Page images
PDF
EPUB

in the serum and gelatine, followed with the introduction of a narrow piece of sterilized gauze in the serum. Without employing any tight plugging, the hemorrhage was almost invariably arrested. In one case, where no gauze was at hand, an injection of two pints of the gelatinized serum was employed; the patient being previously placed on her back, with the buttocks raised by a pillow, so that clotting should take place in the vaginal fornices in contact with the neck of the uterus.

In epistaxis the same treatment, either by plugging or injection, gave good results. The formula of the serum is as follows: Sodium chloride, 7 grammes, water 1 litre, and gelatin 50 grammes. The mixture is sterilized in an autoclave, taking care that the temperature does not exceed 105 deg. C. Bichloride may be added, if desired.

Gastrotomy for Relief of "The Human Ostrich." Dr. A. H. Meisinbach, of St. Louis, recently performed a gastrotomy on "Signor Ranana, the human ostrich," wherein the following unassimilated articles of diet were removed: Twenty-five staples for barbed fence wire; 15 one and one-half inch screws; 6 two-inch horseshoe nails; 16 two-inch wire nails; 30 one and one-half inch wire nails; 16 thirty-two caliber cartridges; 5 thirty-eight caliber cartridges; 2 pocketknife blades (broken); 2 inches of brass wash-stand chain, and 2 small staples; total, 119 pieces. Eight cartridges passed after operation. There was also one ounce of comminuted glass (electric light globe), making the total number of objects 127; total weight, one pound. The Journal of the American Med. Assn. gives a beautiful and highly sensational full-page illustration of the hardware.

Best Operation for Hemorrhoids.—

Dr. J. Caplin Stinson (Pacific Medical Journal) states his unqualified preference for the individual excision and suture method. The treatment by injections did not promise a radical cure; the same must be said for ignipuncture and crushing, which are unsurgical procedures. The ligature and clamp and cautery operations have many advocates; both, as a rule, are curative; and one is about as safe as the other. Whitehead's operation, or excision of the pile-bearing area, is more painful, recovery is less rapid, and there are more vesical and other reflex disturbances. At times, even when primary union takes place, there is a complication, a condition resembling a slight but complete

prolapsus; instead of a muco-cutaneous orifice to the bowel, there is a ring of mucous membrane half an inch wide surrounding the anus, which causes great suffering, as it soon becomes raw and ulcerated from exposure.

In the individual excision method, the bleeding vessels are merely clamped, or ligated, when necessary, with absorbable material, with or without suture of the cut edges. The operation is perfectly safe, easily and quickly performed, and may be done without an anaesthetic; there is no danger of accidents, as all bleeding is arrested. Confinement is necessary for a few days only; there is no trouble with the bowels or bladder.

Ovariotomy in Infancy.-

The following case of ovariotomy, successfully performed on a child four months old, is reported in the British Medical Journal:

A breast-fed girl, aged 4 months, was admitted into the Victoria Hospital for Children, under the care of Dr. Carr, February 7th, 1898, suffering from distension of the abdomen. The child was in fairly good health until three weeks ago, when the abdomen began to swell. The child was not in pain On admission the abdomen was enormously distended, and was very tense. It was dull on percussion, except in the left flank, and the area of the dullness did not alter with the position of the patient. A well-marked thrill could be obtained with ease. The child measured 201⁄2 inches in circumference at a point 2 inches above the umbilicus, and 101⁄2 inches from the symphysis pubis to the tip of the xiphisternum. The urine was normal, and there was no oedema of the legs.

An abdominal section was performed three days later, an incision three inches long being made in the linea alba above the umbilicus. A small quantity of fluid escaped as soon as the peritoneal cavity was opened, and a thick walled cyst immediately presented at the opening. The cyst wall was bluish in color, and many delicate blood vessels ramified over its surface. It was quite smooth, shiny, and there were no adhesions. A very fine canula and trocar were inserted into the cyst, and about two pints of clear yelow liquid were drawn off as slowly as possible, to enable the circulation to adapt itself to the altered abdominal conditions. The whole cyst was then drawn out of the abdomen, a large incision was made in its wall, and the remainder of the fluid was allowed to escape.

