dispose of), would have to be instructed, and that at a time when the services of every medical officer would be needed elsewhere.

Being a member of the medical department, they would be, in the writer's opinion, protected by the Geneva Convention, while a line officer acting as quartermaster, etc., would not; and then, too, he is directly responsible to the medical department and not to another corps.

A necessary and invaluable adjunct to the successful operation of the medical department of the army is a well-trained and disciplined hospital corps, made up of a suitable number of non-commissioned officers of various grades, and intelligent privates thoroughly instructed in their duties. Perhaps it might have done in times past to depend on the services of men from the line to assist in the work of the hospitals, but that is passed, and to-day, with modern guns and aseptic surgery, demands that the hospital men shall be trained and well equipped for their work. Therefore the hospital corps should be made up of the very best men in the whole army, and not, as has been the custom in some armies and ages, of the men who were the least account and never-do-wells, who were simply kept in the service because their company commanders were too indifferent to see that they were discharged, and had them assigned to the hospital to get rid of them.

No man should be enlisted in the hospital corps who does not have at least a good common-school education and who can not write a fair, clear hand, and who has not a good disposition. A hospital corps man will find abundant opportunity to exercise all his patience and ingenuity. While he should be amiable, he should also be firm and resolute in doing his duty. Any man found to be irritable or petulant should be transferred to the line or put on clerical duty, and not allowed in the wards or operating-rooms, nor sent to the firing-line with the ambulance company. While the sick or wounded soldier need not be treated as a spoiled baby, he is still a human being and entitled to humane treatment by medical officers and hospital attendants, treatment which I can not say is always accorded him.

No man who is given to the use of intoxicating drinks should be retained in the hospital corps or hospital staff corps, and especially must no driver of an ambulance be allowed to go on duty when he is drinking. If any driver on the march be found to be drinking he should be taken off his ambulance (or wagon) and turned over to the provost guard and severely dealt with.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

H. A. COTTELL, M. D., M. F. COOMES, A. M., M. D., Editors.

No. 9.

A Journal of Medicine and Surgery, published on the first and fifteenth of each month. Price, $a per year, postage paid.

This journal is devoted solely to the advancement of medical science and the promotion of the interests of the whole profession. Essays, reports of cases, and correspondence upon subjects of professional interest are solicited. The Editors are not responsible for the views of contributors.

Books for review, and all communications relating to the columns of the journal, should be addressed to the Editors of THE AMERICAN PRACTITIONER and News, Louisville, Ky.

Subscriptions and advertisements received, specimen copies and bound volumes for sale by the undersigned, to whom remittances may be sent by postal money order, bank check, or registered letter. Address JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY, Louisville, Ky.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HEALTH BOARD OF LOUISVILLE FOR 1902.

The annual report of the Health Board of Louisville, through its chief officer, Dr. M. K. Allen, contains some very important sugges tions-chief of which is to appoint medical inspectors for the various schools in the city. It is a notorious fact that the greatest mortality of the human race occurs in children, and is usually due to preventable diseases, such as diphtheria, scarlet fever, etc. It is within our knowledge that diphtheritic patients have been permitted to attend school in this city time and again, actually going through the entire course of the disease until paralysis following it had occurred, before the diagnosis had been made. With such a case as this, it is easy to understand how a whole school is liable to be infected with this fatal disease. What is true of this disease is true of many others. The expense would be small, and the saving of life and other expenses could hardly be calculated.

The report is a most excellent one and deals with many urgent needs that are demanded by a city like this; but it seems that our city fathers are dreaming, and we will have to wait until they are done napping before these important defects are remedied.

Another important suggestion by Dr. Allen is the erection of public urinals in the center of the city; nothing is so necessary as this, or more urgently needed, and it is to be hoped that this matter will receive prompt attention.

WE take pleasure in calling the attention of our readers to the excellent paper on reorganization of the regular army by Dr. Thomas Page Grant, of this city. It is a paper that was submitted for the Eno Sanders Prize for the best essay on the subject of reorganization of the army. The committee wrote Dr. Grant a letter, in which it was stated that if there had been any second prize it would have been given to Dr. Grant. The army is badly in need of doctors, and those younger members of the profession who have aspirations in that direction would do well to read this paper of Dr. Grant's, as it is full of suggestions that are valuable. When it is remembered that the committee that passed upon these papers was one of the most rigid in this or any other country, a man should feel proud of being second in a great contest like this, where there are so many contending.

Current Surgical and Medical Selections.

HOW DIPHTHERIA IS SPREAD.-From time to time there are reported incidents which display the profound ignorance of many of the poorer classes with regard to the spread of infectious diseases. In the case of diphtheria it oftens happens, in the heart of London, as elsewhere throughout the United Kingdom, that numbers of children visit the body of a playmate who has died of that terribly infectious disease. Again and again official investigation has shown that social gatherings in infected houses have been one of the active causes in fomenting an outbreak. Sometimes a prayer meeting is held in the house of the bereaved friends, but we are glad to learn that the custom is being abandoned among the miners of Dowlais, under the advice of Dr. Thomas, the Merthyr medical officer of health. That gentleman states, however, that the practice of viewing the body of the infectious dead is still very common. In some instances he had heard of the children of neighbors actually being allowed to kiss the dead body. Comment on such a state of affairs is needless. How are the poor to be educated on such matters, which are of vital importance to their own welfare? A general knowledge of the laws of health and of diseases, with special attention to infection, should form part of the education of every school child. At any rate, it can not be too widely known that it is unwise to kiss any one who is suffering with or has lately recovered from a sore throat of any kind whatever.-Medical Press and Circular.

