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THE  CINCINNATI 

Medical  Advance. 


VOLUME  VIII. 


^s       .\ 


K 


•I 


COKTfiNTS  VOL.  VII. 


iX.i«» 


A  Retrospect  ot  Atedicine*     !t, 

F,  Pomefoy^  M,  D /*. 

Applied  HomoeopatHy.    F,  Pdrk 

A  Cafle  of  (Edema  of  the  Glpttis^ 
with  SpaPiDi      A.   C   EuikeUt 

A  Chenp  Disinfectant. ..<4...i..«i.. 

American  Health  Primer«..4 

American  Institute  of  Homoeo- 
pathy.     Ed, »l......iii...;.. 

A  New  Difleasei     Trandaitd  by 

A,  McNeil. ,**iii i...*..i.-;. 

A  Critique.     Dedicated   to  the 

author  of  Sci-atcheft,  etc^w 

American  Journal  of  Electrolo^y 

afid  Neurology.....;. « if... 

Address  of  Welcome.     W»    A. 

Phm%p$yM.  D. ,.*..;. 

A  Hint  Beffardin^i^  Ophthalmic 

and  Aural  Medicine^     W,  A. 

PMiips,  M.  D. 

A  Few  Aphorigms  Arid  Practical 

Hints    Appertain tnfi:    to     thfe 

Third  Staffe  of  Labor.    J.   C. 

SanderSf  Mi  Di.ii.iiiti..*»»,i*,„. 


21 
86 

45 
73 
75 

81 

97 

123 

124 

134 

177 
2i2[ 


JSthusaCyii ..w.ini..i...;i..,  225 

A  Journalistic  Vjimplre.  £d.*..  250 
Annual  Field  Day.  £y.. .:...;....  251 
An  Address.  Ri  Ludlam,  M:  D»  292 
A  Case  Fol'ConRultatioh....j...i..  321 

A  Curious  Case .....i  .;.;ii....  323 

Allen's    Encyclopfedia.     H.    C, 

Men,  M.  D 4i....i*..n  38S 

A  Correction.    Dr.  Ad,  Lippe 37^ 

An  Anecdote. <<i«..i) i...**.a.*;.  3831 

B. 

Belladonna    ?rovingj     Si    Mills 
Fowlei'f  M,  D *.*,,n*ii*.i.it..i     Ol 

C. 

Convention.     Ed,. »;..,.,, ,.4     id 

Case    Confinement,  Anomalous, 

L.  Fi  MarKi  Ml  /7j. ...;.*., 44 

Chiiracteristic  Indications  in  Pri- 
mary   Syphilis.     A.  McNeil, 

■««i    JL/»**yHtt**fi0*Hitmit,t.t,t       45* 

Correspondence.     A  letter  from 

Bois  Brule ;,.... qi 

Circular  Letter g^ 

dhemistry,  General  Medicineand 
Pharmae^Uticai;  etc^,  etc***..**    74 


Oontenta, 


Complicated  Cane  of  Syphilis. 

W,  H.  Blakely,  3f.  D 93 

Cancer  of  the  Kidney 95 

Clinical  Ijcctures  Upon  Inflam- 

mative  and  other  Diseases  of 

the    Ear.     Robert    2\    CoopeVy 

A.B,,  M.D 121 

Clinical  Cases  of  Eye  and  Ear 

Diseases.     Beported  from  Dr. 

Wilson's  aini4i 277,  313 

Concerning  '^Scratches"  and  the 

"Critique." 375 

Charles  Julius  Hem  pel,  M.  D. 

By  H.  R.  Amdt,  M.  D 378 

D. 

Does    Eunning    Water    Purify 

Itself? 72 

Damiana.    Ed 83 

Diphtheria.     Lac  Caninum  200. 

S,  MiUa  Fowler,  M.  D 100 

Dr.    Dake  on  High    Potencies. 

FingalHapgoodyM.D HI 

Dr.  Blakely^s  Case -  320 

Dr.  Pope.    Ed 346 

E. 

Eastern  Ohio  Homoeopath ists....     70 
Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Work-House    and    House    of 

Befutre  of  Cleveland 74 

Editor's  Table..77, 125,  293,  343,  389 
Experiments  with  Arsenic.    J. 

