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THE QUESTION OF ASPIRIN Three floating bits we pick from the currents swiftly rushing by. The Bayer aniline works announce having instituted legal proceedings for preventing an American concern using the trademarked name "Aspirin" in marketing or selling any acetylsalicylic acid not manufactured and sold under this name by the German house. Simultaneously Lehn & Fink, of New York, announce to the drug trade that they are ready to defend any suit begun, by the latter firm, against any person that may buy or sell aspirin marketed by Lehn & Fink. At the time, a news-note informs us that the Imperial German government has forbidden German citizens to pay any debt they may owe citizens of the United States.

Certainly, an autocracy has a prompt and effective way of dealing with matters, a way that contrasts unpleasantly with the divided counsels and dilatory methods of a democracy. We do not deal with innuendo or make charges without the testimony to back them-but, why, oh why, has Congress allowed the German dye and chemical houses to hold up the United States, extinguish our dye manufacture and extort fortunes from the sick in the way they have been doing for so many years, and then even now, when we are at war with them, permit their continued exploitations? Has Germany granted our people reciprocal privileges, in the way of patents and copyrights and trademarks?

A citizen of the Commonwealth of Great Britain complained to Cromwell that the French on some pretext had seized his vessel. The Lord Protector at once ordered his officers to seize the first French ship that came within reach and hand it over to the aggrieved man, to be held until the French government made good the loss. There was mighty little red tape unrolled in settling that case.

This journal is not jingo. We do not strut about with a chip on our shoulder. We make no yawps about licking all creation. But, we should like to see a little more of a disposition to insist upon respect for the rights of American citizens and upon a little more business acumen in our tariff and patent and trademark laws, so as not to discriminate unduly against our own selves.

As to this aspirin matter, there seems to be a loophole for controversy. The patent on aspirin has expired; but how about the trademarked name? The two are not necessarily of like import, and we may have the legal right to make and sell aspirin as acetylsalicylic acid, not, though, to use the name aspirin. This is a question for the lawyers. We may be able to give some good reason for prescribing aspirin instead of some other salicyl preparation (can you?), but, we blanch when asked for a legal opinion. As for ourselves, we suspect that the only reason

Our

"And for your country, boy, and for that Flag, never dream a dream but of serving her as she bids you, even though the

Country service carry you through a thousand

hells. No matter what happens to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look at another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that Flag. Remember, boy, that behind officers and government, and pepole even, there is the Country Herself: Your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother."-Edward Everett Hale.

for our using aspirin is that it is marketed in convenient tablets and is pushed by its advertisers. Am. Jour. Clin. Med.

Renew your subscription to the Medical Herald and our new year will be a glad one.

Unit of Women Doctors for France-The Woman's Hospital of New York has organized and equipped a unit of ten women doctors for service in a base hospital in France. The unit will leave for France in the near future.

Insane Women Doing War Work-About 100 patients in the State Hospital for the Insane at Middletown, Conn., whom heretofore it has been difficult to keep employed, are said to be contentedly engaged in knitting and making bandages.

Dinner-Meeting-The next meeting of the Buchanan County Medical Society will be held. at the St. Francis hotel, Wednesday evening, January 16. Dr. G. Wilse Robinson, of Kansas City, will read a paper on Cerebral Localization. Dinner will be served at 7 o'clock. The profession cordially invited.

New Officers-At the annual meeting of the Buchanan County Medical Society, the following officers were elected: President, Daniel Morton; vice-presidents, L. J. Dandurant, G. R. Stevenson; secretary, W. F. Goetze; treasurer, J. M. Bell; censor, J. I. Byrne; delegate, J. F. Owens; alternate, F. H. Spencer.

"The Song of '18"

The song of '18 is a marching song,
Of throbbing drums, of tramping feet,
Of bugles which never shall sound retreat,
Of hope, of faith, of purpose strong,
Of high resolve and the will to win
The glorious struggle we all are in—
Forward, forward with heart and soul!
Onward, onward to gain the goal!

Some must fight in the fields of war,
Some must toil in the fields of peace,
Shop and mill must their stores increase
But all must follow one guiding star.
And whether it's here or in bleeding France,
Hurrah! Hurrah for the thrilling chance!
Catch the spirit and swing along-
The song of '18 is a marching song!

