ensure the success of the journal by guaranteeing a fund for its support for a few years.

It is manifestly impossible to discuss the proceedings of the various sections into which the association divided, viz., Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Mental and Nervous Diseases, Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat, Public Health, Laboratory Workers and Military Medicine. The papers were well up to standard.

The address in Medicine given by Dr. J. S. Risien Russell, of London, Eng., will not soon be forgotten. Those who have had the pleasure of listening to his teaching in London were delighted to welcome him to the meetings of the Association, while those who heard him for the first time when giving his address on "The Value of Reflexes in Diagnosis," were charmed with his fluent speech, his faultless English and his wide knowledge of the subject in hand. Before the sessions closed Dr. Russell was elected. an honorary member of the Canadian Medical Association, an honor which has been conferred on few, and as far as we can recall, has not been conferred for ten years or more. Dr. Russell's fund of humor was shown to good advantage on the platform, in making his subject one which at times drew applause and laughter from his audience, particularly when he undertook to explain to the ladies present the subject matter of the address, illustrating the same, and recalling some amusing consulting-room experiences. The entertainments included, on the first afternoon, a reception at the Golf Club by Dr. and Mrs. Montizambert, assisted by Mrs. (Dr.) Kidd. The same evening the President read his address. His subject was "Hygiene," and Dr. Montizambert handled his theme in a clear and comprehensive manner. He opened his discussion with a consideration of the hygienic rules of primitive communities and traced the development of the science of sanitation from the earliest times up to the present date. In particular, did he deal with the duties of the municipality and of the state in regard to the public health, and closed by urging the establishment of a department of public health in Canada. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was present, and spoke after Dr. Montizambert, assured his audience that he had heard all that Dr. Montizambert had said, and that he would mark and inwardly digest it. While committing himself in no way he gave it to be understood that he agreed with the speaker in all that he had said.

Dr. Montizambert went back into the realms of mythology and folklore for the origin of his subject. He spoke of the primitive belief which saw the machinations of an evil spirit in every ache and pain; of the gods of sickness and health in the Babylonian, Assyrian and Egyptian pantheons, and finally brought his

f

hearers down to Apollo, the patron god of medicine among the Greeks. Apollo, said the doctor, delegated his medicinal offices to his son, Esculapius, and the rules of health had in turn become the especial province of his daughter, Hygeia. It was at her shrine that he proposed to pay tribute that evening.

Dr. Montizambert divided the history of sanitation into four eras: First, the domestic era, in which the centre of hygienic regulation was the individual household; secondly, the Roman or municipal period; thirdly, the Gothic or national period; and, fourthly, the international era, which had had its origin within the present generation.

The most perfect set of rules produced under the first era were, said the speaker, those attributed to Moses, and set forth in the Book of Leviticus. Than these no set of regulations better adapted to the people for whom they were prepared had ever been drafted. He spoke of the custom of primitive people in regarding dirt as something sacred, a frame of mind which, he said, had lasted down until medieval times, when the hermits and ascetics had been in the habit of looking on pollution of the body as signifying purity of heart.

The individual family, said Dr. Montizambert, was still the great centre for the spread of hygiene. Public legislation was all very well, but in his opinion more could be accomplished by instruction in the home than by laws. "If," said he, "every citizen could be led to consider himself personally responsible for the public health, if every householder would see that his backyard was kept in a sanitary state, and that his plumbing was in good condition, the work of the health officers would be immensely reduced.

In instilling proper rules into the minds of the children a great responsibility rested upon the mother of the family. Particularly, he stated, should the children be taught to breathe through their noses, to eat slowly and not to squeeze their waists. He insisted on the importance of proper covering for the feet, and decried the habit of exposing the chest and shoulders and unnecessarily swathing the lower limbs. The proper ventilation of the home was also, he stated, of the greatest importance, while too much weight could not be attached to the removal, not the mere disturbance, of dust. Ice, he held, should not be placed directly in refrigerators and water coolers, but put in a jacket surrounding the objects to be cooled. Finally, he insisted on the importance of good hours.

"Consequent upon the great improvement in the lighting systems," said he, "the young people of the present generation have fallen into the habit of turning night into day. This I regard as being responsible for more nervous breakdowns than any

thing else. The hours of darkness were made for sleep. I fully believe in the truth of that old saying as to the relative values of sleep before and after midnight, and I just as fully disbelieve in that old saw which says 'six hours' sleep for a man, seven for a woman and eight for a fool.' Personally, I should be inclined to regard as the fool the man who could take eight hours and does not do so."

The doctor also decried the habit of indiscriminate kissing. To protest against the kiss of love and pure affection would be, he said, bootless and pure waste of time upon his part, as upon that of any man, medical or otherwise. What he did protest against was the habit of promiscuous kissing among ladies, and he further urged the abolition of the custom of loading infants. with caresses.

The doctor closed his discussion of sanitation in the home with an appeal to his hearers to let the sun and fresh air into their houses. "It is," said he, "far better to have your carpets faded by the sun than to have your cheeks faded by sickness."

The members received a very warm welcome from Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Premier of the Dominion.

Sir Wilfrid extended a hearty welcome to the doctors, their wives and their lady friends. "I extend to you all," said he, "the warmest sort of welcome-as warm as our weather, and than that it is possible to say nothing more."

