land, Ore. Mayor McGuigan, of Vancouver, who is a graduate in medicine of McGill University, delivered an address of welcome on behalf of the citizens of Vancouver, and Dr. J. C. Davie, of Victoria, B. C., vice-president of the British Columbia Medical Council, on behalf of the profession of British Columbia.

At the morning session of the second day, Mr. Mayo Robson delivered the address in surgery, accompanied by a lantern demonstration, on the pancreas and the diseases of that organ, which attracted a large audience and commanded great attention.

In the evening the president delivered the annual presidential address, dealing mostly with questions pertaining to the medical politics of the Dominion of Canada. Following the presidential address, Dr. E. C. Dudley gave a very able address in gynecology, illustrated with lantern slides, which proved one of the features of the meeting and was very much appreciated by all present.

The meeting was the third largest in the history of the association, which indicates the great distance to be traveled did not diminish the enthusiasm.

THE Buffalo Academy of Medicine held meetings during the month of September, 1904, as follows:

Section on Surgery.-Tuesday evening, September 6. Program: Status lymphaticus; its relation to sudden death, Edgar R. McGuire. Hydrocephalus, Marshall Clinton.

Section on Medicine-Tuesday evening, September 13. Program: The use of antistreptococcus serum, Edward Villiaume. Asthma and its relations to environment from a blood etiological standpoint, George N. Jack.

Postponed-The regular meeting of this section, which should, according to the program of session, have been held Tuesday evening, September 20, was postponed.

Section on Obstetrics-Tuesday evening, September 27. Program: Sterility as a result of retroversion of the uterus. with reports of thirteen cases of pregnancy following Alexander's operation, Herman E. Hayd; discussion by Drs. Mann, Frederick, Howell and Van Peyma.

MISSISSIPPI Valley Medical Association will hold its 30th annual meeting at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 11, 12, 13, 1904, under the presidency of Dr. Hugh T. Patrick, of Chicago. The headquarters and meeting places will be at the Grand Hotel.

The annual orations will be delivered by Dr. William J. Mayo, of Rochester, Minn., in Surgery, and Dr. C. Travis Drennen, of Hot Springs, Ark., in Medicine.

Request for places upon the program, or information in regard to the meeting, can be had by addressing the secretary, Dr. Henry Enos Tuley, Louisville, Ky., or the assistant secretary, Dr. S. C. Stanton, Masonic Temple, Chicago, Ill.

HOSPITAL NOTES.

THE Texas Sanitarium for the treatment of tuberculosis has been established at Llano, which is located upon desirable soil with excellent drainage and superb climatic advantages. Llano is 100 miles from Austin, on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, 1,100 feet above the sea and is in every way adapted to the treatment of tuberculosis. The officers of the institution are: president, J. T. Wilson, Sherman; vice-president, J. W. McLaughlin, Galveston; secretary-treasurer, M. M. Smith, Austin.

THE Hospital of the Sisters of Mercy is being established at South Buffalo to serve as an accident or emergency hospital for the reception of sick and injured from the populous and growing section near the Lackawanna Steel plant. The mother house of the Sisters of Mercy recently removed from Batavia to Buffalo. This new hospital will serve a good purpose, such an one being much needed in the location where it is becoming established.

BOOK REVIEWS.

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON NERVOUS DISEASES. For the Medical Student and General Practitioner. By F. SAVARY PEARCE, M.D., Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases in the Medico-Chirurgical College, Philadelphia. Octavo, pp. 422. Illustrated. New York and London: D Appleton & Co. 1904. (Price, $3.00.)

The monument which F. Savary Pearce erected to his memory and in the upbuilding of which he lost his own life, will stand long after the marble shaft at his tomb has crumbled and disintegrated. Taken off, the result of a complete nervous breakdown from overwork just as his textbook was being received and applauded by his fellow practitioners, Dr. Pearce, like many others, could not see the beneficent result of his labors. It remains for those coming after to judge of the man by his work and no better illustration of Dr. Pearce's endeavors can be found than this treatise completed a short time before his death.

The author's purpose was to prepare a work which would elucidate the known facts of neurology and curtail or omit alto

gether all doubtful points in this most intricate science. To learn and remember well grounded facts is difficult enough, but to learn and relearn contradictory and uncertain theories is discouraging and demoralising to the student and general practitioner. On this point the author takes a decided stand and the result is seen on every page of the book.

The opening chapters are devoted to the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, and the two are happily blended so that the student cannot but have a pretty clear understanding of the structure and functions of the component parts of the nervous system. The neuron theory is excellently described and

illustrated.

The next following chapters on pathology, symptomotology and general therapeutics and prevention of nervous diseases are carefully written and must convey to the reader clear understanding of these important branches of neurology. The author goes quite deeply into the consideration of the reflexes-a subject little understood among the general practitioners. The description of therapeutic measures as massage, electricity, diet, and gymnastic exercises is an admirable piece of work and deserves careful consideration by the reader. Although brief, still the more essential points are brought out in a most excellent manner.

The chapters on diseases of the peripheral, cranial and spinal nerves are carefully considered and the treatment especially dwelt upon, a feature of this work and one to be applauded. The etiology of many of these conditions are traced to the very latest literature on the subject. In Landry's disease, for instance, the cause is said to be in all probability an autochthonous poison and some cases are reported having been cured.

The chapters on diseases of the brain and spinal cord are also up to date and presented in a clear, definite manner, so characteristic of the author. Many excellent illustrations are found interspersed through these chapters, the majority of which are from the author's own cases, presenting to the eye a method of teaching that cannot be well explained in the text. The remaining chapters are devoted to the consideration of the haptoneuroses, functional diseases, disorders of sleep and a formulary.

