fittest, that gave new significance to the studies which had begun with Pasteur, and whose relation to surgery had been so splendidly demonstrated by Lister in a series of brilliant and conclusive experiments in 1865. If life from its abstract standpoint were a conflict in which the fittest survived, how much more so was the concrete and organic life the scene of a perpetual warfare with those insidious foes, the microbes. It is not possible here to trace the growth and development of the new science of bacteriology, which we know has revolutionized the science of surgery, modified the art of surgery, and subverted our deepest, most fundamental pathologic beliefs. So essential has this science become that to-day we regard no young practitioner as thoroughly equipped for surgical work who is not something of an expert bacteriologist. It is out of the study of bacteriology and microbic pathology that modern medicine is slowly but certainly evolving one of her supreme triumphs. Hitherto the immunity to attacks of smallpox conferred by vaccination has been an isolated and incomprehensible fact. Jenner's discovery has been a witness to the value of empiricism in medicine. In harmony with no theory, explained by no logical device, vaccination has by its own inherent virtue proved the value of undiscovered theories. Today a meaning is given to the word "immunity" such as was never before known. A great hope animates the noblest of professions, that in all the so-called zymotic diseases immunity may eventually be conferred and the most disastrous agencies of human destruction may be deprived of their malignity through the sublime genius of man.

After reviewing the doctrines of immunity, it was said, "If there be one event that can accentuate this meeting in the memory of those who honor it with their presence it will, I firmly believe, be due to the fact that to-day we, as a profession, stand on the threshold of one of the most beneficent discoveries medicine has ever made. A discovery whose consequences will transcend those of any other in the increase of happiness it will ultimately bring to mankind."

An appeal was made for a remodeling in methods of medical education, and the support of the profession was asked in securing a bureau of health (with an official head in the cabinet). The party, professional or political, which shall succeed in consummating this wise measure will assuredly earn for itself the gratitude and applause of an appreciative nation. The individual citizen who shall materially contribute to the success of this noble, “useful plan" will be justified in congratulating himself on having realized the lofty aspiration of the patriot, as well as the sublime and pathetic "wish" of the poet: "Homines deos accedunt hominibus dando salutem."

The address was enthusiastically received, and a hearty vote of thanks was given to the speaker at its close.

The Nominating Committee recommended the following for election: President, Dr. Beverly Cole, of California; Vice-Presidents, Dr. Chisholm, of Maryland, Dr. Lagrange, of Texas, Dr. Clarke, of Mississippi,

and Dr. Satterwhite, of Louisville, Ky.; Secretary, Dr. Woodbury, of Philadelphia, Pa.; Treasurer, Dr. H. P. Newman, of Chicago. Address on Medicine by Dr. Osler, of Baltimore; Address on Surgery by Dr. Senn, of Chicago; Address on State Medicine by Dr. Rohé, of Balti

more.

The next meeting will be held at Atlanta, Ga., the first Tuesday in May, 1896.

KENTUCKY STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY.

The outlook is for a great meeting at Harrodsburg on the 12th, 13th, and 14th of June. The able secretary has secured a programme of rich proportions, while the arrangements for social features are simply perfect.

June is generally an off-month in practice, and there is every reason to believe that the attendance will be larger than that of any previous meeting.

The American Practitioner and News has made arrangements to publish in full the proceedings of the Society, and it is to be hoped that every member will do his best in essays and in discussions to give these proceedings more than wonted interest.

THE AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGE ASSOCIATION met in Baltimore during the meeting of the American Medical Association. The Association seems to have converted to its purposes of high reform in medical teaching a number of the Southern schools. The University of Louisville, the Louisville Medical College, and the Kentucky School of Medicine are named among the new recruits.

The Dean of the University, Prof. J. M. Bodine, was most appropriately elected to the vice-presidency at once upon signing his school to the terms of the Association. It is a matter of history that Prof. Bodine is the pioneer of reform in medical education in this country, and the new honor sits therefore most meritoriously upon him.

Notes and Queries.

To the Editors of the American Practitioner and News:

Miss B., aged twenty-four years, first pregnancy, was confined prematurely (seven months) of twins, March 22d. The child born first lived a few minutes, the other was dead when delivered. The placenta were abnormally adherent. The children being very small the os uteri was not sufficiently dilated by their passage to admit my hand, so I was forced to leave the placenta in situ. In about forty-six hours violent uterine pains developed and the placenta were soon expelled, apparently fresh and aseptic. The woman was immediately seized with a rigor, and within an hour her temperature rose to 108.3°, and pulse to 140, with semi-delirium and great restlessness and discomfort. She was given antifebrin, grains iij, and monobromated camphor, grains ij.

In forty minutes her temperature dropped to 106°, and in twelve hours. to the normal. She had no further trouble except, two days later, when her temperature rose to 101° for a few moments. She recovered completely in the usual time. I have never observed so high a temperature in any other patient.

The management of this case is perhaps open to criticism, but I was not free to treat it otherwise even if I had thought best to do so. Her pregnancy being illegitimate, her lying-in had to be kept as secret as possible, and any other method would have required the presence of another physician, which was objected to. E. P. EASLEY, M. D.

NEW ALBANY, IND.

COMPLICATED HERNIA.-Dr. S. E. Milliken, of New York, in a paper upon this always interesting subject read before the Alumni Association of the Northern Dispensary, in November, and subsequently published in the New York Medical Journal of March 16, 1895, described some of the complications frequently met with in the diagnosis and treatment of inguinal hernia, which, while not dangerous, were nevertheless important. These were, "Adhesions," "Undescended Testes," and "Hydrocele of the Cord."

