$5,000 are often awarded for the death of a child, the "pecuniary" loss of which is declared to be absolutely nothing. In the event that the limit be raised or left open, it is argued that the damages awarded for a child. would, in the average case, be just as great as that given for the head of the family, upon whom all the rest are dependent.

Some lawyers claim also that an increase in the limitation would be a great temptation to many people to commit suicide in such a way that their deaths might be regarded as accidental, just as is often the case where persons are heavily insured.

The views of some of the best known lawyers and judges in Chicago upon the subject follow:

Thomas A. Moran.-There is no doubt an element of injustice in allowing the recovery of $10,000 or $15,000 for an injury caused by negligence to a man which deprives him of some member and partially or totally disables him to earn a living in the particular line or trade in which he is engaged, and allowing only $5,000 if the same carelessness has caused his death instead of maiming him. The only element that can be considered is the pecuniary value of his life to the next of kin. Hence the inquiry is directed to his ability to earn and provide for his family, what wages he was receiving and how continuously he was employed. It is clear that these considerations which go to fix damages will differ in almost every case, and these considerations, if fully and carefully applied, will furnish a scale which will regulate the amount in each particular case. It is very clear that the case to be determined by the court and jury is the pecuniary loss to the next of kin, for whose benefit the action is brought. Under this rule the recovery in one case might be $4,000 or $5,000, while in another the just result would be $40,000 or $50,000. If death claims of this kind could be always tried before just and impartial jurors, directed by intelligent and just judges, who should be permitted to instruct the jury orally, as is done in the United States Circuit Court, the removal of the limit. would be likely to result in more complete justice than can now be reached where there is a positive limit of the amount that can be recovered for death caused by negligence.

QUESTION OF PUBLIC POLICY.

Simeon P. Shope, former associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.-This is purely a matter of public policy. The present law frequently works a great hardship in many directions. If we could be certain that the trial courts would be governed by the proper principle in awarding damages it would certainly be far more just not to have any limit. The difficulty has been in Chicago and elsewhere that the feelings of juries have been played upon and sometimes very excessive damages awarded. Of course, the right to recover damages for death is purely statutory. Hence in giving this remedy the sttac should be allowed to place such limit as public policy demands. It frequently happens that the earning capacity of a victim of death is far greater than even $10,000 or $15,000, so that the fixing of an arbitrary limit is apt in any event to work an injustice. If the limit is to be maintained under the theory of law that damages are awarded for pecuniary loss, it is simply a question of public policy

as to whether the limit shall be $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 or any other fixed sum. I have been hoping that someone would devise a just method of determining what should be the actual compensation. Until that is done I think there should be a limitation which in some way should be made to bear a just relation to the pecuniary loss sustained.

WOULD MEAN RUIN.

William J. Hynes.-If there was no limit to the compensation for the pecuniary loss of some men the small manufacturer or people engaged in small business enterprises, like the liveryman, whose employes in driving in the streets or working in shops may result in death to somebody, a judgment for full compensation for such death would result in wiping out the entire property and plant of the small proprietors. If only the large corporations of practically unlimited resources had to respond in full damages through acts of employes it would seem equitable to raise the limit. Five thousand dollars is large for the small earner and exceedingly small for the large earner. Nineteen out of twenty persons are adequately compensated under the present law. The twentieth man is not. If it could be scaled so as to make a uniform law and yet so the small business man would not be entirely wiped out, and he and his family mortgaged by judgments-worse than financial ruin-then it would be all right. The whole thing must in the end be a compromise of some sort.

LIMIT IS UNREASONABLE.

Adolf Kraus.-The $5,000 limitation is unreasonable. At the time the law fixing that limit was passed rates of interest on money were higher and $5,000 would bring $400 or $500, where to-day it will not earn over half that sum. I certainly think the figures at which the limit is fixed should at least be doubled, and there are cases where a limit of any sort is not fair. Money for damages sustained in this manner is not intended as compensation for the life that is sacrificed; it is compensation for the loss of revenue through the death of the one who produces such revenue.

Judge Edward F. Dunne.-I can unhesitatingly say that the $5,000 damage limit for death, as it lies upon the statute books to-day, is an outrage. All limitation to the amount of damages should be thrown off, and it should be left to the jury to determine the compensation to be awarded. The jury can find out in each individual case a man's earning capacity.

