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those which are remote. Horace, in one of his most famous poems, satirized this weakness centuries ago.

The hardships spoken of are of course seen in their most aggravated degree in remote and but newly-settled sections. We obtain an interesting insight into such an experience in a paper published in the Medical Age by P. A. Walling, M. D., and entitled "Pioneer Practice of Medicine in the Northwest."

The writer began life, he says, in a country "shantie," and except during professional study has lived only in the country. He went to the place of his residence within two years of its settlement, when it was fifty miles from a railroad and fifteen from a postoffice. His territory extended ten by fifty miles and the temperature varied from 55° below zero in the winter to 100° above in the summer. He has often been called out of bed at 3 A. M., hitched up his horse and ridden eight or a dozen miles in a fierce blast at a temperature 40° below zero.

Books, journals and medical societies were almost unknown luxuries, for mouths had to be filled and clothing was a heavy item of expense. He was expected to know everything about his profession. He was compelled to meet alone and without counsel the most trying emergencies of life. The rewards were largely those of the mens conscia recti. When collection time came, oats, hay, flour, potatoes, meat, wood, straw, work, and in fact almost anything, had to be accepted in lieu of money, which came in only exceptionally.

The pioneer physician was not expected to have an office, the sitting-room serving for that purpose. A dry goods box, or if that could not be obtained, the floor, served for a book case; instruments were carried in the pocket, whilst those used for sawing the wood and cutting the breakfast bacon were resorted to for amputations. The horse which carried him to see his patients also drew his wood and ploughed his garden. His leisure time was occupied in cutting wood, hoeing corn, cultivating pumpkins and potatoes, building fences, improving the lawn and repairing buildings. When through the day's work and his horse has been fed and the wood cut for his frugal breakfast, he retires early, perhaps to commence the next day's work at midnight.

Time works its changes and the telegraph and railroad and civilization bring the wished.

for blessings and make the practice of medicine less and less onerous.

That such a life does not necessarily harden one's feelings and deprive him of faith in humanity, we learn from the assurances of Dr. Walling, who enters a plea for the brother who, discouraged by his hard lot, takes refuge in the flowing bowl or the narcotic. And as he says, may we not derive fresh courage from the knowledge that there are always true men who honor the honest physician who strives to do his duty even under the discouraging surroundings of pioneer life?

The Use of the Telephone.

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WE have often been struck with the annoyance to which our friends, the druggists, are subjected by the use of their telephones by the public generally-for it is not confined to the patrons. It is no uncommon thing for the telephone to be used for long, frivolous and entirely useless conversations, while frequently the druggist and his assistants are called upon to convey the message themselves. Why should the public not pay for this as it does for other things which it requires and uses? Were a small fee required, it would, we doubt not, promote dispatch and save the annoyance and loss of time required by the necessary supervision of the telephone. Some such arrangement as that which is about to be introduced in Chicago seems called for. There a dime-in-theslot attachment is to be added to all public telephones, so that in every case ten cents must be deposited before the number called for will be connected.

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An addition will be built to Roosevelt Hospital, New York, to cost $150,000.

Sir John Tomes, F. R. S., the father of the dental profession in England, died July 29, aged 80.

Dr. Bedford Brown of Alexandria has treated 150 cases of smallpox with a mortality of not over 3 per cent. by the internal use of tinct. ferri chloridi.

Damages of $175 were awarded the plaintiff in Boston lately, for the negligent delivery by a drug clerk of salts of tartar instead of rochelle salts as ordered.

Dr. A. H. Doty, Health Officer of the Port of New York, has recently set sail for Tampa, en route for Havana for the purpose of study. ing on the ground the Cuban management of yellow fever.

At Pesaro on the Adriatic, Dr. Giacomo Asiari attained his hundreth year on the 29th July, 1895. He received his diploma at Florence, 1821. Since 1861 he has enjoyed a "serene and honored" old age, subject only to a long standing neuritis.

An interesting comparison has been made between the number of physicians practicing in civilized and uncivilized countries. Thus New York City has 3500 physicians for her 2,000,000. China has twelve hospitals and twenty-five physicians for 400,000,000.

Dr. Frederic M. Warner reports twenty cases of intubation (New York Medical Record) with six recoveries; ten were treated with calomel sublimation in addition, three recovering. The other treatment was iron, bichloride and stimulants with local application of peroxide of hydrogen.

