The condition of the country, also, at the present time, is favorable to its spread. Russia is in a truly deplorable condition. She suffers greatly for one thing: from lack of properly educated physicians. Her late war has deprived her of a third of her medical men, who were either killed in battle or died of disease. The places of these have perforce been supplied by students from the hospitals and colleges. In her extremity she has called on England for aid-old England, her diplomatic foe, but still the nation on which suffering humanity, irrespective of race, never calls in vain.

Countries immediately west of Russia are fully alive to the danger which threatens, and stringent sanitary precautions are being taken. In Moscow, also, rigorous measures are being adopted, such as the closing of basement dwellings; the erection of proper accommodation for the troglodytes; the provision of ample furnaces for the burning of infected clothing, and, more important, perhaps, than all, the gratuitous distribution of wholesome cooked food. The German government have, on the recommendation of its sanitarians, determined, should the disease show a disposition to leave Russia, to establish a military cordon of 80,000 men on her frontier. The orders for the mobilization of this force are already promulgated.

In view of the state of affairs depicted, it would not be amiss for the authorities, even in America, to pay a little closer attention than usual to sanitary matters. There is, moreover, a strong suspicion that the germs of yellow fever have not been destroyed by this winter's frost. If the fearful experience of last summer, and the great calamity in Russia have any lesson for us, it certainly is that we take time by the forelock, and take such precautions as are afforded by an efficient sani

tary system against the evils which are by

no means improbable.

Proposed Conference on the Question of Med. ical Education.

We are in receipt, from Dr. Leartus Connor, of this city, Secretary of the "American Medical College Association," of a copy of a call issued by that body to the regular medical colleges of this country for a convention, at which the important, though somewhat worn, question of medical education is to be the topic for consideration. This call is in pursuance of a resolution adopted at the meeting of the association in Buffalo, last

June. The place designated is Atlanta, Ga., and time 10 A. M., Friday, May 2d, 1879. Each college is requested to send two delegates, with full power to act-one of these delegates to be chosen from the Board of Trustees (or Regents), and the other from the Faculty.

"In general terms, the object of the convention is to adopt some "uniform system of instruction more in harmony with the requirements of the age." Among the questions appropriate for discussion and decision may be mentioned, "Shall all the colleges require attendance upon three regular courses of mitting students to become candidates for lectures during three separate years ere adthe degree of M. D.?"

Is any uniform system possible in this or other things? If so, to what extent is it possible, or even desirable, at the present time? Each doctor in the land doubtless has in mind an ideal medical college system. But this convention cannot act upon idealities; it can only act upon that which is practicable to all honest efficient medical schools.

It is hoped that the medical press and teaching fraternity will freely and exhaustively discuss the subject matter of this convention. The doing of this at once will enable it to enter upon its labors with a very complete knowledge of the facts in the case.

To avoid misconception, let it be distinctly noticed that, although this convention is called by the " American Medical College Association," it is entirely distinct from that body. When assembled, the convention will elect its own officers and adopt its own methods for transacting its business in pursuance with the object of the call."

As far as the NEWS is concerned, we have

only space at this time to show its hand, to

declare that it is unequivocally in favor of the "object" of the convention, and that it answers in the affirmative the questions above proposed. The reasons for "the faith that is in us " will be given hereafter.

FOR a list of receipts for month ending February 24, see advertising page 20. This list, though good, is not as large as it should be, and we trust that those who receive a reminder of their indebtedness inclosed in this issue of the NEWS will gladden our heart and strenghten our hands with their dollars.

PROPOSED MEDICAL ACT.

We give below the substitute reported by the committee of the Legislature on public health for the bill introduced by Senator Robbins, January 10, 1879. There is yet time for action in the matter, and we submit the following as a basis from which the profession may be enabled to offer suggestions to the representatives from their districts. We would call especial attention to the italicised proviso at the close of the bill. Let there be a free expression of opinion on this point. The bill as a whole is, one which we approve.

