irritation seems to have a tendency to hasten its inflammatory progress.

Mild massage and warm baths are beneficial. Lately good results have been had by the use of a medium strength, steady current of the galvanic battery, it aiding in the absorption of the morbid structures and stimulating healthy nutrition.

New York City.

erance of centuries. The granting of the charter gave life to liberal medicine, not alone to medicine, but but also indirectly aided and stimulated investigation in all branches of science. A new era, as it were, came into being. Each doctor henceforth had the right to exercise his individuality, he was no longer bound by tradition and superstition. He was free; free to think, free to observe and

Boskowitz.

The dinner given in honor of Dean George W. Boskowitz, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the granting of the charter of the Eclectic Medical College in the City of New York, April 22d, 1905, by the Faculty and local Alumni, is now a matter of history.

The event of the evening was the presentation to the Dean, of a magnificent silver loving cup, in commemoration of the occasion, and as a token of the love and esteem in which he is held by the faculty and alumni.

The dinner was certainly a great success, and will be remembered by each one who attended, with the keenest pleasure, as one of the great events of their lives, for such it really was.

The dinner was held at Moquin's, Sixth Avenue, between Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh streets. The menu was fine and served in Moquin's best style.

The toastmaster, Dr. Wm. J. Krausi, started the post-prandial exercises with the following remarks:

We have assembled here this evening, this festive occasion, to commemorate two events in the history of Eclectic Medicine. First, the charter of our college was granted by the legislature of New York State just forty years ago today.

When the legislature gave birth to our college to Eclecticism, in this the Empire State, it threw off the shackles of nonprogressiveness, ignorance and the intol

After forty years of official Eclecticism in this state, Eclecticism that has permeated every branch of medicine, we find ourselves more advanced, directly and indirectly, in every branch of medicine, than in five hundred years before.

And now, my friends, secondly and more particularly we have assembled here this evening to manifest and by our presence to give expression of respect and esteem, and I may say love, to a man who not alone has been active in spreading the seeds of liberal medicine, but has acted as captain to the Eclectic ship; has held the helm and steered Eclecticism through many troubled waters. And in the days of trial no one has stood more steadfast, been more true to liberal thought in medicine and Eclecticism than this man. When clouds appeared on the horizon which threatened a storm of sufficient magnitude to engulf liberal medicine, this man stood like the rock of Gibraltar, and by his firmness, honesty and fealty to his friends, and the cause, turned the tempest upon itself, and brought the good ship Eclecticism safely into port. I speak of trials and storms, is it not a historical fact that all new ideas, new thoughts, progressiveness in science or religion meet the same antagonism, the same opposition, the same. calumny, but truth, honesty, concentration of energy, steadfastness and loyalty, will in the end prevail.

And can you, my friends, guess who this man is? This man to whom we have

all turned for counsel and aid in the hour when common sense, good judgment and experience were. the essentials to the saving of a human life, or possibly one nearer and dearer to us than life itself. Again I ask who is this man? Search your minds and reflect, and you will agree with me that the man whom we honor to night, whom we respect and love, the rock of Eclecticism in the East, the true and tried friend of all is George W. BoskowitzOur Dean.

Dr. Boskowitz, it is nearly a quarter of a century since I entered the Eclectic Medical College at No. 1 Livingston Place, and became acquainted with you. The recollection of those days will never be effaced from my memory. When the dark cloud of discontent and internal dissension appeared above the horizon, that caused our institution to tremble from bottom to top, and the judiciary and legislature of the State were sought to close the door of the Alma Mater of the many

Dr. Thompson responded as follows:

Mr. Toastmaster, Faculty and fellow Alumni of the Eclectic Medical College, friends. Words fail to express my appreciation of this opportunity. I know that you know that there are many here tonight that could fill this position more eloquently for you, and with great credit for themselves. I cannot help but consider it an undue courtesy to me for which I thank you. To do justice to you on this occasion, the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the chartering of the Eclectic Medical College and compliment to the dean of the institution, it will be necessary for me to touch upon the trying times through which the college has passed.