William Prentiss.-I consider this move one of the most important that has been made by the legislature. It is nothing less than outrageous that our statute books have been permitted through all these years to retain the present limitations on the amount recoverable in case of death. Many victims of accidents where damages may be collected are earning more than $5,000 a year when their lives are sacrificed, yet the law says this is the total sum that may be awarded their heirs. I sincerely hope that the attempt to advance the limit succeeds. In fact, I rather think the limit should be removed entirely.

W. H. Barnum, former circuit judge.-In my opinion some one of the measures proposed at this session of the legislature should be adopted. Whether the limit of liabilities for damages in case of death should be raised to

$15,000 or to $10,000 I am not prepared to say, but we should follow the example set by some other states and increase the amount to one of these two figures. The fact that an injured man frequently receives more than do the relatives next in kin through his death has little bearing on the case in my mind. The injured is awarded damages according to his own personal suffering, his own loss and the inability of supporting himself with the same degree of comfort as he had. The damages for the next of kin in case of death do not take into consideration the

sufferings of the deceased, but the cutting off of the support which he afforded them.

Edward D. Kenna, first vice-president and general solicitor for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and General Counsel Samuel A. Lynde of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad declined to discuss the proposed measures. A number of corporation lawyers also refused to talk on the subject.

William Schardt (president Chicago Federation of Labor). Remove the limit and let the jury decide on the amount of damages.

John Fitzpatrick (organizer Chicago Federation of Labor). If the limit is removed from the amount of damages that can be recovered the accidents which will result will fall off over 50 per cent the first year. After that period accidents will seldom happen, as machinery will be properly protected.

J. J. Keppler (business agent of the machinists).-I believe in making the minimum limit of damages to be secured very high. That will be a protection to the workers as well as employers.

Frank Thoman (business agent architectural iron workers). The limit of $5,000 should be raised at least to $10,000. Now an injured person can recover a greater sum for the loss of an arm or limb even than can be for death.

James O'Connor (musician, and former member of the legislature).—I favor the striking out of the $5,000 limit, or any set amount, and making it the same as where no death occurs.

Henry D. Lighthall (stationary engineer).-If the legislature of Illinois will strike out the $5,000 limit it will be the best thing that ever happened for the good of an injured person. The present law is unfair.

Edward E. Adeloff (president cigar makers' union).— Am in favor of no limit being placed on the amount of damages a person can recover for injuries or death.

John Mangan (steam fitter).-Eliminate amount of limit which can be recovered and leave no stipulation as to the amount that can be recovered, and there will be more protection to machinery and more care will be taken by employers for the safety of employes.

Joseph Morton (business agent stationary firemen).— Life too cheap at $5,000 in death damage claims. I believe the limit should be omitted.

Hugh McGee (president truck drivers' union).—Under the present law a man is worth more crippled than dead, and the $5,000 limit is wrong. No limit should be placed on the amount obtainable. Then employers would not work their people long hours until they are fatigued and go to sleep at their work.-Record-Herald.

METHOD AND INDICATION FOR INFUSING OF NORMAL SALT OR SALINE SOLUTION.

BY J. P. WEBSTER, M. D.

In

Infusion is indicated in all cases where there has been great loss of blood, as hemorrhage from accidental causes, hemorrhage from the nose, the lungs, the uterus and the bowels. Where the vital forces are greatly depressed from any cause. During operations. Where even a moderate amount of shock or hemorrhage is present. wasting diseases, septic, uremia and all toxic conditions. Formula. One teaspoonful of salt to one pint of pure water. Boil one-half hour. Filter through sterilized absorbent cotton. Bring to proper temperature, 120 degrees F. Pour into the infusion receptacle and it is then ready for use.