THE AMERICAN YEAR-BOOK OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY.-The American Year-Book of Medicine and Surgery, being a Yearly Digest of Scientific Progress and Authoritative Opinion in all Branches of Medicine and Surgery, drawn from Journals, Monographs and text-books of the Leading American and Foreign Authors and Investigators. Collected and Arranged with Critical Editorial Comments by Samuel W. Abbott, M. D.; John J. Abel, M. D.; J. M. Baldy, M. D.; Charles H. Barnett, M. D.; Archibald Church, M. D.; J. Chalmers Da Costa, M. D.; W. A. Newman Dorland, M. D.; Louis A. Duhring, M. D.; Virgil P. Gibney, M. D.; Homer W. Gibney, M. D.; Henry A. Griffin, M. D.; John Guiteras, M. D.; C. A. Hamann, M. D.; Howard F. Hansell, M. D.; Barton Cooke Hurst, M. D.; E. Fletcher Ingals, M. D.; Wyatt Johnston, M. D.; W. W. Keen, M. D.; Henry G. Ohls, M. D.; William Pepper, M. D.; Wendell Reber, M. D.; David Riesman, M. D.; Louis Starr, M. D.; Alfred Stengel, M. D.; G. N. Stewart, M. D.; J. R. Tillinghast, M. D.; and Thompson D. Westcott, M. D. Under the General Editorial Charge of George M. Gould, M. D. 1,077 pages, illustrated. Cloth, $6.50; half morocco, $7.50. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 925 Walnut street.

1898.

The American Year-Book is a well arranged epitome of the medical progress of the year, prepared with careful discrimination by the editorial staff and revised and edited by Dr. Gould, the excellence of whose work as author, critic and editor needs no exploitation at our hands. It is a work which every practitioner needs, and is especially valuable to the country physician, who, as a rule, has limited access to the periodical literature. The editorial staff is largely Philadelphian, but then the book is a Philadelphia product. The changes in the editorial staff are those demanded by the resignation of Dr. Leffmann. The department so ably edited by him has so grown in importance that it has been divided into three; namely, Physiological Chemistry, in charge of Professor Abel, of Johns Hopkins Hospital; Public Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, in charge of Dr. S. W. Abbott, Secretary of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts, and Legal Medicine, under the direction of Dr. Wyatt Johnston, of Montreal. The Year-Book is thoroughly reliable, eminently practical, an aid alike to student, teacher, practitioner and author; it is a treasury of medical information, carefully arranged and well digested.

SIDIS' PSYCHOLOGY OF SUGGESTION.The Psychology of Suggestion. By Boris Sidis, M. A., Ph. D., Associate in Psychology at the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals. Cloth, 390 pages. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1898.

Dr. Sidis announces his work as “A research into the subconscious nature of man and society." It is the result of systematic and painstaking investigation, much of the experimental part of the work having been done in the Harvard Psychological Laboratory. Prof. William James, of Harvard University, who has had the confidence of Dr. Sidis during his work, contributes an interesting introduction.

In treating his subject, the author has given a degree of attention to the psychology of suggestion in its relation to sociology that will secure for his views especial recognition. The chapters on Social Suggestibility, Society and Epidemics, and American Mental Epidemics, carry the analytical study of these subjects into fields which long have called for investigation on broader and more scientific lines.

The book is divided into three parts, under the heads of Suggestibility, The Self, and Society. Each part is treated in subdivisions which enable the author to set forth his conclusions with commendable precision and lucidity.

The author's statements respecting "Suggestion" and "Personality" particularly invite the consideration of psychological investigators.

FOX'S SKIN DISEASES OF CHILDREN.Skin Diseases of Children. By George Henry Fox, A. M., M. D., Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Skin, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, etc. Cloth, 166 pages, with 12 photogravure and chromographic plates, and 60 illustrations in the text. $2.50. New York: William Wood & Co. 1897.

An assembling in book form of a series of articles contributed by the author to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children. The text covers the skin diseases of children, which' the practitioner is likely to encounter. The illustrations are exceptionally good, and the book is a masterpiece of the bookmaker's art.

