THE THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF WARBURG'S TINCTURE IN INDIAN FEVERS.-Mr. William Owen, of the Bengal Medical Staff, claims (Dublin Journal of Med. Science, Jan., 1879):

1. That Warburg's tincture is a remedy of great value in remittent fever-in some cases preventing a return of the exacerbations; in others, and these the most numerous, diminishing the intensity of the exacerbations, and rendering the remissions distinct, thereby lessening the force of the fever, and opening the way for the subsequent beneficial action of quinine. 2. That in bad cases of intermittent fever it often acts as a charm-in some cases dispersing the paroxysms, not to return; in others, diminishing their force and lessening their duration. 3. That it appears to act on the fever per se, at the same time increasing the subsequent beneficial action of quinine in a marked degree. 4. That it may be administered with perfect safety by competent hands to children, as well as adults. 5. The moderate perspiration produces as good results in these cases as excessive, and the former can, if necessary, be repeated by repeating the dose. 6. That excessive perspiration and consequent debilitating effects (this urged as an objection against it) may be prevented by regulating the dose. 7. That in remittent fevers of a typhoid type with high temperature this medicine may be administered with great advantage, care being taken that the dose and subsequent perspiration be not excessive, and any symptoms of debility being combated with stimulants.

OZÆNA, AND A SIMPLE METHOD OF ITS TREATMENT.-Having compared the different views of Sauvages, König, Fränkel, Michel, Zauful, and Jacobi, regarding the etiology of this affection, Gottstein states (Berl. Klin. Woch., No. 37, 1878) his own ideas. He recognizes the often observed coincidence of anomalous capacity of the nasal cavity with the occurrence of the disease; but he does not look upon this fact as being an important etiological factor for its origin. He considers the latter due to a process of atrophy in the mucous membrane of the part, analogous to that in the pharynx, described as rareficient dry catarrh of the pharynx (pharyngitis sicca) by Wendt in Ziemssen's Cyclopædia, and he believes that ozæna is a constant symptom of that stage of chronic rhinitis, in which atrophy of the nasal mucous membrane has occurred, and in which, probably in consequence of the destruction of mucous glands, a diminution and alteration of the secretion takes place in such a way that the product of the latter remains, in consequence of its quick drying up, adherent to the mucous membrane, is not removed by the natural forces, and passes over into fetid decomposition." The remedy which the author recommends consists in the simple occlusion of the diseased part by means of a wadtampon (the part having generally been cleaned before), which is to remain about twenty-four hours in the nose. It does

not give rise to any troublesome symptoms, the patients feeling, on the contrary, soon very much relieved by it. One side ought to be occluded only at the time, and the other within the next twentyfour hours, whilst the first remains free during that time. The author has obtained excellent results on fifteen patients thus treated within a very short time. -London Medical Record-Monthly Abstract.

THE TREATMENT OF URETHRITIS BY THE APPLICATION OF COLD.-(John A. Wyeth, in Hosp. Gazette.) I do not believe that this, "The German Method," is practiced so generally as it should be. After trying it in the following cases I can heartily commend it to the profession. The apparatus consists of a double catheter closed at the vesical end. At the other end there are two nozzles for attachment to the rubber tubes, one for the inlet and outlet currents. Each of these tubes is attached to a tin vessel holding about two quarts of water. The water is brought to between 30° and 40° F. by addition of ice. (It is not necessary to make it uncomfortably cold for the patient.) Having introduced the catheter, the tubes are attached, one of the vessels being elevated and the other set on the floor, and the stop cocks are turned on. If necessary to prolong the séance the position of the vessels can be reversed and the water will flow back into the empty vessel. The application may last from one to ten minutes, as the pecu liar character of the case may require.

Ten cases are detailed, in which this method was employed with uniform success, and this success has impressed the writer with the great value of the method. It is almost painless in its application, and more rapidly successful than any method he has yet tried.

VACCINATION AS A PREVENTIVE OF OTHER DISEASES THAN VARIOLA.-Among numerous interesting points in a report of a committee on vaccination and re-vaccination to the Medical Society of the County of Kings, New York, we find the statement that vaccination seems to exclude other diseases. In Würtemberg, during five years there were 325,646 births, of which number 208,322 were vaccinated. It has been assumed that three weeks is the average period during which the system is under the influence of the vaccine element. Of the number vaccinated, there were but 70 deaths during those three weeks, that is, one death in 3,000, while 35 would be the average number of deaths during the same number of weeks in children under one year. During the first three years the deaths would be 1,000, or 20. for the three weeks instead of one. Then, in children under one year, the death-rate, during the three weeks, is 35 times less than if the child. were not under the influence of the vaccine, and under three years of age the average is twenty times less under similar circumstances. Cin. Lancet and Clinic.

