It is true that Edward VII is not like the personage in the fable, an octogenarian, and, after all, it is not needful that he should know La Fontaine by heart. So the King of England planted and watched his grandson plant. When he went home he experienced a sensation of chilliness. He refrained from visiting the castle of one of his friends that afternoon, like any middle-class bachelor cuts an invitation to dine out.

Behold! the United King. dom is upset. The King is ill! No, he is only indisposed! I tell you he is ill! The King is very ill; a serious case! No! Yes! Only a slight touch of his grippe? No, it is a bad case of Russian influenza. The Russian Czar, his relative, has gripped Manchuria! So a great British medical journal (British medical journals are always great when Royalty is indisposed) issues its authoritative statement--" The influenza opens the door to all other infectious maladies."

It is necessary for Royal surgeons to speak.

On the eve of the coronation they were bitterly attacked for deceiving the public. It is even said, by some cynics, that the physicians were deceived; such things sometimes conveniently occur. Hence the precautions, the grave inconveniences that always appear so excessively amusing to doctors outside the Royal medical management. If Edward VII had only a slight indisposition, yet he might have become seriously sick. So it comes to pass that a Royal medical attendant's office, while it has its compensation in the shape of empty titles and good fees, is one also, all too often, full of thorns.

Το

be truthful, the physician of a king must be full of firmness and diplomacy; he

must exercise good judgment with honor, and not fear that his reports be miscon strued by those awful newspaper reporters, all too often in the employ of Lombard and Wall Streets, who advance or depress stock prices, just as hot or cold winds. cause rises or falls in temperature in the bodies, even of Royalty. The good old days when the physician to the king could bleed, purge or clyster the nibs of royalty are past. So, too, were the days when they could cut and carve with impunity, and when the patient was dead and under ground could throw all the blame for maltreatment on Heaven.

Yet even in the good old days there were jealousies among doctors. Look back for the ancient to Dr. Maurice La Maitre, who inveighed against the procedures of Bordelaise doctors before the Revolution. It was a question then of an operation of the surgeon Loyseau, a veritable Prince of the Science at Bordeaux, who had much success with Henri IV. American surgeons are referred for details of this operation to those eminent in surgery, like Conner, Walker, Dandridge, Ransohoff and Merrill Ricketts, who will, no doubt, furnish full historical accounts, on an operation that few practitioners of surgery are aware, as we recall it, and refresh our memory from our same French source of ecstasy. It was in 1598 that Henri IV called for medical light from Loyseau. We say for light advisedly, for the surgeon used certain "bougies." (In France these are known as candles, but when used in American hospitals we have quite another modern implication.)

Now the association of Edward VII, like Henri IV, with bougies, does not call for arrest for lese majeste. So we continue, still following the French Canadian text, which is spirituelle and full of malicious Gallic verve. In the case of Henri IV the bougies worked marvellously well, and in five weeks the King was cured. But those times in France had

been critical. Loyseau tells in his journal that the King vomited after feeling the medical light thrown on him, or his urethra, rather, by the surgeon. Now this accident was imputed to some excess in the King's nourishment, for the Bourbons of France were as great eaters as the Bourbons of Kentucky have ever been good drinkers. Yet the enemies and doctors jealous of Loyseau imputed the vomiting of his royal nibs to the surgeon's operation and the drugs used. So the news spread throughout Paris that Loyseau had by instruments and remedies put the King's life in danger. So the King came out like a man, too, extolling his surgeon and asking the other jealous doctors to hold their tongues. But what would have been the future of Loyseau and his reputation had not the King vomited in time?

Yes, it is a sad thing to be physician or surgeon to the world's notabilities, be they kings, queens, aces or knaves, all in one pack, held in fours or bob-tailed flushes. It is the wont of American multimillionaires-our plutocracy, as we have no aristocracy, and but a lingering remnant apparenty of democracy in the neighborhood of Cleveland (Ohio), not the third term aspirant-to have their medical and surgical attendants with them on all occasions.