The diseases considered are, alopecia areata, ringworm and favus, impetigo contagiosa, psoriasis, ichthyosis, eczema, papilloma lineare, naevus, lupus and other tuber

culides, lichen, syphilis hereditaria, erythema nodosum, purpura, molluscum, keratitis follicularis, keloid and scabies. A complete formulary and index are appended. The book is a concise and practical sketch of the symptomatology and treatment of those eruptions which are most likely to affect the juvenile patients of the family physician.

RILEY'S RUBAIYAT OF DOC SIFERS.Rubaiyat of Doc Sifers. By James Whitcomb Riley. Illustrated by C. M. Relyea. Cloth, 124 pages; profusely illustrated. New York: The Century Company.

In this artistically drawn picture of the old-time country physician, Mr. Riley has placed before us in lines full of sincerity a tribute to the virtues of the old rural doctor that satisfies our most exalted ideals. It is a book which no physician can read without gaining a higher conception of his profession, and a greater admiration for that rugged and simple nobility of character which, unfortunately, is so infrequent type to-day.

a

on

WYETH'S SURGERY.-A Text-Book Surgery, General, Operative and Mechanical. By John A. Wyeth, M. D., Professor of Surgery in, and President of the Faculty of the New York Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital, etc. Third edition, revised and enlarged. 997 pages, with 938 illustrations. Cloth, $7.00; sheep, $8.00; half morocco, $8.50. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1898.

Wyeth's Surgery is too well and favorably known to require extended review. It has been a standard text-book ever since its first appearance twelve years ago. The third edition is more than 100 pages larger than the previous edition. The advances in pathology, surgery and surgical technique have been so many and so important that the author has found it necessary to practically rewrite the volume. The same general order is followed, and the various subjects are brought up to date. The illustrations are numerous, well selected, and the book is in all respects satisfactory and worthy of the time, skill and care lavished upon it by author and publisher.

BASHORE'S RURAL HYGIENE.-Outlines of Rural Hygiene by Harvey B. Bashore, M. D. Inspector for the State Board of Health of Pennsylvania. Cloth, 84 pages with 20 illustrations, 75 cents net. New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago: The F. A. Davis Co., 1897.

This modest little book contains much that is worthy of attention. It deals with hitherto neglected subjects, the water supply, waste disposal, the soil,

habitations and disposal of the dead, in a simple and succinct manner. The appendix on the normal distribution of chlorides by Prof. Herbert E. Smith of Yale is also valuable. The book should be in the hands of every country practitioner.

Ocular Complications in Erysipelas.

M. Ramirez thus divides the ocular complications of erysipelas (La Med. Moderne, Med. Bulletin):

I. Complications Which Involve the Annexes of the Eye.-In the decline of an erysipelas there may sometimes be observed upon the eyelids a slight or considerable edema, with or without erysipelas vesicles, often followed by desquamation and loss of the lashes; at other times abscesses, which may leave vicious cicatrices, and these may cause ectropion; again, diffuse phlegmons, with gangrene, may occur. Blepharitis with mydriasis has been observed to follow erysipelas, as also chronic edema and one case of paralysis of the orbicularis.

Acute conjunctivitis sometimes occurs and may be the point of departure of attacks of chalazions.

The lachrymal passages are attacked by slight catarrh. In certain cases the infection excites purulent dacryocystitis with or without abscess.

When the infection is transmitted from the face to the retro-orbital cellular tissue or to the meninges and brain by way of the veins and lymphatics of the parts, phlegmon or meningo-encephalitis may occur. Meningo-encephalitis causes death, and phlegmon, in the absence of resolution, is followed by incurable lesions, such as optic atrophy, retinal hemorrhages, and thrombosis and embolism of the central artery of the retina.

II. Complications Which Attack the Eyeball.-Among the lesions of the coats of the eye are a somewhat special keratitis, abscesses of the cornea sometimes terminating in ulcers with hypopyon, and paralysis of accommodation.

The deeper coats are the seat of choroiditis often accompanied by iritis. In unfavorable cases purulent iridochoroiditis may take place. Finally, retinal hemorrhages have been reported, thrombosis and embolism of the central artery of the retina, atrophy of the optic nerve, and some cases of glaucoma.