In a recent discussion on cancer of the uterus in London, Lusk, Playfair and Sinclair of Manchester declared that they had no faith in the microscope in the diagnosis; Martin of Berlin, and Taylor of Birmingham, on the other hand, placed absolute reliance on it. Taylor called attention to blood on the examining finger as a most valuable clinical sign.

At Liberty, N. Y., there will soon be built a new rural retreat for consumptives, for which purpose $20,000 has been contributed by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. The location has a high reputation for salubrity and attractiveness. Its easy accessibility to a large population, needing a sanitary retreat less remote from the metropolitan district than are the Adirondacks, will tend to build it up even more rapidly than that on the Saranac.

A training school for nurses was opened September 9, at the Western Maryland Hospital in Cumberland, with an address by Rev. J. E. Moffat. The lecturers, each of whom will deliver one lecture a week, are Drs. H. W. Hodgson, J. A Twigg, E. T. Duke, W. F. Twigg, H. B. Miller, C. H. Brace and Mrs. Florence Wilton. Mrs. Wilton is a graduate of a New York school and has been engaged by the Board of Directors to give instruction on special nursing.

Mrs. Henry D. Polhemus has presented to the Long Island College Hospital as a memorial of her husband, who was one of its regents, and one of its early benefactors when it needed help to prevent closure, a building which will be both a dispensary and a medical college combined. It will be situated on the corner of Henry and Amity Streets, directly opposite the present college structure. The plans are now being prepared, and it will be ready for occupancy in September, 1896, when the graded course adopted by the college goes into effect. The estimated cost of property and building is $250,000 and there will also be given $250,000 additional for permanent maintenance.

PUBLIC SERVICE.

OFFICIAL LIST OF CHANGES IN THE STATIONS AND DUTIES OF MEDICAL OFFICERS.

UNITED STATES ARMY.

Week ending September 16, 1895.

Major Henry M. Cronkhite, Surgeon, will report in person to the president of the Army retiring board to convene at Chicago, Illinois, on October 8, 1895, at such time as he may designate, for examination for retirement.

Leave of absence for one month from the date of his relief from duty at Fort Logan, Colorado, is granted Captain Louis A. LaGarde, Assistant Surgeon.

So much of Special Order 202, Adjutant General's Office, August 29, 1895, as relieves First Lieutenant Charles E. B. Flagg, Assistant Surgeon, from duty at Angel Island, California, and assigns him to duty at Fort Hancock, Texas, is revoked.

Upon abandonment of Fort Bufort, North Dakota, Captain Edward C. Carter, Assistant Surgeon, will report for duty at Fort Harrison, Montana.

First Lieutenant Charles F. Kieffer, Assistant Surgeon, when his services are no longer needed at Fort Buford, will be relieved from duty at that post, and will report for duty at Fort Omaha, Nebraska.

So much of the order as directs First Lieutenant Francis A. Winter, Assistant Surgeon, on being relieved from duty at Fort Hancock, Texas, by Lieutenant Flagg, to report for duty at Fort Grant, Arizona, is amended to direct him to so report upon the abandonment of Fort Hancock.

So much of Special Order, 112, Adjutant General's Office, May 13, 1895, as directs Captain Charles Richard, Assistant Surgeon, to take station at St. Louis, Mo., for duty as Attending Surgeon and Examiner of Recruits, in that city, is revoked and upon the expiration of his present leave of absence, he is ordered to Fort Brady, Michigan, for duty, relieving Captain William B. Davis, Assistant Surgeon. Captain Davis, on being thus relieved, will proceed to, and take station in New York City, for duty as Attending Surgeon and Examiner of Recruits, relieving Captain William H. Corbusier, Assistant Surgeon. Captain Corbusier, on being thus relieved, is ordered to Fort Monroe, Virginia, for duty at that post.

UNITED STATES NAVY.

For one Week ending September 14, 1895. Surgeon J. L. Neilson detached from the United States Receiving Ship "Wabash" and to the United States Ship "Maine."

Passed Assistant Surgeon V. C. B. Means from Naval Hospital, New York, and to the United States Ship "Maine."

Assistant Surgeon T. W. Richards from the United States Receiving Ship "Minnesota " and to the United States Ship "Maine."

Surgeon D. O. Lewis from the United States Ship "Mohican" and to the United States Ship "Marion."

Passed Assistant Surgeon J. E. Page from the United States Ship "Philadelphia" and to the Mare Island Hospital.