All know (at the Waldorf-Astoria) every morning the condition of Pierpont Morgan's or Jim Keene's matin stool. Has Pierpont secreted enough bile the night before? Has Jim dreampt of the "Gates Ajar" and had nightmares of falls in C. B. & Q. or Union Pacific? How much biliverdine is now in old Russell Sage's urine? All these important facts are noted down each morning and have their effect on Wall Street. Hundreds of thousands in value may depend on the condition of a plutocrat's prostate gland on a certain day.

The world at large does not appreciate

the immense influence daily wielded by medical science on the stock market. Last summer bulletins from all over Europe announced the daily condition of Schwab's spleen and occasional gall, and U. S. Steel trembled in the balance when some medical savant at a European spa or on board the private yacht noted the absence or presence of a knee-jerk. The Rockefeller stomach! How it has agitated the nation! It is better now since Amalgamated Copper treatment eased up things, but probably increased his pile some. It is pleasant to see how commercialism and medicine are now more closely joined than ever before, and as the doctors get the best of it the profession is to be congratulated.

But, as usual, we have strayed away from the straight path of our argument. We dwelt on Henri IV and Edward VII, only to drift by a natural irrelevancy from autocratic urethras to the piles and other ills of American multimillionaires, but the latter and their doctors are by far the most interesting, and merit a longer editorial note.

T. C. M.

MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES.

The more advanced of modern educators who comprehended the character of the academic college courses given in years past, some two years ago began to shed the shackles which bound them to an endorsement of the four-year periods. These men recognized the unsatisfactory character of the four-year courses, had the courage to institute a reform which was nearly if not quite revolutionary in the amount of study required from students for the A.B. degree. These degrees represent, at the present time, the unsettled states in the educational field in the very headquarters and fountains of learning, which seems to have entered into the logical wisdom of such medical boards as are now executing the laws which were enacted, giving them large

discretionary powers, and which in the minds of the authors of said laws were never intended for a stringent, cast-iron and hide-bound construction. Perhaps it would be well for the presidents of Yale, Harvard and Columbia to take a few lessons from certain State boards of medical examiners. No doubt they would find whole cart-loads of instruction and information lying around loose in the capitals of New Jersey, Ohio, et al. To illustrate the change taking place in many educational institutions, it is observed that spring and summer courses of instruction are springing up in various parts of the country to meet an urgent demand made upon the authorities of different educational institutions. great Chautauqua Institute, with its enormous patronage, is an illustration of this demand. Vacation schools are another feature also illustrating this demand for all-the-year-round courses of instruction. These are sufficient as points to indicate the unsettled and chaotic state of educational thought at the present time. It may be well to recognize this condition, whether regarded as satisfactory or not to the boards of medical examiners in the States of Ohio, New Jersey and others of similar character.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

The

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF MEDICINE.The twenty-eighth annual session of the American Academy of Medicine will be held at the "Arlington," Washington, D.C., on Monday and Tuesday, May 11 and 12, 1903. The following pnpers have been promised:

"The Home Life and Education of Our Girls as Affecting Their Future Health." James H. McBride, Pasadena, California.

Symposium on "The Teaching of Hygiene in the Public Schools."

1. "The Teaching of Personal Hygiene." Walter G. Pyle, Philadelphia.

2. "Hygiene vs. Anatomy and Physiology." George Groff, Bucknell University, Lewisburgh, Pennsylvania.

3. "The Teaching of Physiological Breathing." G. Hudson-Makuen, Philadelphia. 4. "Hygiene as Related to the Causes and Prevention of Tuberculosis." A. Mansfield Holmes, Denver, Colo.

5. "The Teaching of School Hygiene." Helen C. Putnam, Providence, R. I.

6. "The Michigan Method of Teaching Hy. giene." V. C. Vaughan, University of Michigan. 7. "The Training of Teachers." Thomas G. Wood, New York City.