The Premier referred to a break-down from which he had suffered some five years ago. "At that time," said he, "I went to a local doctor, and asked for advice. What he told me can be put in a few words. No drugs; lots of rest and simple food.' Now, although I am not a medical man, I read something on the subject in my youth, and the prescriptions of which I had a memory were very different from that. When I went to London I thought that I would consult a specialist there and see that his advice agreed with that given by my Ottawa friend. I went, and there I was told: No drugs; lots of rest and simple food.' Shortly after that I was in Paris, and there I went to one of the lights of the medical profession. He told me exactly the same thing as the first two. After that I came back and placed myself in the hands of my Ottawa doctor. And, ladies and gentlemen, here I am.

"When you speak of the national government," he continued, addressing Dr. Montizambert, "I, of course, am unable to turn a deaf ear. The national government is always open to conviction, although sometimes somewhat slow about being convinced. is, however, like the kingdom of heaven; by continually knocking at the door, the door is at length opened to you."

It

In regard to the establishment of tuberculosis sanatoria, the

Premier candidly stated that he would not commit himself. He said, however, that he and his ministers were always open to conviction, and that once the doctors had been able to convince them by their arguments they would be delighted to act upon the suggestions of the medical men.

On the second day the Canadian Pacific Railway placed a special train at the disposal of the association, and conveyed the members to Caledonia Springs, where they were served with luncheon, at which Sir James Grant addressed the members. That evening were delivered the address in Medicine, by Dr. J. S. Risien Russell, London, and on Surgery, by Dr. John C. Munro, of Boston, Mass. The last evening the members were entertained at a smoker at the Russell House, at which Dr. Russell returned thanks for being elected to honorary membership in the CanaIdian Medical Association.

Winnipeg was selected as the next place of meeting. Officers were elected as follows:

President, R. J. Blanchard, Winnipeg; Secretary, Dr. George Elliott, Toronto; Treasurer, Dr. H. B. Small, Ottawa; Finance Committee, Drs. Fotheringham, Toronto; Starr, Toronto; Powell, Ottawa; Bell, Montreal; Armstrong, Montreal.

Chairmen of Committees: On Medical Legislation, Dr. A. T. Shillington, Ottawa; on Medical Education, Dr. R. A. Reeve, Toronto; on Public Health and Hygiene, Dr. C. J. O. Hastings, Toronto: on Amendments to the constitution, Dr. H. B. Small, Ottawa; on Necrology, Dr. J. II. Elliott, Toronto.

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

J. H. E.

The Medical Era's Gastro-Intestinal Edition.-The Medical Era, St. Louis, Mo., will issue its annual series of Gastro-intestinal editions, during July and August. In these two issues will be published between forty and fifty original papers of the largest practical worth, covering every phase of diseases of the Gastro-intestinal canal. Sample copies will be supplied readers of this journal.

The International Laryngo-Rhinological Congress.-Through the courtesy of Dr. D. J. Gibb Wishart we recently received a programme of the International Laryngo-Rhinological Congress. Judging, too, from Dr. Wishart's letter, the Congress must have been an immense success. The doctor saw some splendid throat work in Naples, Rome and other cities, finishing later by taking a special course in bronchoscopy at Freiburg and Heidelberg. Over twenty-five Englishmen attended the International LaryngoRhinological Congress, which was held at Vienna.

BOOK REVIEWS.

International Clinics. A Quarterly of Illustrated Clinical Lectures and especially prepared original articles. Edited by W. T. LONGCOPE, M.D., Philadelphia, U.S.A., with the collaboration of William Osler, M.D., Oxford; John H. Musser, M.D., Philadelphia; A. McPhedran, M.D., Toronto; Frank Billings, M.D., Chicago; Chas. H. Mayo, M.D., Rochester; Thos. H. Rotch, M.D., Boston; John G. Clark, M.D., Philadelphia; James J. Walsh, M.D., New York; J. W. Ballantyne, M.D., Edinburgh; John Harold, M.D., London; Richard Kretz, M.D., Vienna. Volume I., eighteenth series. 1908. Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company. These volumes are divided into sections and Vol. I. of this series has especially interesting and practical departments de voted to Treatment, Medicine, Surgery and the Progress of Medicine during the year 1907.

In the section on Treatment an article by Dr. Darbel, of Savoie, France, on the "Treatment of Syphilis by the Injection of Soluble Salts of Mercury," and another by Dr. Dingwall Fordice, of Edinburgh, on "Some Records of the Value of the Opsonic Tests for Diagnoses, and of the Employment of Vaccines in the Treatment of Certain Infectious Conditions," shows advanced work in these comparatively new fields of investigation.

In Medicine, Sir Dyce Duckworth, of London, England, writes very entertainingly on "The Personal Factor in Medicine, that is, the personal factor in the patient." He says: "We are much engaged with the seed, and are insufficiently mindful of the soil, for it is a question of seed and soil, and neither can be disregarded.

If we are to recognize easily the abnormal we should be especially familiar with the normal. This is well illustrated in an excellent article by Dr. R. D. Rudolf, of Toronto, on the "Normal Temperature of the Body." He has treated this common subject in an exhaustive and illuminative manner. Dr. Rudolf finds that the normal band may run from, say, 97.2 to 98.4.

In the Surgical Section, "Diseases of the Gall Bladder," by Dr. John B. Deaver, of Philadelphia, is very instructive. He