SPASMODIC RIGIDITY OF THE Os.-This is really a state of tetanus in the anterior lip of the uterus, according to Doléris, found usually in neurotic primiparæ when premature rupture of the membranes has allowed the waters to entirely escape. The suffering is, of course, intense, and the patient's state of mind pitiable. Under chloroform the condition disappears at once, and labor, as a rule, progresses favorably. Dr. Doléris utters a protest against antispasmodics of all kinds in this complication, and against the classic views upon the subject of spasmodic rigidity that are found in books.-PostGraduate.

GONORRHOEAL PERITONITIS.-Dr. E. Ceppi, of Porrentruy (Revue Médicale de la Suisse Romande), reports a case of chronic purulent peritonitis in a previously healthy and robust woman, aged twenty-nine, which was cured by abdominal incision and drainage. The disease proved to be of gonorrhoeal origin, small accumulations of Neisser's gonococci being found in the pus-cells. Similar microbes were discovered also in the purulent discharge from the uterus. This case is said to be the first in which the gonococcus has been found in the peritonitic exudation.-N. Y. Med. Record.

DRUGGISTS AND THE PRESCRIPTION OF POISONS.-The Indiana Legislature has passed a law declaring that, "From and after the passage of this Act, no pharmacist, druggist, apothecary, or other person, shall refill more than once prescriptions containing opium or morphine, or preparations of either, in which the dose of opium shall exceed one-fourth grain, or morphine one-twentieth grain, except with the verbal or written order of a physician." A violation of the law is declared a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars.

CORNIL AND LOUPT have discovered a new bacterial disease affecting ducks, and designate it as duck cholera. The specific germ is a short bacillus, which has been cultivated, and uniformly produces a fatal disease when inocculated into ducks, but only a slight indis position when injected into other fowls.

THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT of Hong Kong, China, has passed a law making vaccination compulsory.

PALPATION OF THE UTERUS MADE EASIER BY EXTENSION OF THE RECTUM. According to the Vienna correspondent of the Lancet for June 2, 1888, a new method for facilitating the palpation of the uterus and the ovaries in cases where this mode of examination is made difficult by any peculiarity of the internal genital organs or by diseases, has been devised by Dr. Emerich Ullmann, assistant of Professor Albert. At the meeting of the Vienna Gynecological Society he suggested the introduction of a colpeurynter containing 200 to 250 cubic centimeters of water into the rectum in cases where palpation of the pelvic organs is impossible under ordinary conditions. By this application of the colpeurynter, as had been proved by Ullmann's experiments made on the cadaver and on living persons, the uterus and the ovaries are raised and brought into an anteverted position, so that, by pressing down the uterus against the touching finger, with the hand resting on the abdomen, it is possible to examine minutely from the vagina both surfaces of the uterus, the ligaments, and the ovaries, if the bladder is emptied.-Therapeutic Gazette.

SOZOIODOL A SUBSTITUTE FOR IODOFORM.-Sozoiodol is a derivative of the aromatic series, and is a phenol, each of whose atoms of hydrogen is replaced by the radical (SO3H), and an atom of iodine. An efficaciousness equal to that of iodoform is attributed to it for the treatment of skin diseases, and it is also said to be (Rundschau, No. 50,) equal to salicylic acid in these troubles. The product appears in fine, brilliant crystals; is inodorous; dissolves with difficulty in cold water and cold alcohol; but dissolves much more readily in both substances aided by heat. Sozoiodol contains forty-two per cent. of iodine; it is recommended as a substitute for iodoform, on account of its freedom from odor.-L' Union pharm.

DIPHTHERIA TREATED BY CHLORAL HYDRATE.-Dr. Mercier (Rev. de Thérap., Feb.,) reports very good results. Before giving chloral, if the tongue be much furred, he administers an emetic-preferably ipecacuanha, in powder. He then gives from one and a half to five grains of chloral, in the form of a syrup, every half hour, taking care to give food and drink beforehand, so as to leave the syrup in contact with the throat. The administration of liquids before the chloral prevents the latter giving rise to gastric pain. The drug

generally stopped the further progress of the disease, and within fortyeight hours the false membranes disappeared, and the raw surface left was gargled with an astringent lotion. The treatment is only of use. in the early stages of the disease, and is without benefit when the larynx has become involved.

DR. COOKE, in the Medical Record, adduces observations to show that when conception occurs early in the night, boys result; when in the morning, girls. We may justly infer that conceptions occurring in the middle of the night will result in hermaphrodites.

