November 22, 1870. GEORGE BURROWS, M.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. Present-23 Fellows and 5 visitors. Books were presented from Dr. Douglas Powell, Dr. E. J. Waring, Dr. Philipson, Mr. Thomas Stratton, Mr. H. Sewill, the Royal Society, and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. The following communications were read : I. A Third Communication on the Endemic Hæmaturia of the South Eastern Coast of Africa, with remarks on the Topical Medication of the Bladder. By JOHN HARLEY, M.D., F.R.C.P., Physician to the London Fever Hospital. (Received June 28, 1870.) (Abstract.) An almost daily opportunity of watching a case of this disease for nearly a year, enables the author to give precise information concerning firstly, the prostatic form of the disease and its treatment; and secondly, the structure and development of the parasite. The prostatic form of the disease is attended by an intermittent discharge of venous blood, never exceeding a teaspoonful, and always mixed with urine, recurring after variable intervals of from two to fourteen days, and continuing for several days in succession. The morbid appearances are confined to the last tablespoonful of urine which contains the blood and casts (composed of mucus or blood), of the passages in which the parasites lie. Apart from the passage of blood and the egg-bearing casts, there was no inconvenience, no impediment to the flow of urine, nor the slightest irritation of the genito-urinary apparatus. The treatment was at first general, consisting in the use of such remedies as iodide of potassium, henbane, &c., which are eliminated unchanged by the kidneys. This general treatment affected the parasite to a limited extent only, and was therefore supplemented by local medication in the form of injections of strong infusions of wormwood and quassia; emulsions of oil of male fern in these solutions; and of solutions of iodide of potassium and some other salts. The author describes the effects of each of these drugs; relies most of all on iodide of potassium, which was given in quantities varying from ten to thirty grains in five ounces of infusion of quassia as a daily injection. Evidence of the absorption of this remedy was manifest, and the effect was very beneficial, and by the intercurrent use of injections of oil of male fern, the parasitic products, with which the tunnels in the mucous membrane are stuffed, were thrown off, and the parasites destroyed. Morbid products, including portions of the adult animals, and laminated corpuscles derived from the prostate, are figured and described. With a view to its detection in the waters of the infected districts, the author has very carefully described and delineated the embryo of the parasite, which is a little ciliated animalcule strongly resembling some of those found in stagnant water in this country. He says, "I have several times succeeded in liberating simultaneously from the egg as many as twenty embryos, and watched their movements in a drop of water under the microscope. No sight can convey either a more vivid impression of the activity of animal development, or a more complete realisation of the energy of parasitic life. It is an interesting display, but its general attractiveness is certainly not increased by the unavoidable reflection that the tissues and fluids of the human body may readily become the abode of these lowly animals. Experiments were made to determine whether the parasite may be developed from ova introduced into the body. From negative results, and from other facts, the author concludes that, as a rule, this does not happen from some cause which prevents, or too long retards the liberation of the embryo from the egg. He is, however, inclined to think that if the hatching be timely effected, or if the liberated embryo be artificially introduced into certain parts of the body, more especially the blood-vessels, its further development into the adult parasite may proceed. As to the primary mode of invasion, the author mentions the fact that the colonists of the infected districts are early attacked by a peculiar kind of boil, which passes into an indolent ulcer, and which, ultimately healing, leaves a large and indelible scar. He thinks it very probable that these boils result from the insertion of ova beneath the skin in the act of bathing, and that the subsequent progress of the ulcer and the infection of the genitourinary organs, is due to the liberation of the embryos (which may readily occur upon the naked surface of an ulcer), and their convection or ascent to the pelvic organs along the veins that lead to them. II. A Case of Traumatic Tetanus; recovery after the Removal of a Foreign Body from the Wound, and the Administration of Chloral. By GEORGE JOHNSON, M.D., Physician to King's College Hospital. (Received October 15, 1870.) (Abstract.) H. N—, æt. 13, a newspaper boy, was admitted into King's College Hospital on the 24th of June. Three weeks before, whilst getting over a hedge, he ran a sharp piece of wood into his thigh. He stopped the bleeding by tying a handkerchief round the thigh: the wound soon healed, and he is confident that no portion of the pointed wood remained beneath the skin. About nine days before his admission the lower jaw began to feel stiff; this gradually increased until it interfered with mastication. Then the muscles of the trunk and limbs began to be affected with spasms, and he came into the hospital. On his admission he was well nourished, with a healthy colour. There was a peculiar expression of face resulting from spasm of the occipito-frontalis, corrugator-supercilii, and other facial muscles. He could separate the incisor teeth only to the extent of about half an inch. There was some rigidity of the abdominal and erector spinæ muscles, and movement of the body occasionally increased this rigidity to a painful degree of spasm, the pain being especially severe in the back; the spasm also implicated the muscles of the legs. The temperature, pulse, and respiration were normal. At the upper third of the thigh there was a cicatrix about half an inch long, the scar and the tissues beneath felt unusually hard, and pressure caused considerable pain. It was suspected that there might be some foreign body beneath the skin, and therefore chloroform was given; and then an incision was made through the cicatrix by the House Surgeon, Mr. Whitmore, who discovered and removed a small dark mass. This proved to be a piece of woollen stuff from the boy's trousers, which had been driven in and lodged beneath the skin. The piece of wool was about the size of a small pea. A poultice was applied to the wound, and during the next twenty-four hours no medicine was given. There was continuous rigidity of the muscles, with occasional paroxysms of spasm and pain. He was now ordered to take fifteen grains of chloral hydrate, at first every four hours, afterwards at longer intervals. Between the 26th June, and the 9th July, he had twenty-four doses of chloral, amounting in all to 360 grains. The symptoms gradually subsided, the spasms became less frequent and less severe, the last slight attack of spasm occurring on the 13th July, the wound healed, and he was discharged cured on the 27th July. At the conclusion of the Meeting, Mr. John Wood showed. a case of Extroversion of the Bladder and Epispadias, successfully treated by plastic operation. December 13, 1870. GEORGE BURROWS, M.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. Present-24 Fellows and 4 visitors. Books were presented from Dr. E. J. Tilt, Dr. J. E. Waring, Mr. Erasmus Wilson, the Pathological Society of London, and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Mr. Henry Arnott and Mr. J. B. Perrin were admitted Fellows of the Society. Dr. William Cayley and Dr. David Lloyd Roberts were proposed for election as Fellows. The following communication was read: By On Temporary Glycosuria as a sequel of Cholera. WILLIAM SEDGWICK, M.R.C.S. (Received October 20, 1870.) (Abstract.) After a brief historical retrospect of the subject, the author remarked that, in studying the character of the urine in cases of cholera, attention should in the first instance be directed to the fact that the first and albuminous urine passed or withdrawn after the usually prolonged suppression of the secretion was usually deficient in urea, and free from sugar; and that the subsequent condition of temporary glycosuria was preceded by the occurrence |