A BILL to protect the People of the State of Michigan from Empiricisn and Quackery.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

SEC. 1. That every person practicing medicine in any of its departments, and midwifery, shall possess the qualifications required by this act. If a graduate in medicine, he or she shall present his or her diploma to the board of examiners herein named for verification as to its genuineness. If the diploma after due examination is found genuine, and if the person named therein be the person claiming and presenting the same, the board of examiners shall issue its certificate to that effect, signed by all of the members thereof, and such diploma and certificate shall be conclusive as to the right of the lawful holder of the same to practise in this State. If not a graduate, the person practicing medicine in this State shall present himself before said board and submit himself to such examinations as the board shall require; and if the examination be satisfactory to the examiners, the said board shall issue its certificate in accordance with the facts, and the lawful holder of such certificate shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges herein mentioned.

SEC. 2. Each State medical society incorporated and in active existence on the first day of May, 1879, whose members are required to possess diplomas or license from some legally chartered medical institution in good standing, shall appoint annually a board of examiners, consisting of five members, who shall hold their offices for one year, and until their successors shall be chosen. The examiners so appointed shall go before a circuit judge or circuit court commissioner, and make oath that they are regular graduates or licentiates, and they will faithfully perform the duties of their office. Vacancies occurring in a board of examiners shall be filled by the society appointing it by the selection of alternates or otherwise.

SEC. 3. The board of examiners shall organize within three months after the passage of this act, they shall procure a seal, and shall receive through their secretary applications for certificates and examinations; the president of each board shall have authority to administer oaths, and the board take testimony in all matters relating to their duties; they shall issue certificates to all who furnish satisfactory proof of having received diplomas or licenses from legally chartered medical institutions in good standing; they shall prepare three forms of certificates, one for persons in possession of diplomas or licenses, one for candidates examined by the

board, and one for certificates of practice; they shall furnish to the county clerks of the several counties a list of all persons receiving certificates. In selecting places to hold their meetings, they shall as far as is reasonable accommodate applicants residing in different sections of the State, and due notice shall be published of all their meetings. Certificates shall be signed by all the members of the board granting them, and shall indicate the medical society to which the examining board is attached.

SEC. 4. The said board of examiners shall examine diplomas as to their genuineness, and if the diploma shall be found genuine, as represented, the secretary of the board of examiners shall receive a fee of two dollars from each graduate or licentiate for the first year, and after that five dollars, and no further charge shall be made to the applicants, but if it be found to be fraudulent or not lawfully owned by the possessor, the board shall be entitled to charge and collect twenty dollars of the applicant presenting such diploma. The verification of the diploma shall consist in the affidavit of the holder and applicant that he or she is the lawful possessor of the same, and that he or she is the person therein named. Such affidavit may be taken before any person authorized to administer oaths, and the same shall be attested under the hand and official seal of such officer if he have a seal. Graduates may present their diplomas and affidavits as provided in this act, by letter or by proxy, and the board of examiners shall issue its certificate the same as though the owner of the diploma was present.

SEC. 5. All examinations of persons not graduates or licentiates shall be made directly by the board, and the certificates given by the boards shall authorize the possessor to practice medicine and surgery in the State of Michigan.

SEC. 6. Every person holding a certificate from a board of examiners shall have it recorded in the office of the clerk of the county in which he resides, and the record shall be endorsed thereon. Any person removing to another county to practice shall procure an endorsement to that effect on the certificate from the county clerk, and shall record the certificate in like manner in the county to which he or she removes, and the holder of the certificate shall pay to the county clerk the usual fees for making the record.

SEC. 7. The county clerk shall keep in a book provided for the purpose a complete list of the certificates recorded by him, with the date of the issue and the name of the medical society represented by the board of examiners issuing them. If the certificate be based on a diploma or license he shall record the name of the medical institution conferring it and the date when conferred. The register of the county clerk shall be open to public inspection during business hours.

