PITTSBURG NOTES.-On April 12th, the Board of Trustees and Ladies' Association of the Pittsburg Homoeopathic Hospital held their annual meeting in the chapel of the hospital. Reports were read and elections of officers was held. After the business meeting the ladies served lunch to the visitors.

The report of the Executive Committee shows that the hospital has just completed a very useful year. It is the thirty-second annual report and reads in part: "For the year ending March 31, 1898, there were treated 1,879 patients. Of this number 322 paid in whole or in part, while 1,557 were entirely charity patients. Thus it will be seen that five-sixths of all treated were charity. There were a total of 38,143 hospital days. The average cost per diem for each patient was $1.32, including cost of all furnishment and ordinary repairs.

"Dispensary.-There were issued from the general dispensary 13.701 prescriptions, in addition to 260 minor operations performed and 3,982 surgical dressings. At the Eye, Ear and Throat Dispensary there have been 4,915 attendances, making a total attendance of 22,798 at our dispensary department.

"Our X-Ray department continues its good work. Both to the patients of our hospital and many from outside this department has rendered valuable assistance

"Training School.-Twelve nurses will be granted diplomas of the institution."

The entire graduating class of the Pittsburg Training School for Nurses at the Homoeopathic Hospital has volunteered its services to the government in case of war.

Dr. Theodore Lemmerz, resident surgeon at Pittsburg Homoeopathic Hospital, completes his term of service May 1st. He has spent the last few weeks of his term confined to his bed with inflammatory rheumatism.

OBITUARY-At her home in Norwich Town, on the evening of Sunday, Jan. 23d, after a suffering, shut-in life of nearly eight years, passed on into life eternal, one whom we, who love her and who have not lost her, shall ever sacredly remember as a pure, sweet, shining soul.

Gertrude T. Hyde, granddaughter of the late Henry Thomas, and wife of Dr. E. H. Linnell, lived all her life in Norwich, and the memory of her active years is intimately associated with all that makes for the best and truest and deepest interests of the place.

A graduate of the Free Academy, she retained the warmest and most vital interest in that institution, and in the educational and artistic outgrowth of which it is the centre. The hymn sung at the fortieth anniversary commemoration exercises was from her pen.

She was earnestly active in church work, as also among the United Workers; interesting herself particularly in the Eureka Girls' Club at the city, where she taught with her heart in the teaching. Many a hard-working, dulled, young life has been the brighter and the richer for her gentle ministry and wise counsel.

She had traveled widely and was a gentlewoman of rare high culture, and of marked literary gift, with a quick understanding and appreciation of what is truly fine in art and in life.

But perhaps her tenderest, sweetest service has been rendered during these long years of patient and uncomplaining suffering, when, if she thought of herself at all, it was as a helpless invalid, shut away from active service, unable to give of heart and brain and hand as she longed to give.

With all her sweet trust and undaunted heroism, and the generous outgiving of that special and peculiar sympathy which penetrates to the core of each one's need, and, though it be powerless to lift the burden, yet can and does lay a healing touch upon the sorest sting; though she reached out into one life and another and gave to all who came within her ever-widening, ever-radiating circle of sympathy, she never seemed to know that she was giving to anyone. She never realized the far-spreading of her holy influence, nor how she helped and cheered and comforted. In the sweet humility of her heart she never dreamed that her sick chamber was, to some among us, hallowed ground.

DR. NEWELL WHITE died at his home in New Castle, Pa., Dec. 13, 1897, aged ninety years.

He was born in Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., Nov. 30, 1807. His parents were direct descendants of the Pilgrims, who first settled in New England. He was educated in the schools of his native town, and spent several years in teaching. He commenced the study of medicine in 1831. After passing through his preliminary course he attended the Berkshire Medical College, taking a full curse in surgery and medicine, and graduated in 1834.

In May, 1834, he was married to Miss C. N. Porter, daughter of Dr. David Porter, of Worthington, Mass. Within the same year he located at Windham, Portage County, Ohio, and remained there until 1840, when he removed to Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, where he remained five years, and then returned to Windham.

About that time his attention was called to the subject of Homœopathy. Giving it serious consideraation, and testing the efficacy of its remedies, for two years, he was thoroughly convinced that its theory and practice were established upon a true scientific basis. Acting upon these conscientious convictions, he abaandoned the practice of Allopathy, and gave his undivided time and attention to the practice of Homoeopathy. In 1850 he removed to New Castle, Lawrence County, Pa., where he continued to practice regularly, and with marked success, until 1895. He did not give up his office practice, until the present year, when the failure of physical strength made it necessary.

Dr. White attributed his longevity and excellent health to an even life and regular habits.

He was always a strong advocate of temperance, and never used tobacco in any form.

NORTH AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY.

Original Articles in Medicine.

HYGIENE OF THE EYE.*

By A. B. NORTON, M.D.,

New York.