Adhesion is most commonly omental, the intestine being rarely involved. It often escapes detection owing to the absence of symptoms. It may be demonstrated by first reducing the hernia by taxis, and then by making traction on the cord, reproducing it. Radical operation is advised, the method of Bassini being preferred.

Undescended testis does not occur so frequently. It is readily recognized. To relieve it the testis must be freed from adhesions and anchored in the scrotum. The canal is reconstructed after the method of Bassini.

Encysted hydrocele of the cord is more often mistaken for hernia than any other condition. When small it can be reduced into the canal, and will reappear if traction is made on the cord. It can readily be differentiated from hernia, however, by the absence of pain and the firmness of the swelling. Aspiration and the injection of carbolic acid is recommended. Conclusions:

1. Besides becoming strangulated, hernia may be complicated by adhesions, undescended testis, and hydrocele of the cord.

2. Omentum often becomes adherent without causing any alarming symptoms, and is the greatest obstacle in the way of successful mechanical treatment.

3. The cecum may take on adhesions under an ill-fitting truss, and yet not become strangulated.

4. Undescended testis rarely exists alone and is usually complicated by hernia.

5. Encysted hydrocele of the cord, while often mistaken for hernia, may be only a complication.

THE HIPPOCRATIC REVIVAL.-Medical scholarship has been busy of late in clearing up the early progress of the healing art. Not only have we had such interesting monographs as those of Dr. Constantin Tsintsiropoulos on "La Médecine Grecque depuis Asclépiadé jusqu'à Galen," and of M. Maurice Albert on "Les Médecins Grecs à Rome," but we have had critical recensions of such authors as Aëtius, whose twelfth book has been for the first time given to the world (πρῶτον νῦν ἐκδοθεις) by that admirable Hellenist Dr. George A. Kostomoiros, Professor of Ophthalmic and Aural Medicine in the University of Athens. It is the Father of Medicine himself, however, that has received the largest share of attention; and, whether we take the admirable biography of him contributed by the late August Hirsch to the "Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Aerzte aller Zeiten und Völker," or the masterly edition by Dr. Theodor Gomperz of the Ilept Tevis (or apology for the healing art) which is generally included in the Hippocratic collection, we have ground for congratulation on the fresh light thrown on the most commanding figure in medical history. Within the last few weeks we have had further evidence of the enthusiasm with which ancient medicine, and particularly its Hippocratic period, is being cultivated. Dr. Michel Sourlangas has recently presented us with an "Etude sur Hippocrate son ŒŒuvre, ses Idées sur l'Infection, et ses Moyens Antiseptiques," in which he puts in evidence the fact that "the great and glorious conquest of modern surgery, antisepsy, was not unknown to Hippocrates," who indeed "recommends it several times in his works and often in a way so precise que l'on se croirait en présence d'insinuations modernes.'" Prefixed to a useful appendix of Hippocratic maxims, in which the carefully revised Greek text is accompanied with a literal, yet flowing translation into French, Dr. Sourlangas gives a summary of the conclusions

reached in his monograph: first, that Hippocrates made medicine a science, and that on this ground he merits the title rather of Legislator than of Father of the Healing Art; secondly, that most of the infectious diseases were known to him-the rôle he attributes in their production to the air and the water constituting in fact a scientific study in etiology; and thirdly, that he availed himself in treatment of substances whose virtues as microbicides are undeniable. But more important than these incidental excursions into the fascinating field of ancient medicine is the new German translation of the entire Hippocratic collection by Dr. Robert Fuchs, of which the first volume is now before us. In this the reader will readily discern that Dr. Fuchs is a more learned scholar than his predecessors, and that he has also the advantage of belonging to a sounder, more scientific medical school. The language in which he reclothes the Greek author is that of modern medicine, and the interpretation he gives is such as was possible only to one who has profited by the vast accessions to our knowledge of antiquity by the archeologist, the epigraphist, and the special investigator of antique life and culture. His familiarity with such monographs as the well-known "Die Botanik Homers," and such monumental treatises as that of Berendes on the "History of Pharmacy" will illustrate our meaning. The undoubted advantage he possesses over Littré, Adams, and Ermerins is also manifest in the notes, which from their richness in expository matter contribute to make this book an encyclopedia of Greek medicine. The first volume comprises the introductory writings of Hippocrates, then the general treatises, then that on Dietetics, and, finally, the general pathology and the prognostics. The second volume will include the special pathology and therapeutics, and will be ready next summer. The third, completing the work, will appear in September or October, and will deal with therapeutics (second part), surgery, ophthalmic medicine, gynecology, treatment of infancy, and the Hippocratic correspondence. The entire publication will indicate the high-water mark attained by European research and scholarship in the "mare magnum" of Greek medicine, and our only regret in calling attention to it is that, since Francis Adams published his translation some fifty years ago for the Sydenham Society, British learning has done so little for a subject in which it has in past centuries shown its ability to excel.-London Lancet.

COLOR VISION AND ACCIDENTS.-Dr. Eldridge Green, in his book on Color Blindness, states that "there are many accidents in which the cause has been definitely proved color blindness," and refers to the following cases in point: (1) A color-blind man, who stated that his steamboat had collided with and sunk a steamboat on account of his inability to distinguish the signal lights. (2) The case of the pilot of the steamer City of Austria, which was lost in the harbor of Fernandina, Florida, in April, 1881. He was proved to be color-blind, "and it would appear that he mistook the buoys, and his mistake cost the owners $200,000." (3) Related by Dr. Joy