Mr. George P. Englehard entertained Drs. Brower, Danforth, Reynolds, Watkins, Wood, Butler, Pusey, Morgenthau and Stanton, of the editorial staff of the Medical Standard, at dinner at the Union League Club, Tuesday, March 23.

Societies and Colleges.

The total graduates in medicine this year in the city of St. Louis will be nearly 600.

The Marion Sims College of Medicine will hold its exercises April 9th. The graduating class numbers 80.

The Chattanooga Medical College held its commencement exercises March 22; the class this year is unusually large, numbering 33.

The Michigan State Medical Society will hold its third annual meeting at Detroit, May 5th and 6th.

The Tri-State Medical Society, which includes Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, meets at Dubuque, April 5th and 6th.

The Southwest Iowa Medical Society held its annual meeting at Creston, March 17th; a large attendance is reported.

The Barnes Medical College leads in the number of graduates at St. Louis, the class numbering 206. Commencement exercises will occur April 12.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of St. Louis held its graduating exercises March 16th; an unusual record is reported made by the class of '98, which numbers over 100.

The Keokuk Medical College held its graduating exercises March 15th; seventy-nine students received their degrees permitting them to help relieve the distress and misery of this world.

The Ensworth Medical College of St. Louis held its twenty-fifth annual exercises March 8th. Nine young men received their diplomas; the Rev. W. F. Packard offered prayer. A banquet followed.

The graduating exercises of the Fort Wayne Medical College occurred March 15th; fourteen members of the class received their diplomas and acquitted themselves with high honors. There were eloquent addresses and a banquet.

The fourth annual commencement exercises of the Central Medical College of St. Louis were held March 1st. Twenty-four

young men received their diplomas, and the pleasing program was listened to with rapt attention.

The largest class in its history will be graduated from the Ohio Medical College April 5th. The principal address of the evening will be delivered by Prof. Albert Mann, of Ohio Wesleyan University. Dr. W. J. Means will respond on behalf of the faculty, and the diplomas will be distributed by President J. M. Dunham. The class numbers 96; there will be music by an orchestra.

The Missouri Valley Medical Society held its semi-annual meeting at Red Oak, Ia., March 17th. The following physicians contributed papers: Dr. O. E. King, Brockton, Ia.; Dr. Carl Engel, Council Bluffs; Dr. Minda A. McClintock, Glenwood; Dr. W. J. Findley, Atlantic; Dr. R. M. Stone, Omaha; Dr. Palmer Findley, Chicago; Dr. B. B. Davis, Omaha; Dr. J. W. Huffman, Prescott, Ia.; Dr. A. F. Jones, Omaha; Dr. Enos Mitchell, Weldon; Dr. W. O. Henry, Omaha; Dr. Donald Alcrae, Council Bluffs; Dr. Inez C. Philbrick, Lincoln; Dr. H. Gifford, Omaha; Dr. C. H. Killingsworth, Tingley; Dr. C. E. Ruth, Keokuk; Dr. T. L. Putnam.-The September meeting will be held at Council Bluffs as customary.

The American Medical Association.—

The secretary of the section on neurology and medical jurisprudence of the American Medical Association, Dr. Hugh T. Patrick, Venetian Building, Chicago, announces that the officers of this section flatter themselves that they have in preparation an unusually attractive program. One of the features will be a joint session with the section on obstetrics and diseases of women for a full consideration of the relation of pelvic diseases to nervous and mental affections. The subject will be introduced by six short papers, three from the neurological and three from the gynecological section, contributed by eminent authorities upon the subject, and will be continued in general discussion.

Papers for the general program have already been promised by a number of the best neuologists and alienists in the country. He requests that those intending to read papers do not procrastinate, but send in the titles at an early date, or at least signify their intention to contribute a paper.

The committee of arrangements announces that information regarding the hotel arrangements for the meeting may be obtained from Dr. Robert Levy, California Building, Denver.

News of the Month.