Professor Ophthalmology College of the New York Ophthalmic Hospital.

NDER this heading we shall endeavor to gather together a few

UNDER

very essential and practical points. Many cases of blindness have undoubtedly resulted from the neglect of simple every-day precautions which presumably are supposed to be so generally understood, by the laity as well as the medical profession, that we are unable to find any author who has devoted the slightest space to the subject.

The care of the eyes commences at birth, and in order to secure its highest usefulness must be continued throughout the whole life. The eyes of the new-born babe should be at once carefully cleansed with warm water, or a saturated solution of boracic acid. In all cases of gonorrheal or leucorrheal discharge in the mother the method recommended by Credé should always be employed. This consists of the instillation between the eyelids of the child immediately after birth, of a 2 per cent. solution, gr. x. ad. zi. nitrate of silver. This method is practiced by many of the best obstetricians in all cases, and since its general adoption the percentage of cases of blindness from ophthalmia neonatorum has been wonderfully reduced. In former years the percentage of blindness from this disease alone formed, in different countries, from 20 to 79 per cent. of all

*Read before the Homœopathic Medical Society of the State of New York February, 1898.

the cases of blindness. The examination of the eyes of the babe from day to day should be a part of the physician's routine duty for at least one or two weeks, so that the onset of any trouble may be at once met by active treatment. The eyes of infants should be protected from all glaring lights and especially the direct rays of the sun, both indoors and out. The babe should never have its attention attracted by objects held close to the eyes, for repeated convergence at close objects may predispose or even produce strabismus. This observation holds good as the child grows older, for in addition, from poring over story and picture books when too fine or held too close to the eyes, myopia threatens. The fine worsted and bead work used in some of the kindergarten teachings is for this reason objectionable. Give the growing child plenty of outdoor amusements, where the eyes may have a long range during the developing period of life, and we shall see fewer little ones wearing glasses for myopia and astigmatism.

School Hygiene. We believe that one of the most important fields for the exhibition of the to-day knowledge and interest in sanitary science is presented in our educational institutions. When we consider the total number of hours passed in the class rooms during the child's school and college life, the additional hours required for study and preparation outside of the school-room, by the present day system of forcing the child too rapidly and all children alike, to keep up with their classes, then when we compare these hours with the time left for recreation, exercise and sleep, and recall that these years are the years of physiological growth, is it any wonder that we find so many commencing their active life as physical wrecks! It is therefore plainly a duty we owe to posterity to consider carefully the hygienic environments of our children as well as their mental and moral training. The school life of the growing child should be so regulated as to secure the best mental advancement and at the same time the best physical development. Every observing physician has seen many children who commenced school life in apparently good health soon complaining of headaches, nervousness, loss of appetite and other symptoms indicative of impaired general vigor.

It is, however, not our function to consider the subject of school hygiene in its relation to the general health, but simply as to its bearing upon the eyes of our children.

In the early part of the present century we find attention first called to the relations existing between the myopic eye and the demands of civilized life. Within a comparatively few years more

complete and systematic examinations of the eyes of school children have been made, so that to-day we have as a basis for our statistics the examinations of the eyes of over two hundred thousand pupils. of all grades. An analysis of these examinations shows that in the primary schools nearly all the children enter with normal eyes. In the higher grades 25 per cent. have become myopic, while in university life the percentage of myopia has increased to, from 60 per cent. to 70 per cent., which shows that the number of near-sighted pupils increase from the lowest to the highest schools, and that the increase is in direct proportion to the length of time devoted to the strain of school life.

In the face of these facts it seems the imperative duty of the hour to carefully investigate the cause of this deterioration of the eyes of our children during school life. The evident relationship of this increasing nearsightedness to school work seems to indicate some fault in our educational methods. Owing to the fact that myopia is often hereditary it is impossible to wholly eradicate the condition for generations to come. We believe, however, that acquired myopia can be prevented or very greatly decreased by careful and frequent examinations of the eyes, together with thorough hygienic preventive methods during the years of physical growth and mental training of the child.

First, as to the importance of frequent examinations of the eyes of children. Statistics prove that a very large proportion of the eyes of young children are hypermetropic. So great is this preponderance that many authorities claim that the normal eye is a hypermetropic one. Careful observations have shown that in almost every instance the change from far to near-sight is through the turnstile of astigmatism. That this change does take place has been proven by the progressive increase in the percentage of myopia during school life. By repeated examinations, from year to year, the first change can be detected and suitable treatment taken to check its progress. We believe that the eyes of every child should be carefully examined at the commencement of school life and that the examination should be repeated every year at least until the time of full development of both body and mind. The care of the teeth com

mences even earlier than this and is continued throughout the whole life. We have become educated to the importance and necessity of sending our children to the dentist every six months or year for examination whether disease is suspected or not. The far more precious and delicate organ, the eye, on the contrary, is almost uni