nearly three quarters of a century ago; but not a "back number" by any means. He said: "More than half the states of the Union have laws to regulate the practice of medicine, but I am by no means convinced that they have done any real good to the profession or to society. New York and Ohio have such laws; Kentucky and Virginia have none. It remains to be shown whether the profession in the two former is more respectable than in the latter. I am disposed to believe not." When the Act of 1889 went into effect, early on "the morning of the first day," when, as by published notification in the secular press, our County Court Clerk was ready to commence qualifying the doctors of Tennessee to continue in the discharge of their duties, as we had so opposed the enactment of the "Regulations," we thought that we would be one of the "early birds," and would promptly comply therewith. Although making my way to his office as early as 8 A. M. on the day specified, we found that we had been preceded by one of the veriest quacks and charlatans combined that ever infested this locality, and so heinous an offender did he subsequently prove to be that he was compelled to leave the city "between two days "- and here he was by the "Law of the Land," brought up to the level and placed on an equality with the most reputable practitioners of the Capital City. "Oh yes!" as I was then and subsequently informed by the friends of the Act, we could not have an ex post facto' law, and while we had to admit all who were now practicing in the state, we will soon get rid of them, and then we will prevent any more coming into the state." Has such been the result? Ask any member of the profession in this city as to the quack who occupied one of the leading prescription drug stores during the early part of the current year and who got in his work just as others have been doing year after year since 1889, and all of them did not register under the year. So great an authority as Dr. J. N. McCormack of Ky., izer," in the Journal A. M. A., of July 28, 1906 says: "The state is a paradise for quacks and street fakers of every description.” 66 Act of that As it has been in this city, so also has it been in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and other cities of this and other states. We saw their blatant signs in New Orleans, in New York, in Philadelphia, and even in the goodly city of Boston in the present year; and any one reading the secular publications in any of the cities of the Union of any magnitude can readily see that like the poor, the "quacks and charlatans" will still be on hand, as well with, as without, legislative enactment. Now we have just given our own personal observation, yet we are well assured that it is in accordance with facts. I know that I will be met with the assertion which is most readily granted that the profession has advanced along many lines during the last quarter of a century; but I do not attribute that at all to the various legislative enactments in the different states, nearly if not all of which have had more or less "Regu lation" procedures. The curriculum in our colleges and universities has been lengthened, more specific detail is paid to medical instruction, but the advance has been as marked in periods when such measures were wanting. Medicine and surgery have made great strides indeed, and I hope will so continue; but as in former years, it will be due to the individual and combined efforts of the medical profession, equally as well without as with the aid of the law. It has responded to the demands of the day and the hour, and will so continue, as it is well able, by its own efforts, now as in the past. But as to "Reciprocity." How about that? Ah my! Ah me! I am very much afraid that we will have to wait for many a day before we can get the different states to agree upon any definite and uniform plan. From personal observation, I can cite that some Boards of Examiners pass under-graduates, and reject graduates of the same school or college; and even have in some instances passed those who have failed to secure the degree after a full four years' course and an examination by the faculty of the school. One peculiar incident of quite recent happening is as follows: A gentleman who had served with reasonable distinction as a surgeon in the C. S. A., a graduate of one of the best antebellum schools, who had been for a number of years discharging satisfactorily the duties of an active practice, and successful at that in the state of Illinois, decided that he would change his base, and removed to an adjacent state. He applied for a license, but was only granted a "temporary license" although he saw under-graduates at the same meeting of the Board who were granted a permanent license. But the following extract from "Notes" in the July number of the Medical Sentinel of Portland, Oregon, is quite apropos:— "A doctor residing in Oregon, who does not give his name or location, writes to the American Journal of Clinical Medicine on the subject of reciprocity. He gives his own experience. He is fifty-four years old, 'too old to be very successful in any other line of business, with an invalid wife, no means to speak of' and yet he is unable to practice in this state, and comply with the law. He is allowed to practice in Wisconsin, but apparently he could not pass the examination here. He lives in southern Oregon —‘near the California line, in a most beautiful country, ever green.' He proposes to continue to practice, and defy the laws, trusting that no jury will convict him. The editor of the journal to which he writes does not sympathize with his lawbreaking determination, but at the same time it adds 'that there is something decidedly wrong with the medical legislation which denies justice to an old doctor, which virtually if not technically, discriminates against him; which makes it well nigh impossible for a very large percentage of us to practice legally in any other state than the one in which we may now happen to reside.' The editor then insists upon fair play. All this is very interesting, and the discussion is timely. But there are some things that are puzzling, and apparently incongruous. While doctors from other states are claiming that they cannot pass examinations that will permit them to practice in Oregon, an Oregon doctor is claiming that the examinations here and the laws governing them are so poor that no other state will permit reciprocal relations with us." Well, as we have in most of the states Legislative Regulations for the practice of medicine, just how long they will exist man knoweth not, but as in the past they have come and gone, and history may again repeat itself; as good citizens, which should be the status of all doctors of medicine, we must obey the laws as they exist, although they at times may prove irksome and disagreeable to some; we beg leave to submit the following suggestion which will overcome to some extent the difficulties of reciprocity. It will require National Legislation; however, we think that can readily be obtained, more especially as it would not invade the principles of State's Rights even according to so strict a "constructionist" as John Marshall, provided acceptance was accorded by the different states, against which we can see no reason, inasmuch as