A SIMPLE METHOD OF PREVENTING MAMMARY ABSCESS. One of the most painful and troublesome ailments of women during lactation is mammary abscess. Many remedies-belladonna, camphor, hot oil, friction, etc.-have been used with results none too flattering to the physician. Now and then some enterprising individual finds an infallible cure, but women still suffer from "broken breasts." Francis J. Shepherd, M. D., M. R. C. S., Eng., Canada Med. and Surg. Jour., July, 1879), highly recommends the application to the red, indurated and painful breast a large piece of ordinary sticking plaster. The plaster should be large enough to cover the breast. It should have a hole in the central part large enough to leave exposed the nipple and half of the areola. The edges should be deeply nicked about every inch, so that the plaster may fit closely. Several bad cases are given, showing the efficiency of this method of treatment. Bad cases are relieved or cured in a very few days-often one to three. When the breasts are pendulous they should be supported by bands of adhesive plaster extending from shoulder to shoulder. This is a modification of the old plan of applying straps of adhesive plaster to prevent mammary abscess a method which seems to have been very successful in the hands of certain physicians. Dr. Shepherd's method of applying the plaster is much easier than the old one, where a number of narrow strips are used. The results in either method should be similar. ENDOSCOPE-A new illuminating apparatus for viewing the cavities of the body accessible from the outside has been invented in Germany, and is attracting considerable attention. Dr. Nitsche, (Buffalo Med. and Surg. Jour., Sept., 1879, from Wiener Med. Woche), the inventor of the new instrument, supplies light at the point of the endoscope where it is especially needed, by means of platinum wire kept hot by galvanism. A constant stream of cold water is supplied to prevent the instrument from becoming uncomfortably warm. By means of this instrument the rectum, bladder, uterus, and other cavities, can be minutely inspect ed. In examining for calculi, the blind method by the sound is superceded by ocular demonstration, so that mistakes on diagnosis will be impossible. Dr. Nitsche has been engaged on a stomach illuminating apparatus for some time, and now believes success is about to crown his efforts. It will be especially interesting when we can view the process of digestion by means of an electric light placed in the stomach. ON CODEIA AS A SEDATIVE.-No symptom is more distressing to a patient than frequent coughing, and none demands more judicious treatment on the part of the practitioner, if he would avoid undoing In with his cough-mixtures all the good he is attempting by his more general therapeutic measures. phthisis the presence of anorexia makes us unwilling to give opium or morphia, and frequently, when we do so, we have reason to regret it. Many patients, especially gouty subjects, and those who suffer much from derangement of the liver, are intolerant of opium and morphia. On account of these difficulties I have been led to employ codeia in such cases, in the hope that it might be of service, and it has succeeded beyond my anticipations. In phthisis it allays cough without disturbing the digestive system; and, in the other class of cases I have found it tolerated when opium and morphia were not. As an instance of the latter, I may quote the case of a medical friend, a member of a gouty family, a fre quent sufferer from migraine and derangement of the liver, and well aware of his intolerance of preparations of opium. He complained of a 'troublesome cough, depending on slight catarrh of the trachea and bronchi, and, at my suggestion, tried codeia, with all the benefit and none of the ill-effects of opium. I prescribe the drug in doses of a grain, dissolved in syrup of tolu. The French medical papers constantly contain advertisements of codeia syrup, and probably it is well known as a cough tincture in this country; but I was not aware, and others may have been ignorant as I was, that it has those advantages over the preparations of opium and its other alkaloids. I therefore venture to call attention to it. Its value in diabetes is, of course, fully recognized.-Brit. Med. Journal. CONVERSION OF CALOMEL INTO CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE.-With reference to the question as to whether a mixture of calomel and sugar made up into powders gives rise to the formation of corrosive sublimate, the testimony seems to tend to the negative. G. Vulpius (Archiv de Pharmacie) has arrived at the following conclusions: 1. No corrosive sublimate forms in twenty-four hours in mixtures of calomel with white sugar, milk sugar, calcined magnesia, carbonate of magnesium, or bicarbonate of sodium. 2. No such formation takes place in three months in mixtures of calomel with calcined magnesia, carbonate of magnesium, and sugar. 3. Mere traces of corrosive sublimate are found at the end of three months in a mixture of calomel, bicarbonate of sodium, and milk sugar. 4. A considerable quantity of corrosive sublimate forms in the same time in a mixture of calomel, sodium bicarbonate, and cane sugar. 5. Corrosive sublimate forms in calomel powders containing calcined magnesia or sodium bicarbonate, if digested with water. 