TABLE OF CONTENTS. Opportunities (address of the retiring President). Dr. Walter Lathrop . Report of an Operation for large Unruptured Tubal Abscesses, with exhibition of Specimens. Dr. Walter Davis . . . Light and Radiance in the Treatment of Disease. Dr. M. B. Ahlborn. 5 A Unique Case of Appendicitis, Appendiceal Abscess of Scrotum. Dr. E. C. Fracture of the Pelvis. Dr. R. L. Wadhams . Case Reported. Dr. G. R. Andreas The Value of Creosote Carbonate in Pneumonia. Dr. C. P. Stackhouse. A Symposium on Hernia, Aertiology and Varieties. Dr. S. M. Wolfe Mechanical Treatment of Hernia. Dr. C. R. Grosser Report of Case. Dr. J. A. Person 24 38 41 44 49 The By-paths of the Doctor's Life. Dr. George W. Guthrie. Prostatic Hypertrophy. Dr. W. J. Wetherby. Hæmatochyluria Sine Parasito. Dr. Frederic Corss Report of three Cases of Midwifery. Dr. J. I. Roe Case Reported. Dr. Charles L. Ashley Case Reported. Dr. James Brooks Bacteriology-Its Relation to Disease. Dr. J. F. Shaw Current Periodicals of the Luzerne County Medical Society Library, List A. Current Periodicals of the Luzerne County Medical Society Library, List B . Boards of Health, Hospital Reports and Transactions. Reports of Committees appointed to report on the deaths of Drs. John S. Hileman Report of Contagious Diseases and Mortuary Record in Wilkes-Barre for 1904. OPPORTUNITIES. ADDRESS OF THE RETIRING PRESIDENT. DR. WALTER LATHROP, HAZLETON, PA. READ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 13, 1904. Standing on the threshold, and about to enter the portals of another year of professional work, let us pause for a few moments and, while remembering the past with its share of success, forgetting its failures, save to profit by them, we can look forward to the coming months, as opportunities placed before us to be embraced as seems best to each of us, and by means of which we may add our quota to the advancement of this society in the medical world, increase its usefulness to the community at large, and bring into its folds new members who are willing to ally themselves on the side of honest ethical practice, and fight against the inroads of professional deceit and chicanery. Aristotle divides the blessing of life into three classes, those which come from without, those of the soul, and those of the body. Schopenhauer the great philosopher further reduces the fundamental differences in human lot to three: "1. What a man is, that is to say, personality, in the widest sense of the word." "2. What a man has." "3. How a man stands in the estimation of others." A fourth blessing might be a well organized, harmonious body of medical men. This society owes its present high standing in the profession to honest, earnest and capable work done by its members individually and collectively. From a small beginning we are near the century mark in membership, and expect to pass it before the year closes. Each individual has a part to act, and owes it to his society to add something to its efficiency during the year. The reading of a paper, the discussion of a subject, or service on committees, are all a part of the whole to be achieved. The same care, study and research are as essential in presenting a paper before this society, as would be given to a public document of importance, for often from these scientific essays, and the discussions that follow, are deduced facts, or fallicies. to be determined at the bedside, and the necessity for careful preparation, and accuracy of statements, and observation, is obvious to all. To be elected to membership in this society is in itself an honor, and implies confidence on the part of those casting their votes, and putting the new member as it were on probation, though in reality accepting him as worthy of association with the profession and meriting their support. To be chosen as presiding officer is indeed the final testimony of good will and friendship, let alone any personal merit or qualification the fortunate recipient may possess. To extend sincere thanks for the honor conferred is not enough, but to further in every way possible the interests of the society, on retiring from office, by personal effort, by influence with others, and by furthering the best interests of the profession in its scientific aspects, and proving it in consultation and by the bedside, should be the earnest endeavor of us all, and thus show and prove our appreciation of the honor conferred upn us by our society. The opportunities that present themselves to us are many, but they must be grasped and used for the good of the community as well as the individual. Each of us no doubt can recall an opportunity that once was ours, if seized, but allowed to pass has never appeared again, at least not at so opportune a time. The little classic written by the late Senator Ingalls, expresses the whole thing: OPPORTUNITY. "Master of human destinies am I? Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait; I knock unbidden at every gate. If sleeping, wake; if fasting, rise before There are many among us who have witnessed the stupendous developments in our science during the past few years, but none of us can realize to what extent the seed of research, shown almost daily, will bring forth in the coming months and years. Those who practice a special branch will continue to solve those problems relating to the cause of disease, and the therapeutist will endeavor to seek a remedy for the prevention or cure of it. Each department of medicine will work together for the good of all. It will be a case of seizing the opportunity offered to lead us out of darkness into light and truth. The period gone by has rung the death knell of idle theorizing that was once accepted as knowledge, and upon its dust and its ashes the new will rear such an edifice upon foundations so vast and broad that it will spread upon the face of the earth and appear like an illumined mountain, pouring forth upon humanity a stream, not of lava and ashes, but of light and knowledge unending, so that men may realize that all true majesty and grandeur, all honor and success, can be found in the search after scientific truth. We can all do our part, some by active research, some by special surgical or medical work, and all by encouragement, and cooperation with the profession at large. We can report interesting or unusual cases, and perhaps throw out a light to another who has looked in vain for just what we have found. Science may be destructive as well as creative, but our delving within it has ever been with the single thought of the direct welfare of the man, the woman, and the child that is father to the man. There is no doubt that the achievements of the past have done, and the conquests yet to come will do more for humanity than any other branch of scientific work. The grandeur of our progress and its achievements in the past does not mean that the workers were greater or wiser than other scientific searchers after the truth, but it means that it applies all the researches of science to benefit humanity, and prevent the future development of those scourges that have devastated the human family in the past. There will be opportunities offered, and many will be grasped by eager hands; others will pass them by and wonder what has stopped the scientific car from passing by their doorway. Success means earnest effort, backed by determination. It is not mere chance, as Oliver Wendell Holmes has well said: "Be firm, the only element in luck Is sturdy honest old Teutonic pluck. See yonder shaft, it felt the earthquake's thrill, As citizens we have the opportunity, both as a society and as individuals to lend our aid and give our advice in matters pertaining to the sanitation of city or town, and I believe that the results of this society's work is being demonstrated in this city now, and we have done and are doing our share for preventitive medicine. The inspection and examination of water and milk is under the supervision of a member of this society, and his work in turn is watched by the profession, who are ready and willing to grasp any opportunity that may present itself for the future advancement of sanitary science. Biological chemistry has revealed little to us, yet we feel sure that the science of the future will, through the discovery of reagents far more sensative than any now known, throw light upon the secret mechanism by which life is maintained, and by failure of which comes the inevitable dissolution of all. The future of microbiology is an unknown quantity, but judging from the past we will witness many and valuable discoveries. We know that true science admits of no theory, it must be facts, the application of which clears up much that is mysterious. More truth is needed, and more will be given as time goes on, and each worker in his individual field throws the light of his research into the dark mists of uncertainty, and the fact becomes indeed stranger than fiction. In regard to surgical work, the chemist and biologist have worked wonders, but the surgeon has no easy road to travel, for while the chemist may take up another's work, and go on with it, the surgeon must stamp his individuality upon his spe |