SEC. 8. Candidates for examination shall pay a fee of ten dollars in advance, of which five dollars shall be returned to them if a certificate be refused. The fees received by the board shall be paid into the treasury of the medical society by which the board shall have been appointed, and the expenses and compensation of the board shall be subject to arrangement with the society.

SEC. 9. Examinations may be in whole or in part in writing, and shall be of an elementary and practical character, but sufficiently strict to test the qualifications of the candidate as a practitioner.

SEC. 10. The board of examiners may refuse certificates to individuals guilty of unprofessional or dishonorable conduct, and they may revoke certificates for like causes. In all cases of refusal or

revocation the applicant may appeal to the body appointing the board.

SEC. 11. Any person shall be regarded as practicing medicine within the meaning of this act who shall profess publicly to be a physician and to prescribe for the sick, or who shall append to his or her name the letters M. D.," or call himself or herself a doctor, or who shall profess to cure or treat any one. But nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit students from prescribing under the super vision of preceptors, or to prohibit gratuitous services in cases of emergency. And this act shall not apply to commissioned surgeons of the United States army and navy or marine hospital service.

SEC. 12. Any itinerant vender of any drug, nostrum. ointment, or appliance of any kind, intended for the treatment of disease or injury, or who shall, by writing or printing, or any other method, publicly profess to cure or treat diseases, injury or deformity, by any drug, nostrum, manipulation or other expe dient, shall pay a license of one hundred dollars a month, to be collected in the usual way.

SEC. 13. Any person practicing medicine or surgery in this State, any itinerent practitioners, peddlers or persons attempting to treat or cure, without complying with the provisions of this act, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than thirty days, nor more than three hundred and sixty-five days, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each and every offense; and any person filing, or attempting to file, as his own, the diploma or certificate of another, or a forged affidavit of identification, shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be subject to such fine and imprisonment as are made and provided by the statutes of this State for the crime of forgery, but the penalty shall not be enforced till on and after the first day of eighteen hundred and seventy-nine: Provided, That the provisions of this act shall not apply to those that have been practicing medicine ten years within this State, which may be regarded as a qualification of practice simply, and certificates may be issued to them stating the number of years' practice in the State: Provided, satisfactory letters of recommendation from reputable men be submitted.

Miscellany.

Economy a Necessity.

There is no reason why medical men should escape the effects of the commercial depression which has been world-wide for the past five or six years, and, reason or no reason, there are remarkably few in this country at least, who have not realized that times are no longer what they once were, and that it is vain to cherish the delusion that living can be continued on the scale that was the rule during war times. Judicious business men long ago curtailed their expenses, and those who have gone under have been those who disregarded the fact that times for a number of years have been undergoing a change. We judge from a letter by J. Milner Fothergill to

the Phila. Medical Times that our brethren in England are by no means exempt from the general depression. He says:

"There is not much of interest going on in the medical world here (London) as the receipts this Christmas, except with a very small number, have fallen far below the usual amount, and the Anglo-Saxon is chiefly impressionable in his pecuniary aspect. Christmas, with its festivities, is over, and now the bills have to be faced, and economy is the rule in doctors' homes as elsewhere."

Dr. D. W. Yandell, seated in front of his fire lately wrote a letter to his colleague, Dr. Parvin of the American Practitioner. It wasn't intended for publication at first, but on reading what he had written to his wife, Mrs. Yandell with a true womanly instinct suggested, "Why don't you put that in your 'Notes and Queries'? It would do some dispirited doctor good, may be." Our readers, when they have read the following extracts from the letter, will thank Mrs. Y. for her suggestion:

"The incomes of the rich have been cut; the salaries of officials have been cut; the receipts of commerce have been cut; the wages of employes have been scaled in every direction; the agriculturist scarcely realizes cost on the products of his fields. The hand of want has been laid heavily on the poor. Can we, doctors, who depend for our bread on all those classes of our fellow citizens, expect to escape what presses on them so painfully? Can the fifty thousand good, bad and indifferent men, who prescribe pills and potions, powders and plasters-who straighten crooked feet and squints in eyes and cut for the gravel-who chop off legs and bring in babies and such other small deer, can they, I ask, hope to fare better than their neighbors, their friends, their patrons? Not at all-not at all. And it is the rankest folly to expect it. Times got bad, and receipts from our work fell off. Times grew worse, and our incomes diminished accordingly. And they always will diminish accordingly. Therefore, let us not despond. To do so is not manly, and is foolish. No good can come of it, and evil will. We are not a whit worse off than our neighbors. You are not a whit worse off than any one of the first ten men you will meet to-morrow morning when you start out on your rounds. If he be a merchant, your anxieties are no greater than his. If he be a laborer, your chances for calls are no less than his are for work. If he be a lawyer, the likelihood of his getting a client and a fat fee

are no better than yours for getting a patient who will have a good paying disease. If he be a farmer, your face need be no longer than his, for your prospects are not one shade bluer. And then, has it never occurred to you, my dear brother in the bonds, that we have sources and resources which few of these friends of ours have? We have a consciousness of sympathy shown, of kindness rendered, of patience exercised, of good done and of skill exhibited, not only to the relief of suffering, but even to the saving of life itself. Have any of our friends such solaces as these? Not one. More: Will not the same dews which fall on our friends, just or unjust, fall alike on us as well? Will not the same sun which will, in the cource of the cycles, come to irradiate and revivify, and cause to grow and prosper the various industries and interests of the nation, shine alike on us, poor sinners, all as we are? Surely.

Therefore, O, friend that you are, look things squarely in the face, look at them as they are. Don't try to blink them. Some one has said things are seldom as good as we hope, or as bad as we fear. Times will improve and with them our fortunes. The day will again come when we will be summoned to see the little man with an abrasion of his umbilicus, and the larger man whose nerves the terrapin he had at the club have unstrung, and the great lady who, having no terrapins at home and nothing to wear or to do, first raises Cain and then sails into hysterics and refuses to be comforted. We will have all this, and more of the same sort, as of yore. When the means to indulge in them return, people will demand luxuries as in days gone by; and what greater luxury is there in the world than an agreeable doctor when a body isn't much sick, or a thoroughly good one when you are? So, I say, my friend, be not cast down. "Though much is taken, much abides." Let us, as Ulysses bade his mariners, still "smite the sounding furrows," and remain "strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." That's what I'm going to do. If I can't get practice of physic to do I can practice economy, and that's the next best thing for the present. I am going to economize in horses, in clothes, and in the countless et ceteras in which we all do so love to indulge; I am going to economize in every way and in every thing, save and except in my contributions to charities, which I hope will be the last to go, and in medical books and journals. The latter I will have, if to get them requires that I should deny myself all things else. For they, whatever may be said to the contrary, are to the doctor what capital is to the merchant, stock and seed to

the farmer, and prices current to trade. They are simply indispensable."

A Tribute to the "News."

The following explains itself, and we have only to say, in reply, that we are deeply grateful for this expression of approval of our services in the cause of an advanced medical standard. In the interests of the common professional good, we could have hoped that our State contemporaries had shown a disposition to join hands with us in this matter:

THREE OAKS, MICH., February 13, 1879. J. J. Mulheron, M. D., Detroit, Mich. :

Dear Doctor:-At a regular meeting of the Berrien County Medical Society, held at New Buffalo, Mich., on Wednesday, February 12th, 1879, the accompanying resolution was unanimously adopted by the society. Yours fraternally,

FRED. F. SOVEREIGN, Secretary. Resolved, That the thanks of this society be tendered to the MICHIGAN MEDICAL NEWS for its fidelity in the cause of medical legislation, and for its keeping the matter constantly before its readers.

Resolved, That we pledge our support to this journal.