C.  Anderson,  M,  D 267 

Eighth   Annual  Report  of  the 
State    Homoeopathic  Asylum 

for  the  Insane 341 

Eclectic  Failures 346 

F. 

Frost  Bite.    Death  from   Septae- 
mia.    A,  M.  CurtisSf  M,  D.^—     35 

French  Doctors 71 

Families 346 

G. 

Glaucoma,  Arg.  Nit,  Scrofulous 
Ophthalmia.     G.  N,  Brigham^ 

M.  D •   42 

Gastritis  (7)  Carbo.  veg.  60 283 

Guiding  Symptoms 342 

H. 

Hahnemann.    Treatment  of  Sy- 
philis     SO 


Homoeopathic  Progress.  Bungle- 
town  Letter  No.  4 64 

Headaches... 75 

Hahnemann.  The  Genius  of  the 
Homoeopathic  Art.  Trandnted 
by  Dr.  Ad.  Lippe 101,  284,  326 

How  to  administer  Chloroform. 
Dr.  J.  O.Jones 144 

How  Far  Can  the  Physical  Pro- 
perties of  Drugs  be  Regarded 
as  Pathogenetic?  And  How 
Far  Available  as  Guides  in 
Therapeutics  ?  Wm.  Owens, 
M.D 155 

Hearing  and  How  to  Keep  It. 
Chas.  H.  BwmeU 289 

I. 

Intermittent  Fever.  D.  A.  HiU 
ler,  M.  D 47 

Importance  of  Physiological 
Knowledge.  M.  B.  Lukens, 
M.D .T 166 

Insanity  :  Its  Medico-Social  Re- 
lations. E.  R.  Eg^esUm,  M.  D.  240 

Instructions  for  Disinfection 384 

J. 

Jousset's  Lectures  on  Clinical 
Medicine.  TrandcUed  into  Eng- 
lish by  Prof.  R.  Ludlam 387 

L 

Letter  From  Mansfield,  0 63 

Lines  on  a  Skeleton 120 

List  of  Medicines  Mentioned  in 

Homoeopathic  Literature.    H. 

M.  SmtUi,  M.  D 291 

M. 

Memory  and  Forgetfulness.    Ed.    19 
Montgomery     County    Homoeo- 
pathic  Society.      Reported  by 

A.  C.  Rickey,  M.  D 69 

Medical  Chemistry,  Including 
the  Outlines  of  Organic  and 

Physiological  Chemistry 76 

Muscular  Paresis.    M,  H.  Par- 

maiee,  M.D 194 

Malignant  Diphtheria.....*.* 321 

Medical  L^islation 380 

N. 

New  Discoveries.  E,  J,  Lee, 
M.  D. 109 


Contents, 


Noctarnal  Enuresis.  A.  AfcAlrit, 
M.  D 347 

0. 

Ophthalmic  and  Aural  Exami- 
nations Daring  the  Provings 
of  Remedies.  Action  of  the 
American  Homoeopathic  Oph- 
thalmological  and  Otological 
Society  on  the  Subject 

P. 

Physio-Meds.     Ed 

Prolapsus  Uteri.  W,  T.  Bran- 
9trupy  M,  D 

Popular  Guide  to  Homoeopathy. 

Pleasure  and  Pain 

Proceedings  of  the  Fifteenth  An- 
nual Session  of  the  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society  of  Ohio 

President's  Address.  If.  H.  Bax- 
ter, M.  D 

Pneumonia  Followed  by  Anchy- 
losis.   J.  A,  Qanfi,  M.  D 

Posological  Tables.     CAos.  i2tee.. 

Psychological  Treatment  of  Dis- 
ease.    Geo,  M,  Oek/ordj  M,  D... 

Photographic  Illustrations  of 
Skin  Diseases.  Geo.  Henry 
FoZj  A,  Af.f  M,  D 

R. 

Betained  Placenta  and  its  Treat- 
ment.    0,  W,  Boweriy  M.  D,... 

