Dr. T. F. Martin, Brunswick, Mo.

seph Pogue, Edwardsville, Ill. "Operation for Empyema," by Dr. Jo

"One Hundred and Eighty-Four Operations for Radical Cure of Hernia," by Dr. E. W. Andrews, Chicago, Ill.

"A Plea for Incineration of the Dead," by Dr. B. Lincoln, Missouri City, Mo.

"Treatment of Inoperable Malignant Disease by Hypodermic Injection of Erysipelas and Prodigiosess Toxines-Peritonitis," by Dr. J. A. Weitz, Montpelier, Ohio.

"Abscess of the Liver After Appendicitis," by Dr. H. C. Howard, Champaign, Ill.

Papers promised but titles not sent to the secretary, by Dr. R. Gillaspy, La Plata, Mo. Volunteer papers and report of cases, by Dr. W. R. Schussler, Orland, Ill.

Prophets Not Without Honor.

The Medical Record reminds us that when the Crown Prince Frederick of Germany was suffering from carcinoma of the larynx, he sent to England for a laryngologist; that when the Czar of Russia was ill he had his own physician, but sent to Berlin for a consultant, and says that now Queen Victoria is suffering from failing vision and has sent to Germany for an oculist, Doctor Pagenstecher of Wiesbaden, to examine her eyes. It is said, in explanation, that there is a pamphlet in circulation in which many of the leading oculists in England are spoken of in disparaging terms, and it is intimated that the Queen is influenced by that to send abroad for advice.

Carrier Pigeons in Medical Practice.

A doctor in the highlands of Scotland, whose patients are scattered over a wide district, takes carrier pigeons with him on his rounds and sends his prescriptions by them to the apothecary. He leaves pigeons, too, with distant families, to be let loose when his services are needed.-Chicago Medical Recorder.

It is with sincere regret that we chronicle the death of our distinguished fellow and ex-president, Dr. James Bissett Murdock of Pittsburg, Pa. He died at his home October 29. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, October 16, 1830, and was therefore 66 years of age. He graduated from the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1854 and was an interne in Bellevue Hospital. From 1855 to 1872 he practiced at Elmira, N. Y., the home of his father, the Rev. David Murdock, D. D., but since that time has lived and worked in Pittsburg. He was a member of the Oswego County Medical Society and was its president in 1865; of the New York State Medical Society; of the Allegheny County Medical Society; of the Pittsburg Academy of Medicine and School of Anatomy, of which he was president in 1877; of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, of which he was president in 1888, and of the American Medical Association. He was president of the National Association of Railway Surgeons in 1889. During the War of the Rebellion he was brigade surgeon-inchief in the Twenty-fourth New York Volunteers. He was a member of the Grand Army, of the Loyal Legion, a trustee of the Pennsylvania College for Women, and late Dean of the Western Pennsylvania Medical College. He was a frequent contributor to medical literature and wrote well and wisely. We hope to publish a fitting obituary later.

The Wabash Railway Company has just completed a new hospital at Peru, Ind., of which it is very proud. It is of brick in the form of an octagon with wings, covering an area of 198x123 feet. It is two stories in height with an observatory and tower. The hospital will accommodate 100 patients, and aside from the usual hospital appointments is provided with reading rooms and reception rooms for the use of the patients and their friends.

Commendable Testimony in a Malpractice Trial.

The Wiener Klinische Rundschau for August 16 summarizes an account of a malpractice case from a journal that it calls "N. Fr. Pr.," which may or may not mean Neue Freie Presse. It appears that the physician against whom the action was brought had been called to attend a woman in childbirth, and had undertaken some operation which he considered necessary, but had found himself obliged to leave it unfinished and send the patient into a hospital. There an operation was performed and the woman died on the following day. At the post-mortem examination a laceration of the internal organs was found, also a foul canal, and it was concluded that the

In the complaint the physician was charged with having displayed lack of skill in the operation.

Two expressions of opinion, says the account, were of noteworthy weight in the case. On the strength of Professor von Hofmann's necropsy, the judge held it to have been shown that the woman's injuries must have been inflicted before she entered the hospital, and that the physician's operative procedure was not in accordance with the rules of the obstetric art. Professor Schauta gave expert testimony as follows: "The first question is that of whether the operation was indicated, and to that I must answer yes. In this case I should have done the same thing myself; it accords perfectly with the rules of obstetrics. This I must maintain here in direct opposition to Professor von Hofmann's opinion. The woman's physician, to be sure, inflicted the injury with his instrument. But now comes the question, Is that pardonable or not? As to that, I must say that apparently the instrument deviated from its position in consequence of some slight movement on the part of the patient. The circumstances of private practice in such a case are peculiarly embarrassing. In hospital practice we anesthetize the patient and she lies perfectly still. In this instance, however, there was no assistance but that of the midwife. I may remark that all of us, from the first to the least, are often so situated as to have to say with regard to mishaps: Something has happened that might have been avoided. There are disastrous occurrences that are due to the extraordinary difficulties of obstetrics. The present case was one of misadventure, and surely it is not to be attributed to the physician's negligence or ignorance."

The Rundschau commends Prof. Schauta's testimony from every point of view, and so do we.-N. Y. Medical Journal.

Strangulation of the Penis by an Iron Screw-nut.

Weinlechner (Wien. klin. Wochenschr., No. 24, 1896) reported to the Vienna Medical Society the case of a boy of 14, who, having passed his penis through the lumen of a screwnut two days before admission, had been unable to withdraw it. The peripheral portion was much swollen, and the foreskin very œdematous, but micturition was not arrested. The hexagonal nut was 3.2 cm. in diameter by 2.3 in thickness, the lumen was nearly 2 cm. across. His father had tried to remove it with a file.

Four greased strips of linen were passed through the nut on four sides of the hexagon, and by traction on these while the central end of the organ was kept steady the nut was drawn off. The excoriation and swelling soon disappeared.