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medicine and that the osteopaths have been practising medicine, are practising medicine and intend to practise medicine.

The vital point of this provision is that "diseases of the human body" are to be treated. The public may need to be told that "manual therapeutics" is not unknown to the profession of medicine, is not a discovery of the osteopaths,-but has been developed and used in medicine for centuries, and, besides, it is a most useful means of cure; but as the whole is greater than any of its parts, so therapeutics is greater and more effective than "manual therapeutics," hence the attempt to make "manual therapeutics a complete system of curing "diseases of the human body" is either ignorant or fraudulent, one or both.

Fatal defects in this bill appear in its provisions as to the qualifications of the members of the proposed state board of examiners, and as to the persons the bill would license to practise medicine without examination.

As to the members of the state board of examiners, it is provided that they shall be reputable graduates of a regularly conducted school of osteopathy and shall have practised osteopathy in this state for at least one year.

It is to be noted of those provisions that the questions of who is a reputable graduate and which school is regularly conducted, are left to the decision of the osteopaths themselves, the state having no opportunity of determining what was the preliminary educational equipment of the candidate, of what advantage he took of the teachings of his school, or of what were the educational standards of that school.

It is also to be noted that the test of good moral character is not to be applied to any of these candidates for examination; for, interpreted in the light of the medical practice Act, they have been in daily violation thereof, and just how this criminal life is compatible with good moral character might be difficult to establish. An essential defect of the bill, in our judgment, is its failure to exact the usual educational qualifications, preliminary and professional, of those about to be licensed to practise medicine. The bill would license "any person who at the time of the passage of this act shall be actually engaged in the practice of osteopathy in this state, and who is a reputable graduate of a regularly conducted school of osteopathy."

Here is a wholesale licensing of persons to the practice of medicine without one iota of protection as to preliminary education, term of professional study, advantage actually derived from such professional training, or as to good moral character. It seems incredible that the state of New York could be pursuaded to place upon its records a law bearing so absurd a proposition as this

namely, that neither preliminary education, professional preparation nor moral character shall be required of those who are to assume the responsibility of the practice of medicine.

The provisions of the bill as to future candidates for admission to the practice of medicine through this gateway,-door number five, make the bill exceedingly dangerous from an apparent willingness to meet existing standards as to preliminary education, length of courses in a given year, number of years of study, subjects for examination by state examiners, good moral character and other essentials. It would seem that the bill is drawn to make it easy for the osteopaths now at work to become doctors and also provides restrictions sufficient to keep down future competition.

It is difficult to regard with seriousness the proposition to make the control of the practice of massage a part of the educational scheme of the University of the State of New York.

We believe the bill to be dangerous in general and in particular and we warn our readers that nothing short of vigorous and united opposition will secure its defeat.

I

American Medical Association.-Portland.

T HAS been officially announced that this year's meeting of the American Medical Association will be held in July, instead of June, which latter is the usual time when the meeting place is located north of the line of the Ohio river. Portland, Oregon, is the place and July 11-14, is the time for the next meeting.

It is more than probable that this meeting will be more numerously attended than were others that have been held on the Pacific coast. Two reasons, among others, will contribute to increase the attendance in a marked degree: first, the railroads were never able before to accommodate traffic and make tourists as comfortable as now; and, second, the Lewis and Clarke Exposition, the Western World's Fair,-will furnish an attraction far beyond any heretofore offered on the Pacific slope.

One of the principal points for the visitor to settle is the route by which he will travel, both outward and homeward bound. For Buffalo members and visitors as well for those living eastward on this parallel, Chicago will afford the first objective, which can be reached by several available roads. From there to Portland the natural route is the Northwestern Line to Omaha, and thence by the Union Pacific direct to Portland. Returning, the Northern Pacific Railroad will afford a convenient and delightful homeward trip via Saint Paul, and by the Northwestern thence to Chicago. Individual preferences and other considerations natur

ally govern the selection of a route, but those indicated, from directness, equipment, comfort and speed, will naturally secure the largest measure of travel, not only from the territory named, but from points westward as far as Omaha, and even beyond that point.

We advise our readers to take up this subject with the agents of the several lines at an early date. By so doing they will obtain advantages that are denied the late applicants. If the railroads ascertain at an early day, even approximately the number for whom provision must be made, they will be enabled to take better care of their passengers. The agents of the Northwestern Line, the Union Pacific, and Northern Pacific railroads are located in the Ellicott Square, Buffalo, and will be glad to furnish information, rates, and other data to applicants.

Inasmuch as the Northwestern is the initial line, perhaps it will simplify matters to communicate direct with the Buffalo office, which is located at 301 Main street; telephone, Seneca 884.

