Without beating about the bush, we are confronted with the following situation in medicine today: Is it safe to ask the advice of a surgeon on a supposed surgical disease? Can the average surgeon of the present time sink his desire for fame (and incidentally suppress his itching for a big fee) beneath that honest conservatism that is the shining principle of the honorable practitioner? Is there not danger that he will let his "surgical" instinct (?) overcome his medical conscience, if he is fortunate enough to have one? The answer must be, even as Gould maintains, that unless we know our surgeon well enough to feel that he is honest, because of this mania on the part of some surgical specialists to operate in all cases, either for greed or for effect, we should never appeal to them until therapeutics is impossible, or is exhausted. Gould further strikes a blow of criticism at the present policy of the ruling spirits of the medical organization of America, which is, by domineering methods and political means, trying to vanquish all opponents, and to exterminate all independent medical journals. There is, unquestionably, something smacking of "trades unionism" in the methods that are being used to correct (?) the proprietary drug question. Medical politicians are the worst politicians in the world, and when a medical organization is controlled absolutely by a small band of political doctors, the inevitable must and will happen: class legislation, aggrandizement of the few, and injustice to the many. Unquestionably, the main purpose of some medical men in attending medical conventions, is personal advertising. Show us the men who compose the inner circle in the average medical society of the big cities, and we will show you, in many instances, a bunch of alleged specialists, each vying with the other to "show off" and attract the attention of the patient practitioner, in the hope that some "material" will be sent to him for "bleeding." The activity of these specialists in medical organization is remarkable. Their activity is due to their desire for personal gain, not to better the condition of their medical brethren. THE PROPHYLAXIS OF VENEREAL DISEASES. The prophylaxis of venereal diseases must rest essentially upon the broad proposition of improvement in the morals of the community. This improvement in morality can not be accomplished, as the "lid” reformers would have us believe, by closing houses of prostitution, and denying prostitutes the freedom of the city. Our Puritanical brethren would have us believe that this is the way to accomplish that end, while their own children. are growing up in shameful ignorance of the anatomy of their own bodies, and absolutely devoid of information regarding the nature and manner. of the spread of such diseases. There is but one logical means of promoting morality, and that is by plain talking. Let parents speak to their sons, explaining to them at the age of puberty something of the exact nature of their sexual organs. Let them be open and aboveboard, not hiding all this essential knowledge of youth behind the cloak of mock modesty. Plain, interesting talks might be given by conservative medical men to high-school students. Tracts should be distributed, exposing the entire subject of venereal disease, couched in understandable English. The impression that prevails among most laymen is that sexual intercourse is absolutely essential among men, if good health is to be preserved. This false notion should be knocked in the head by all medical men. The laity should be instructed that continence is not incompatible with good health, and that sexual intercourse is only, apparently, necessary to men after a habit is formed. Such methods will be crowned with some measure of success, but attempts to stamp out venereal disease by putting the "lid" on cities, or even by medical inspection of houses of prostitution, may be compared to attempts to extinguish a conflagration in a burning building by merely closing all the windows. Medical inspection of prostitutes is all very well in its way, but how effectively can it be done, and how can you inspect the women who ply their trade covertly, and not as open prostitutes? APPRECIATION OF THE MEDICAL BRIEF IN FOREIGN LANDS. From Zaу October 27, 1907, under the heading: "Achilles Rose's Fight for Science," we find the following: "The indefatigable admirer of Greek learning, our dear friend Dr. A. Rose, of New York, continues his successful fight for international reform of medical onomatology in his endeavor to get rid of the bastard and unscientific terms which are at present in use. Only recently he published in the MEDICAL BRIEF (September and October, 1907) a master memorial on medical language, which was presented to the assembled rectors of all the German universities at their Marburg Conference on July 31, 1907, for whom it was especially prepared. We are publishing a Greek translation of this document in our pages, so that our readers may once more appreciate the ardent love of the Hellenic spirit of this learned author, which has secured for him not only a recognized position among the philhellenic fraternity, but among the Hellenes themselves. "In Geneeskundige Courant, a Dutch medical journal published in Utrecht, Holland, appeared two long articles written by the celebrated Professor of Philology, H. C. Muller, on the memorial of Dr. Rose, and his fragment of a Greek medical lexicon published in the MEDICAL BRIEF (the letter in the issues for June, July, October, 1906). "Dr. F. C. R. Eschle, a celebrated psychiatrician of Heidelberg, has published an