8. Address of President.

9.

"Muck-Rake' Methods in Medical Practice." Charles McIntire, Easton, Pa.

"Social Danger of Gonorrhea, Especially in Relation to Marriage." Prince A. Morrow, New York City.

Symposium on "Required and Elective Studies in the Medical Course."

1. "Anatomy." Frederic H. Gerrish, Portland, Me.

2. "Pathology." William H. Welch, Baltimore, Md.

3. "Internal Medicine." S. G. Bonney, Denver, Colo.

4. "How Much Knowledge of Special Branches Should be Required for Graduation." L. Duncan Bulkley, New York City.

5. "A Theory and a Condition, as Illustrated by Ophthalmology." Edward Jackson, Denver, Colo.

6. "The Influence of the Doctor on the Birth Rate." Roland G. Curtin, Philadelphia.

NATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF STATE MEDICAL EXAMINING AND LICENSING BOARDS. The thirteenth annual meeting will be held in the Common Council Chamber, City Hall, New Orleans, La., Monday, May 4, 1903, morning session beginning at 9:30 o'clock, afternoon session beginning at 2: 30 o'clock. Members and ex-members of State Medical Examining Boards, physicians and educators who are interested in the cause of higher medical education are cordially invited to attend. Every State or Territorial Board whose duty it is to examine or license physicians intending to practice in the jurisdiction of the board, by whatsoever name it may be called, is urged to affiliate with the National Confederation, if it has not already done so. The programme is as follows:

MORNING SESSION.

I. Invocation. Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Lawton, S. J., New Orleans.

2. Address of Welcome. Hon. Paul Capdevielle, Mayor of New Orleans.

3. Address of Welcome on Behalf of the Medi

cal Profession of New Orleans. Charles Chassagnac.

4. Address of Welcome on Behalf of the Medical Department of Tulane University. Rudolph Matas.

5. Address of Welcome on Behalf of the State Board of Medical Examiners of Louisiana. A. F. Barrow, St. Francisville.

6. Response by Vice-President, Henry Beates. 7. Report of the Secretary-Treasurer.

8. Annual Address by the President: Remarks Upon Medical Instruction-a Plea for Greater Uniformity.

9. Endorsement of Medical Licenses from the Standpoint of the Individual Merits of the Applicant, as Practiced by the State Board of Medical Examiners of New Jersey. E. L. Godfrey, Camden.

Paper-Subject to be announced. W. F. Morrow, Kansas City, Mo.

Experience has shown that the physiological effects of bromine are obtained with much smaller doses when chlorine salts are withdrawn from the dietary; moreover, the gastric intolerance which so often imposes the abandonment of the treatment is less readily induced. Direct experimental observation proves that bromine can replace chlorine in the animal economy, so that by substituting the former for the latter an organic compound of bromine is formed which enables us to obtain the therapeutical effects of bromine in a more satisfactory manner. This fact renders it possible not only to administer the bromides in larger doses without producing inconvenient collateral effects, effects, but allows of the drug being exhibited over long periods of time without the supervention of symptoms of intoxication. It is a good plan to give bromide of sodium instead of salt in the food, which should consist largely, if not exclusively, of cereals, milk and vegetables.-Med. Press and Circular.

Obituary.

WILLIAM HERSCHELL WOODEN, M.D. GREENSBURG, IND., April 26, 1903.

Editor LANCET-CLINIC:

The Medical Society requests that you publish the accompanying resolutions. Respectfully,

J. H. BOBBITT, Secretary.

Dr. Wooden was graduated from the the Ohio Medical College in 1879. He practiced medicine and surgery for a few years with his father, the late Dr. John L. Wooden. Later he has had an office by himself on North Broadway. He was taken to Bethesda Hospital in November last. He suffered from a complication of liver and kidney troubles. The end came at 3 o'clock, A.M., April 23.