Keport  of  the  London  School  of 
Homoeopathy  for  1879,  etc 

Renal  Calculi.  A  Que  by  H.  M. 
LogUj  M.  D 

Repertory  to  the  More  Charac- 
teristic Symptoms  of  the  Ma- 
teria Medica.  Arranged  by 
Ccnutaniine  Lippe,  M,  D 292 

Repudiation  a  Snare.  T.  F, 
Pomeroy,  A,  3f.,  M,  D 333 

Report  of  a  Meeting  of  the  Aus- 
trian Homoeopathic  Physi- 
cians, Held  at  Vienna,  Decem- 
ber 6th,  1878.  Translated  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Milwaukee 
Academy.    8,  L 348 

Reportinff  Cases  for  Medical 
Journals.    T,  C.  Hunter,  M,  D,  376 

S. 

Statistics.    Ed. 82 


301 


17 

48 

77 

117 


129 

139 

152 
291 

851 


293 


98 
124 
203 


Studies  in  Refraction.  T.  P. 
Wikm,M,  D 173 

Sanitary  duties  of  Phyricians  to 
Themselves.  2>.  H,  Beekwiih, 
M.  D 220 

Spontaneous  Reduction  of  a 
Shoulder  Dislocated  Nearly 
Three  Years.  H,  F,  Biggar, 
M.  D 319 

Sciatica 322 

Student's  Pocket  Medical  Lexi- 
con, etc 341 

Sieber's  Art  of  Singing 342 

T. 

The  New  Departure  at  Buffalo. 
Ed 18 

That  Same  Old  Question.  C 
Pearson.  M,  D. •     31 

Two  Radical  Cures  of  Ulceri 
Ventricula.    A.  McNeil,  M.D.    83 

The  True  Issue  Stated.  Dr.  Ad. 
Lippe 114 

The  Movable  Kidney.  B.  P. 
Broum,  M.  D 150 

The  Physiological  and  Patholo- 
gical Position  of  Alcohol. 
Martha  A.  Canjield,  M.  D 157 

The  Esmarch  Bandage.  S.  E. 
Beekwith,M,D 183 

The  Materia  Medica  Generally 
and  Specifically  Considered. 
O.  P.  Bojer,  M.  D 255 

That  Case  of  Glaucoma 280 

The  Homoeopathic  World,  Lon- 
don    290 

Transactionn  of  the  Hahnemann 
Medical  Association  of  Iowa. 
Tenth  Annual  Session 291 

The  Homoeopathic  Journal  of 
Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of 
Women  and  Children.  Henry 
Minton,  A.  3f.,  M,  D.,  Ediiw..,  291 

The  Princiftles  of  Light  and 
Color.    Edwin  D.  BabbU 292 

The  Organon  of  Medicine.  An 
Introductory.  T.  P.  Wilson^ 
M.D 297 

The  Ten  Little  Bottles  of  Mil- 
wau-kee 331 

Transactions  of  the  American 
Ilomoeopathij  Ophthalmologi- 
cal  and  Otological  Society 342 


Contents. 


Thai  Cam  of  Glaucoma.  Prof. 
An^ell  Explains 

The  Mercuries.  A,  C,  Cowperth- 
waUe^  M.  J) , 

Ten  SurjKical  Cases.  C,  S,  Fahne- 
tUick,  M.  D 

The  Milwaukee  Teot.  Prof. 
Hawkes  Explains » .•• 

The  Laws  of  Tberapentics,  or 
the  Science  and  Art  of  Medi- 
cine,   By  Joseph  Kiddf  3f.  D- 


The  Advantages  and  Accidents 
of  Artificial  AnfiBsthenia.  By 
Lawrence  TumbuU^  M,D,,  FLD  390 

,     W. 

Wants,  Locations,  Practices  For 

Sale,  etc 79, 128,  295,  344,  392 

Wells.    E.  P.  Oaylordy  M.  D 229 

Z. 

Ziemssen's  Encyclopedia  of  Med- 
lome <o 


349 
356 
363 


387 


[,  O.,  JULV,  1879. 


