is no law, it seems, in this State by which the abortionist can be convicted. There has been but one conviction that I can recall in this city within the past ten years, notwithstanding the fact that several parties have been before the courts at different times on this charge. It is almost impossible to secure a conviction, and even if the patient should die, I think it is best for the doctor not to say anything about it, and put the death down to sepsis or something else. There is nothing to gain by reporting it as death from criminal abortion, and we may get ourselves into trouble by so doing. We cannot do any damage to the abortionist; lawyers tell me that it is almost impossible to convict one of them. Even in those cases where legal protection has been in evidence, ante-mortem statements, etc., the criminal abortionist gets out on some technicality. If Dr. Dugan's patient should die, I believe he should tell all her friends. I think a doctor is criminal who allows the patient to die without informing the parents or nearest friends of the nature of the case. Dr. W. H. Wathen: About fifteen years ago I was treating a woman and did not know she was pregnant until about five o'clock one afternoon she came to my office bleeding profusely from the uterus and with symptoms of abortion. I gave her some morphine as quickly as possible, called a coupe and sent her home. I did not know even where she lived-in fact, she had given me as her address a place at which she did not live. I heard nothing more of the case until some hours afterward, when I was telephoned to come to a certain number on a certain street. There I found this woman in an abortion, suffering great pain. She was boarding with a widow, and knowing that the patient had just come from my office in a coupe, and that she was having an abortion, the widow immediately began to raise a terrific fuss, saying that I had brought disgrace upon her house, etc. I went out immediately and telephoned for Dr. Griffith, and waited for him to go back with me. I said to the woman: "You are having an abortion." She said, "Yes." "Now tell me who induced this abortion." She gave me the doctor's name. If I had not taken Dr. Griffith with me, and if I had not forced this woman to give me all the facts in the case, the chances are next day the papers would have been full of a case where Dr. Wathem had induced an abortion on a certain woman, etc. Dr. W. C. Dugan: My only reason for reporting the case was to clicit the views of the Society as to the best manner of protecting ourselves. When I left the case this morning, I called the doctor's attention to the conditions present; told him that this girl was in a septic condition, that he knew what sepsis meant in such cases, and the girl had been in this condition for four weeks. I called his attention to the membranes which were removed, and then he understood for the first time that it was an abortion. I told him that we must arrange in some way to protect ourselves, and as he knew the family, he should lay the matter plainly before them, so it could be understood; that while we did not expect the girl to die, it was well to prepare for "war in time of peace." The girl is boarding with some friends, her parents not being in the city, and the doctor promised to go there this afternoon and explain the nature of the case fully, that they might understand the matter, so if she should die we are protected. THYROID GLAND IN HEMOPHILIA.-Delace reports in the Journal de Medicin de Paris of January 23, 1898, the case of a woman suffering from this disorder who was anemic, the extremities covered with purpura, bleeding gums, and excessive menstruation. Ergotin and hemostatics failed. When thyroid capsules were tried the hemorrhages disappeared, color returned, and the purpura cleared up.-Medicine. Editorial. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. The arrangements for the 24th Annual meeting to be held in the Representative Hall of the State Capitol in this city, October 11, 12, 13 and 14 inst., are well under way and well nigh in a state of completeness and perfection. The correspondence of the Secretary, Dr. H. E. Tuley, of Louisville, Ky., the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, Dr. Duncan Eve, of this city, and the Chairman of the Sab-Committee on Exhibits, all point to a most successful and satisfactory meeting. There is no season of the year that a visit to this latitude will be so agreeable and enjoyable, and the visiting members may rest assured that the citizens of Nashville, on this occasion, will see to it that their former well earned reputation for hospitality and courtesy will be thoroughly sustained. It is possible that a few who intended being present may be prevented by the exigencies of their professional duties in a few localities where yellow fever has made a limited appearance; but those from other sections need have no hesitation on this score, as in all the past history of Nashville not a single case has developed within its confines, and the season of frost will be so near at hand if not already existent--from the 5th to 15th of October being its annual period of recurrence, that no fears whatever need be entertained on this score. With a good railroad service-get through ticket from starting point, paying one full fare, and ask for certificate or receipt, which, on being handed to the Secretary or to a member of the registration committee at time of registration, will be signed