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Treatment Wanted.

Will some of the brother M.Ds. please inform me how to cure the following

case:

Mr. D., aged thirty-eight, shoe manufacturer, complains of a dull heavy pain across the lower part of his back, says he has scarcely been free from this pain a day for six or seven years.

He is otherwise in good health and knows of no cause for the trouble, unless going up and down stairs (which he has to do considerably) keeps it up.

There is no trouble with his kidneys, nor with any other part of the muscular and fibrous tissue.

My diagnosis is lumbago, myalgia, muscular rheumatism, etc., and I have prescribed the usual remedies with counter-irritation, but with only partial

relief.

Now, I have been a reader of the BRIEF for several years; have not before called for help, and want to cure this patient if possible. If some of the brothers will give me a successful treatment in the next BRIEF, or by private letters, I shall be greatly obliged and indebted to them for their help. J. YOUNG, M. D. Farmington, N. H.

Papilloma.

This term is applicable to certain cutaneous appearances liable to occur on any portion of the skin, but specially on the exposed portions of the body, and more especially about the face and hands. To the party afflicted and to the physician they have three qualities of interest: Obstinacy; disfigurement; risk of degeneration in advanced life. They pass popularly under the designations of warts, moles, excrescences. Many of them are congenital, others acquired. They consist, essentially, in a local hypertrophy of the skin tissue. They are usually small and circumscribed, but, under the condition of degeneration, may spread indefinitely, with erosive discharge, and personal peril to the individual. When they appear about the face, there is a strong disposition to pick and handle them, which usually helps to increase the size and the tendency to degenerate.

Probably it would be well to explain that the term "degeneracy" means tendency to assume a malignant form. A personal experience has given me a For special interest in the matter. twenty years, I have had three distinct appearances of the kind upon my face. Recently they showed signs of making trouble. I consulted my particular friend, Dr. T. G. Comstock, who advised extermination by the use of Paquelin's Thermo-Cautery, an elegant and beautiful instrument by a French surgeon. It is simply the actual cautery in an elegant and manageable form. Of course, the application is somewhat painful at the moment, but pain does not continue. The subsequent discharge is small, and the part simply requires a bit of isinglass plaster to cover and protect the surface. In my own case, two out of three papilloma have cicatrized, most satisfactorily, and the third will have accomplished cicatrization within four or five days

more.

It is proper I should state I had previously tried nitric acid, lunar caustic and chromic acid, with only partial and unsatisfactory results.

It is much the custom among physicians to advise the "letting of such cases alone." But somehow or other, they are somewhat like Banquo's ghost-they won't be let alone. They should be exterminated, and at once.

I take great pleasure in thus thanking and commending Dr. Comstock in this public way for his prompt and efficient services in my behalf.

W. A. EDMONDS, A.M., St. Louis, Mo.

Mercurial Rheumatism.

M.D.

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Brown-Sequard's Tonic.

I am prepared to show that I was the first to publish the statement that the semen is of great importance in giving vigor, strength and nourishment to the constitution and probably will do so some time in the future.

Brown Sequard is deserving of great honor for being the first to be on the verge of demonstrating what I foreshadowed. I will take exceptions to one of his statements, that if old decrepid men would commit masturbation from time to time, but fall a little short of an emission it would encourage a deposit of semen in the vesicula seminales which would be absorbed in his constitution and give him strength. A man might as well undertake to lift himself over a fence by the straps of his boot as to undertake to get strength by the way suggested by the learned doctor.

I will suggest to him and his coadjutors that there is a surer and better way of demonstrating the great power of semen than by using the immature semen obtained from the testicles of young animals, viz., by injecting hypodermically the fresh semen of healthy young men in the subjects they are experimenting on, or if they would use the fresh semen of stallions which could be obtained readily in large quantity. The stallion is a noble animal and his semen would not impart any vicious qualities to the most fastidious patient. The treatment would be as applicable to women as men.

Hudson, Ill. SILAS HUBBARD, M. D.

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Maternal Impressions.

Would say to N. L. Folsom, M. D., page 378, August BRIEF, I know of a more remarkable case than he tells of. A lady has had two boys, both had red hair. The father and mother had black hair, nor was there any red-haired buttermaker near here; and I was the family physician, and my hair is also black. H. M. BOYD, M. D.

La Moure, N. Dak.

A Reply.

(Continued from page 401.)

Simply supporting a replaced uterus by a pessary is by no means curative, and yet it is essential to a cure in a great majority of cases. All we should expect from a pessary is to retain the replaced organ in position until we are enabled to assist nature in restoring the relaxed and congested tissues by general tonic treatment.