That institution which was erected by the struggles of the pioneers of the American system of medicine in the Empire State, stands as a monument to the fathers of the only school of distinctive American practice, those men that suffered as all pioneers do who threaten to overthrow pre-existing conditions, whether social, political or scientific, without regard to its merit. Social ostracism, political annihilation and imprisonment, and instances of death have been meted out to them.

ty to the many who have since graduated; when those upon whom the mantle of Eclecticism fell by common heritage failed and for social reasons or others unknown to me failed to go forth and do justice to our cause, it was then that I saw you come forward and raise the banner of Eclecticism around which all true Eclectics rallied and fought the internal dissension, the judiciary, and the legislature, with the result that our enemies were silenced, or became our friends, the judiciary gave a clean bill, the Legislature. directed in the spirit of true Americanism that the right guaranteed by the constitution and Declaration of Independence, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," shall not be violated, and the right guaranteed to one shall be guaranteed to all. The monument dedicated to the American School of Medicine has continued to grow, so that to-day they can truthfully subscribe across the banner of the American School of Medicine (whose views are as broad as the source from which it derives its weapons) in letters of gold: "The equal of any before the law, the superior of all before God and man." And now, Doctor, to fulfill my duty to your friends, it gives me the greatest pleasure to present to you this loving cup as a token of their appreciation of the great work you have accomplished, their respect and love. I hope in years to come when you gaze upon it, the mirage of the

happy faces gathered here to-night will be reflected to your memory.

Friends, rise and drink to the health. happiness and success of Dr. George W. Boskowitz, Dean of the Eclectic Medical College.

Just as Dr. Thompson started to speak of having a duty to perform in behalf of his friends, the loving cup, a beautiful, massive, three-handled silver cup of newest design, handsomely engraved, and mounted on a pedestal of onyx, was brought in and set before the Dean.

Dean Boskowitz in reply to the remarks of Dr. Thompson, expressed his appreciation of the honor bestowed upon him, and for the loyalty of all to him. He said that he felt that it was not due to his efforts alone that so much had been done for the cause of Eclecticism in this State, but that it was due to the hearty support and co-operation of all faithful co-workers for the cause.

He mentioned the fact that the school was no longer, as of yore, ignored in mat ters of legislation, etc., but now, our advice and co-operation in all such matters is sought. He said the only thing to-day we had to fear was the kindness and consideration of the old school. Their invitations to join their societies were to the school, in a sense, more dangerous than their former opposition. He asked for a continuance of that perfect harmony which now exists. He said: If the Eclectics in this State remain united and continue to co-operate in the harmonious manner that they have of recent years that every honor was within their reach. That "harmony" must be the watchword with a continuance of energetic work and watchfulness. He finished his remarks by thanking the assembled guests most sincerely for their beautiful gift and expressions of good will.

There were many others who spoke, each one being introduced by the toastmaster in his usual witty manner.

Among those present, wère: Drs. G. W. Boskowitz, W. R. Spooner, W. J. Krausi, A. W. Herzog, G. W. Thompson, H. J. Birkenhauer, S. A. Hardy, Z. Moskowitz, J. Oshlag, M. Wolf, C. B. Graf, James Bernstein, J. Bernstein, S. R. Schultz, M. Scimeca, C. W. Brandenburg, P. Nilsson, H. Harris, B. Brown, J. B. De Beers, W. L. Heeve, W. I. Louis, L. Adlermann, T. Adlermann, H. Dincin, M. B. Pearlstien, H. Stoesser, O. H. Rohde, H. Scaison, M. A. Sturm, V. Sillo and O. A. Hyde.

Letters and telegrams of congratulation were received from Drs. J. H. Gunning, M. J. Jackson, F. Hollander, M. Augsburger, T. W. Pomroy, W. H. Wyatt-Hannath, O. A. Perrine, M. Newler, J. P. Nolan, M. Meyer, D. N. Bulson, and others.

Dr. A. W. Herzog, as chairman of the committee of arrangements, deserves much credit for the success of the event, as do also his fellow committeemen.

HENRY J. BIRKENHAUER, M.D.

To the Editor of the Eclectic Medical Review:

In your March number you take to task very justly the paper of Mr. Champe S. Andrews, in regard to the late Dr. Samuel Thomson. The case of Ezra Lovett has been so many times fully explained that any man desirous of conforming to the truth of history need not go amiss. The prosecution of Dr. Thomson for wilful murder was plainly and equivocally malicious, as may readily be perceived. It is not the fashion when a doctor's patient dies under his hands to presume that he killed him on purpose. At worst it is called malpractice, if not simply error or accident. No sensible man could suppose anything worse of Dr. Thomson than that.

un

The fact that the adversaries of the doctor did not bring forward the charge. till a year or so had passed, and then not

till the court at Newburyport was about to conclude its session, indicates another purpose on their part than the bringing of a wrongdoer to justice. It has been suggested more than once that the intention really was to keep Dr. Thomson in a noisome jail over winter without the common comforts of life, in the hope that cold and jail disease might put an end to his life. When the matter was actually tried at the special term there was no case proven; the witnesses could not even describe intelligently the properties of the medicines administered or

show that they had been administered improperly, and Dr. French, the complainant, acknowledged that Dr. Thomson made cures and that his medicines were harmless. Justice Parsons, who presided at the trial, denounced the finding of an indictment on such frivolous evidence, and interrupted the proceedings. He was far from being partial or friendly to Dr. Thomson, but actually recommended that the General Court enact such restrictive legislation as would prevent illiterate persons from engaging in treatment of the sick professionally.