AN antiseptic added to oil does not usually render the latter valuable as a disinfecting agent. It is only of real service in preventing the oil itself from becoming rancid, as the effect of the oil prevents the antiseptic from having much action upon the tissues.

In cases of osteomyelitis severe pain and evidence of inflammation occurring in other bones point to extension of the disease to other foci, and necessitate prompt operation as for the original condition. Those cases that have been mistaken for rheumatism and in which the original operation has been long delayed are the ones most apt to result in the development of multiple osteomyelitic abscesses.

METHYLENE BLUE IN ULCERATIVE TONSILLITIS.-Vincent's angina is a severe form of tonsillitis, characterized by fetid ulceration, high fever, and painful swelling of the lymphatic glands. At a recent meeting of the Société des Hôpitaux, Prof. Chauffand reported such a case, which was completely cured by three applications of the pure medicinal methylene blue. As the ulceration resembles a chancre, this treatment is also useful in establishing a differential diagnosis.-Medical Record.

PYOKTANIN. Dr. Lustwerk has obtained good effects from the employment of pyoktanin in the dropsy of cardiac and nephritic origin. The patients were given one and a half grains of the drug in capsules, thrice daily, three hours after meals, to avoid digestive disturbances. In nine cases out of eleven constituting the author's series, marked improvement resulted; the remaining two could not tolerate the drug, and were not benefited by other cardiac remedies.-Russky Vratch.

TANNIN AND BROMIN IN TREATMENT OF PRURITUS.-Joseph, in Med. Stand., states that an ointment containing bromin and tannin is of great service in the treatment of all forms of pruritus. The bromin, according to his statement, is used for its anesthetic properties and the tannin for its astringent effects. He prescribes an ointment composed of bromin twenty and tannin forty per cent. He states that the action of this ointment is increased by the alkaline secretion of the skin, without producing any irritation. He uses as a base a ten to thirty per cent jelly.--Journal American Medical Association.

Special Notices.

“PARALDEHYD" possesses many of the good without the evil qualities of chloral. Used in insomnia resulting from various causes. The objectionable taste of the chemical is, to a great extent, disguised in Robinson's Elixir Paraldehyd (see third cover page), which is an elegant preparation.

GASTRALGIA-ITS TREATMENT.-Gastralgia is, for therapeutical purposes, divided into two groups by Professor Saundby (N. Y. Medical Journal). The first group comprises those cases in which pain occurs independently of eating, and the second group, those cases in which the pain occurs after food is taken. The treatment of the first class consists of change of scene, a sea voyage or mountain air and abundant food at regular intervals. The palliative treatment consists of iron, quinine, arsenic, nux vomica, and the mineral acids.

For the second class, the treatment is rest in bed, milk, and lime water in sufficient quantities—say an ounce every hour. A nutrient enema of one egg, beaten up in four ounces of milk, to be given every four hours. The amount of milk should be increased with improvement, and if milk fails, from two to four ounces of lightly-cooked minced meat may be substituted.

For the relief of the pain in both cases, Saundby gives morphia or heroin, but in a recent clinical report Professor Boone, College of Physicians and Surgeons, St. Louis, states that he finds one antikamnia and heroin tablet (five grains antikamnia; one twelfth grain heroin hydrochloride) given as required, not only relieves the pain, but prevents its recurrence, much more satisfactorily than either heroin or morphine alone. In other respects he concurs with Professor Saundby in his method of treatment.

I AM thoroughly satisfied with the results I obtain from the use of Peacock's Bromides. I prescribe it with much confidence, and while I have seen others, said to be "just as good," I do not tolerate them, but consider this a splendid recommendation for the preparation. H. A. SCHRAEDER, M. D.

Braymor, Mo.

I REGARD Seng as one of the best, if not the best remedy, that I have ever had experience with in all dyspeptic and gastric troubles. I have been practicing thirty-five years, and thus you will see this is saying much for a remedy. Its action is slow, but I deem this all the better. D. W. TICE, M. D.

Troy, Mo.

DYSENTERY AND FLATULENCE.-The griping pain and flatulence which accompany bowel and stomach complaints, particularly during the heated term, are so readily overcome and controlled by the timely administration of one or two antikamnia and salol tablets, repeated every two or three hours, that it behooves us to call our readers' attention to the grand efficacy of this well-known remedy in these conditions. The above doses are, of course, those for adults. Children should be given one fourth tablet for each five years of their age. When the attack is very severe, or when the disturbance is evidenced at or near the time of the menstrual period, we find it preferable to give two antikamnia and codeine tablets alternately with the antikamnia and salol tablets. The latter tablets promptly arrest excessive fermentation and have a pronounced sedative effect on the mucous membranes of the bowels and stomach, and will check the various diarrheas without any untoward effect.