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Vol. 5.

No 9.

Editorial.

Preparatory Education for Admission to Medical Schools.

As the time approaches for the opening of our medical schools the much discussed question for the requirements of education comes up for consideration. These preliminary requirements have greatly multiplied during the past few years in the United States, and are steadily advancing. We now have as existing extremes certificates of grammar and high schools for one, and those of Harvard and Johns Hopkins requiring a complete course in a college of arts or science for the other, and the latter also insists upon a knowl

edge of French and German, while Harvard specifies that the student must have studied chemistry. Whether the degrees of A. B. and B. A. may mean much or little will depend largely upon the student and somewhat upon the institution conferring them. A thorough examination of all applicants for admission to medical schools would be more satisfactory, and should be made. without regard to certificates of scholarship recommendations except those concerning moral characters; competent students will not object, and no others are needed in our schools. It will not be denied that many eminent and successful physicians and surgeons have honored the profession of medicine, and have advanced the science (what there is in it) without academical training,

or what is termed a liberal education; but they have been men of unusual mental discernment and ability, with minds trained by observation to grasp the essentials of subjects, and personal qualities of intellect commanding influence and respect. Whether a broader education, a familiarity with all the dead and modern languages would have made them better or more useful medical men may be left to conjecture; but such men have been exceptions to the general rule of persons, and may be said to have the special aid of genius: what we have to deal with is the average young man who elects medicine and its practice for his life work. The essential foundation for this study is thus stated by Dr. N. S. Davis, Jr., of Chicago.

"Inorganic chemistry and qualitative analysis; mechanics, light, heat and electricity; general biology; some comparative anatomy, particularly of vertebrates; German and French, and such botany as will acquaint them with the more important groups of plants; experimental psychology and logic."

Some subjects in this list are more important than others, and a knowledge of German and French, though convenient and desirable for any man who calls himself educated, is not so necessary so far as the practice of medicine is concerned as all important items of information in the progress of medicine and useful discoveries in Germany or France are quickly brought to the attention of the world and printed in English.

Laboratory work is very important, and as much as possible before beginning the other studies in medicine and surgery will greatly assist the student in comprehending what is taught along all the lines of his medical education. Some other essentials besides scholarship are necessary to insure success;

such as sound health, habits of industry and persevering application, and good old "Teutonic Pluck." "Stick to your aim, the mongrel's hold will slip,

But only crowbars loose the bull dog's grip;

Small as he looks the jaw that never yields

Brings down the bellowing monarch of the fields."

--O. W. Holmes.

The Medical Man In Great Britain.

The "Cornhill Magazine" for June reviews the condition of the medical profession in Great Britain, as compared with that in the United States. It would appear that the prospects of the medicine man in the former country are brighter than in the latter. The same strenuous hard working life is promised with a lack of the great prizes attending the church, the army and the law. Degrees in medicine are secured by resi dent study at one of the twelve universities requiring a minimum attendance. of five years. Admission to practice

medicine, however, is not limited to those possessing degrees, but is also granted to those passing a satisfactory examination before one of nine professional corporations. The physician after leaving the university has a variety of covers open before him. The gov ernment service is more extensive than in this country and offers to the young surgeon with small financial resources, great opportunities.

General practice corresponds fairly with general practice in this country and while fees are somewhat smaller. the larger practice falling to the general practitioner more than compensates. In the "Post Graduate" for June, Dr. Antonio Fanoni reports experiments

The

in regard to intra-vascular injections, 1-5000 formalin sol. in normal saline solution for septic conditions. writer is of the opinion that the infusion of antiseptic fluids are not as effective as has been reported. His experiments on rabbits were supplemented with observations of four men who had undergone transfusion of formalin solution in blood poisoning. In these four cases death resulted. The author concludes that the intra-venous infusion of normal saline solution is of more value in these cases.

The Walker Hospital and Sanitarium. has been opened at Worthington, Minn., for the treatment of surgical, nervous and mental diseases. Dr. Walker is installing a complete outfit for the treatment of chronic cases. Miss Louise M. Norris fills the office of superintentlent. This institution will prove of great advantage in that locality, and there must be a very good field for such an enterprise. We wish the doctor success in his work.

Victims of the Alps.

The "playground of Europe," as the Alpine region has been called, is annually the graveyard of many adventuresome tourists. This year the death roll has been even above the average, for already there have been recorded more than three hundred accidents resulting in the death of one hundred and fifty visitors. The causes of this unprecedentedly large number of accidents have been two-cold and stormy weather and the fool-hardiness of attempting dangerous ascents without guides. In addition to the loss of life from accidents, not a few deaths occur, according to Professor Zangger, of Zurich, from cardiac thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in elderly persons who avail themselves of the supposedly safe means of reaching great altitudes afforded by the railways.

Roentgen Ray Injuries.

Numerous instances have been reported recently in both the medical and the lay

press of serious and even fatal x-ray dermatitis. One of Edison's laboratory assistants has suffered in this way, and two members of the medical staff of the London Hospital were compelled for the same reason to give up their work in radiotherapy. The death of Dr. Blacker is recalled by the announcement that his widow has been granted a pension of £120 by the not too grateful British Government. It will be remembered that Dr. Blacker was reported to have acquired x-ray dermatitis of the arm while treating King Edward for rodent ulcer. The king was cured but the doctor died, a malignant growth supervening upon the dermatitis and advancing so rapidly as to baffle the therapeutic endeavors of Sir Frederick Treves and others.

Is Acute Rheumatism Contagious?

Instances of Apparent Infection of Rheumatism.-R. T. Turner reports three cases of this nature. One of his patients asked his brother, who was recovering from an attack of acute rheumatism contracted and treated in a neighboring town, to come and stay with him for some weeks. About a week after the arrival of his brother the host began to feel ill, had slight tonsilitis, followed by an affection of his legs, which appeared to be erythema nodosum, and a few days later developed a typical attack of acute rheumatism, which ran an ordinary course. I may say that the brother when he came down here had still remaining excessive perspiration and some stiffness of the joints, and presumably still had some of the rheumatic poison in his system. In a second case the writer was called to see a patient (aged twenty-two) in a village a few miles away, and found him to be suffering from acute typical rheumatism. He also found at the same time that the patient's sister was in bed with pains in her joints, and on examination he noted that she had marked rheumatic swelling of both ankles and one knee, and a temperature of 102.5 degrees F. The brother is a railway porter, and lives in a small town. A fortnight before coming under observation he was attacked with acute rheumatism, and sent for his sister to nurse him. Exactly a week after her arrival she began to feel ill, had slight sore throat, and two days later had pain in her ankles. The third case was that of a young man aged nineteen, living in lodgings, who was suffering from a very marked attack of acute rheumatism. His aunt, who lived in London, came down to help nurse him. Three days after her arrival she complained of her legs causing her pain, and she soon developed an ordinary attack of acute rheumatism.-British Medical Journal, Aug. 8, 1903.