L  Advance  Co.,  SO  W.  uth  Sc,  Cmcinnati,  O.  Sub 


Tire  Pkysio-Mbd's.— On  our  exchange  list  we  have  the  Phymo- 
Medical  Journal,  published  at  ladianapolis,  and  it  gives  ub  real 
pleasure  to  notice  the  work  put  forth  by  this  Journal  to  elevate  the 
standard  of  medinnl  educatiun  in  that  Hchool.  Saui;el  Thompson,  the 
founder,  wae  not  a  learned  man,  nor  have  his  followers  been  noted  for 
knowing  much  beside  Lobdia  and  "  No  6."  And  that  Ihey  are  prone 
to  hob-nob  with  "old  women"  and  "  Indian  doctors"  is  well  known. 
Their  stock  phrase,  "sanative  medicine,"  has  for  years  stood  them 
in  place  of  "  scientific  medicine."  They  have  laughed  at  anatomy, 
physiology,  rhemistry  and  the  like,  while  they  managed  to  keep 
their  patients  sober  enough  on  captiaim  and  lobdia.  The  central 
idea  of  their  practice  seems  to  have  been  that  God  made  the  vege- 
tables but  the  devil  made  the  minerals.  Now,  these  pbysio-med's 
huve  done  much  good  in  their  day,  and  if  they  follow  in  the  new 
and  better  paths  of  their  leaders,  like  J.  M.  Thurstos  and  Georob 
Hasty,  they  may  continue  to  be  of  some  use  in  tlie  world,  but  if 
they  don't  wake  up  to  modern  medical  science,  they  can  have  no 
excuse  for  further  existence.  The  journal  in  question  is  lively  and 
always  readable.  . 
July- 1 


18  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

At  JJuffalo  there  is  an  enterprise  on  foot  to  establish  a  "  Homoeo- 
pathic College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  (Modern  School)."  If  the 
phrase  "  modem  school  *'  applies  to  the  "  surgeons  or  physicians  " 
we  don't  know  what  it  means.  If  it  refers  to  the  "  Homoeopathic  " 
we  do  know  what  it  means,  and  would  be  sorry  to  have  any  of  our 
friends  misled  by  the  term.  If  the  gentlemen  think  a  bridge  is 
safer  than  the  main  land  they  are  entirely  welcome  to  the  pleasing 
hallucination,  but  they  need  not  spend  their  energies  in  defaming 
the  character  of  Homceopathic  Colleges  or  in  disparaging  their  modes 
of  teaching.  This  is  in  bad  taste  and  will  not  win  for  the  parties  in 
charge  of  the  Buffalo  project  the  good  will  and  respect  of  the  homoeo- 
pathic profession.  The  man  who 'recently  whipped  a  Jew  for  taking 
part,  as  he  supposed,  in  the  crucifixion,  is  on  a  par  with  men  who 
think  they  have  found  a  bonanza  in  the  law  of  similia  and  that  it  is 
really  good  for  some  few  things.  They  only  show  their  lack  of  gen- 
eral information  of  history,  and  what  they  call  **  modern  "  is  already 
old  and  much  oi  it  out  of  date.  AVhen  going  backward  is  the  same 
as  going  forward,  thel^  Eclectic  Homoeopathy  will  be  equivalent  to 
progress. 

Conventions.— With  an  inborn  and  highly  cultivated  love  for  pro- 
fessional intercourse,  we  have  never  failed,  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  e 
century,  in  taking  our  annual  fill  of  convention  work.  This  season 
we  have  met  with  and  enjoyed  the  Inter-Collegiate  Congress  and 
Indiana  Institute  meetings  at  Indianapolis;  the  Wabash  Valley 
Homoeopathic  Society  meeting  at  Charleston,  111. ;  the  Western  Aca- 
demy of  Homoeopathy  at  St.  Louis,  and  the  Homoeopathic  Medical 
Society  of  Ohio  at  Cleveland.  Our  long  experience  in  this  sort  of 
thing  has  led  us  to  note  how  rapidly  the  homa^opathic  school  is 
improving  and  every  way  changing  for  the  better.  Every  year  new 
and  valuable  members  are  coming  upon  the  stage  and  adding  to  the 
strength  and  effectiveness  of  our  school.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  say 
aught  that  should  disparage  the  work  of  the  noble  old  pioneers,  but 
times  change  and  progress  is  the  watchword,  and  it  must  be  conceded 
that  our  new  members  have  in  many  ways  the  advantage  of  their  pre- 
decessors. That  these  new  comers  too  many  of  them  lack  in  enthu- 
siastic devotion  to  sound  homoeopathic  principles  and  in  a  clear  per- 
ception of  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  our  school  is  often  painfully 
apparent,  but  in  ability,  culture  and  practical  talent,  in  the  produc- 
tion of  scientific  papers  and  an  ability  to  broadly  and  ably  discuss 
leading  questions,  there  has  been  a  notable  improvement.  The  pro- 
ceedings of  almost  any  of  our  conventions  of  to-day  will  largely  out 
rank  the  reports  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago.  This  is  undeniable. 
We  are  proud  of  the  fact  and  upon  this  we  hopefully  found  our  faith 