Method of Giving the Infusion.-The best point for intravenous infusion is the anterior surface of the leg or forearm. For the intercellular, the inframammary, lateral femoral, abdominal parietes, and the infrascapular regions. Use a graduated bottle of fountain syringe with rubber tube attached. To the opposite end attach the needle. If the symptoms are urgent, use the double current, and infuse with two points simultaneously. Allow the saline fluid to flow through the needle until all contained in the rubber tube has escaped. Then immediately introduce the needle. The sharp needles are for intercellular infusion. The blunt for intravenous. First-Boil the needles several minutes. Second-Disinfect the skin before introducing the needle. Third-In the intercellular method, pinch up a large fold of skin between the thumb and finger. Introduce the needle well into the cellular tissue, between the skin and muscle. Allow the solution to flow very slowly at first. If it flows too rapidly, lower the receptacle containing the solution. In infusion by the intravenous method, first disinfect the skin and apply a tourniquet to the arm above the point where infusion is to be performed. As soon as the veins are quite fully distended, make a small incision in the skin over the vein selected. Retract the edges of skin and continue the dissection carefully until the vein is reached, which will be indicated by its blue color. Now pass an aneurism needle threated with fine silk, under the vein, lifting it up. Now cut a small opening in the vein and introduce the blunt venous infusion needle, tying it in place by the silk ligature. Before introducing the needle allow the saline fluid to flow from needle until it is of the same temperature as it is in the receptacle. Fourth-Continue the infusion until the pulse is of good volume. Fifth-Renew the infusion as soon as the pulse weakens. Sixth-Continue the infusion until the patient is out of danger. Seventh-Use the solution from 110 degrees to 118 degrees F. Eighth-In uremia perform venesection, abstracting several quarts of blood and substituting an equal or greater quantity of saline fluid. Ninth-Never infuse less than three pints in the adult. Two and three quarts may often be used with benefit, injecting a quart every fifteen or twenty minutes. Five quarts may be infused in twenty-four hours. Tenth-Seal all needle wound with collodion.

Caution. Test the temperature of the solution to be used with a thermometer. Do not guess at it. Test it

often to see that it is of the right temperature. Cold solutions may cause a chill. After removing the needle allow the solution to flow through it to clear the needle. -Leonard's Illustrated Med. J.

BETA-EUCAIN, A STUDY OF ITS HISTORY AND PRACTICAL USE, WITH PERSONAL EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS.

BY DR. MARCINOWSKI.

In an exhaustive treatise comprising 70 pages, the author finds after reviewing the experimental and clinical reports on the subject and from his own experience, that, especially in minor surgery, local anesthesia by means of beta-eucain is far preferable to that by cocain, or to "freezing" with ethyl chlorid. The last named method, he believes, is used chiefly because of the dangers which accompany the use of cocain; but its disadvantages are so great that now we possess a drug which disposes in the happiest way of all the objections to the use of cocain-injection anesthesia should invariably be employed.

Marcinowski's conclusions are:

I. Beta-eucain is absolutely non-irritant. When it is not, the solution is too strong or not correctly prepared. The solution should be approximately isotonic to the body fluids and of the temperature of the blood. Isotonicity is to be obtained by the addition of sodium chlorid in the proportion of 0.6 per cent for the stronger and 0.8 per cent for the weaker solutions. The injection of a betaeucain solution into non-inflamed tissues is painless. By keeping within the limit of 5 per cent concentrations, swelling and infiltration of the injected area may be largely avoided.

analgesia 2 to 5 per cent up to 41⁄2 grains; after Braun, I per cent up to 24 grains.

5. The hydrochlorat of beta-eucain is soluble to the extent of 32 to 5 parts in 100 parts of water; supersaturated solutions can be made with the help of warmth. Solutions at blood temperature should invariably be employed. The solutions keep indefinitely, and can be repeatedly sterilized by boiling without the slightest chemical change. Beta-eucain has a moderate antibacterial action.

From all that has been said it follows that, with the ex

ception of the few contraindications referred to, betaeucain is absolutely superior to cocain in every department of medicine, and is invariably to be preferred to it. Also that where beta-eucain could have been employed, the occurrence of cocain poisoning must be regarded as blunder.-Ztsch. f. Chirurgie.

a

PREPARATION OF PATIENTS FOR OPERATION.

The preparation of patients for operation, as practiced at Royal Surgical Clinic at Breslau, commences with a bath on the previous night or on the morning of the operation. The bowels are opened one or two days before, and on the evening before operation an enema is given. Fluids alone are given during the day before operation.