CLINICAL VALUE OF THE THERMOMETER IN ABDOMINAL AFFECTIONS-By Prof. Peter.-The physician may be called to a case of disease of the stomach; he finds no material proof of the exist ence of cancer, but he may feel intuitively that there is one.

In such a case, the application of the thermometer, is of real importance. Being called in consultation by my distinguished confrère, M. Leudet (de Rouen) to the case of a man 52 years of age, percussion of the epigastrium, practiced en dedolant, showed certain points of dullness. Under these circumstances, I had recourse to the thermometer to clear up the obscurities of the diagnosis. In the epigastric depression the thermometer registered 37.5° (99.4° Fahr.); but it is known that the normal temperature of the epigastrium in the healthy individual is about 35.5° (about 96° Fahr.). In painless atonic dyspepsia the temperature remains unchanged. The result of my researches goes to show that the temperature in the vicinity of a cancerous lesion is elevated from 1° to 1.5° (centigrade) above the normal. This is not due to phlegmasia but to irritation. The fact is, in my opinion, significant. In simple gastralgia, there may be elevation of temperature, but it is ephemeral, and only lasts as long as the pain contin

FORCI-PRESSURE.-Dr. L. S. Pilcher, (Proceedings of the Med. Society, Co. Kings, Jan. 1879,) reports favorably of the method adopted by M. Péan, surgeon of the Hospital Saint Louis, in Paris, to arrest hemorrhage in surgical operations. It consists in applying forceps, resembling somewhat ordinary polypus forceps, but with means of readily locking, to the bleeding vessel and permitting them to remain so long as may be required. The forceps are light, can be steadied by the dressing, and seem to cause no especial irritation or trouble.

The length of time during which the forceps should remain to secure permanent hæmastasis varies with size and location of the vessels, the state and constitution of the patient, etc. From small and superficial vessels they may be removed at the close of the operation, from larger ones within four or five days.

The advantages claimed for this method are: brevity of operation, few or no ligatures being required, no foreign body is left in the wound, cicatrization is promoted, and they may be used when ligature is impracticable.

TREATMENT BY MENTAL IMPRESSION.-Dr. J. P. Kingsley, (St. Louis Clin, Record, Jan. 1879,) pre

sented at his clinic, a bright, intelligent, yet very nervous girl of eleven years. Her mother has for many years been in rather poor health and now suffers from carcinoma of the uterus. The girl complains of much pain in various parts of the body, especially in parts corresponding to the seat of pain in the mother. Now and for some time past she has suffered from intense pain in the forehead. The doctor applied the metal cure by placing a silver half dollar, which he happened to have in his pocket, over the seat of pain for ten minutes, and the patient affirmed that she had no pain. Three days after the patient returned and reported that she had not been so well for a year and a half as she had been since her previous visit.

This is a good illustration of the metal cure, of laying on of hands, pads, etc.

OVARIAN DYSPEPSIA.-J. Milner Fothergill: There is a form of dyspepsia combined with leucorrhoea, and commonly with menorrhagia,, which depends upon morbid conditions of one or both ovaries. Experiments have shown that irritation of the sym pathetic nerves of the stomach produces contraction of the gastric arterioles and defective secretion of gastric juice. In aggravated cases there is vomiting of a reflex character, as seen in the early months of pregnancy and in calculus of the kidney. This form of dyspepsia is very intractable, unless its causal relationship are remembered and borne in mind in the treatment. Blisters over the ovary with bromide of potassium, and sulphate of magnesia internally, are more effective than bismuth and dydrocyanic acid.

PRECOCITY.--Lefebore reports that at Oberpallen, in Luxembourg, a girl was born fully developed, menstruated at four years, and became pregnant at eight. Horatio Yates, Kingston, Ont., reports another case of a girl aged two years and three months, presenting all the external signs of womanhood and having menstruated for three months. She weighed fortyeight pounds.-Canadian Journal of Medical Science.

IODINE AS A DISINFECTANT.-Prof. Kletzinskly, of Vienna, advises as one of the best disinfectants in times of threatening epidemics the use of dry iodine to disinfect the air in our rooms. As much as 3 ss. is sufficient for a whole month. To avoid poisoning it must not be laid within the reach of anybody, especially children.

ERGOT vs. LACTATION, - Dr. Russell (American Med. Bi-Weekly, Jan. 1879,) reports to the Bell Co. Med. Society, a case where the secretion of milk was entirely prevented by the use of ergot until the eighth day. Ten hours after the medicine was discontinued the secretion of milk was quite free, but was at once checked by the use of ergot again,

VOL. II.

Editorial.