It has been shown again and again that the peculiar methods of Dr. Thomson, especially the emesis by lobelia, known more generally as Indian tobacco, after due preparation with an administering of the infusion of Composition powder, was generally salutary. There are book-made physicians and God-made ones, and the tact and carefulness of Samuel Thomson show that he had the right credentials. His treatment, with all its crudeness, and all that has been uttered against it, resulted, as is well known, in a far greater percentage of recoveries than that which was followed at the time-first bleeding, then calomel, and other elements of kindred origin.

Certainly his patients did not often rise from the sick bed crippled for life.

If the slang term of "quack" which no gentleman uses, or any other person, except to be coarse and denunciatory, is to be used, it belongs to those who employ procedures that leave the patient

in such a condition. Thomson did not "bleed his patients white," but simply aimed to give their reserved vital forces opportunity to free their bodies from disorder. He may have been illiterate, but SO were most men of his day, and in the number may be included the majority of the "regular physicians" so-called in the United States. They could not spell correctly or write grammatically.

It is but fair to acknowledge that a considerable number of the "new remedies" which have been the glory of the Eclectic school, were originally employed by the Thomsonians.

It is time to stop traducing Samuel Thomson. To do so, shows deficient knowledge or regard for justice on the part of the traducer. The persecutions, or prosecutions, which he endured are so many blotches upon medical history, and disgraceful on the part of those who instituted them.

Probably one reason for them was political. In the early half of the last century, the people of New England were very bitter in such matters. I have read in The Massachusetts Spy an attack on Thomas Jefferson, which indicated him lost to honor, or any worthy motive. The old-time Federalist considered a Republican as little better than a social outcast. Samuel Thomson was a Republican; in other words, a partisan of Jefferson. There were few "Democrats" then, at least, in name. He was, therefore, doubly obnoxious; his political views were more unpopular in the "upper class" than was his medical treatment. His professional adversaries did not

scruple to take advantage of that fact. So Samuel Thomson, like the one whom Christians profess to admire, had to consort with the son, the "publicans and sinners."

It may be of some interest to call attention to another practice current with the dominant school. When medical journals mention the different modes of practice, the writers are careful to name only the 'Regular" and the Homeopathic. They are generally careful to leave the Eclectic unmentioned, or if it is named it is in a group with minor methods, like Electropathic, Hydropathic, etc., writing the word "Eclectic" with a small "e." Such Homeopathic writ ers as ape the old school or are anxious to be considered "as good as the Regulars," do the same thing.

The purpose behind this is to "freeze the Electics out of existence." The late Dr. S. D. Gross once told as much to Dr. R. S. Newton. "We do not argue with the "Eclectics," said he, "but mean simply to sit down upon them, not mentioning them.”

The excessive number of medical graduates has compelled many to adopt other vocations. Many of the secular newspapers in this way have one or two such on the editorial staff. They sift the news more or less, and so those of us who belong to the unfavored party do not get fair play. This is bad journalism. Yours truly.

Editor Review:

ALEXANDER WILDER,

My Dear Doctor:-I desire to add my mite to the short article on Salicine on page 103 of the "Review" for April. With an experience extending back for a quarter of a century I have found it to be a

marked febrifuge and antiseptic in certain conditions. Especially in puerperal fever I have never found its equal; here I give it in ten-grain doses every half to one hour until I get the full physio- . logical effect of the drug, which is a copious perspiration. The doses are now continued at intervals just long enough to keep up that effect until I get a marked decline in the fever. Meantime flushing the uterus with copious injections of hot water well antiseptisized with Creolin. I further apply freely to the abdomen a mixture of two parts olive oil, or pure lard, and one part terbinth, or, what is better, pack the abdomen well with absorbent cotton and keep that constantly. moist with Dr. Arnold's Zymatoid.

In smallpox-the real old fashioned. kind-it is of great value; as given freely early in the febrile stage, and before the eruption has appeared it will modify the disease into a mild form of varioloid. But here it must be used with a bold and free hand. I have given 30 grains every half hour until a dram was given with the best of results; while in other cases, given just as the patient was passing from the chill and at just the time the temperature reached the normal, a single dose of 20 grains has aborted the case.

Apropos to the article in the "Review" some time since on the Calabar bean—Physastigma-it seems to me that with your present epidemic of meningitis. would be a good time to prove its efficacy. The press of your city states that there has as yet been no remedy discovered for meningitis. 23 years ago, or thereabouts, Chicago was visited with an epidemic of that disease. The Physastigma was used throughout the entire duration of that scourge by at least three physicians, and to my certain knowledge without the loss of a single case, or any