by Secretary and the Agent of the Passenger Association, and will entitle the bearer to a return trip ticket at one-third regular rate at any time within three days after the close of the meeting; with excellent hotels at very reasonable rates, a trip to the capital city of the grand old volunteer state can but be most enjoyable and agreeable at this season to any of our professional friends, their wives and families who will be entitled to all the courtesies of the occasion. Any member of the regular medical profession can become a member of this association, which in point of members is second only to the American Medical Association. The following to which some additions may be made is the program: First Day, Tuesday, October 11, 1898, Morning Session, 10 O'clock. Addresses of Welcome-Dr. C. S. Briggs and Hon. Jas. M. Head, of Nashville, Tenn. Reports of Officers and Committees. Executive Business. Inaugural Address by the President―Jno. Young Brown, of St. Louis, Mo. Diagnostic and Therapeutic Uses of Tuberculin-Chas. W. Aitken, Flemingsburg, Ky. Immunity-Chas. T. McClintock, Detroit, Mich. Hygiene versus Drugs in Pulmonary Tuberculosis-Charles L. Minor, Asheville, N. C. Some of the Factors that Predispose to Tuberculosis-L. P. Barbour, Tullahoma, Tenn. The Bicycle from the Medical Standpoint-I. N. Love, St. Louis, Mo. Therapeutic Value of Marmoreck's Serum-W. L. Baum, Chicago, Ill. Unguentum Hydrargyri or Blue Ointment Administered by the Mouth -Albert Bernheim, Paducah, Ky. Ocular Tension; Peripheralism; Foreign Clinics-W. B. Meany, Louisville, Ky. Operative Procedures in High Degrees of Myopia with Report of Cases-Allen T. Haight, Chicago, Ill. A Theory of Nystagmus-Chas. H. Beard, Chicago, Ill. Afternoon Session, 3 O'clock. Wounds of the Lachrymal Apparatus: Report of Operation for Restoration of Canaliculi Obliterated by Traumatism-Geo. F. Keiper, Lafayette, Ind. Mastoiditis: When to Operate and How-Andrew Timberman, Columbus, O. Three Anomalous Cases of Mastoid Disease-J. L. Minor, Memphis, Tenn. Prophylaxis in Diseases of the Nose and Throat-J. Homer Coulter, Chicago, Ill. Headache as a Symptom in Eye Disease-W. H. Wilder, Chicago, Ill. Report of Holocain as a Local Anesthetic in Ophthalmic Surgery— E. C. Ellett, Memphis, Tenn. Incarceration of the Iris Relieved by Eserine: Report of a Case— Frank Trester Smith, Chattanooga, Tenn. A Case of Bilateral Glioma of the Retina: Operation, Non-Recurrence in Seventeen Years-A. G. Sinclair, Memphis, Tenn. Tonsillitis or Quinsy; Cause and Treatment-J. A. Stucky, Lexington, Ky. Neuralgias Due to Nasal Origin-Edward T. Dickerman, Chicago, Ill. Remarks on Hydropthalmus, with Report of Two Cases-James Moore Ball, St. Lonis, Mo. Conservatism in Oral Surgery--Truman W. Brophy, Chicago, Ill. Second Day, Wednesday, October 12, 1898--Morning Session, 9:30 O'clock. Reports of Committees. Appointment of Nominating Committee. Address in Medicine: "Diabetes Melitus"-Dr. James T. Whittaker, Cincinnati, O. The Relations of the Gynecologist and the Neurologist-W. H. Humiston, Cleveland, Ohio. Discussion Opened by C. H. Hughes, St. Louis, and Jos. Price, Philadelphia, Pa. Complete Inspection of the Rectum by Means of Newer Mechanical Appliances-Thos. Chas. Martin, Cleveland, O. The Relationship between the Genito-Urinary Tract and Rectum: In Operations Upon the Female, Which should Receive Priority?-John L. Jelks, Memphis, Tenn. Rectal Fistula-J. R. Pennington, Chicago, Ill. The Surgical Management of Complex Progressive Ischio-Rectal Fistula-Leon Straus, St. Louis, Mo. Ind. Hydrotherapy in Stomach Diseases-Geo. D. Kahlo, Indianapolis, Phases of Toxaemia from Disturbed Metabolism-Thos. Hunt Stucky, Louisville, Ky. The Vascular Dermatoneuroses--A. E. Brayton, Indianapolis, Ind. A Clinical Report of a Case of Abscess of the Liver-Edwin Frazer Wilson, Columbus, O. The Importance of Early Diagnosis in Surgical Cases-J. C. Morfit, St. Louis, Mo. A Unique Case of Hernia-Spencer Graves, St. Louis, Mo. Radical Cure of Inguinal Hernia by Fowler's Method-H.O. Walker, Detroit, Mich. Gonangiectomy and Orchidectomy for Hypertrophied Prostate in Old Men-George W. Johnson, Dnnning, Ill. Afternoon Session, 3 O'clock. Why I Have Abandoned the General Practice of Vaginal Hysterectomy-B. Sherwood Dunn, Boston, Mass. Why I Do Vaginal Ablation in Pus Cases-Wm. R. Pryor, New York City. A Consideration of the Limit to Operative Gynecology-Shelby C. Carson, Greensboro, Ala. The Limits of Operations for Cancer of the Uterus-L. S. McMurtry, Louisville, Ky. Cancer of the Uterus-Louis Frank, Louisville, Ky. Surgical Treatment of Pus in the Pelvic-Joseph Price, Philadelphia, Pa. The Therapeutic Value of Leaving Normal Salt Solution in the Abdominal Cavity after Celiotomies-J. Wesley Bovee, Washington, D. C. Some Pathological Conditions of the Ovaries Causing Pain-G. W. Halley, Kansas City, Mo. A Case of Abdominal Hysterectomy with Stercoraceous Vomiting; Recovery-H. Hatch, Quincy, Ill. A Plea for Pelvic Cellulitis and Peritonitis-F. F. Bryan, Georgetown, Ky. The Treatment of Peri-Uterine Inflammation-W. E. B. Davis, Birmingham, Ala. The Diagnosis of Gonnorrhæ in Women-J. Rilus Eastman, Indianapolis, Ind. Care and Repair of the Female Perineum-E. L. Larkins, Terre Haute, Ind. Clinical Contributions to Ectopic Gestation-W. W. Taylor, Memphis, Tenn. Retro-Displacements of the Uterus and their Treatment-A. Morgan Cartledge, Louisville, Ky. EVENING.-General recePTION, MAXWELL HOUSE. Reports of Committees. |