Editoriah  19 

in  the  future  success  and  glory  of  the  homoeopathic  school.  We 
note  also,  by  way  of  contrast  with  former  times,  that  now,  in  all  our 
conventions,  the  ladies  put  in  their  appearance  and  show  an  ability 
for  work  that  is  sometimes  as  pleasing  as  it  is  surprising.  We  never 
fail  to  get  from  them  valuable  papers.  But  now  we  are  in  a  state  of 
wonderment  over  this  fact,  that  in  these  recent  conventions  we  have 
not  heard  the  much  mooted  question  raised  as  to  potency  and  dose. 
A  stranger  listening  would  not  have  suspected  that  we  had  among 
us  such  nondescripts  as  high  and  low  potency  men.  Is  the  issue 
dead  or  have  the  profession  settled  down  to  the  sensible  determina- 
tion to  let  every  man  judge  for  himself?  We  hope  the  latter  course 
has  been  chosen  and  adhered  to.  The  Wabash  Valley  Society  is  not 
large  but  is  doing  excellent  work  for  our  cause.  Dr.  Sarchbt  and 
his  friends  entertained  the  members  right  royally.  Charleston  will 
be  a  good  place  to  visit  so  long  as  the  Doctor  keeps  his  shingle  hang- 
ing out  in  that  town.  We  can  not  speak  too  highly  of  the  conven- 
tion at  St.  Louis.  It  consumed  three  of  the  best  days  of  our  life. 
The  doctors  and  their  friends  honored  the  Academy  with  the  warm- 
est personal  attention.  Our  thanks  are  hereby  tendered  Dr.  Everett 
and  Dr.  Goodman — whn  is  a  good  fellow  as  well,  and  worthy  to  be 
the  editor,  as  he  is,  of  the  Homoeopathic  News— for  locomotor  priv- 
ileges, for  through  their  generous  aid  We  did  St.  Louis  to  our  heart's 
content.  Dr.  Campbell's  Eye  and  Ear  Clinic  was  a  feast  of  fatness, 
and  we  vote  the  doctor  the  Von  Grafe  of  the  entire  trans- Mississippi 
region.  At  any  rate  the  "  ayes  "  and  "  noes  "  both  have  it  with  him. 
Dr.  J.  Harts  Miller,  the  President  of  the  convention,  did  himself 
and  the  Academy  distinguished  honor  in  performing  the  arduous 
duties  of  his  office.  We  are  inclined  to  put  a  wreath  on  the  head  of 
the  Treasurer  if  we  could  only  get  around  his  FooU  to  do  it.  Of  the 
Cleveland  meeting  we  dare  not  indulge  in  encomiums,  for  it  would 
savor  of  praising  one's  own.  When  Cleveland  fails  to  have  a  suc- 
cessful convention  we  may  make  a  note  of  the  fact.  A  fine  volume 
of  the  proceedings  will  soon  be  issued.  It  remains  for  us  now  to 
finish  up  the  summer's  campaign  by  going  to  Lake  George  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  We  look 
for  a  large  gathering  and  a  grand  time.  Every  one  counts,  so,  dear 
reader,  pack  your  valise  and  join  us  on  the  classic  shores  of  that 
world  renowned  inland  sea. 