all accept a certain class who have undergone an examination by Special National Boards of Examiners. Our suggestion is that the retired medical officers of the Army, Navy, and M. H. S., be authorized to make examinations of all who may apply, a certificate of approval to qualify them to practice medicine and surgery in the District of Columbia and all the territories. Said certificates we confidently believe would be recognized by nearly if not all the states. Boards of three members each could readily be convened annually in the different sections of the Union, at some central, convenient city, to which recent graduates and older members of the profession could apply for examination if they desired to have free range in the days to come, in which to pursue their avocation. These retired medical officers are all well qualified and competent, they have no very strong local or political affiliations, their loyalty being the more to the National Government as a whole, and the United States at large, rather than to any special local environment. The fees would add something to their reduced pay as having been placed on the retired list of their special branch of service, and the duties would not be onerous to them. We have neither time nor space to fully elaborate the details of the legislation required, but such can readily be formulated, and we simply offer the suggestion, a germ of thought, for the consideration of our readers some of whom we know, feel an interest in this matter. THE NEW PHARMACOPOEIA.-The eighth decennial revision of the United States Pharmacopoeia, which was due in 1900, became official on September 1, 1905. A number of articles considered obsolete have been dismissed, and nearly an equal number of new substances have been added. An effort has been made to bring tinctures to a uniform ten per cent. strength, while drugs containing alkaloids must be assayed and brought to a standard before being dispensed. Among the important additions are cocaine and Coca Wine, the recognition of the latter endorsing a flattering tribute to M. Mariani, who was the originator of this preparation, which has only now been made official. Coca leaves, according to the U. S. P., must contain 0.5 per cent. of ether-soluble alkaloids, by weight, and Fluid extract of Coca must contain 0.5 grams of ether-soluble alkaloids, by weight, in each one hundred cubic centimeters. That means cocaine. Nothing is said of the several other alkaloids contained in Coca which are not soluble in ether. Surely great bodies do move slowly. Cocaine was discovered nearly fifty years ago, and it is an equal number of years ago that M. Mariani first introduced Coca Wine to the medical profession. Notwithstanding the fact that "Vinum Coca" is now official, physicians who desire the original preparation must carefully specify "Mariani" in order to obtain the results which have for years been advocated as due to Coca — made available in Vin Mariani.- The Coca Leaf, September, 1905. TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR COUNTRY PRACTICE FOR SALE.- Eightyfive to ninety per cent. collectable. Competition limited. Location in fever belt of West Tennessee. Nice home. Ten to one hundred acre farm. Good people, and but few transients. For full particulars, terms, etc., address "J. C.," care of THE SOUTHERN PRACTITIONER, 208 Sixth Ave., North, Nashville, Tenn. GRANULAR EFFERVESCENT SALINE LAXATIVE, made by Messrs. Parke, Davis, & Co., is a most excellent combination. Each drachm contains: Sodium phosphate, 20 grs.; magnesium sulphate, 25 grs.; sodium sulphate, 10 grs. The medical profession are so familiar with the advantages of the salines in effecting prompt and thorough evacuation of the bowels, with incidental stimulation of the torpid liver in certain cases, as for example when sodium phosphate is employed, that it is hardly necessary to discuss the therapeutic merits of the combination above outlined. The feature which justifies special comment is the granular effervescent form of the prescription. The ingredients are all active, but all disagreeable in their natural state or when dissolved in water. The element of effervescence changes this without changing the physiological action of the salts. It is a comparatively easy matter for most patients to take a full dose of an effervescing saline, though the same drug in flat solution would be found extremely nauseating. Taken in full dosage in the morning, or in diminished quantities during the day, Granular Effervescent Saline Laxative will be found a most acceptable aid in the treatment of la grippe (with constipation), indigestion, flatulence, "biliousness," sluggish circulation, and the malaise which is associated with intestinal torpor. In short, wherever free depletion of the intestines is indicated, Granular Effervescent Saline Laxative commends itself; while for prolonged courses of treatment having in view the prevention of gallstone formation and of cutaneous or other evidences of auto-intoxication, it is worthy of special consideration. Granular Effervescent Saline Laxative may be given in the dose of one measureful dissolved in a glass of cold water, before breakfast, for immediate effect; the same quantity divided into three doses, to be given during the day, for more gradual action; or in small doses once daily for prolonged courses of treatment. These granular effervescent preparations have no superior on the market They are medicinally active; they are and remain entirely free from disagreeable odor; the granules are firm, hard, of large size and snowy whiteness, and do not become discolored with age. One special feature of this line should not be overlooked: When thrown into water the granules sink to the bottom of the vessel; the bubbles of rapidly forming gas pass upward through the water, saturating it and giving it the characteristic snap" of a thoroughly carbonated beverage. Granular salts made by the old process float upon the water as they dissolve, and most of the newly formed gas escapes into the air. 66 Physicians are requested to indicate Parke, Davis & Co.'s label when prescribing. THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION will hold its next meeting at Hot Springs, Ark., November 6, 7, and 8, 1906. Those of us who were fortunate enough to be present at the meeting of the Association held at Hot Springs in 1894 will remember it as one of the most delightful, from both a scientific and social standpoint, that was ever held, and from the indications already at hand the local profession will this year bend every endeavor to make this meeting a record breaker. The address in medicine will be delivered by Dr. Frank Parsons Norbury, Jacksonville, Ill., and in Surgery by Dr. Florus F. Lawrence, of Columbus, Ohio, the mere mention of whose names is sufficient guarantee of a treat from both a scientific and literary standpoint. SAL HEPATICA.— The original effervescing Saline Laxative and Uric Acid Solvent. A combination of the Tonic, Alterative, and Laxative Salts similar to the celebrated Bitter Waters of Europe, fortified by the addition of Lithium and Sodium Phosphates. It stimulates liver, tones intestinal glands, purifies alimentary tract, improves digestion, assimilation, and metabolism. Especially valuable in rheumatism, gout, bilious |