In stomach cases rectal feeding is substituted during this period, and if no contraindication exists, the stomcah is washed out with sterile water on the morning of operation. In intestinal cases, antiseptics such as salol are administered for some days. On the morning, the patient for operation is brought in his bed to the waiting-room. When the time arrives, he is placed on an operating table, clad in a newly-washed suit of bath toweling, and taken to the anteroom. The clothing consists of a jacket for his chest and arms, long bags like small bolster cases

3. In contradistinction to cocain, beta-eucain has the following advantages: (a) It occasions a very moderate vascular dilatation. (b) It neither changes the dilatation of the pupil nor influences the accommodation of the eye or its reaction to the influence of light. (c) (c) It scarcely diminishes the tonus of the bulb. (d) The cornea remain intact.

The vasoparalytic after effects of cocain, and more especially the justly dreaded secondary hemorrhage that occurs after its employment, may be avoided by the use of beta-eucain. The hyperemia incidental to beta-eucain favors healing in ocular operations, but its use is contraindicated in iritic processes. On the mucous membranes this hyperemia does not interfere with the most delicate differential diagnosis (cystoscopy and endoscopy).

4. The anesthetic action of beta-eucain is about equal to that of cocain. The concentrations and dosage most advisable to employ are: In ophthalmology, 2 per cent applied by instillation; in the urethra and bladder, 2 per cent up to 2 ounces; in the nose, throat and pharynx, 5 to 10 per cent by spray or brush; on mucosa and wounds, 5 to 10 per cent as much as is required; in dentistry, 2 to 5 per cent, 15 grains. For infiltration anesthesia after Schleich, 1.1000 to I per cent as much as required; after Reclus, 2 per cent as much as required; after Braun, 1-1000 up to 41⁄2 grains. For regional

men and pelvis. The table itself is previously covered with a sheet of similar toweling. In the anteroom the An extensive area preparation of the skin commences.

is always prepared, e. g., in any abdominal case the area extends from pubes to the level of the mammæ, and embraces not only the anterior surface of the abdomen and chest, but also both sides.

Professor v. Mikulicz has now for about two years used a special spirit soap* with which all cleansing is effected. He considers the preliminary washing with soap and water to be superfluous. With the soap and a piece of gauze a lather is produced over the skin, and the hair is shaved. Then for five minutes, as timed by a sand-glass, the skin is thoroughly scrubbed with gauze dipped in the fluid soap. During this period the soap is renewed once. The superfluous soap is wiped off with gauze, and a sterilized towel is laid over the purified area and lightly fixed with a gauze bandage. The anesthetic is then given, and when ready the patient is wheeled into the theater. The table on which he is lying is arranged for the required position, such as Trendelenburg's, the gauze bandage is cut, and the dressing removed. Large and small sterilized sheets are now arranged around the area of operation so as to completely cover the patient from neck to feet, and to hang down all around the table. Before making the incision, the area of operation is lightly brushed over with a piece of gauze dipped in tincture of iodin. Med. Review of Reviews.

Personal.

Dr. S. S. Thorn of Toledo has been elected vice-president of the Academy of Medicine of Toledo and Lucas County.

Dr. F. B. Eads, the chief physician of the Texas & Pacific Railway, died at his home, Marshall, Tex., on February 1. The deceased was one of the most noted physicians and surgeons of the Southwest.

Dr. Nathan Y. Leet of Scranton, Pa., died on December 6th, at his home in that city, aged seventy-three years. His father was a physician, and during the first years of Dr. Leet's professional life, he practiced with his father at Friendsville, Susquehanna County, Pa.

He was an army surgeon in the Rebellion. Soon after the close of the war he located in Scranton, where he became surgeon for a number of mining companies and for

THE LATE DR. N. Y. LEET.

the D. L. & W. R. R. Co., and for a long term of years was surgeon-in-chief of the Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton, a member of the International Association of Railway Surgeons, and an honorary member of the New York State Association of Railway Surgeons. In 189495 Dr. Leet was first vice-president of the association.