JUDGE Davis, of Philadelphia, in his charge to the jury in the case of Thomas E. Eldridge, charged with illegally practising medicine, gave an excellent definition of the practice of medicine in the first paragraph of his charge quoted:

The practice of medicine consists in the offering of service and assuming the responsibilities of treating diseases, deformities and injuries, no matter by what means this is professed to be done.

Every state, because of the inherent nature of the calling of medicine, possesses the right both constitutionally and legally to demand a standard degree of qualification which will protect citizens from the consequences of incompetency and unskilled practice.

Anyone practising medicine without the license of the state, which license is on the part of the state a guarantee of the possession of the qualification to safely pursue medical practice, is an illegal practitioner.

Everyone, therefore, who offers service as outlined, no matter by what means he professes to treat diseases, deformities and injuries, must, as a condition precedent thereto, have obtained the license in accordance with the laws of the commonwealth.

DR. THOMAS DARLINGTON, the efficient health commissioner of greater New York, is conducting an active campaign against the spitting nuisance. During one day in every week the police department, at the instigation of Dr. Darlington, stations policemen at theaters, in the subway and other public places, who arrest all spitters. They are taken before a magistrate at the

tombs and fined two dollars each for the first offense. The violators of the ordinance are locked up pending trial; hence the punishment seems severe, but no more than it should be when the magnitude of the crime is considered. We hope some day to see Buffalo take a similar stand against this filthy and dangerous. habit.

THE Kinesipathy bill, the osteopathy bill, and the optometry bill are a fine triad. The proponents of these bills should pool their issues and make a combined attack upon the legislature. They might, with great propriety, invite Antonius, the "Great Cooper" and "Dr." Finch to help them in their nefarious attempts to break down the Medical Practice Act.

PERSONAL.

DR. CHARLES A. L. REED, of Cincinnati, has been appointed a member of the boundary commission to determine the limits of the Isthmian canal zone. He sailed for Panama, January 31,

1905.

DR. E. C. W. O'BRIEN, surgeon of the Buffalo fire department, who has been seriously ill with grip and its sequelæ, was reported improved, but subsequently suffered a relapse. Dr. O'Brien's many friends who sympathise with him in his prolonged illness are hopeful of his ultimate recovery.

DR. WILLIAM G. RING, of Buffalo, has been appointed surgeon of the fire department, ad interim, pending the recovery of Dr. O'Brien.

DR. MARTIN BESSEMER, of Ithaca, has been appointed by the regents of the University of the State of New York a member of the homeopathic state board of medical examiners, vice Dr. William L. Fiske, of Brooklyn, deceased.

DR. WILLY MERCK, member of the house of E. Merck, Darmstadt, has received from the University of Halle, Germany, the honorary degree of doctor of medicine, conferred in recognition of numerous contributions to therapeutics.

DR. DEWITT G. WILCOX, of Buffalo, was elected president of the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York at its annual meeting held at Albany, February 14 and 15, 1905.

OBITUARY.

DR. WALTER D. O. K. STRONG, of Fishkill Landing, a graduate of the medical department of Buffalo, 1847, died at his home, January 26, 1905, aged 81 years.

DR. W. B. PRESTON, of Dansville, N. Y., died at his home, February 4, 1905, aged 60 years. He graduated at the Eclectic Medical Institute, Cincinnati, in 1867, and had been ill of Bright's

disease for more than a year.

DR. JAMES E. CRISFIELD, of Dansville, N. Y., a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, (N. Y.), 1873, died at Jacksonville, Fla., February 21, 1905, whither he had gone in the interest of his health. Dr. Crisfield was a prominent physician in the Genesee Valley and was reputed the oldest practising physician in Livingston county.

DR. EDSON H. YOUNG, of Buffalo, a graduate of the medical department of the University of Vermont, 1884, died at his home, February 5, 1905, aged 44 years. Dr. Young was a conscientious, active physician who led a busy life and had a large professional following. He died after a week's illness in the midst of a useful professional life.

DR. CORDELIA A. Greene, of Castile, N. Y., died at the Presbyterian Hospital, New York City, January 31, 1905, after a surgical operation, aged 74 years. Dr. Greene graduated from the medical department of Western Reserve University, Cleveland, in 1857. She succeeded her father in the management of a sanitarium at Castile, N. Y., which she successfully conducted for over forty years.

SOCIETY MEETINGS.

THE Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York held its annual meeting at Albany, February 14 and 15, 1905, at which the following-named officers were elected: president, Dewitt G. Wilcox, Buffalo; vice-presidents, W. T. Helmuth, New York, B. W. Sherwood, Syracuse, George R. Critchlow, Buffalo; secretary, H. Worthington Page, New York; treasurer, C. T. Haines, Utica.

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