or some impervious fabric, so as to retain heat, will secure sleep in many cases in which hypnotics fail. J. H. K.

DEATH IN THE WELL.

IT was once the fashion to ascribe all cases of sickness and death, from causes not readily discernible, to special acts of Providence; it is now, however, well recognized that sickness is the result of the action of natural laws and of material causes, which, in the great majority of cases, as regards acute illness at any rate, are preventable.

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At a recent meeting of the Michigan State Board of Health, Prof. Fall, of Albion, Mich., called attention to one mode in which what in times past might be termed strange dispensations of Providence, are being very effectually produced in the southern part of this State. cording to Prof. Fall, it is quite a prevailing custom to secure the drainage of cesspools, and other receptacles of filthy water, by boring down through the underlying strata of clay or rock until an under ground watercourse is reached, by this means securing permanent and very satisfactory drainage. The objection to this plan, however, is to be found in the fact, which, it would seem, ought to be readily recognized, that this is the most effective manner possible of contaminating the water supply for an extensive district. It may be supposed that at the present time every intelligent person knows enough about sanitary matters to understand perfectly well the danger of the contamination of wells which are fed by surface drainage; but driven or bored wells, which penetrate an impervious strata of rock or clay, are generally supposed to be a safe and reliable source of water supply. This new device for the disposal of filthy water, is, however, a most efficient method of contaminating the underground water supply, and spreading disease and death to

an unknown distance through the conveyance of infectious matter by these underground currents to distant parts. Dr. Baker called attention to the fact that the water supply of Jacksonville, Fla., is supposed to come through an underground water-course from the adjoining State of Georgia. Numerous cases are on record in which disease germs have been carried for many miles in these underground

water-courses.

The writer became acquainted with a case several years ago, in which a man disposed of a great accumulation of barnyard litter by throwing it into a well for which he had no further use, on account of having recently had constructed a bored well of great depth. Within a short time afterward a neighbor, who lived across the road, and in the direction of the dip of the surface and of the underlying strata, discovered that something was the matter with his well; complaint was made to the health officer, who submitted a sample to the writer for examination. The water was found to be full of organic impurities and swarming with germs, and had a decided barnyard odor, showing clearly the origin of the impurities.

Unthinking people may suppose that filth which disappears from the surface of the earth goes out of existence, but this is by no means the case; germs possess great vitality, and may be conveyed bodily in water-courses for a very great dis

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Movable Kidney and Dilatation of the Stomach.- The British Medical Journal summarizes the following interesting facts presented by Krez in a recent article relating to enteroptosis, particularly the frequent association of movable kidney and dilatation of the stomach :"Krez refers to Bartel's view with regard to the occurrence together of movable kidney and dilatation of the stomach. owing to tight lacing the kidney is pushed down, the descending portion of the duodenum may be pressed upon and the outflow from the stomach made difficult. In one case recorded by Heller, the duodenum was actually found to be dilated. Glénard was the first to point to prolapse of the various organs as a cause of nervous dyspepsia. The hepatic flexure of the colon, the transverse colon, and the stomach, sink in position. It is said that entero-stenosis may thus arise, and that by prolapse of the duodenum a sinking may take place. The frequent displacement of the kidney is only one link in the chain of these displaced organs, and prolapse of the uterus completes the condition. The diagnosis of enteroptosis is made by pressure on the hypogastrium upward and inward, when the symptoms are relieved.

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"The author relates the case of a woman whose symptoms were referred to enteroptosis, and who died subsequently of tuberculosis. The stomach was dilated and displaced downward, and the transverse colon was situated three fingers' breadth below the navel. The hepatic flexure was on a level with the crista ilii. Both kidneys, especially the right, were displaced. The right kidney could be brought forward toward the navel and put back into its place. The liver showed a constriction, and was adherent to the diaphragm. The spleen was unaffected. The duodenum was not dilated. The displacement of these organs in the sense used by Glénard, is not to be doubted. The author refers to five cases of enter

optosis, and analyzes the symptoms present. He believes that the whole process is begun by the sinking of the hepatic flexure of the colon, as this has the loosest connections with the posterior abdominal wall. Of the causes of enteroptosis, child-bearing is the most important; but others, such as tight lacing, rapid disappearance of fat, riding, dancing, etc., must be taken into account. The author refers also to hereditary predisposition. The treatment is chiefly by the hypogastric belt."