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

The contests between professionals in rowing, wrestling, pedestrianism, etc., have, particularly during the past year or So, stirred up quite an interest throughout the country, and have produced quite a number of amateur imitators. The extent to which these athletic sports is practiced is sufficient to call the attention of the medical profession to them. While we regard the interest manifested in these things as a healthful indication, we cannot close our eyes to the dangers to which an indulgence is subject. Youth is given to excesses, and a wholesome restraint in the matter of athletic sports is as well-timed as it is in other directions. Professional athletism is physically, as well as morally, an evil, the only redeeming feature of which lies in the stimulus it has a tendency to give to physical culture in the community, for men are more wont to admire physical prowess than mental acumen, and it is well that it is so; for without strength of body, masculinity of mind is never found. The tendency of modern education, and especially in this country, is to the development of the mind to the neglect of the body. While such a system is favorable to production of that "cuteness" which is an American characteristic, it does not produce that robustness of intellect which always takes the lead. We can afford, therefore, not only to tolerate, but also to encourage the exhibitions of physical endurance and muscular activity which have been more than usually abundant lately, seeing that their evil physical effects at least, are confined to those who undertake them, and are willing to run the risk of the dangers incident thereto for the money and eclat which are the direct outcome. Such exhibitions, however, should not be held up as examples for emulation by the youth and young men of the country; they are useful only for the interest they excite in that which they are an abuse of,

No. 7

A proper amount of physical exercise is necessary to bodily as well as mental health; this is a fact which goes without saying. When indulged in systematically, and with a view to bringing into play muscles which are but slightly worked in the ordinary avocations of life, and in those of sedentary habits and leisurely lives, exercise is undoubtedly a prophylactic against disease. Such exercise should be incorporated not only in the training of youth, irrespective of sex, but should be strongly recommended to all whose avocations do not call for much muscular exertion. Its effect is, moreover, salutary, in that it conduces to a healthful restraint to passion and appetites whose indulgence is fostered by lives of indolence. Every observer must have noticed the diminished power of selfcontrol in those leading such lives, as well as in those who have been depressed by dis

ease.

The danger arising from athletic sports lies in the physical exhaustion which follows an excessive indulgence in them. Natural pride has very often prevented the youth from submitting to his rival until compelled to give in from sheer exhaustion, and he has regretted his indiscretion for years, if not for the remainder of his life. The oarsman who breaks down in a race, or the pedestrian in a match, never fully recovers. This is a fact which it is the duty of medical men, as hygienists, to impress on the public mind.

A noteworthy fact is the influence which mental training has on muscle. The finest athletes are those whose attention has not been given solely to physical training. In the tests adopted in the British army this fact has been conspicuous. On the authority of the Duke of Cambridge, Viscount Bury, and Lord Cardwell, the men who now enter the army under these tests, while, for the most part, remarkable for their physical, are also remarkable for their high average intellectual qualifications. It is true, instances of great strength may be pointed out among those of low mental calibre, but that "staying" power which is the best evidence of a sound constitution, and which is of so much importance in the soldier, is found, under the tests adopted, to much the largest degree among those who exhibit evidences of mental training. The superior efficacy of an educated soldiery is therefore owing to other

causes than the intelligence which they bring to bear on the discharge of their duties. The Greeks combined great physical strength with great mental power, and, though it is usual to regard the latter as due to the former, it is more than probable that the relations of dependence were just the reverse. It has been well said, if you train a man's body only you make a magnificent brute; but train his body and mind and heart, and you have a magnificent specimen of humanity.

The Medical Bill.

The compromise Senate bill for regulating the practice of medicine in Michigan, as printed in a recent number of the NEWS, has, after a determined resistance by its opponents, and with a few unimportant amendments, passed the Senate by a vote of 19 to 10. It now remains for it to receive the sanction of the House, and we are glad to be able to report that its chances in that body are very favorable. Members of the Legislature with whom we have been in correspondence, and with whom we have conversed on the subject, are disposed to abide by such action as the physicians, who are members of the House, shall determine upon. These physicians are reputable men, and must know from experience the injustice to both the people and the profession, resulting from the lack of any law protecting the former from imposition and injury, and affording the latter the protection which properly belongs to it. We would, however, urge it upon our readers not to take the passage of the bill for granted. Quackery has brought some strong, influence to bear against it, and a number of specious arguments are being plied. It behooves every true friend of medical progress in this State to exert himself once more in this matter. Let every physician write his representative at Lansing to cast his vote for the bill. A flood of such letters at this time would be most opportune. The bill will probably be reached within a few days and letters of this nature will have a wholesome effect in giving rigidity to moral vertebræ at the capital. A strong pull now and a pull altogether will redeem Michigan from the odium of quackery: Let it be made.

Miscellany.

Physician's Black List.

Editor Michigan Medical News:

Why not, in our coming meeting of the Michigan State Medical Society, adopt resolutions directing all members of medical societies to furnish their several secretaries a list of such of their patients as do not pay their doctor's bills?