THE JEWISH CONSISTORY OF PARIS has appointed a committee to consult with surgeons as to the best method of performing peritomy (circumcision). It is proposed to appoint an inspector of peritomy. Dr. Duplay, an eminent surgeon, has been delegated to write a manual describing the best method of performing the operation.

ALL REJECTED.-All the candidates appearing before the British Columbia Examining Board were rejected this year. It should be said that the all included two candidates only.-The Journal.

THE NEW YORK BOARD OF HEALTH now requires that all plumbing be inspected, and tested by the air-pump and pressure-gauge, in the same manner as now employed in testing gas-pipes.

MONTEFUSCO, PHYSICIAN TO THE Cotugno Small-POX HOSPITAL, recommends phenic acid, locally and internally, as the best treatment for variola.

DR. JULIAN J. CHISHOLM, of Baltimore, has recently successfully transplanted a rabbit's cornea into the human eye, the third successful case on record.

OF THE PARIS OPHTHALMOLOGISTS, DeWelcker is a German, Galezowski a Pole, Landolt a Swiss, Panas a Greek, and Abadie French.

MAGISTRATE "Have you no written document to prove that your wife is really dead?" Peasant-"I have the doctor's bill.". Fliegende Blatter.

BUFFALO MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL

A MONTHLY REVIEW OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

THOS. LOTHROP, M. D.,

EDITORS:

W. W. POTTER, M. D.

All communications, whether of a literary or business character, should be addressed to the editors: 284 FRANKLIN STREET, BUFFALO, N. Y.

Editorial.

MYXEDEMA.

Two important studies of this peculiar disease have recently been made-one by a committee appointed by the Clinical Society of London, and the other by Dr. Henry Hun, of Albany. The one study was quite independent of the other, and both taken together form the most valuable contribution ever made to the subject. The committee of the Clinical Society of London had been prosecuting experiments and researches for a period of nearly four years, and its conclusions were presented to the Society last May through its chairman, Dr. W. M. Ord. Dr. Hun gave the results of his investigations in a paper published in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences for July and August, 1888, reporting therein four cases of his own, and analyzing 150 cases reported by others.

Grouping the conclusions of these statistics together, it appears that myxedema is practically the same disease as that named "sporadic cretinism;" is is "probably identical with cachexia strumipriva;" and bears a close affinity to "endemic cretinism."

Clinical and pathological observations indicate that destructive change, either by removal or disease of the thyroid gland, is the one condition common to all cases. The most common form of destructive change of the thyroid consists" in the substitution of a delicate fibrous tissue for the proper glandular structure,"-a nearly complete atrophy of the parenchyma of the gland, and in some cases, at least, a new formation of lymphatic tissue in it. Other

lesions, which are more or less common, are a general obliterating endarteritis, with consequent hypertrophy of the left side of the heart, a chronic diffuse nephritis, an interstitial hepatitis, degeneration of the suprarenal capsules, atrophy of the fat, and a general edema or infiltration of the skin and mucous membranes.

Patients of all ages may be affected with the disease, but it is most frequently found between the ages of thirty-five and forty years. It is more common in females than males, and excessive child-bearing, exhaustive hemorrhages, mental shock, worry, and injuries are important etiological factors. It may develop insidiously, or commence with some nervous or cutaneous disease.

The symptoms of myxedema are very characteristic, and affect especially the skin and mucous membranes, and the nervous and vascular systems. Dr. Hun summarizes them very clearly as follows: "The skin is swollen without pitting, dry, scaly, and cold, the hair and teeth frequently fall out, the nails become brittle, and the perspiration is either greatly diminished or absent. The mucous membranes are also swollen, but their secretion is usually increased. There is mental sluggishness and impairment, and insanity is frequent; sensibility, both special and general, is impaired in about half the cases; the muscles act feebly and sluggishly in all cases; the reflex actions are frequently diminished; speech is slow, and in more than half the cases hoarse; and numbness and neuralgic pains are frequently present. In the majority of cases the pulse is slow and small, and the heart presents some abnormality. The blood is often in an anemic condition, and very frequently there are severe hemorrhages. The temperature, especially the surface temperature, is sub-normal, which may be considered in part a nervous symptom."

The investigations of both the committee and Dr. Hun agree that mucin in the tissues is not in excess, as was believed by those who first made chemical observations on the disease.

Myxedema usually lasts a number of years-sometimes as many as fifteen or twenty. Very few cases fully recover,