6. The formation of corrosive sublimate in mixtures of calomel and alkalies, digested in water for a short time, is not favored by the presence of hydrochloric acid, but, on the contrary, hindered to some extent, on account of the neutralization of the alkalies by the acid. PERMANGANATE OF POTASSA IN THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC OTORRHOEA.-Dr. Howe claims to have had excellent results in chronic otitis media purulenta from the use of permanganate of potassa. The solution varied in strength with the severity of the case, two grains to the ounce being used in the milder cases, increased to four, six, or even eight grains to the ounce in the more severe. After thorough syringing with tepid water, a few drops of the permanganate solution were poured into the ear, and allowed to remain five or ten minutes, if it produced no smarting or burning sensation. If decided inconvenience followed, however, it was washed out sooner. When the discharge was at all abund ant, this was repeated twice daily, and if very profuse, the ear was kept clean by more frequent washings with water alone. Of the 53 cases treated in this manner, 40 have entirely recovered in an average time of thirty-eight days; in six the discharge recurs at intervals; in 4 it is continual, but lessened as to quantity and the fetid character of the odor; in three it still persists. These results are rather better than follow the use of most of the remedies recommended in this disease. Dr. Howe thinks that in this disease permanganate of potassa can be relied upon to heal safely, quickly, and easily.-The Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal. UTERO-OVARIAN AMPUTATIONS. The New Orleans Med. aad Surg. Jour., September, gives from Independente of Turin, Prof. Berruti's table of the operations for utero-ovarian amputations since 1876. There were 29 cases, with 13 recoveries and 16 deaths. These were all in continental Europe, and consequently cannot be a complete list. Several of these patients were operated on while in articulo mortis, as it were, and others for serious ailments. Under these circumstances the mortality, nearly 45 per cent., is not so very excessive. It has been suggested that this operation be performed to prevent conception, and thus avoid the inconveniences of maternity. The results shown by Prof. Berruti's table would indicate that the operation, if performed on the healthy female, is not much more serious than that performed by the abortionist. It has one advantage, however, for when once performed repetition will not be required, as in induced abortion. NARCOTISM FROM NUTMEG.-Dr. Barry (St. Louis Clin. Record) gives the following case: Mrs. N.. aged 38, mother of four children, was confined on June 29, at nine o'clock. The child was a girl, and the largest I have ever seen; weight, fourteen and one-half pounds. Labor natural and easy. light spasm after the last pain. The spasm was hysterical. On the 30th the "old women persuaded her to take nutmeg tea. One and a half Had a Prepare infusion of maiden hair (Adiantum Capillus Veneris L.) and the decoction of marshmallow (althea officinalis), each from one drachm of the substance. Mix; then dissolve the mixture in the salts and add the catechu; then filter and add the spirit. The mixture is diluted, for use, with hot water, so as to produce a slightly warm liquid, which is to be snuffed up into the nostrils as far back as possible; two or three applications are sufficient. Afterwards it is important to waite as long a time as possible before blowing the nose. In the beginning of coryza this is quite effective; its effects are fully realized in from six to twelve hours.--La Ruche Pharm. -New Remedies. the machinations of the great enemy of man's good. We hail, therefore, as a harbinger of better things in store for the miserable victims of an unsatiable thirst for of the classes into which medical men and alienists insist that those who drink should be divided. In numerous instances the drinker is scarcely, if at all, more responsible than if he were afflicted with any of the species of mania which by universal consent would absolve him from all responsibility, moral and legal. Of course the great bulk of the drinking habitually indulged in, in conformity to the pernicious custom which prevails, is without the shadow of an excuse, but that it may eventually lead to a condition of the system constituting a disease, neurosis or veritable dipsomania, under which the individual is irresponsible for his acts, and a condition which, in obedience to the great and inscrutable law of hereditation, is liable to be entailed on the offspring, is as fixed as any of the other facts of science. When our reformers, with all their commendable zeal and disinterested love of their kind, are brought to recognize this fact, we will witness the inauguration of a much more intelligent and a much more just and humane and, therefore, more effective plan of combating the great evil. With a proper appreciation of the physical causes of intemperance, institutions for the treatment of drunkards would be as common throughout the land as the asylums for the insane. is The question of inebriety is one which is fraught with vital interest to humanity, whose strong drink the dawning of the recognition attention it has