Dr. J. Frank Valentine died February 5 at his home in Richmond Hill, Queens Borough, of typhoid fever. He was born in New York in 1856. For many years he was visiting surgeon at St. Catharine's Hospital, Brooklyn. He also served as surgeon of the old Thirty-second Regiment, and for several years was coroner's physician in Brooklyn. He became chief surgeon of the Long Island Railroad in 1890, and also acted as visiting surgeon at St. John's Hospital, Long Island City, and as consulting surgeon to the Nassau Hospital, at Mineola, L. I. Dr. Valentine was an ex-president of the New York State Association of Railway Surgeons.

Dr. John B. Amiss of Harrisonburg, Va., died suddenly, at the age of 68 years, at his home, January 4, 1903, his death being due to heart disease. The night before he had been out nearly all night on professional

duty, and went to bed during the morning of the 4th feeling as well as usual. About 3 p. m. he started to get up, but felt sick, and called in Dr. Olphausen, his stepson, who, realizing the serious condition, hastily summoned other aid, but Dr. Amiss never rallied-dying at 4 p. m. Dr. Amiss graduated in medicine from the University of Virginia, 1857, and from the University of the City of New York, 1858. On returning to Virginia he commenced the practice of his profession in Page County. He removed later to Harrisonburg, Va., where he has ever since resided. He was a member of the International Association of Railroad Surgeons, and the local surgeon of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Notices and Reviews.

American Edition of Nothnagel's Practice. "Diseases of the Bronchi." By Dr. F. A. Hoffmann, of Leipsic. "Diseases of the Pleura." By Dr. O. Rosenbach, of Berlin. "Pneumonia." By Dr. F. Aufrecht, of Magdeburg. Edited, with additions, by John H. Musser, M. D., Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Handsome octavo volume of 1,030 pages, illustrated. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders & Co. Chicago: W. T. Keener & Co. 1902. Cloth, $5.00 net; half morocco, $6.000 net. The latest volume to be issued of Saunders' American Edition of Nothnagel's Practice is in keeping with the previous volumes of this grand production.

The article on diseases of the bronchi, covering 234 pages, is fittingly introduced by a section on the anatomy and physiology, illustrated by cuts and three colored plates. An exceedingly practical section is the one on foreign bodies in the bronchi, with a tabulation of 158 cases, to which Dr. Musser has added 92. Spontaneous expulsion took place in 51 out of 89 cases. In 62 out of the 89 cases the foreign body was removed or expelled, with only six deaths. Hence, as the editor points out, removal of the foreign body gives the best prognosis.

Next follows an article of 123 pages on emphysema and atelectasis by Dr. Hoffman.

Inflammations of the lungs take up over 400 pages, and is of great importance and interest. The diplococcus pneumonia of Fraenkel is accepted as the cause of the croupous variety of the disease. Traumatism is given as the cause in from 0.13 to 4.4 per cent. According to Aufrecht, Litten found traumatic pneumonia 14 times in 320 cases, Jürgensen once in 768 cases; he himself has not observed it any more frequently than Jürgensen. This section has four colored plates in addition to the cuts.

The balance of the volume is devoted to diseases of the pleura. There have been numerous additions to the original text, and the American edition has consequently been brought up to the state of our present knowledge of the subjects. Among these additions attention may be called to the recent work of Hutchinson and other authors on the blood and urine in pneumonia. The leucocytes in pleurisy by Morse, and the use of the X-ray in diagnosis. The volume is both timely and valuable.

"Bacteriological Technique." A Laboratory Guide for the Medical, Dental and Technical Student. By J. W. H. Eyre, M. D., F. R. S., Edin., Bacteriologist to Guy's Hospital, and Lecturer on Bacteriology at the Medical and Dental Schools, etc.

Octavo of 375 pages, with 170 illustrations. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders & Co.. Chicago: W. T. Keener & Co. 1902. Cloth, $2.50 net.

As the author states in his preface, this book is not an attempt to present especially new features of bacteriological technique; its aim is rather to present well-known information in a concise, plain manner, so that even the beginner can grasp the requirements of bacteriologic study with ease.

The opening chapter contains directions for caring for glassware, which will be appreciated by many workers, especially those who are working rather for themselves than in connection with larger laboratories. The arrangement of the subsequent chapters follows very nicely in much the way that the student would take up the different parts of the subject in undertaking an investigation. The chapter on stains and staining methods is especially full and to be highly commended. That portion relating to culture media is well arranged and for American students will have a special interest in the complete acceptation by the author and his explicit elucidation of the American method of neutralizing culture media, as suggested by the American Public Health Association.