-Lee Shippey in K. C. Star.

Sixty students of the St. Joseph Veterinary College have been accepted for service in the army, and will be assigned to the veterinary reserve corps.

"Over the Top"-Again demonstrating the loyalty of their citizens, both St. Joseph and Kansas City exceeded their quota in the recent Red Cross drive.

Military Medicine-The fundamental object of the Army Medical Service, in war is to provide healthy men for the fighting line, to keep these men in good physical condition, and if sick or wounded, to make them fit and ready for fighting as soon as possible-Col. T. H. Goodwin.

National Board Examination-The third examination of the National Board of Medical Examiners was held in Chicago, October 10-18. Of the twenty-eight candidates examined, twentytwo passed. The next examination will take place at Bellevue Hospital, New York City, January 9-17, 1918. This board evidently believes that only supermen should be licensed to practice. medicine.

Paris Phthisis Sanitarium Opened The Edward L. Trudeau tuberculosis sanitarium, named in honor of the famous American specialist of French descent, was opened in Paris, France, Dec. 25. The first patients were refugee women and children. There are only eight beds now, but it is hoped to increase the number to 1,200 within the next year. Dr. James I. Gamble of Baltimore and American Red Cross nurses comprise the staff.

Soldier Need Not Undergo Operation-A soldier cannot be compelled to undergo a surgical operation unless the military surgeon in charge furnishes him with a certificate showing that his life will not be put in jeopardy, the judge advocate general has ruled. Recently a soldier refused to be operated upon for removal of a disability, and was sentenced by a court martial to three months' imprisonment for disobedience of orders. The sentence is disapproved.

Elks to Build a Reconstruction HospitalAmerica's first reconstruction hospital will be built in Boston by the Order of Elks. The Elks' War Relief Commission, at a meeting in Washington on November 8th, announced that the government had agreed to accept the hospital. The institution will cost $250,000 and will be erected on Parker Hill. It will consist of a complete unit of twin ward hospital buildings, vocational workshops, barracks, mess hall, and post exchange, and is to be a stndard for similar hospitals. Part of the $1,000,000 relief fund contributed by the 500,000 Elks of the country will be used.

THE SLACKER

Oh, doctor, doctor, I'm a wreck; it's plain I cannot fight,

I think I'm much too heavy, or perhaps I'm much too light.

I never was pugnacious, Doc, and peace at any price

Has always been my slogan-and I'm really very nice.

Besides, I'm very delicate; since I began to cry, They've raised me up on lollypops, ice cream and apple pie.

My feet are flat as elephants', I'm blind as any bat,

And all the brains I ever had are smothered in my hat.

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500 Graduate Nurses Wanted at Once for Army Camps-The Surgeon General of the Army authorizes the following: Five hundred graduate nurses are needed immediately for work with the Army Nurse Corps. The work is particularly difficult and exacting and the opportunity for patriotic service correspondingly great. A thousand-bed base hospital has been established with each National Guard and National Army cantonment. Each will require at least 65 graduate nurses in its personnel. Those whose services are immediately available are desired. The pay is $50 per month and maintenance. Applications should be made directly to the superintendent, Army Nurse Corps, Mills Building. Washington, D. C. Blanks and circulars of information will be sent to those applying to this

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The Doctors' Library

"Next to acquiring good friends, the best acquisition is that of good books."-C. C. Colton.

Diseases of the Skin.-By Richard. L. Sutton, M. D., Professor of Diseases of the Skin, University of Kansas, School of Medicine. With 833 illustrations and 8 colored plates. Second edition, revised and enlarged. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby Company, 1917. (Price, $6.50).

We congratulate the doctor upon the fact that a second edition is necessary within a year. That the book has been enlarged by one hundred pages, corrected and revised and takes its place among one of the best upon the subject. There are numerous illustrations which ably demonstrate the various lesions of the skin. As new matter we find gangrenous balanitis and atrophy of the mucous membrane of the tongue. The present edition will greatly increase the popularity of Sutton. The publishers have produced a first class book in every respect.

The Medical Clinics of Chicago-Volume II, Number VI (May, 1917). Octavo of 252 pages, 46 illutrations. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Company, 1917. Published Bi-Monthly. (Price per year: Paper, $8.00; cloth, $12.00.)