CALIFORNIA.-The graduating exercises of the San Francisco Training School for Nurses were held in the Occidental Hotel; ten young women were graduated.-Dr. W. F. McNutt, of San Francisco, has brought suit against the administrators of the estate of the late Jacob T. Davis for $10,000, for services rendered the latter's wife.--The California Eye and Ear Hospital, San Francisco, is now open; the staff is composed of Dr. Louis C. Deane and Dr. Redmond Payne, visiting oculists, and Dr. P. K. Brown, bacteriologist.-Plans are being drawn for the new hospital on the almshouse tract, San Francisco. Dr. A. M. Taylor, of Oakland, has returned from the east; hereafter he will be associated with Dr. Edward Ewer.Dr. Myra W. Knox, of Oakland, has returned from her Mexican trip. The board of health of Los Angeles has recommended an ordinance to the city council "regulating the running at large of dogs and the muzzling of the same."-The board of managers of the Napa State Hospital for the Insane has decided not to hold civil service examinations for the positions in the hospital. An epidemic of cerebro-spinal meningitis is raging at Needles, six deaths having occurred in a single day.

COLORADO.-Complaint is made at Denver of the county hospital being overcrowded; there are now 186 inmates more than ever before. Dr. Carl Johnson, vice-consul and port surgeon, has sailed for Amoy, China, at which port he will serve in the above double capacity.-Glenwood Springs is soliciting subscriptions to provide for a hospital. At a recent meeting of the Laramie County Medical Association papers were read on anaesthesia and typhoid fever by Drs. McCray and Kilgore, respectively.

W. C.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.-Dr. Boteler, editor of the North American Medical Review, has been sued for libel by the H. K. Mulford Company. The editor criticised their antitoxin.-Dr. Samuel C. Busey, who was elected to deliver the address on "State Medicine" at the meeting of the American Medical Association in Denver next June, has resigned the position on account of ill health.

FLORIDA.-The annual meeting of the Florida Medical Association will be held at Jacksonville, Fla., April 26, 1898. R. R. Bur

roughs, M. D., president; J. D. Fernandez, M. D., secretary.

GEORGIA.-At a meeting of the Macon County Hospital Association the old officers were re-elected. ILLINOIS.-Dr.

Martin, of Byron, will move to Chicago.-Dr. I. J. Heckman, of Belvidere, will locate at Byron.-Dr. A. R. Lyles, of Beardstown, has been admitted to partnership with Dr. C. O. Burke, of Atlanta. Dr. Young, of Anchor, has located in McLean.-At a recent meeting of the McLean County Medical Society papers were read by Dr. F. H. Godfrey on "London; Its Hospitals and Medical Men;" Dr. E. H. Sargent on "Pneumonia."-Dr. W. E. Rice, of Tuscola, has been appointed local surgeon of the Illinois Central railroad, to succeed the late Dr. S. I. Spees.-Dr. D. O. Abrams, of Decatur, will locate in Tuscola.

-The State Medical Society will hold its forty-eighth annual meeting at Galesburg, May 17, 18 and 19.-Dr. M. E. Lane, of Chicago, has purchased the Champaign Sanitarium.-Dr. Cora E. Reed, of Dixon, has sold her practice to Dr. W. S. Gilbert, of Elmhurst.-Dr. P. S. Weidman, of Marine, has sold out to Dr. J. Pace, of Chicago.The new Illinois Western Hospital for the Insane at Watertown will open April 1.—Dr. Midgely has located at Wilton Center. medical staff of St. Anthony's Hospital, Moline, has elected the following officers for the ensuing year: President, S. C. Plummer; vice-president, Dr. R. C. J. Meyer; secretary, E. M. Sala.-Dr. Samuel P. Boardman has located recently at Springfield.

The

Chicago.-Plans for a building especially adapted to the needs of consumptives have been approved by the county commissioners; the building is to be in the form of a cross, three stories high, and will be erected on a line with the infirmary building, fifty feet from Ridgeland avenue. The cost is estimated at $60,000.-The Polish churches of the city are soon to erect a free hospital.A company has been formed here to establish a hospital in Alaska.; the officers are Dr. Frank H. Booth, president; Spencer H. Booth, secretary and treasurer.-Dr. A. M. Curtis has been appointed surgeon-in-chief of the Freedman's Hospital, Washington, to succeed Dr. Daniel H. Williams.- -An entertainment will be given in Central Music

« PreviousContinue »