W. A. NEAL, President, Dayton, Mich. FRED. F. SOVEREIGN, Sec'y,

Three Oaks, Mich.

SOLID SAYINGS. Chancellor Crosby, on the 18th inst., conferred the degree of M. D. on 205 graduates of the Medical Department of the University of New York. From the

address he delivered on the occasion the fol

lowing gems are culled:

1. A rolling stone gathers no moss," or "An itinerant doctor gets no practice." A restless fisherman didn't get bites, but went home at evening with an empty basket. 2. "The early bird catches the worm." If the doctor was ready on call, the people would be ready with their calls. 3. "Pleasant words are health to the bones;" which might be read, "A doctor's cheerfulness is often as good as his physic." 4. "Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves." 5. Industry wins the prize." 6. "Nip mischief in the bud." The address was closed by giving the graduates a few general sentiments, such as: "Yours is a profession, and not a trade. The object of a trade is to make money; the object of a profession is to bless mankind."

Prof. Geo. E. Frothingham's "A Plea for Medical Legislation' appears as a reprint from the Michigan University Medical Journal of May, 1871. It is a powerful argument, and its appearance at the present time is very opportune. We hope that copies have been distributed among the members of the State Legislature, and that they may read and

Paragraphs.

Motto for the champions of the Electric Light: Divide et Impera.

Paris hospitals number 15,345 beds. Hopice de la Salpetriére and Hospice de Becétre are the largest, the former having 3,731 beds and the latter 2,334.

ERRATUM. -In Dr. Hazlewood's article in the NEWS of 10th inst., "uterus" on page 31, third line from the bottom, should read "ureters."

The total number of medical students in the metropolitan and provincial schools of Great Britain in 1877, is officially reported as 2,333. In 1867 it was 1,382.

Illinois has 4,950 doctors. Of these 3,646 are regular; 437 homœopathic: 456 eclectic; 37 physiomedical (whatever that means); 336 not stated; all others 38.

In Holland, female pharmacists are becoming popular. They are recognized by the law and are recommended by their orderly habits and their cleanliness and accuracy. This is a good field for women.

Sleeplessness is often associated with, and is the result of cold feet. Dip the feet in cold water for a brief period and then rub them with a flesh brush or coarse towel until they glow. This will warm them and bring sleep.

"Are Oysters healthy ?" inquired an ancient dame of her physician. "I am inclined to believe that they are remarkably so," was the reply, "as I have never yet met with a single one that complained of being unwell."

The name of Robert Bartholow, of Cincinnati, is prominently mentioned in connection with the chair at Jefferson, left vacant by the death of Dr. Biddle. The appointment would be a good one and a fitting recognition of ability.

The man who gives as his excuse for not subscribing to a new journal, "I haven't time to read those I already take," is, in nine cases out of ten, a poor tool. The busiest, most successful men in the practice of medicine, are those who read most, and write most. They are the systematic workers; it is only the dawdler and the drone who 66 I can't find time to read."

The Vienna Medical Press tells us how a German homœopath got rid of a tape worm. He placed a musical box in juxtaposition to his patient's anal aperture and when it (the music box) ^egan to play the worm "felt so awful jolly" that it came down head foremost, and attached itself to the instrument. Truly, music hath charms to soothe the savage tape

worm!

We are informed by the Archives of Dermatology that Prof. Erasmus Wilson, F. R. S., F. R. C. C., has just given his check for $50,000 to Mr. John Dixon, who had the contract for the removal of Cleopatra's Needle from the banks of the Nile, and placing it on the banks of the Thames. The "needle " stands now as a monument to Dermatology, as the funds necessary for its erection on its present site were derived solely from Professor Wilson's practice in his specialty.

St. Louis doctors and medical editors have their occasional little amenities, one of which is the holding of one another to "strict personal responsibility." Recently an editor referred to a brother quill driver as "a liar, a smuggler and an ass", and the remark provoked a discussion in which a heavy stick was the leading argument. This method of settling dis