We have made more than one thousand examinations in which the relation of kidney and stomach, as well as of the other abdominal viscera, was carefully noted, and we find the views of Bartel and Glénard amply sustained. We cannot agree, however, with Krez, that the hypogastric belt constitutes the chief treatment for this condition. A mechanical support is only a palliative. The proper treatment of enteroptosis consists in restoration of the prolapsed organs to their proper position by skillful massage and the development of the abdominal muscles by massage, medical gymnastics, and the proper application of electricity.

J. H. K.

The Influence of Light upon the Skin. Hammer, an Italian investigator, has made some very interesting observations respecting the effects of light upon the skin, as reported in the Rif. Med. The results of these observations may be summarized as follows:

1. Light increases the excretions of CO2 by the skin, and thus favors healthy growth.

2. Light increases the development of pigment and horny growths on the skin. 3. White light, as well as different colors, is capable of producing sensation in the skin, the action being probably analogous to that upon the retina.

4. Erythema due to exposure to the sun's rays, is the result of the action of

the ultra-violet rays of the spectrum, a stimulus to which the skin is unaccustomed.

5. The effect of heat without light is absolutely different from that of light alone. 6. Electric light is a powerful excitant of the skin on account of its richness in ultra-violet rays.

7. Solar erythema may be prevented by protecting the skin with material or preparations which intercept the ultraviolet rays.

8. Various morbid products are formed in disease, which, under the influence of light, will give rise to cutaneous symptoms.

Bad Medical Advice. We are sorry to find, in one of our exchanges, a formula which is recommended as "a preventive against gonorrhoea." Some years ago, a professor in one of our large eastern medical schools was in the habit of occupying a portion of the opening hour of his course of lectures with instructions to the young men as to the best means of protecting themselves from the contraction of venereal diseases. His recommendations did not relate to the protection of the hands or other portions of the body which are in danger of exposure through professional contact with patients, but were of such a nature that the professor thought it necessary to apologize for his remarks by the suggestion that he knew they would indulge in gayeties which would involve exposures, and hence desired to put them in a position at the outset, of such information as would protect them from any injurious

consequences.

So long as the medical profession themselves occupy such an attitude as this in relation to diseases arising from immorality, social purity and other reform associations will make little headway in the reformation of the morals of our fast degenerating society. The young men of the rising generation need no encouragement in the direction of sexual

immorality. The writer has not infrequently been consulted by young men who had been led into immorality by the advice of physicians by whom they had been told that a life of continence was injurious to them, and that moderate sexual indulgence was necessary for their health, or required as a means of cure. In not a single instance had anything but disaster resulted from following this advice. In three cases, young men had contracted syphilis as the result of the course to which they had been advised. All had previously been young men of irreproachable character, and it is needless to say that all bitterly repented following the advice which had been given them. We are gratified to note, in a recent number of the Medical Age, an excellent editorial from which we quote with our most hearty endorsement, the following paragraphs:

"A fact we wish to insist upon is, that sexual continence does not beget impotence, and that the all-prevailing cause of impotence is prolonged sexual excess. In support of the opposite conclusion, appeal has been made to analogy. It has been pointed out that unused muscles and bones waste, and therefore, it is urged, it must be true that continence will lead to impotence. Such argument is utterly fallacious, as are most arguments from analogy. Facts in abundance prove the contrary. Common as is sexual vice, continence is not unknown among us, and the truth of our statement is not difficult to verify. The real argument from analogy is drawn from the breast. This gland is generally inactive for many years after puberty, and yet whenever the call for its activity arrives, it is more or less perfectly responded to. As a matter of fact, impotence does not depend upon the testicle, but upon the spinal cord; the sexual act is a physiological nerve storm, and not simply an act of secretion.

"No function of the body is so influ

On

enced and controlled by the higher nerve centers as the sexual. It is excited by lewd imaginings, loose talk, and sensuous scenes. It is set in motion by even accidental stimulus of any part of the nervous system affected by the sexual organism. Hence the difficulty of continence. all sides are sights and sounds that may become the stimulus of sexual excitement. The other side of the picture is equally true. By the exercise of watchfulness and self-control, the occasions of such excitement may be reduced to a minimum and the passion may be subdued. Med ical men are sometimes asked to formulate rules of diet and exercise- hygienic rules - by which immorality is to be banished. The task is impracticable. Vice is voluntary, and it is only by the exercise of a resolute self-will that virtue is maintained." J. H. K.

