and loss of the baby too. You may say, that will occur anyhow, so it may, but not always nor as extensive. Some advise rotation of the occiput anterior by external manipulation in the early part of the first stage, so it can, if you can gain any benefit from it. It is hard to do and many times impossible. If the forceps are required in these positions, we have two applications to select from. Scanzoni's manuvere and the cephalic application. Some consider them the one and same thing but they are not. double application, while the cephalic is only one. Scanzoni is a To a certain extent the physician must have some practice or he will do a lot of damage to the material soft parts and in the meantime his technic must be perfect or infection will follow. To impress this I might quote DeLee of Chicago, who says, "How long will it be before the profession recognizes that the proper conduct of an ordinary labor case, mind you an ordinary one, requires an enormous amount of learning, acute powers of observation and great technical skill?" How about the difficult ones? Then to conclude, I wish to make this plea. That we each thoroughly understand the mechanism of labor. Study it in each individual case, and when the call comes for interference in whatever way it may, that we use our armamenterium to the best advatnage. following the normal mechanism, and by so doing relieve the suffering of our patient and save life at the same time. TWO CASES OF ACCIDENTAL ABORTION AND THEIR TREATMENT COMPARED.* BY M. A. WESNER, M. D., JOHNSTOWN, PA. Abortion is the premature expulsion of the embryo or immature ovum from the uterus at any time before the end of the sixth month of utero-gestation. These expulsions may take place at any period within the time herein mentioned, but they are by far of most frequent occurrence between the first and fourth month of pregnancy. Should they occur during the first month they are usually termed ovular; from the beginning of the second to the end of the third month, embryonic, and from the end of the third to the end of the sixth month, foetal. * Read before the Homeopathic Medical Society of Pennsylvania, September 21, 1909. I use the term accidental abortion in contra-distinction to that other form which is notoriously intentional and has for its object and aim the destruction of human lives for a money consideration, the end of which is atrocious murder in all its wickedness and cruelty. although the victim may be an unborn child. It is hard indeed to conjecture which of these two forms occurs most frequently but I am inclined to give precedence to the latter. Strange as it may appear, it is a fact nevertheless, that very few of our Medical Colleges give this subject, with treatment thereof. the proper attention which its vast importance requires. I remember of hearing only a single lecture during my college days on this topic and the preventive measures to be used as well as the management of the different cases and their complications. Why this unwarranted silence? Nearly all of these cases have complications, some few, others very, very many. For this reason I have chosen just two, the subjects of which are sisters. Case 1. August 11, 1908, I was hastily summoned to the home of Mrs. M., aged 31 years, a lady of dark hair, dark eyes, a dark com plexion and the mother of four children, and at the end of the third month of utero-gestation. Upon examination I found the woman. lying in a pool of blood, foetus had come away and placenta was almost entirely adherent. Whatever was going to be done needed prompt attention, for my patient was almost bloodless and there was no time to wait. After delivery of the foetus the placenta became a foreign body which caused the hemorrhage to continue and the idea was to get rid of it as soon as possible. This was done by means of the blunt curette. Placenta was taken away in shreds until all of it was removed and one dose of Sabina 10 administered, and in a short time hemmorhage ceased. Patient made a splendid recovery. This ends case No. 1, and how different from case No. 2. Case 2. This lady is a sister of Mrs. M. She is Mrs. S., aged 21 years, a primipara, dark hair, dark eyes and a dark complexion May 24, 1908, she was attended by myself in labor which occurred at the end of the fifth month of gestation. The result was a small shriveled foetus which to all appearance had been dead about two weeks. Placenta came a short time after, there was no untoward hemorrhage, the whole affair seemed favorable and I did not administer any medicine whatever. Every indication pointed towards a speedy and perfect recovery. Three days passed with my patient progressing favorably, serenely and anxiously awaiting the day when she would leave her bed. However, this condition was only the calm before the storm, the precurser of the terrible ordeal which she was destined to undergo before her final recovery. In the morning of the fourth day I was hastily called to her bedside with the information that she could not speak. Upon my arrival I found that her whole left side was completely paralyzed, tongue and all, and she was terribly agitated. Here we had numbness of the parts, tearing and drawing and aching with painful stiffness of same. On these symp toms and a few others I prescribed Rhus Tox. high. In the course of twelve hours her speech returned and in four days later she was able to flex that disabled leg on the thigh under the influence of this one remedy. Arm was about as before but fore-arm had improved. Lochial discharge was normal. This condition did not end our patient's trouble, however. June 2, nine days after abortion, I found pain and tenderness above and below Poupart's ligament of paralyzed side, and next day lower extremity was swollen to nearly doubly as large as before clear down to the ends of the toes. Owing to the loss of sensation as well as motion of left side patient did not suffer the extreme pain incident to such diseases. However, it could be distinctly seen that we had a case of Phlegmasia Dolens to deal with. There was pain from