titioner's looking for the disease constantly. I know that many people do not consult a physician, for they have no pain, and the disease is all too often far advanced before the doctor is consulted for these cases, and the profession cannot be blamed for those.

Every medical man must constantly have before his mind the possibility of cancer, and when that patient complains of soreness in the breasts, excessive flowing, or chronic irritation of the skin, always think of cancer, cancer, cancer. The greatest difficulty will be to educate the laity, and still, as it has been educated on the tuberculosis question, there should be no trouble to do the same thing with the cancer question, if only vigorous efforts are made.

I have advocated the creation of a certain day in the year to be called "Cancer Day," when every newspaper in the land should print an article on the subject, and every minister should preach from the pulpit on the cancer question, and every doctor should talk all that day wherever he goes on cancer, cancer, and nothing but cancer.

If every physician would thoroughly examine every case, he will be able to make a diagnosis early, when something can be done. If every woman with an excessive or an unusual vaginal discharge will be examined, if a little tissue be removed from the uterus which looks suspicious, and this be subjected to microscopic examination, many cases of cancer will be caught at the very beginning. And if every lump in the breast will be removed, every cyst, hardening or induration, or ulcer extirpated and subjected to a thorough pathologic examination, cancer will often thus be diagnosticated early. If every stomach or bowel trouble, instead of being allowed to drag along, would be subjected to a thorough investigation, if necessary even to an exploratory celiotomy, many more cancer cases would be recognized early.

When I say exploratory celiotomy, I do not mean that vicious exploratory operation that was recommended some years ago, of cutting into a tumor and removing a section, and then deciding whether it was malignant or not. This has been found the most vicious practice, as we get cancer implantation, and a rapid progress and spread of the disease. No tumor should be explored, it should be removed with a large margin of tissue around it. Great effort should be made not to cut into the tumor, or into any glands. After removal, an examination can be made microscopically, and the diagnosis made. This is especially applicable to tumors in the breast. Tumor in the breast requires complete removal of the breast with the glands; no chances should be taken. The only exceptions are those clear simple cases of fibroids found

in young girls and young women, which can be removed under local anesthesia as a rule. In this connection, I might say that I am very much disgusted when I see a curetting done, or a lacerated cervix repaired, and the removed tissues thrown into a pail and not examined microscopically. I consider this a most vicious practice. I have repeatedly called attention to this fact in the past years, that every curetting or tissue removed from the cervix must be subjected to a microscopical examination, and cancer looked for. Ten years ago, I induced the State Board of Health to publish a cancer circular, after a great deal of trouble. This circular is still available, and should be made use of by the profession to distribute among the laity. If we get the lay people to understand that an excessive flow, or irritating discharge, and a little enlargement or growth, or a continuous pain may mean cancer, and that the medical man should be consulted early, much untold misery may be prevented and many lives prolonged. It is carelessness that prevents the early recognition of this great scourge.

Until we find the real cause or some specific cure, we are forced to preach the doctrine of early diagnosis and surgery, and in order to do that we must allow ourselves to be accused of having "cancer on the brain" by preaching, day in and day out, the story of cancer, cancer, cancer.

1447 David Whitney Building.

Intestinal Parasitism in Troops in Service. Vezeau of Lavergne, Le Prog. Med., Mch. 2, reports in 200 faecal examinations: no ova of ankylostomes; among 100 soldiers in the trenches, 73 carriers of trichocephalus, 7 of trichocephalus and ascaris, 8 of ascaris. Among men living in the sectors behind the trenches, in cantonments, 63% had trichocephalus, none ascaris. In the infected persons who showed no sign of disease, the trichocephalus ova varied from 1 or 2 to 5 in a preparation. Eosinophilia was never encountered in trichocephalus carriers, however great the number of parasites it was found in 4-9% of the carriers of ascaris. In 10 cases of diarrhoea without blood or fever, neither bacilli nor amoebae of dysentery were found but ova were numerous. In 8 of these cases, trichocephalus ova were numerous, 15-25 in a preparation. In 2 labeled "rebellious diarrhoea, colics" numerous ascaris ova were found. Thymol, calomel and santonin produced marked relief. In 14 cases of "febrile curve" ("fever undetermined in the U. S. military nomenclature") trichocephalus ova were found. Thymol relieved these.

Crime and the Human Family.*

By HENRY J. GIRVIN,

Chief, Buffalo Police Department, Buffalo, N. Y.

Crime may be defined as the breaking of laws promulgated by God approved and amplified by man.

The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve, tempted of the serpent, ate of the forbidden fruit. Today, under similar circumstances, Eve would be charged with petit larceny, and Adam with aiding and abetting the crime, both conditions being punishable by a fine or imprisonment; thus we find that crime had its inception with the advent of the human

race.