"At a meeting of physicians called by Dr. George S. Crawford, President of the Decatur County Medical Society, to which an invitation had been extended to all physicians of the county, the following resolutions were adopted:

"WHEREAS, It has pleased the Almighty to remove from our midst, by the relentless hand of death, our fellow-member of the profession, Dr. William Herschel Wooden;

"Resolved, That we, his professional associates, in meeting assembled, hereby record our profound sorrow at his loss.

"Resolved, That we regard him as a man of marked ability, sympathetic by nature, devoted to his patrons and friends, and loved by them. Resolved, That the sympathy of this body be, and hereby is, extended to the family of the deceased in this sad bereavement.

Translations.

PARISIAN MEDICAL CHIT-CHAT.

BY T. C. M.

The Law of the Formation of SexesPaper of Dr. F. P. Guiard-The Principal Theories-Reciprocal Connection of Ovulation, Menstruation and Fecundation-Experiments on Animals-Observations on Women-Anomalies of Ovulation-New Investigations Necessary to Establish Facts-Conclu

sions.

The Medical Society of the Ninth District of Paris, at its regular session, January 9, 1903, the President, Dr. Marcel Lavallee, in the chair, listened to the following essay by Dr. F. P. Guiard. This paper is so interesting that it is translated in full for the readers of the LANCETCLINIC.

1. THE QUESTION OF SEX.

The problem of the procreation of sexes at will has ever excited the most intense interest. Its solution is yet to be found, for there are special difficulties to over

come.

The study of the laws that preside over the formation of the sexes, the knowledge of which would permit each man to procreate at will either a boy or a girl baby, has, without doubt, a first place in the ranks of humanity. For reigning princes, ambitious men, wishing to perpetuate their dynasties or names, it is a question, moreover, of extreme importance; and it is even one that interests also the middle class and even the commonest peoples. So, since most remote periods of time, physiologists, physicians and naturalists have made it an object of special research, discussions and hypotheses of all sorts. But it is necessary to avow that the numerous theories that have been imagined to explain the mechanism of the phenomenon and define its rules have not, up to today, obtained the definite consecration of experience.

It meantime seems that one of them was extremely logical and seductive, and for fifteen years past we have been forced to submit it to the most rigorous control of clinical observation. Unfortunately, the

number of facts that we have been able to collect, with the union of all the circum. stances derived to give it a clearly demonstrated character, still remain very insufficient. We can count only thirty-five observations, which is not enough as necessary to serve as the basis of any undisputed general law.

We do not pretend, then, to bring you at this time the perfect solution of the problem. Yet, if permitted to maintain our ideas, reflections and attempts at solution, we declare to you in all frankness that we have formulated nothing save a project for soliciting your collaboration and inviting you to unite with us for some years all the cases that may appear to you to have any bearing on the subject. The difficulties we have met have, in fact, given us the profound conviction that no single physician, in his inevitably restricted field of observation, will ever have any great chance to complete this enterprise. To the contrary, by making good use of a certain number of our confrères, who will have the courage and the perseverance to pursue the same object, it may be possible, we believe, to multiply observations in one or the other positive sense, and the conclusions finally reached might have some force, since it would be the result of more or less numerous observations conducted separately and without any systematic or preconceived idea.

II. RESUME OF THE PRINCIPAL

THEORIES.

Before going farther, we desire to speak of our personal opinions, for, perhaps, it may not be useless to briefly recall the principal theories that have more or less conquered public favor at different epochs.

The Influence Wrongfully Attributed to the Testicle, Afterwards to the Right or Left Ovary, or to the Position Taken by the Woman During the Procreative Act. From the time of Hippocrates up to Michael Procopius Couteau (the latter to first half of the eighteenth century), numerous savants have thought that the right testicle furnished the creative element of the masculine sex and the left testicle that of the feminine sex. This theory, besides being erroneous and unsatisfactory to scientific spirits, was formally invalidated by facts, since men having but one testicle engendered children of both sexes.