hip to foot, aggravated by touch and movement. copious perspiration without relief; pale swelling of the leg; constipation dry lips; intense thirst; pulse 120 and temperature 103. On these symptoms she was given Bryonia 30, frequently repeated until an improvement showed itself, which took place in less than twentyfour hours. After that she got an occasional dose of same remedy as the necessity of the case seemed to require. The patient steadily improved and on the eighth day the whole aspect of the left leg had changed, swelling, pain and all but paralysis having disappeared, and the supposition was that we had finished with all but the loss of power, although in this we were sadly deceived. June 16, just one week after the last vestige of inflammation had gone the same trouble made its appearance in the right leg with much greater severity. Swelling reached from groin down to the ends of the toes and the whole leg was double its normal size. Pain was simply intense and my patient was obliged to endure the most excruciating suffering at the end of her eventful experience. Temperature was 104, pulse 130. and she had the appearance of a very sick woman. In this I pursued nearly the same treatment as before. Bryonia 30 was given in the beginning every hour until I could notice a distinct improvement in regard to pain, which took place in less than forty-eight hours. After that it was less frequently repeated. In addition a hot lotion of Bryonia in water was applied and kept in place from the groin down to the ends of the toes. This was the only medicine she received. Pain and swelling grew constantly less and by July 2, all had disappeared and patient sat up. Paralysis was afterwards treated, the principal medicine being Rhus high, infrequently repeated, and today not a vestige of that trouble remains. Both of these cases had complications, but those of the latter far exceeded the former. It is seldom that you find a case of abortion without some complication or other and hence they do not often show themselves in the form af extremes either way. However, when we consider the treatment required for either and reflect upon the fact that recovery of one was prompt and immediate while the other lingered for many weeks, we certainly must admit that there was a vast difference between the two patients who are sisters. THE MILITARY OBLIGATIONS OF THE MEDICAL Jefferson R. Kean of Washington, D. C., says that if we desire to avoid insult we must be able to repel it. Hence it is the duty of the medical corps of the U. S. Army to be ready for war. Upon this readiness depends the possibility to care for large numbers of wounded in time of battle. The United States in all previous wars has sacrificed lives from lack of power to care for its wounded, and has lessened the efficiency of its army. This failure is due to a lack of understanding of what is necessary in order to be ready for war. The duties of the medical service are to preserve the health of the soldiers, to care for the sick and wounded, to collect and remove the wounded after battles, to return to the ranks recovered wounded, to furnish appropriation and supplies for care of sick and wounded, and to prepare records. To this end we must provide in time of peace the requisite number of medical officers and train them. The prevention of typhoid in armies depends on the prevention of the access of flies to feces. The strength of the medical corps should be one per cent. of the strength of the army; it is now one-third of one per cent. We also need young, capable physicians to take these places. The advantages of this position are considerable; a fair salary, maintenance, and other allowances, amounting to some thousands a year. To this are added opportunities for distinction and special study and work. There also is needed a careful training of the medical force of the militia.-Medical Record. 518 Editorial Department. NEWMAN T. B. NOBLES, M. D., Editor. MR. B. N. TANNER, Business Manager, Published at Cleveland Homeopathic College, Cleveland, O Price $1.00 per year. Entered as second-class matter at the Post-office at Cleveland, O., under the Act of Congress, March 3d. 1879. HYSTERO-ORGANIC DISEASE. This ailment, according to Babinski, is the outcome of a change. in the form which hysteria has presented. It is no longer characterized, in many instances, by the major attacks, which we know. There is a curious alignment with, or development from, true organic diseases such as arthritis or neuritis. Consequently the practitioner finds his diagnostic craft high and dry on a reef of negative determinations. Writing in the Journal des Practiciens, July 3, 1909, Babinski illustrates this difficulty as it appeared in the case of a young girl. for whose antecedent arthritis compression by plaster apparatus had been employed. She came for what looked like hydrarthrosis, but on examination the leg was found to be anesthetic, and had lost its function. It was at once seen that no hydrarthrosis existed. Either the trouble was a result of the compression, or it was hysteroid. Neuritis was excluded because the tendon reflexes were preserved, as well as the faradic response of the muscles. Rapid cure followed upon suggestion and forced (passive) movements. Electric treatment of ten minutes' duration was used from day to day. The coldness in the part and the swelling offered confusing evidence, but the treatment of the earlier arthritis by immobilization explained those symptoms. Babinski attributes the singular manifestations of the hysterical patient in many cases to more or less unconscious suggestion by the physician himself, although many times they originate in the patient's mind. In this case, it arose from the feeling of the patient that movement would cause distress. The immobilization contributed to the production of a local paretic state. Anesthesia resulted from the notion of the patient that, because movements were not felt, sensation was likewise impaired. Contractures would obviously be found. Asking whether hysteria may be blamed for vascular disturb |