Assistant Surgeon R. K. Smith from the United States Receiving Ship "Vermont" and to the United States Ship "Philadelphia."

Medical Director A. L. Gihon detached from the Naval Hospital, Washington, D. C., and placed on Retired List September 28.

Medical Inspector Geo. A. Bright detached from the Navy Yard, New York, and to Naval Hospital, Washington, D. C.

Surgeon B. F. Stephenson detached from the Marine Rendezvous, Boston, and to the ་ Wabash." United States Receiving Ship Passed Assistant J. F. Urie ordered to the Marine Rendezvous, Boston, Mass.

Surgeon J. M. Steele detached from Marine Rendezvous, New York, and to the Torpedo Station, Newport.

Surgeon L. G. Heneberger ordered to Marine Rendezvous, New York, in addition to present duties.

Assistant Surgeon J. H. Moore detached and from the United States Ship "Atlanta" ordered to the United States Training Ship "Constellation."

Passed Assistant Surgeon Philip Leach ordered to the Naval Hospital, New York.

UNITED STATES MARINE SERVICE.

Sixteen days ending August 31, 1895.

B. W. Brown, Passed Assistant Surgeon, detailed as Recorder Board for physical examination of candidate Revenue Cutter Service, August 30, 1895.

E. K. Sprague detailed as Recorder Board for physical examination of Officer Revenue Cutter Service, August 22, 1895.

BOOK REVIEWS.

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HAYEM & HARE'S PHYSICAL AND NATURAL THERAPEUTICS.- Physical and Natural Therapeutics. The Remedial Use of Heat, Electricity, Modifications of Atmospheric Pressure, Climates and Mineral Waters. By George Hayem, M. D., Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine of Paris. Edited with the assent of the author, by Hobart Amory Hare, M. D., Professor of Therapeutics in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. In one handsome octavo volume of 414 pages, with 113 engravings. Cloth, $3.00. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & Co., Publishers, 1895.

The progressive American practitioner has long felt the need of such an aid as this vol

ume proves to be. Scattered about in the most fragmentary manner heretofore have been the observations upon the subjects which the author has here gathered into a concise and practical form. Every observant and thoughtful physician grows more and more into the belief that "for many diseases the most potent remedies lie outside the Materia Medica;" and that "physical agencies when compared with drugs are more direct and simple in their results." The section on Climate has been rewritten with the view of presenting more intelligibly the abundant resources of our own country; likewise the section on Medical Electricity. Another special feature of value to the busy practitioner is the Therapeutic Index, by means of which the therapeutic applications for any disease treated in the work may readily be referred to.

HARE'S TEXT-BOOK OF PRACTICAL THERAPEUTICS.— A Text-Book of Practical Therapeutics; With Especial Reference to the Application of Remedial Measures to Disease and their Employment upon a Rational Basis. By Hobart Amory Hare, M. D., Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. With special chapters by Drs. G. E. de Schweinitz, Edward Martin and Barton C. Hirst. New (fifth) edition, thoroughly revised. In one octavo volume of 740 pages. Cloth, $3.75; leather, $4.75. Philadelphia: Lea Brothers & Co., Publishers, 1895.

This is a most serviceable book and should be in the hands of every practitioner. Four editions of the publication have already been exhausted within four or five years and the present or fifth edition has been brought down to date through careful revision and the addition of new chapters and the discussion of the antitoxin treatment of diphtheria A more practical work will hardly be found. The contents are classified under four general divisions; part first being devoted to general therapeutical considerations; the second part to drugs, the third to remedial measures other than drugs, embracing foods for the sick, and the fourth part to diseases, symptoms, varieties, treatment, etc. The author's purpose is clearly indicated in his plan to bring the knowledge of remedial agents into close relation with a knowledge of disease. A most useful feature is the Therapeutical Index, in which all the remedies are listed under the headings of the several diseases.

CURRENT EDITORIAL COMMENT.

SCHOOL TEMPERANCE LAW.

Archives of Pediatrics.

IT is certainly irrational to endeavor to teach children who are learning their letters the physiological effects of alcohol - an element which disturbs stomach, liver, kidneys and nervous system. Physiology is properly a high-school study, and forty lessons a year by teachers more or less incompetent, to little children at their A, B, C's, would be ridiculous if it were not actually wrong.

ENTERIC FEVER.

The Philadelphia Polyclinic.