It is a good plan to remove the pessary four to five days before each menstrual epoch and use the tampons a few days but again introduce the pessary just before the catamenia appears, and giving directions to remain as quiet as possible while the flow continues, especially if menorrhagia is present. This form of procedure is to be kept up until the congestion has pretty well subsided.

As soon as my patient is put under treatment I direct her to assume the geno-pectoral position at least three to four times daily and remain there as long as she can endure it without too much fatigue, and while in this position she must introduce two fingers into her vulva and separate the labia and in that manner distend the vagina by atmospheric pressure which will, as can be readily seen relax the uterine ligaments and if the pessary has became slightly displaced it will frequently resume its proper position. Very frequently this treatment will relieve many of the symptoms complained of by our patient, for a while, but nature alone is usually unable to restore the broken-down system to health without some aid, because while the pessary supports the pelvic organs it also increases the congestion by its local irritation; to counteract the congestion induced by the pessary I use locally, injections,

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M. Sig.: Use as hot as can be borne. Perhaps it would not be entirely out of place here to describe the manner in which these injections are to be taken. If she will make herself an oiled cloth with strings attached to the two corners of one end to pass around her waist, then lying on her back with pillow under her hips and feet resting on two chairs placed close to the bed with some sort of dish between them to catch the ejected fluid which is conveyed to it by the oiled cloth, she will have a cheap and efficient apparatus. A fountain syringe with vaginal tip of at least three perforations should be used and the stream and pressure regulated to suit the case. operation, when properly performed, should last at least twenty minutes. Internally I give about the following in a typical case.

R. Tinct. Nucis Vom

Ext. Cascara Sag. fil..
Ext. Cimicifugæ Race. fl.
Ext. Hamamelis Virg..
Glycerini ad. q. s...

This

.4 drachms. q. s.

.1 ounce. ....6 drachms. ....4 ounces.

M. Sig.: One drachm three or four times daily. Not unfrequently the constipation subsides as soon as the displacement is corrected then of course the cascara can be omitted.

If the dyspepsia is very marked I give liq. pepsini of the U. S. P., with each meal, and order hot compresses of infusion of pulv. quercus alb. cort., to be made every evening upon retiring. These compresses should be large enough to reach from the ensiform cartilage to the symphysis pubes and remain in place all night. Patient should take all the outdoor exercise she can without too much fatigue. G. A. HEIDNER, M. D. Fredonia, Wis.

(Concluded.)

Brief Gleanings.

In corresponding with advertisers please mention the MEDICAL BRIEF.

The John Scott Legacy Premium and Medal.-John Scott, Chemist, late

of Edinburgh, bequeathed a sum of money to the Corporation of the City of Philadelphia, directing that the interest and dividend received therefrom shall be laid out in premiums, to be distributed among ingenious men and women who make useful inventions, and that therewith shall be given a medal with this inscription: "To the Most Deserving.”

The Select and Common Councils of the City of Philadelphia vested the award of the aforesaid premium and medal in the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania.

The Franklin Institute referred the duty of making examinations, etc., to their Committee on Science and the Arts.

Their investigations on the subject of Artificial Limbs resulted in the bestowal of the honor and distinction of the John Scott legacy premium and medal "to the most deserving" firm of A. A. Marks, of 701 Broadway, New York.

If you want to know the real anatomical and scientific reasons for the acknowledged superiority and meritorious reputation of the Marks patent artificial limbs, write to the firm for the report of the "Committee on Science and the Arts" for the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania. That instructive report must prove convincing to any one. Please mention the MEDICAL BRIEF.

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Prolapsus. I have tried Micajah's Medicated Uterine Wafers in two very bad cases of disease of the womb, prolapsus, and they did just as recommended. One of the patients had not walked for eight years. P. C. JURNEY, M. D.

Olin, N. C.

See ad. page 24. Samples free to physicians who mention the MEDICAL BRIEF.

Catarrh.-Dr. Sajous states that, as a rule, all cases of catarrh causing eye troubles, as swelling of the lids, etc., are located in the lower part of the nasal cavity, viz., below the inferior turbinated bones.

The Doctor's First Love.-Whenever the Doctor gets one of Marshall's Patent Convertible Case-Bags he immediately falls in love with it. This is as it should be, because it answers the purpose for which it was intended to a dot. See ad. on page 43.

In writing to advertisers, mention Medical Brief.

Woman's Medical College of Baltimore. For information and catalogue, address Randolph Winslow, M. D., No. 1 Mt. Royal Terrace, Baltimore, Md. See ad. on page 59, and mention the BRIEF when you write.