If we believe in the laws of heredity, "that like begets like," and in that portion of the second commandment which says, "the sins of the father shall be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation," it is very evident that certain impressions of the mind are present at birth; in fact, they are evident long before reasoning power is established; we see them before the baby walks, talks or understands. They are evident, of course, in variable degrees in different individuals, but collectively speaking, it may be said that all children are born with such mental instincts as love, hatred, jealousy, dishonesty and lassitude; all these may lie dormant, or become intensified as development takes place.

In a recent publication a writer states, "We are all born with a crooked streak, and it is only a question of its proximity to the surface as to the amount of damage we do society." This may be considered a radical statement, but from 35 years of dealings with humanity in all its forms, I am most firmly convinced that the writer's opinion is well grounded.

Speaking anatomically, could a careful study be made today of Adam and Eve, but very little difference would be found as compared with the 20th century man or woman, except possibly as to size, form or shape.

But, although there may be no perceptible change evident to the naked eye, one organ has constantly undergone a change and that is the brain. It is to that portion of the human anatomy all our energies must be directed if we are to improve the condition of the human race.

The Declaration of Independence says, "All men are born

An address delivered at a meeting of the Gross Medical Club, Silver Creek.

equal." They are as far as liberty is concerned, providing they obey and respect the law, but as to their equality, as far as intellect is concerned, there is as much difference in the majority as there is between pine and ebony, although the latter are both wood. Too often humanity is judged by appearance, physical powers or weight. Without fear of successful contradiction it may be stated that at every turn we meet individuals who have the appearance of perfect health and sound intellect, but a brief conversation will show at once that their brain has never passed its childhood stage. The child who takes a penny is laughingly pronounced "clever" by his foolishly fond parents, repeats the trick, but this time he takes pennies and feeling secure in paternal approval, ever increases the amount until a thief is produced. They did not intend to be dishonest, but they planted the seed of a habit which grew on them until the prison doors closed for the protection of society. The same may be said of jealousy, lassitude and the like; from a small beginning, like the seed of the thistle, they grow and wax strong, and unless early uprooted, choke out and destroy all impulses for good, as the thistles choke out and destroy the tender grain.

A well known authority has said, "Habits are automatic gratifications of mind impulses," in other words, the mind directs what the tongue, hands or feet carry out. It will be admitted that but one perfect man has ever lived, consequently we must not expect too much of the present or coming generation, yet we must strive to keep the human race in as nearly a perfect condition as possible, and to use all our energies for its betterment.

This one thing can be said with a reasonable assurance of reality, the first impressions are the ones that last; teaching should commence with the babe in the cradle.

Although there is no doubt in the minds of police officials who have made a study of crimes that the great majority of noted or habitual criminals are born such, education must not stop, for the saving of even one of these from a life of crime increases security in the mind of society and a saving of thousands of dollars to the taxpayers.

We must not lose sight of the fact that we belong to the animal kingdom; that we are only removed from the dumb brute in that we have the power of reason and can articulate. With this unquestionable truth ever before us, it is unreasonable to ask that we should be given the same chance that they are; that is, as to procreation.

After the child is born, discipline is paramount as to habit formation, especially so for those so prone to arise from the inherited instincts of a morbid mind.

It has been written, and President Wilson used practically these words in a recent speech, "To have people good, if it is necessary to do so, make them afraid of you." This may seem a harsh statement; other words might be used for fear, but to one whose duty it is to protect society from those who have formed deleterious habits, there can be no questioning of the necessity of the aforementioned statements.

A police officer's duty can be defined as; first, the protection of life and property; second, the prevention of crime; third, taking into custody people who have committed crime. Criminals fear three things, officers, publicity and the deprivation of freedom. A crime is never committed, unless by accident, in the presence of an officer, in fact, they avoid officers at all times; it is a true saying, "That a guilty conscience is its own accuser.' The innocent and law abiding should have nothing to fear; the officer is their best friend, and he should always be considered as such.

May I give you an example of publicity? Since instituting at my headquarters in Buffalo, the screen, where every morning at 9 o'clock all criminals arrested during the previous 24 hours are shown under a strong electric light to our detectives, whom they cannot see, visits to our city by noted criminals have decreased fully 50 per cent, in fact, those who have never appeared on the screen would prefer 30 days in the penitentiary to another appearance there.

We all realize what deprivation of freedom means, especially when this may be for years, or for ones natural life. Many thousand men and women are detained in the penal institutions of this country, yet it can scarcely be said that crime is on the increase when we take into consideration the increase in population, and that every civilized country on the globe has representatives here.

As to treatment; many physicians advocate, and many operative measures have been taken for fractures of the skull, which are supposed to be the cause of a criminal career, but to my knowledge so far, they have been a failure. As yet no scientist has brought forward a serum; I know of no medicine for the purpose, may I therefore sum up the foregoing statements as follows:

In the procreation of the race we should be given the same chance as is our four-footed friends, especially of the higher order; mothers and fathers should look more closely into the life history of prospective son and daughter-in-laws; they should not stop at the immediate family, but as the late Henry Ward Beecher once said, "Go back to the grandparents."

Humanity is guided through these tortuous paths of life; first, by inherited instinct; second, the sphere in which we

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