exhaustive paper (eight pages) in Medizinische Klinik, Berlin, 1907, No. 48, and Dr. Julius Bartsch, of Lüneburg, in Deutsche Mediznische Presse, an important correspondence on Dr. Rose's memorial." CLINICAL NOTES. USED IN MISCARRIAGE-JUST WHAT WAS WANTED. I find H-M-C hypnotic anesthetic just what I have wanted for some time, and will keep a supply always on hand. In miscarriage, where the placenta must be removed under anesthesia, they are the very thing, and relieve the operator of the worry of chloroform or ether. I believe them superior to the morphine and atropine hypodermic, as more lasting and certain in effect. DR. A. D. BARNETT. Guilford, Mo. A CONVENIENT AND RATIONAL TREATMENT FOR ALL NARCOTIC DRUG ADDICTIONS. The Combs Chemical Company, of St. Louis, Mo., has done the medical profession a great service in offering a treatment for narcotic drug addictions in tablet form, the tablets being put up in hermetically sealed tubes, numbered consecutively and complete formula printed on each tube; also directions concerning the use of the tablets. They are called the Hyos-Sco-Phine Tablets. Free samples, literature and all other matter pertaining to the successful treatment of drug addictions can be obtained by addressing the Combs Chemical Company, St. Louis, Mo. THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF DROPSY. Dr. Thomas Hunt Stucky describes the pathology of dropsy in, the November issue of The Medical Progress. He gives a complete review of the various causes of edema of the tissues, mechanical stasis, venous stasis from heart disease, renal dropsy and anasarca of hepatic origin. Whatever the cause, except mechanical, a trial of Anasarcin has proven efficacious in his hands. Its virtues are derived from its component mild tonics, alteratives and diuretics. Stucky narrates the histories of several cases of valvular heart lesions with dropsy which were quickly improved by Anasarcin. NERVOUS NEURALGIA. Dr. Daniel E. Anstie, a well-known London physician, describes neuralgia as follows: "It may be defined as a disease of the nervous system, manifesting itself by pains, which, in the great majority of cases, are unilateral, and which appear to accurately follow the course of particular nerves, and ramify, sometimes into a few, sometimes into all, the terminal branches of the nerves." To eradicate this disease some agent surely must be used to attack the central nerve ganglion itself. Such a remedy is Daniel's Concentrated Tincture Passiflora Incarnata. While it acts directly upon the nerves, it is unlike the opiates, in that it leaves the mind and bodily organs in better condition when its effects subside. It is a natural hypnotic and narcotic, allowing normal sleep and quick recovery. A WORD FOR PASSIFLORA. Regarding this well-known remedy, Dr. J. B. Morrow, Tulsa, Okla., says: "I have lost considerable time, and caused many of my patients to suffer more and longer than they should have done, by virtue of my ignorance of Daniel's Concentrated Tincture Passiflora Incarnata. In my practice I consider your Passiflora a good stand-by, casting abominable opiates entirely out of use. In looking back over my past, and that of other physicians in my locality, I can see wrecks resulting from morphine and opium that would not have occurred had we gotten out of the old rut, and accepted the remedy God designed for the nervous system. I regard it as invaluable for neurasthenia, insomnia, and similar affections, and shall always prescribe it with the utmost satisfaction wherever indicated, and feel confident of success." January 30, 1908. LEUCORRHOEA. Dr. J. D. Albright says: One of the most troublesome cases of leucorrhoea I was ever called upon to treat was one of ever and recurring liability to faint, in a lady who formerly had an attack of endometritis, which had been entirely cured, but which left a stubborn leucorrhea in its wake. The curing of this latter trouble has made my patient strong, and entirely removed the fainting tendency. In a severe case of the combination of these two affections, after I had exhausted almost the entire materia medica, without more than temporary relief, I found an excellent remedy in Tyree's Antiseptic Powder. which gave immediate relief, and resulted in permanent cure. A trial package will be mailed free of charge to physicians if they will send their name and address to Mr. J. S. Tyree, Chemist, Washington, D. C. ON THE USE OF DRUGS IN DISEASES OF THE HEART. At a special meeting of the Medical Association of the Greater City of New York, Dr. Reynold Webb Wilcox, in discussing the action of different drugs on the heart, said: (Medical Record, February 8, 1908.) "There was only one drug which both increased the force and frequency of the pulse, and that was cactus. It was especially useful in neurotic heart and slow heart. If an active preparation was used, and such was readily found in the shops, brilliant results were obtained in appropriate cases." Cactina Pillets is manufactured in our laboratory under the personal supervision of a pharmaceutical chemist, and we can assure the medical profession that Cactina Pillets express the excellent therapeutic properties of the true Cereus Grandiflorus in the fullest and in the most perfect and convenient form. SULTAN DRUG CO. INTERNAL MEDICATION IN GONORRHOEA. Dr. Joseph Piket, Assistant at the Allgemeine Poliklinik in Vienna, in Berichte d. Versammlung Deut. Naturforscher und Aerzte, September, 1907, says "that the internal treatment of gonorrhoea has largely consisted in the past in giving balsamic preparations, which usually disturb the stomach, and by