I have long been of the opinion that a similar course should be pursued by all the regular organized medical societies in the country.

It would be far better, however, if the European system could be adopted, which is to receive the fee at each visit, or, at any rate, at the termination of the case.

A NOVEL APHRODISIAC.-Dr. D. F. Powell, in the American Med. Bi-Weekly of March 15th, 1879, reports a case in which an old married man, in consequence of chagrin at his own impotency-his wife having ridiculed him-attempted to stimulate his libidinous capabilities by inserting into the penis a head of timothy. The straw broke off, and left this new aphrodisiac within the meatus urinarius, where it induced very active inflammation. The old man, after trying many expedients to remove the difficulty, applied to the physician, who seemed for a time equally powerless, till at last he succeeded in passing a No. 8 gum catheter beyond the obstruction, and, by means of a Davidson syringe, injected a considerable quantity of warm water. The distention caused the patient to faint, and while in an unconscious state, the water, with external manipulations, forced the aphrodisiac out. The inflammation was duly subdued; but the doctor does not report whether or not the old gentleman became a wiser and better man.

Trichinæ Spiralis.

Editor Michigan Medical News:

The following correspondence may be of interest to some of your Michigan readers at

least:

IONIA Mich., March 19, 1879.

Dr. Geo. FrOTHINGHAM:

DEAR SIR-Enclosed you will find a specimen which I would be pleased to have you

examine for trichniæ.

The case was diagnosed as trichiniasis by Dr. Barnes, of this place.

The case, three and one-half years of age, from whom the specimen was taken, died two days ago, after an illness of about six weeks. Another of the same family, six and one-half years of age, has been sick the same length of time, but is doing well.

The smaller piece of muscle was taken from the gastrocnemius and the larger from the deltoid.

Please report the result of your examination, and oblige.

Yours most respectfully,

DR. S. V. ROMIG. Prof. Frothingham handed the letter and enclosed specimens to me and asked me to reply to Dr. Romig. The reply was as

follows:

DEAR DOCTOR-The letter you addressed to Dr. Frothingham was handed to me by him. I found in the letter two small pieces of muscle suspected of containing trichinæ. The muscle was allowed to soak for twelve hours in distilled water, for it was very hard and dry. At the end of that time I teased out some small pieces and examined them with a three-fourths inch objective. The trichina were numerous and plain to be seen, so much so that the students in the laboratory saw them without any trouble.

I did not find any in the encysted state.
C. H. STOWELL,
Physiological Laboratory, University of Michigan.

JONAH'S ADVENTURE REVERSED. Surgeon Dautra, Indian Med. Gazette, reports a case in which a fish, three inches in length and one in breadth, entered a man's mouth while swimming, and, the better to retain its position, secured a firm hold of the man's uvula. The fish was induced to relinquish its hold by grasping its head with forceps and pressing it from side to side, when it was easily removed. The man's mouth was lacerated by the fins, and the uvula was

bitten-not torn, as would have been the case had the fish been forcibly removed by traction.

PRESCRIBING DRUGGISTS.-The following pointed remarks on a crying evil, are from the pen of an Ohio physician. The practice complained of is one which can only be remedied by a harmony of action, the accomplishment of which we fear the profession will never come up to. The method of relief proposed has been tried in this city, but has never been persevered in sufficiently long to accomplish its object:

I read, with much interest, the remarks of Dr. Howell, of Goodrich, Mich., in your last issue, and wish to convey to him and to the profession, my sense of most emphatic and candid approval. Too long have we silently endured this flagrant outrage. Too long have we seen men, who, but for our patronage, could not keep their doors open a single week, pushing the sale of patent medicines by liberal advertising, and by the most reckless promises of the wondrous cures sure to follow their use.

But, bad as this is, there exists in many places deeper wrongs, which the profession should only need to know to cause them to. show an unbroken front of opposition. Many druggists make a constant practice of themselves prescribing for all those who, from ignorance or stinginess, will give them an opportunity, We see "Bumstead on Venereal Diseases," and works on "Domestic Medicine" conspicuously displayed in their stores, as an advertisement of their willingness to thus recklessly assume the gravest responsibilities known in human affairs. their prescribing shall ever be successful, it is in consequence, not of their own ability or learning, but merely because, with thousands of good prescriptions from which to copy, they must be the veriest idiots if they did not occasionally stumble on the right thing.

And if

But there is still another class of cases, which seem to me to be still more unjust druggists of making up compounds resemthan these. I refer to the practice of some bling the ordinary patent medicine, and thus adding the weight of their own personal reputation to all of the other means by which suffering humanity is duped into the belief that their medicines may be, with advantage, bought "ready-made," the same as their

boots or their hats.

It is the practice of physicians, when