DR. LAPTHORN-SMITH, the well known Professor of Gynecology, of Montreal, will shortly begin his private course on Gynecology for practitioners, which he has been giving every spring for several years. The class is limited to three, so that pupils have a good opportunity for perfecting themselves in diagnosis and treatment. THE Toronto Clinical Society held its annual banquet at the Albany Club, on the evening of the 6th of May. Dr. Herbert J. Hamilton presided, whilst Dr. Adam Wright occupied the vicechair. Between forty and fifty of the Fellows and members were present, and the gathering was one of the very best in the history of these annual functions of the Clinical Society. The feature event of the gathering was the presentation of a loving-cup to Dr. Charles O'Reilly. UNITED STATES. CHICAGO is the healthiest big city in the world. THE display of meats in front of butchers' and market dealers' shops in Chicago was prohibited after May 1st, 1905. DRS. WILLIAM H. WELCH, William S. Halsted, Howard A. Kelly and William Osler, all of the original Faculty of Johns Hopkins University, will meet in London during June, and will then sit for a group portrait, to be painted by Mr. John S. Sargent. The American Journal of Surgery is the new title of The American Journal of Surgery and Gynecology, of St. Louis. The publication office will be in future in New York, and the new publisher is Dr. Joseph MacDonald, jr., formerly managing editor of the International Journal of Surgery. THE New York courts have disclosed a dreadful tale of fakery, and put the blush of shame upon many newspapers of that city which freely advertised the fake. A poor, hard-working carpenter who had saved, after many years of labor, $10,000 for his old age, and who was afflicted with a purely psychic disease, fell into the hands of a "specialistic cure-all," who would and could cure him by the means of radium, a very valuable medicinal agent. The poor man was literally fleeced, as it was established beyond a doubt that no radium had been used, but a decoction of ginseng, ordinary tonics and coloring matter. What a pity the carpenter could not recover from the accomplices in this crime-the newspapers. IT has been computed that $60,000,000 have been spent for patent medicines in the United States for one year, an amount sufficient to give every physician in the American union an income of $2,000. IN the April 22nd issue of the Medical Record, Dr. George M. Gould, of Philadelphia, has an interesting and able article on Visual Function, the cause of slanted handwriting; its relation to school hygiene, school desks, mal-posture, spinal curvature and myopia. DR. WILLIAM S. THAYER, who was elected to the chair of clinical medicine in the Johns Hopkins Medical School on April 3rd, has returned to Baltimore, and will assume his new duties at the beginning of the next scholastic year. The work of Dr. Osler is thus divided between Dr. Thayer and Dr. Parker. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. THE illness of Lady Curzon has already cost $50,000, which is exactly one-half of Lord Curzon's salary as Governor-General of India. It is said that several famous specialists have lived for days at Walmer Castle at $500 a day apiece. Each time additional medical attendance or special medicaments were needed from London, a special train was chartered. THE Pall Mall Gazette is responsible for the following: A hospital surgeon of London, England, was engaged to attend the wife of a Russian tailor residing in the metropolis. Finding that it was a purely charity case the surgeon turned it over to his assistant, although he fully intended to stay and see things out himself. This was objected to, and the assistant was refused to see the woman. Three men were called in to bully the surgeon, who put on his coat, prepared to leave. Then the husband, backed by his bullies, seized the surgeon by the throat and compelled attendance. Subsequently the husband received two months' sentence at hard labor. SIR JAMES PAGET has followed up the careers of some 1,000 who studied in the school of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, England. He states that 23 have met with distinguished success; 66 with considerable success; 507 with fair success; 124 a limited success; 96 stopped studying medicine; 41 died while pupils, and 87 died within twelve years of commencing practice. Correspondence. HARVARD COMMISSION. To the Editor of DOMINION MEDICAL MONTHLY : DEAR SIR: I was attracted by the following report of the "Harvard Cancer Commission," which appeared in the February number of your journal: "The Harvard Cancer Commission, it is understood, will report shortly that cancer is neither hereditary nor contagious, and that it is not of parasitic origin. The report will also state that excision is the only cure except in the case of small superficial growths, which may be cured by radiotheraphy." I have closely studied the subject of Cancer for the past twelve years, and for twelve years before that I had successfully treated. many cases. About ten years ago, I advanced the idea that cancer is infectious and gave verifying data. I believe that cancer is not only infectious but also hereditary, and I know that most, if not all, cancers can be cured with or without the knife. I will be interested to see the report of the Commission and to learn how they have arrived at the above conclusion. If they say cancer cannot be cured, they issue a challenge which will doubtless be taken up by many physicians who are successfully treating these cases by various methods. When the internal organs have become seriously involved and general sepsis prevails, the accredited method of treatment offers little, but when the disease is confined to external parts of the body it can usually be successfully removed. I consider that these manifestations are secondary and not primary effects of the disease, and is usually held. Preventive measures are effective in these cases as they are known to be in many other diseases. It is evident to every one that as long as the blood remains healthy, no disease can exist. Our only hope in successfully treating cancer is to restore or re-establish a normal condition of the blood. It is now an established fact that there are many ways of so thoroughly oxidizing the blood that the disease engendering matter within it is rendered innoxious and eliminated. Allowing that the local manifestations of cancer are always. secondary, does it not look reasonable that better results will be secured by coupling local treatment with such measures as will purge the system of the pernicious and infectious primary conditions. Now that we know that Bright's Disease and Diabetes are both secondary affections and can be cured, why should we not expect to do as much for cancer? It seems to me that most cancer patients die from the want of some specific treatment; and, for this reason, cases are allowed to run on until they become hopeless. One of the Harvard Commissioners recently told a personal friend that the Commission knew no more now on the subject of cancer than when it began its investigations. It would seem from this that the lines upon which the Commission has been working are as conservative as Boston herself. 7 West 58th St., New York. G. LENOX CURTIS, M.D. Obituary. JOHN HERALD, M.A., M.D. Dr. John Herald, of Queen's University, died in the General Hospital, Toronto, recently. He was admitted to the hospital on a Sunday and an operation was performed on the Tuesday following. John Herald, M.A., M.D., was professor of clinical medicine and dermatology in Queen's University, and for several years was Registrar of the Medical School. He was a man of marked executive ability, a good lecturer, popular with the student body and had a large general practice of medicine in Kingston. He was forty-nine years of age. He was an ex-Mayor of Kingston. Interment will take place at Dundas, his old home. Dr. Herald was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1855, and was the son of the late Rev. James Herald, Presbyterian minister. He came to Canada when comparatively young, and, entering Queen's University, he graduated with honors in 1876, and received the degree of M.A. in 1880. In 1884 he graduated in medicine from Queen's. He was a member of several fraternal orders, and was Past High Chief Ranger of the Independent Order of Foresters His wife, formerly Miss Grafton, of Dundas, Ont., survives him. Deceased was a member of the Methodist Church, and a Conservative in politics. THE DAWN. BY WILLIAM J. FISCHER, M.D., WATERLOO, Ont. We know not when 'twill be, but Death one day O what is life, that we should thus forget The joyful dawn that waits beyond the gloom To greet our souls, while in the cold, sad tomb We turn to earth? Why should we doubt it yet? There is a life that crowns Sin's battle won, A life of rest in far-off glowing spheres, Where angels sing love-hymns through endless years, Where Christ's the Light-the soul's eternal Sun. |