A welcome visitor to the editor's desk. This publication is rapidly coming to its own as the most popular of monthly magazines in medicine. The May issue contains several articles upon cancer of the alimentary canal. These are of special value when it is realized that cancer is in creasing in frequency, and that it claims as many victims as does tuberculosis. At the present rate of increase it will soon head the list of death causes. Dr. Frederick Tice presents a valuable chapter upon Luetic Infection of the Lungs, an interesting and rare condition. Dr. C. A. Elliot presents an illuminative article on Clinical Interpretation of Jaundice. The number includes cases of entero-colitis, pernicious anemia, hematemisis, gonorrheal arthritis, erphysema and nephritis following tonsilitis. With this issue the Chicago Medical Clinic ceases as a separate publication, being merged into the Medical Clinics of North America. This publication will appear six times a year, with 300 pages devoted to some one medical center. The July number will be The July number will be devoted to Johns Hopkins Hospital. The new publication will be attractive and valuable and will live as an offspring of the old Chicago Medical Clinic. May its memory be kept green. J. M. B.

NOTE-The Medical Herald's Kansas City office will supply any book reviewed in this department at publisher's price, prepaid. If an order for two books be sent at any one time, the purchaser will be entitled to a six months' subscription to the Herald. This plan is arranged for the convenience of our readers, and we trust it will stimulate trade in the direction of good books.-Editor.

The Prescription-Therapeutically, Pharmaceutically, Grammatically and Historically Considered. By Otto A. Wall, Ph. G., M. D., Professor of Materia Medica, Pharmacognosy and Botany in the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Fourth and revised edition. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby Co., 1917. (Price $2.50.)

This book thoroughly covers all that should be known about a prescription and the present edition of Wall is divided into five parts and an appendix. There is a general consideration of weights and measures, language, extemporaneous prescriptions, history of the prescription, and the author thoroughly elucidates each part or parts of the prescription. It should be consulted often by each physician.

The Treatment of War Wounds-By W. W. Keen, M. D., LL. D., Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. 12mo. of 169 pages, illustrated. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Company, 1917. (Cloth, $1.75 net.)

This little book is a report from the large experience of several able surgeons actually in the conflict, on the treatment of war wounds. There is an important contribution on the new antiseptic Dichloramin-T, and the simplified technic of Dakin. There are chapters on "Respects in which present war differs from previous wars, the Dakin-Carrel method, removal of foreign bodies, tetanus, gas infection and gas gangrene, wounds of the head, chest, joints, abdominal wounds and burns. Personal letters from Blake, Bornlby, Cabot, Crile, Cushing, Gibson, Lyle, Moynihan, Murphy.. An appendix on the use of glue adhesive for the application of extension fractures, acriflavine, proflavine and brilliant green. It is up to date information.

The Man in the Street and Religion-By Burris Jenkins. Published by Fleming H. Revell Co., London, New York, Chicago. ($1.25.)

In his recent book, "The Man in the Street and Religion," Burris Jenkins, the popular Kansas City theologian, convinces us of what we have often suspected, namely, that the man in the street, every man, is naturally religious. By numerous well chosen examples he shows that many an "old shoe" staunchly as he may deny all religious tendencies, in reality has some code of living that is religious. "I do as I would be done by." Every man in moments of distress and relief calls to the higher power. In grief he says. "God help me;" in relief, "Thank God."

Dr. Jenkins goes further to show how He answers the needs of the common man, and explains almost as if to a child the way he may develop and understand his religion. For instance, he elucidates a number of often repeated but little understood phrases such as "Justification by faith," "Kingdom of Heaven," "Christ's death on the cross."

From his rich experience Dr. Jenkins sets forth the following as the religion in a nutshell, of the man in the street:

The man in the street does not believe in the resurrection of the body but he does believe in personal immortality. He does not believe in a literal hell but in swift and sure reformatory punishment for sin. Neither does he accept the idea of an eternity of punishment for any mortal, but the ultimate prevalence and triumph of righteousness. This, in a nutshell, is the current popular belief. Whatever opinion the gentle reader may hold in regard to the religious truths herein set forth, he is bound to admit that the book as a whole is sincere and at times forceful and that the point is well taken. There are a few sermons successful in cold print. These are among the few. HARRIET B. BELL (Univ. Mo.)