This work can be cheerfully recommended to the student and busy practitioner as one of the best short treatises on the subject. W. C. K.

EPILEPSY AND ITS TREATMENT. By WILLIAM P. SPRATLING, M.D., Super intendent of the Craig Colony for Epileptics at Sonyea, N. Y. Octavo volume of 522 pages, illustrated. Philadelphia, New York, London: W. B. Saunders & Company. 1904. (Cloth, $4.00 net.)

The first treatise on epilepsy by an American author is likely to attract attention; and when, to that statement, is added the further fact that it embraces the observations made by the writer of the book at the first colony for epileptics established in the west

ern hemisphere, an added interest attaches to its publication at this time.

The treatment of epilepsy for a long time lagged behind the management of other mental disturbances; but, stimulated perhaps by what the Germans are doing for epileptics, Dr. Frederick Peterson and others began to agitate the propriety of establishing a home for the care and treatment of these unfortunates in this state. Mr. Craig, a philanthropist of Rochester, a prominent member of the state board of charities, lent a willing hand and a plethoric purse to the measure, and all these and other influences finally established the colony at Sonyea, which appropriately took the name of Mr. Craig.

Dr. Peterson, with equal appropriateness, became the president of the board of managers and mainly through his solicitation and recommendation, Dr. Spratling was appointed superintendent. This treatise is the recorded experience of the latter during his ten years' incumbency, as well as that gained in the care of epileptics at the New Jersey State Hospital and at the Vanderbilt Clinic. This has undoubtedly offered him the largest experience of any single American observer, hence great value attaches to Dr. Spratling's book.

The volume consists of seventeen chapters besides an introduction and an index, in each and all of which it is addressed to needs of both general practitioner of medicine and undergraduate student. It deals distinctly with the most modern methods of treating epilepsy, and presents them in elaboration without becoming diffuse or wearisome. Indeed, the author is a master of concise and forceful English, therefore presents even his dryest facts in attractive form.

The

The underlying theme of the treatise, all the way through, is that the individual as well as the disease must be treated. special forms of mental, moral, physical, and hygienic management, so essential to success and which are made a part of the present day system of treating the epileptic, are set forth with emphasis; in short, Spratling presents a book of today that will be read with interest and profit by every physician.

The manifestations of epilepsy are so peculiar and oftentimes subtle, that even an expert may be puzzled occasionally to affirm with certainty that the disease exists in a given case. This book will serve as an aid in doubtful cases and as a guide to the more intelligent and humane management of a most unfortunate class of afflicted human beings.

GRAVES'S DISEASE WITH AND WITHOUT EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE. BY WILLIAM HANNA THOMSON, M.D., LL.D., Physician to the Roosevelt Hospital, New York. Octavo, pp. 143. New York: William Wood & Co. 1904. (Price, $1.50.)

The author's object is to emphasise the fact that the constitutional and general derangements which are characteristic of

Graves's disease constitute the disease, and not the condition of the thyroid gland or its accessories. The author's opinion is supported by a series of personal cases, with thyroid involvement on one hand and cases without thyroid involvement on the other, and comparisons made to show that the disease may have no recognisable and therefore probably no necessary relation to any state of the thyroid gland. The symptomatology and treatment of Graves's disease is gone into quite thoroughly and the use of a mercerised laxative strongly urged twice weekly. Tachycardia. is regarded as the specific symptom, and exophthalmos and goitre as secondary manifestation.

The author's manner of proving his theory is very methodical and perhaps convincing; yet there are many who still agree with Möbius that the disease is secondary to thyroid morbid activity.

W. C. K.

CLINICAL TREATISES ON THE PATHOLOGY AND THERAPY OF DISORDERS OF METABOLISM AND NUTRITION. BY PROF. DR. CARL VON NOORDEN, Physician-in-Chief to the City Hospital, Frankfurt a. M. Authorised American edition, translated under the direction of Boardman Reed, M.D., Philadelphia. Part V. Concerning the Effects of Saline Waters on Metabolism. New York: E. B. Treat & Company. 1904. (Price, 75 cents.)

It is important, in these days of recommending patients to "the springs," that intelligent advice should be given. No doubt, saline waters have much influence over digestion; no doubt, also, that they are taken many times without definite reason or systematic method. It becomes physicians to be prepared to give advice in regard to the matter that will at least promise wholesome results; therefore, he should, himself, be well informed concerning balneologic therapy. This book will assist in solving many questions pertaining to the effects of saline waters on the economy.

MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS. Special Diagnosis of Internal Medicine. A Handbook for Physicians and Students. By DR. WILHELM V. LEUBE, Professor of Medicine, and Physician-in-Chief to the Julius Hospital at Wurzburg. Authorised Translation from the Sixth German Edition. Edited by Julius L. Salinger, M.D., late Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Jefferson Medical College. Octavo, pp. 1084. With five colored plates and 74 illustrations. New York and London: D Appleton & Co. 1904. (Price, $5.00.)

The Germans, notoriously close students, are renowned also for accuracy. This is very true with reference to diagnosis. Professor Leube has been known favorably in America for many years, and he is frequently quoted regarding his studies relating to the stomach. None the less is he a diagnostician and this handbook will be welcomed in its American translation by every student and practitioner who is not a master of the German language.

We have had occasion to point out often in these columns, not by any means as an original thought, but as one of the funda