Through this portion of the work there are many excellent illustrations, but a number of quite out-of-date pieces of apparatus are noted, especially as regards incubators and the microscope. The modern bacteriologic microscope of the type used on the continent and in America has not yet come into general use in the English laboratory. The description of special methods of bacteriologic study is also admirable, and the concise arrangement in the form of following steps in procedures make it possible to readily glance over the entire opera

tion.

The chapter devoted to the identification of bacteria is also worthy of special comment, in that the nomenclature and descriptive outlines as introduced by Chester are given almost entire, and the author recommends them very highly. The introduction of the methods of chemical analysis of bacteriologic products will be of value to many students, because as a general thing this subject requires considerable examination of literature before precise methods can be found.

The book closes with a well-arranged summary of bacteriological technique, as applied to special investigations, including the examination of air, soil and water fc hygienic purposes. ADOLPH GEHRMANN.

W. B. Saunders & Co. desire to announce to the profession that they have established a branch of their business in New York. For this purpose they have secured a suite of rooms in the Fuller building, centrally located and easily accessible from all parts of the city. Dr. Reed B. Granger, for many years managing editor of the New York Medical Journal, together with a representative who is thoroughly familiar with the methods of the Philadelphia house, will be connected with this new branch, and Mr. W. B. Saunders personally will divide his time between New York and Philadelphia. It is the intention to apply to this New York office the same systematic business methods that have proved so successful in the conduct of the Philadelphia and London houses, and the firm confidently believes that through these three centers, aided

by the many other agencies located throughout the country, and by an efficient corps of canvassers representing years of valuable experience, the demand for their publications will be greatly increased.

The Fuller building, erected on the triangular plot bounded by Broadway, Fifth avenue and Twenty-second and Twenty-third streets, is one of the oddest structures in the world, and because of its peculiar shape is known as the "Flatiron Building." From the offices, purposely located on the seventeenth floor, can be obtained an unobstructed panoramic view of the city.

Physicians visiting New York are cordially invited to make these conveniently appointed offices their headquarters, where they can receive and answer their correspondence, obtain an interesting panoramic view of the city from a most favorable point, and where they will always be courteously welcomed.

"Heath's Practical Anatomy." A Manual of Dissections. Ninth edition. Edited by J. Ernest Lane, F. R. S. C. 12mo, pp. 696. With 321 engravings on wood, of which thirty-two are colored. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston's Son & Co. 1902. Price, $4.25 net.

Heath's Dissector, as this work is generally known, has been a faithful friend for many years to numerous generations of medical students. Nearly ten years have elapsed since the appearance of the eighth edition, edited by Mr. Anderson. To keep the work within the limits of one volume the text of the present one has been curtailed in places. Some twenty plates with numerous figures from Maclise are found, in addition to the numerous black cuts. We believe this to be the most successful single-volume dissector on the market.

THE BOOKS OF A YEAR.

The Medical Book News, in the four numbers thus far issued, has provided an interesting illustration of the really very small figure for which all the new books on medicine and allied sciences published in 1902 might be purchased, were anyone desirous of so doing.

In the July (initial) number, 79 American and English titles appeared under the heading "Recent Publications." These titles represent 31,232 reading pages and 5,473 illustrations. The net price for this wealth of medical literature is only $287.15.

The September number listed 84 titles, these standing for 33,209 pages of printed text and 9,731 illustrations. The net purchase price for these 84 works is $239.41.

An increase in titles is noted in the November number, which announced 105 new publications. A total of 41,229 reading pages carrying 7,202 illustrations is here. offered for $305.20.

The present issue, too, runs rather heavy in point of number of recent publications listed, 95 being found. These listed volumes contribute 41,183 pages of reading matter and 6,436 illustrations, at a net purchase price of $313.95.

A grand totaling, therefore, shows that the 363 new works published within the last twelve months, representing 146,853 pages of reading, with 28,842 illustrations, could be purchased for the comparatively small sum of $1,145.71, this being an average of but $3.15 per volume.