IN seventy-five cases out of one hundred of typhoid fever, the patients left to themselves, without interference on the part of physician or nurse, will get well. In seventy cases out of one hundred, typhoid fever patients will survive poor medication, provided they have good nursing; and in sixty-five cases out of one hundred, they will probably survive even bad medication and bad nursing.

BICYCLING.

American Medico Surgical Bulletin. WHILE the bicycle is no doubt doing a tremendous amount of good mentally, physically, and morally, it is a much abused exercise. ... Women, as a rule, ride better than men; they sit better as to position, ride carefully and not too fast, and, as a rule, know when to stop. Women meet with comparatively few accidents, and are generally much benefited by the exercise. It has opened a new field for them which is of great promise. FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Medical Age.

ORTHODOX medicine for a half-century has sedulously ignored that wing of the profession known as Homeopathic; and yet the fact remains that to this body of practitioners medicine owes many debts, not the least of which are palatable therapeutics, and the administration of remedies for their continuous effects. Homeopathy has won many men of the highest standing to its ranks, and this truth cannot be downed by the cry of charlatanism. A natural query, then, arises as to whether more is hidden behind the title than appears on the surface. Is it possible homeopathy embodies a natural law in therapeutics that is entirely ignored by us of the more orthodox branch?

PUBLISHERS' DEPARTMENT.

All letters containing business communications, or referring to the publication, subscription, or advertising department of this Journal, should be addressed as undersigned.

The safest mode of remittance is by bank check or postal money order, drawn to the order of the Maryland Medical Journal; or by Registered letter. The receipt of all money is immediately acknowledged.

Advertisements from reputable firms are respectfully solicited. Advertisements also received from all the leading advertising agents. Copy, to ensure insertion the same week, should be received at this office not later than Monday.

Physicians when communicating with advertisers concerning their articles will confer a favor by mentioning this Journal.

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TINCTURE of iodine of double strength, or one drachm to the ounce of ninety-five per cent. alcohol, when thoroughly applied by means of a feather, or better, by a camel's hair pencil, to boils, etc., will relieve all pain and shorten the stages of suppuration more than one-half.

FOR all forms of nephritis, an ointment is recommended, consisting of vaseline three ounces, and nitrate of pilocarpine one and one-half grains. This ointment should be well rubbed into the skin for several weeks. If there is uremia this treatment is contra-indicated; otherwise, its employment gives marked relief at once.

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WHEN inflammatory iridectomy is the only treatment to be considered, it should be done at the earliest possible moment. To relieve pain, dry heat or the brief application of cloths wrung out in very hot water will be found best, but operation alone will give complete rest.

PHARMACEUTICAL.

WE have examined with much interest the Seventeenth Edition Electro-Therapeutical Catalogue, published by the McIntosh Battery & Optical Company of Chicago. A catalogue is usually expected to be an advertisement pure and simple of the wares of the house which issues it, but the enterprising firm above referred to have evidently had in view two objects; first, to present the very best catalogue of batteries and electro-therapeutical specialties of any house in the world; second, to present in the form of well selected reprints some of the best thoughts of the most eminent electro-therapists. This catalogue ought to be in the hands of every physician. It is offered free to all who ask for it.

CELERINA is indicated in nervous dyspepsia, accompanied by severe headache, nausea, acute pain in the epigastrium, etc.

IT has been demonstrated by such German scientists as Bunge, Hamburger, Schmiedeberg and others that of the different preparations of iron only the organic form can be absorbed and assimilated in any appreciable quantity; that only organic compounds of iron are taken up and make hemoglobin. The only preparation of iron possessing these qualities is Gude's Pepto-Mangan, an organic solution of iron and manganese, as manufactured by Dr. A. Gude & Co., chemists, Leipzig, Germany, for which the M. J. Breitenbach Company of New York are sole agents for the United States and Canada.

DR. T. D. CROTHERS, editor of Quarterly Journal of Inebriety, published under the auspices of The American Association for the Study and Cure of Inebriates, and who is an authority on neurosis, writes in his last number as follows: Antikamnia and Quinine are put up in tablet form, each tablet containing two and one-half grains of antikamnia and two and one-half grains of quinine, and is the most satisfactory mode of exhibition. This combination is especially valuable in headache (hemicrania), and the neuralgias occurring in anemia patients who have malarial cachexia, and in a large number of affections more or less dependent upon this cachectic condition.

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