engaged, according to the records, ever since the days of Noah, at least when that good man, like Cassio and many another good man since, put the enemy into his mouth which stole away his brains. We are all tolerably familiar, both through actual observation and the phillipics of the temperance rostrum, with the evils which alcohol directly causes and entails on the race. These evils are certainly of sufficient magnitude to stimulate to the utmost the means devised for their removal or amelioration, and the zeal which in these latter days has characterized the total abstinence advocate, although at times misdirected, is nevertheless a redeeming feature of the civilization which has given rise to the evils against which he inveighs. Reformers, however, are apt to become zealots, and thus in a measure defeat the end for which they labor. It is an infirmity of human nature that men are prone to a one-sided development, and it is only a superior mind that, resisting the tendency to bias, becomes fully rounded in all its parts. It follows, therefore, quite in the nature of things that there is much of intolerance mixed up with the enthusiasm of the reformer. In the temperance crusade those who do battle hoist the black flag, show no quarter, admit of no excuse, palliate no dereliction, and show little charity. The heart rather than the head guides their conduct, and in a very proper sense of the phrase, ignorance is the mother of much of their devotion. Being, as a rule, unversed in the underlying conditions which lead to alcoholic excesses, they make no effort at classification, but group all who drink under one head, and ascribe their motive either to the innate perversity of human nature or An authority on the question, in referring to the temperance reform movements in which he had been a participant for the past forty years, declares that "any movement to check drunkenness which does not include entire physiological rest to each case is devoid of all elements of success. I am so confirmed in this view that I do not hesitate to say that I know of no individual *Dr. Day. case of inebriety that has been cured in any other way than from the basis indicated. The direct path to inebriety is a pathological one, and when this point is reached the whole condition is one of disease." Another,* in discussing the etiology, remarks: "Hereditary taint is no doubt the most import ant element. There are, however, two important kinds of hereditary taint: "1. That dipsomania is a neurosis and only a variety of insanity, other members of the same family either being insane, epileptic, eccentric, or hysterical; or some of the parents or grandparents being afflicted with one or other of the above neurotic affections. "2. That dipsomania as a neurosis only arises from an acquired habit of the parent. That is to say, a man drinks hard either because he is fond of luxurious living or from mere habit of his associates, and the result of this drinking is that his children have a strong tendency to become dipsomaniacs. "So as not to produce misconception, we state here that drunkards and drunkenness is an entirely different thing from dipsomania. "After hereditary causes, almost the only one is its acquirement by habits of life. Injuries to the head occasionally produce periodic dipsomania. It is extremely difficult to say often which is the real cause, as they react so much on one another. But one thing is evident-dipsomania is rare among the lower classes: it is a disease almost entirely found among the upper classes. "We do not mean to infer that the lower classes do not drink of that there is no doubt. But the lower classes are merely drunkards when they drink, or else they acquire those numerous organic affections consequent upon beer and gin drinking, such as granular liver and kidney, diseases of the arteries, etc. "Those who most often become dipsomaniacs are those who either are rich themselves or are thrown among those who have money and live extravagantly. "The army and club life are most dangerous schools for any one with a hereditary disposition to dipsomania. For liquor is the main stay of idle men, and in peace time there is not the slightest doubt about officers having an idle life, The numbers of idlers always present at clubs speaks for itself." *J. Kingston Barton, F. R. C. S., London. Professional Etiquette. Whileit is, doubtless, well to have some such formulated expressions of the princi ples which should regulate the conduct of physicians in their dealings, one with another, as is contained in the code of ethics, when the letter of that code is regarded as above its spirit, trouble and misunderstanding are sure to follow. A man may be the meanest of his kind and still be a law-abiding citi zen; he may vary not one jot nor one tittle from the path laid out for him to tread, and yet be worse and less trustworthy than he who at times flagrantly transgresses. This is not a paradox. The experiences of a "Successful Practitioner," as given in recent numbers of the Medical Record, demonstrate conclusively that a man may smile and smile, and be a villain still. "Success ful Practitioner" has his prototype among the acquaintances of all of our readers. The recent graduate runs across him very soon after hanging out his shingle, and for a long time congratulates himself