Injection for Uterine Cancer (Cheron).

R. Tinct. Iodini..

drachm. Salicyl. Sodæ. .2% drachms. Tar Water.... pint. Dissolve: three to six spoonfuls in a pint of warm water.

Indestructible.-This word readily applies to the Hard Rubber Trusses made by the Hastings Truss Co. In addition to this they are light, cool and cleanly; can be worn while bathing. Descriptive sheet mailed if BRIEF is mentioned. See ad. page 32 for their address.

Surgical Instruments.-It is gratifying to observe that the Mellier Drug Company, of St. Louis, on account of conducting their Surgical Instrument Department in connection with other branches of their business, are able to offer such goods at lower prices than any other dealers-80 that it does not require any such enormous outlay for a physician to purchase a stock of staple Surgical Instruments as was formerly the case. See advertisement on page 20. When you write the Mellier Drug Co., please mention the BRIEF.

Dysmenorrhea.-William Wiles, M. D., Snaresbrook, Essex, says: I used Aletris Cordial especially in a case of severe dysmenorrhea of considerable standing. The first period that occured after taking the Cordial was passed through with considerably less pain than usual. The patient took the medicine for a week before the menstrual period was expected for six months. At the end of that time no difficulty or pain was experienced. So that, considering the time the patient had been suffering before, the benefit was very marked.

Self-Abuse.-"I have used Crystalline Phosphate with the best results in some cases of exhaustion caused by self-abuse of young men, and in many cases of pollution and impotency."

Detroit, Mich.

HENRY HUG, M. D.

The Genuine Succus Alterans.-The genuine preparation, Succus Alterans, gives me the greatest satisfaction in the treatment of syphilis and rheumatism. I have in many such cases given the Succus alone, and I am convinced that it serves me always as the best alterant in treatment of blood diseases.

FREDERICK OBERD, M. D. Hot Springs, Ark.

The Best Preparation of Iron.-E. C. Crum, M. D., Dayton, O., says: After giving your Liquid Iron-Rio a fair test, I am satisfied that it is one of the best preparations of iron, in cases where you wish to introduce that substance into the blood, that I have ever prescribed; and in case of anæmia, and specially in trifacial neuralgia, its effects are marvelous.

Mellin's Food.-The late Dr. J. Milner Fothergill said that, in feeding the acutely ill, it is useless, or worse than useless, to give starchy foods. The insoluble starch must be first changed into soluble dextrine and maltose, as is done in Mellin's Food. This Food, because the farinaceous matter has undergone the same conversion as by the action of the body ferments, is independent of the digestive act, and, when swallowed, at once finds its way into the blood current to sustain the waning powers. Mellin's Food, consisting, as it does, so largely of soluble carbohydrates, is a typical "true food" for the acutely sick.

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Parvules.-The term Parvule, from Parvum, small, is applied to a new class of remedies in the form of minute pills, containing minimum doses for frequent repetition in cases of children and adults. It is claimed by some practitioners that small doses, given at short intervals, exert a more salutary effect. Sydney Ringer, M. D., in his recent works on therapeutics, sustains this theory in a great variety of cases. The enterprising house of Wm. R. Warner & Co. have placed on the market a list of these parvules, as seen on page 17 of this issue, that can't fail to be interesting reading. When you write to them, mention the BRIEF.

Wonderfully Pleased.-A. G. Brown & Co.: I received your samples of Dyspeptine, Nephriline and Asthmaticine not long ago. Was wonderfully pleased with all three of them. Would like to have more of the preparations. Yours truly. J. A. CHAMPION, M. D.

Powellsville, Ohio.

See A. G. Brown & Co.'s advertisement on page 15. Samples of their preparations sent free if MEDICAL BRIEF is mentioned.

Fairchild's Pepsin. The manufacturers of this elegant and staple article guarantee it to be unchangeable, to maintain its activity and quality under all ordinary commercial conditions. If the BRIEF is mentioned they will send samples to any physician who may wish to ascertain for himself the relative activity of this pepsin, or to submit it to any practical test. Send to the address given on third cover page for prices and full information.

Syphilis.-Prof. Gross says: Never give mercury in syphilis before secondary symptoms occur; you only mask these symptoms and are unable to ascertain the severity of the case.

High Potencies.-Dr. Samuel Swan of 13 West 38th St., New York, claims to have discoverd that the various poisons which cause zymotic diseases remain in the morbific product of the disease; and that he has discovered the process of collecting and potentizing said poisons, which he regards most curative when used in the very high potencies, because most Homoopathic to the diseases. He offers them, with price list on ad. page 34.

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