A Handbook of Gynecology-By H. F. Lewis and A. de Roulet of Chicago. With one hundred and seventy-seven illustrations. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby Co. (Price, $4.00.)

The authors have produced, based on their experience as teachers of obstetrics and gynecology, a concise volume which presents an up-todate consideration of the diseases of women. Long descriptions of major operations and their technic are omitted. The preface states correctly that no one can learn technic by reading descriptions and studying illustrations, and the hospital -not the lecture hall-is the place to learn surgery. This book fulfills the primary requisite that it has a good foundation of pathology, anatomy and physiology and that it contains the most practical illustrations on the subjects of which it treats of any volume with which we are acquainted. The classification follows the clinical and not the usual anatomic course. It treats of all important subjects in gynecology in a concise manner and representative of the best teaching.

History of Medicine-Suggestions for study and Bibliographic Data, by Fielding H. Garrison, A. B., M. D., Principal Assistant Librarian, Surgeon General's Office, Washington, D. C., Second Edition revised and enlarged. Octavo of 905 pages with many portraits. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Company, 1917. (Cloth, $6.50 net; half morocco, $8.00 net.)

Among the average American physicians the study of the history of medicine has been neglected. Dr. Garrison has produced a book on the subject which is easily read, and which will acquaint the reader with the ideas of medicine and the biography of the shining lights. The intention of the author is to stimulate the physician and student to do his own thinking and research by interesting him in the subject at the start. The author regards his work but a primer or

guide-book to a territory of vast dimensions, but this reviewer will testify to the great benefit he has received in the reading of the book. This volume is exactly what the busy physician needs, as he has not the time to devote in extensive study of much which would prove to him interesting. The volume is interesting and the knowledge and viewpoint it gives should be known by all.

WHY NOT MARRY?

Why Not Marry, compiled by Anna Steese Richardson, bound in cloth, illustrated by Agnes Lee. Price $1.40 net. Published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis.

The problems discussed in this little volume arose probably the moment the garden gates of Eden were swung open, and they have come as new problems to every succeeding generation since. How to be Happy Though Married, flourished more years ago than we like to recall and became a catch phrase of the day. This new volume without a trace of cynicism treats the married relationship, and indeed the relationship existing between all house-mates, with kindliness, impartiality, sincerity, humor and understanding that is rare. Unlike most attempts of its kind, Why Not Marry, is wholly lacking in sentimentality. There is none of the meet-me-with-a smile-and-a-kiss business in it, and there is an unusual appreciation of the fact that home is a place where tired men and women go for rest and peace and appreciation. Those who long to follow the natural instinct and marry are often deterred by those who have done so and lived to regret it. This book is evidently intended to counteract the influence of the divorce court and to show the young men and women of this complex social era that they have nothing to fear if they set about the great adventure in the right way. The rocks on which happiness splits, the economic rights and duties of husbands and wives, the mistakes of courtship are subjects to the fore, though there are many interesting digressions, such as pleasure madness, housecleaning and the masculine dislike for evening dress. The reason why so many nice girls say "no" is discussed, and the blame largely placed on masculine selfishness, though the man's point of view is very generally maintained through the book. The wage-earner versus the homemaker fills one chapter, and the author points out that the parasitic woman has gone out of style, and that the demand for efficiency in the housekeeper is one of the penalties of equality.

It would be an easy matter to write a column about this stimulating and entertaining volume, but probably it's enough to say that it is fresh and interesting, never didactic or dry, that many illustrations from real life, little incidents that have come under the author's eye, an occasional letter that proves the peg on which to hang her discussion and scraps of talk diversify the pages. Good feeling, sound judgment, worldly experience and vivacity unite with the knack of the trained writer to make Why Not Marry a book of real charm and value.

Golden Dream for Every Day

Every day is another blessing,
Every hour is another chance

To win the goal where the world goes pressing,
And taste a bit of its sweet romance.

ם

WHEN A TONIC IS NEEDED

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the practitioner has at his command a restorative and reconstructive
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efficiency, the use of "Grays" is a guarantee that the best possible
results will be obtained in each and every case.

For over a quarter of a century "Grays" has been one of the most widely-
and successfully-used remedies in atonic and debilitated conditions.

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