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Raw Beef Steaks.- Popoff's searches on the digestibility of beef and fish prepared upon different methods, show very conclusively that both these comestibles are much more digestible in their raw state than when cooked. According to his observations, the longer the beef is cooked the more indigestible it becomes, and contrary to generally prevalent ideas, beef is, in all cases, more digestible than fish, except in case of smoked beef. The superior digestibility of raw meat has long been recognized by physicians in the feeding to invalids with weak digestion, meat pulp, beef juice, and other preparations of raw meat. The question now arises, Shall the cooking of meat be abandoned ?

In the light of these physiological researches, it would seem that the cooking of meat is an ancient error into which the human family have fallen, and that if we are to use flesh as an article of food, we ought to return to the primitive habit of eating it raw, like a native of Terra

ans.

The

del Fuego or a Kalmuck Tartar. danger of contamination by disease germs or infection by trichinæ, the embryos of tapeworm, and other parasites, stares us in the face, however, and hence there seem to be left but two alternatives : either to take our beef steaks as heretofore, well done, or to become vegetariVegetarianism seems to be growing in favor; less, however, through the agitation of the advocates of man's return to his primitive diet, than as the result of the constant revelations made by those engaged in pathological and bacteriological researches respecting the numerous evils which arise from the free use of flesh, and the dangers of contamination which threaten meat-eaters from a hundred different sources. J. H. K.

Electrical Quacks at the World's Fair. We are glad to see that the electrical quacks are having a hard time with the managers of the World's Fair. Prof. Peabody, the head of the department of Liberal Arts and Manufactures, is a man of wide learning, great information, sagacity, and rare good sense. He has been beset on every hand by charlatans of every description who have been determined to make a representation of their wares in this department. Failing in their designs, the manufacturers of electrical belts, pads, and other similar humbugs, appealed to the managers of the electrical department, but, we are glad to say, with equal ill success. The public will probably not appreciate the obligations which they are under to the men who have stood sternly against the tremendous pressure which has been brought to bear upon them to ignore the dictates of reason and principle in this matter, but the medical profession certainly will, and do appreciate this intelligent action on the part of laymen.

J. H. K.

The publishing house by whom this work is issued, seem to have a happy faculty of finding just the right parties to prepare a work on any given subject which they recognize as requiring a new or more lucid representation in medical literature. They certainly have been fortunate in securing the services of Dr. Fullerton, the able physician, obstetrician, and gynecologist in the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia. The volume is an excellent one, and presents just the technical knowledge required by the obstetrical nurse who wishes to give to her patients all the advantages of modern aseptic and antiseptic care. Every trained nurse should be provided with a copy of this work, and make herself familiar with its contents. It will doubtless be largely used as a text-book in the nurses' training schools of the country.

Gould's Pocket Medical Dictionary. P. Blackiston, Son & Co., Phila. This little volume contains 12,000 medical words, which are briefly but clearly and concisely defined, and have the pronunciation correctly indicated. It is beautifully bound in Morocco, gilt edges, and is of a size convenient for carrying in the pocket. It will doubtless prove a greater boon to medical students than the larger dictionaries, as it may be always at hand ready for use. A copy ought to be in the coat pocket of every medical student in the country.

A Compend of Human Anatomy. -By Sol. Potter, M. A., M. D. Published by P. Blackiston, Son & Co., Philadelphia. This is the fifth edition of a little work first published only six years ago, and the success of which is indi

paper is unquestionably one of the most important contributions to the scientific study of the effects of alcohol upon the human body, which has recently been made. The general results, which will be more thoroughly stated elsewhere in these columns, were to demonstrate that alcohol uniformly increases heat dissipation, and almost uniformly, thirteen out of eighteen, diminishes heat production. In this respect it differs from most other agencies which increase heat dissipation, the general rule being that such agencies at the same time increase heat production. The value and importance of these observations will be readily recognized.

The National Medical Review.By C. H. Stowell, M. D., editor and publisher, Washington, D. C. This journal is what its title indicates, a medical review. It is one of the brightest and most readable journals that comes to our table. Every page has something sparkling on it from the pen of the editor, who puts himself into his journal in a way, which indicates that he loves his work and knows how to do it. Each number of the journal contains a new installment of "Letters to a Young Physician," which contain a fund of good advice that it would be well if every young physician could read and heed.