on being so for tunate as to secure such a man for a friend. Sooner or later, however, generally sooner he discovers the snake in the grass, but the tail of the serpent on his reputation in the community is not so soon effaced. It be comes the young practitioner to look suspic iously on the old practitioner with the oily tongue and the smiling, smirking visage, who shakes his hand early and often, who professes so much interest in his prospects, and who promises that he will be of so much service to him. If he is ordinarily sharp he will soon become aware of the fact that he is regarded in the community as a "very promising young man, well read, and with a mind stored with book knowledge, but lacking that experience which, you know, is absolutely essential to the proper care of the sick." It is as impossible to make a gentleman by rule as it is to make a Christian by legis lation. Unless nature has made "Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you," a fibre in a man's moral make-up, the code will only be a very superficial veneering to him. It will require no "detecting spear of Ithuriel" to reveal his true character; the very small affairs of every-day life will show him up. An Instructive Case. The Canada Lancet for October contains a notice of a case which affords an additional illustration of the peculiar dangers to which practitioners are liable, and to which we took occasion to refer some time ago. Emily H. Stowe, M. D., of Toronto, was consulted by a woman who desired to procure an abortion. She at first refused to consent to the proposition; but, as the woman threatened to commit suicide unless she were relieved, Dr. Stowe yielded so far as to write her a prescription copied from Ellis' Formulary, containing one ounce of the tincture of hellebore, one ounce tincture of myrrh and two drachms of tincture of cantharides, with directions to take thirty drops of the mixture three times a day. This prescription was taken to a druggist, who put it up. This was in the month of May. In August, the girl died suddenly of congestion of the lungs, and, an inquest being held, the above facts were brought out. Dr. Stowe was accordingly arrested on the charge of "having administered poisons, viz., hellebore and cantharides, and also a noxious thing, to wit, myrrh, to one Sarah Ann Lovell, with the intention of procuring a miscarriage of the said Lovell." It does not appear that an abortion was procured by the administration of the medicine, but the attempt, though unsuccessful, is, of course, a misdemeanor. The prosecution, however, failed to prove any criminal intent, and was only able to show that the medicines were injurious only when given in larger doses than those given by Dr. Stowe. There are probably few practitioners who have not at some time rendered themselves liable to prosecution on a charge similar to the above. It is, we believe, by no means an unusual thing for physicians to prescribe some harmless mixture, especially to married women who come soliciting an abortion. The deception is, we believe, justifiable, as under the belief that the medicine will produce the desired result the woman is frequently kept away from the professional abortionist. The Stowe case, however, shows the trouble into which the physician is liable to get himself by his laudable effort to prevent a crime. The ruling of the judge in the Stowe case in regard to the giving of a prescription is worthy of notice. The counsel for the defense contended that the giving of a prescription containing poisons to a person who applied for it, and afterwards purchased the medicine of a druggist (though it might be an offence in one way) was not an offense under the indictment. The judge briefly reviewed the case, holding that there could be no offense in writing a prescription and handing it to a person, and there was no evidence to show that Dr. Stowe had told the girl to procure the medicine, or to take it, and the jury must not forget that the doctor had sworn that what she had prescribed for He therefore directthe girl was harmless. ed that a verdict of "not guilty" should be rendered, which was at once done. We would request the attention of such non-subscribers as may receive a specimen copy of this issue of the NEWS to the enclosed prospectus. With the coming year four more pages will be added to the reading matter, and certain other changes in the arrangement of the pages of the advertising department, etc., will be made, which will add to the attractiveness of the journal. Started less than two years ago after the nature of an experiment, as such enterprises necessarily must be, the NEWS is growing to such dimensions as to demand of us more time than we have heretofore been able to spare from practice. We have, therefore, made arrangements through which we shall in the coming year be able to give it the attention it demands. The subscription price will remain the same, and we would call especial attention to the fact that sixteen pages in each number, thirty-two per month, or a volume of 384 pages will be furnished for the unprecedentedly low sum of one dollar. Nothing but the large and rapidly increasing patronage which the NEWS is receiving would justify any publisher in offering so much matter for so little money. 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