the excretion of resinous acids, irritate the kidneys, while normal kidney function is indispensable in the treatment of gonorrhoea. Balsams, moreover, have no bactericidal properties." The ideal internal remedy in the treatment of gonorrhoea is one which renders the urine bland and unirritating, promotes the excretion of urine, has power to destroy the gonococci, and, at the same time, one that does not irritate the stomach or kidneys. In arhovin, an addition-product of diphenylamine and esterified thymyl-benzoic acid, these ideals seem to have been realized. It is non-toxic, has no harmful effects on the kidneys or stomach, and is gonococcicidal. Piket's experience for a period of over two years with arhovin is summarized as follows: "Arhovin is readily taken and well-borne, has no deleterious effect of any kind, limits secretion, hinders gonococcal growth, and possesses a marked sedative action." A DISTINGUISHED AUTHORITY. Dr. H. Marion Sims, the father of gynecology, said: "For severe dysmenorrhea, I have found Hayden's Vibur In num Compound of great service." See notes by Marion Sims, Vol. No. 2, of Grailly Hewitt on Diseases of Women. Few drugs employed in the treatment of diseases of women have gained the commendation of so excellent an authority. and like expressions since the time of Sims have been uttered by many of the best men in the medical profession. Hayden's Viburnum Compound has stood the test of twenty-six years, and is the recognized standard Viburnum product by which imitators would measure. the treatment of dysmenorrhea, whether of congestive, neuralgic or membranous type, Hayden's Viburnum Compound acts most promptly and effectively. In menorrhagia, where the flow is excessive as a result of any one of the several causes, Hayden's Viburnum Compound affords relief by imparting tone to the uterus and stimulating its contraction. Clinical evidence has conclusively proven that it is as effective as ergot without possessing the narcotic and dangerous properties of this drug. In obstetrical cases, Hayden's Viburnum Compound is of particular service. It modifies the pangs of childbirth by its soothing effect upon the nervous system, and by its antispasmodic action upon the uterus, making it particularly serviceable in cases of rigid os. On account of the reputation of Hayden's Viburnum Compound it is extensively imitated. However, only when the original Hayden's Viburnum Compound is prescribed can you be assured of definite therapeutic results. PAMPHLETS. Henry G. Graham, M. D.-"Morphology of a Ciliate Infusorian." (LancetClinic, November 2, 1907). John W. Wainwright, M. D.-"Some Examples of Chemical Synthesis as Applied in the Production of Remedial Agents." (Medical Record, October 26, 1907). E. S. Goodhue, M. D.-"Mosquitoes and Their Relation to Leprosy in Hawaii." (American Medicine, New Series, Vol. II, No. 10, October, 1907). H. K. Mulford Company, Philadel phia.-Working Bulletin, No. 2, on Tuberculin and Tuberculin Therapy. GONOCOCCIC INFECTIONS AND THE PHYSICIAN'S RESPONSIBILITY.-By J. Bayard Clark, M. D., New York City. THE TREATMENT OF RECENT TRACHOMA. THE EYES AND EYESIGHT OF BIRDS, with DR. JOHN PUNTON'S ANNOUNCEMENT of his Home for Nervous Invalids is a tasty and profusely illustrated pamphlet. Dr. John Punton, Thirtieth Street and Lydia Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. TUBERCULOSIS IN CONNECTION WITH FOODS.-By E. F. Wright, author of "Plant Disease," Los Angeles, Cal. This pamphlet lays emphasis upon the importance of phosphorized food in the treatment of tuberculosis. The author maintains that the food of consumptives should contain the maximum or normal percentage of phosphoric acid in the ash. He contends that if this were true, and the foods eaten by us contained enough of the other important food principles, iron, potash and nitrogen as well, this disease would be unknown. MULFORD'S WORKING BULLETIN, No. 2. TUBERCULIN AND TUBERCULIN THERAPY. By H. K. Mulford Company, Philadelphia. This pamphlet is an interesting account of the history of tuberculin and present theories upon its manner of action. It takes up the old and the new products, and gives a succinct review of the literature. The Mulford Company manufactures the following tuberculin products: Tuberclun, "Old," and serial dilutions of same. Tuberculin R, and serial dilutions of same. Bacillen Emulsion and serial dilutions of same. Tuberculin Ophthalmic Test Solution. Tuberculin Ophthalmic Test Tablets. Tuberculin Suppositories. The little book is a valuable contribution, and serves as a good working manual for the physician who would be informed on tuberculin as a diagnostic and therapeutic agent. BOOK NOTICES. A SYNOPSIS OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF NEUROLOGY, as Taught in the McCormick Neurological College, Chicago, Illinois. A Quiz Compend. By Charles McCormick, M. D. Published December, 1907. Full leather, flexible, $2.00; Cloth, flexible, $1.50. This little work represents the theories of the McCormick School of Neurology. It is well written, and gives its substance in question-and-answer form. COSMETIC SURGERY. The Correction of Featural Imperfections. By Charles C. Miller, M. D. Including the description of a variety of operations for improving the appearance of the face; 136 pages; 73 illustrations. Prepaid $1.50. Published by the author, 70 State street, Chicago, Ill. The author is well known to the BRIEF readers, having contributed a number of papers, illustrating his methods on correction of featural imperfections. It is a handy volume, showing the technique of operations in plain form. |