Memory  and  Forgbtfulness. — ^Those  who  have  made  the  human 
mind  a  special  study  have  discovered  a  most  curious  paradoxical 
characteristic  in  the  faculty  of  memory.  For  many  years  this 
element  of  the  intellect  has  been  recognized  as  an  attribute  of  the 
ganglionic  centres.    It  is  not  specifically  a  mental  faculty,  or,  in 


20  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

other  words,  peculiar  to  the  cerebrum  alone,  but  inseparable  beyond 
a  doubt  from  the  functions  of  all  ganglia.  Memory  belongs  to  all 
animals  endowed  with  a  nervous  system.  And  we  may  go  further 
and  say  that  bioplasm  itself  is  capable  of  receiving  and  retaining 
impressions ;  and  is  therefore  endowed  with  memory  Man's  higher 
faculty  of  recollection  is  but  an  elaboration  of  what  we  find  con. 
nected  with  the  lowest  orders  of  life.  But  the  paradoxical  fa4:t  we 
refer  to  is  this:  the  brain  has  the  power  to  absorb  impressions 
much  as  a  sponge  absorbs  water  and  like  the  sponge  it  may 
almost  on  the  instant  be  wrung  dry  of  its  contents.  This  is 
practically  one  of  the  most  beneficent  facts  connected  with 
the  life  of  man.  There  is  an  ascertainable  limit  tc*  the  receptivity 
of  the  ganglia.  Hence,  being  full  they  can  receive  no  more.  This 
would  sorjously  limit  our  power  of  acquisition  if  it  were  not  that 
memory  can  free  itself  by  an  exhaustion  of  its  stock  and  so  make 
room  for  new  impressions.  An  actor  memorizes  a  piece  with  a  rap- 
idity that  is  quite  astonishing,  and  he  commits  a  new  play  several 
times  in  a  week.  But  he  learns  the  new  one  at  the  expense  of  losing 
a  knowledge  of  the  old  one.  Lawyers,  ministers  and  students 
''cram  "  for  a  definite  occasion  and  when  the  occasion  is  passed  they 
forget  as  easily  as  they  have  learned.  No  impression  is  absolutely 
permanent  but  many  are  remarkably  evanescent.  And  their  relative 
permanency  is  not  measured  by  their  comparative  sharpness.  Grief 
and  joy  of  the  most  acute  kind  pass  out  of  the  mind  as  easily  as  the 
most  common  place  events.  In  one  view  of  this  fact  it  seems  to 
have  its  disadvantiages,  but  on  the  whole  we  have  great  reason  to 
admire  the  faculty  of  forgetfulness,  for  faculty  it  is,  and  a  blessed 
one  too.  To  forgive  and  forget  are  both  possible  by  an  act  of  the 
will.  The  memory  of  disagreeable  things,  therefore,  need  not,  of 
necessity,  abide  with  us.  But  it  is  quite  certain  that  we  can  empty 
the  mind  of  one  thing,  only  by  filling  it  up  with  something  else. 
Recreation  and  amusement  are  admirable  substitutes  for  business 
cares.  They  take  temporary  possession  of  our  thoughts  and  go 
away  as  swiftly  as  they  came,  leaving  us  to  resume  our  old  impres- 
sions or  to  possess  ourselves  of  new^  ones.  This  is  a  normal  function 
of  the  mind  and  should  be  recommended  to  all  our  patients. 


A  Betrospect  of  Medicine.  21 


A  Betrospect  of  Medidne.  Read  Before  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Michigan,  February  3, 
1S79.     By  T.  F.  Pomeroy,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Detroit, 

As  ideas,  like  words,  figures,  chemical  elements  and  mu- 
sical notes,  are  elementary  and  few  in  number  as  compared 
with  the  combinations  of  which  they  are  susceptible,  the 
difficulty  of  presenting  those  that  ate  new  is  met  at  the 
threshold  of  an  attempt  to  write  an  "original  paper."  This 
is  peculiarly  the  case  with  a  subjact  whose  themes  have 
long  ago  been  exhausted,  as  is  the  fact  with  the  one  I  have 
chosen  for  my  paper  this  evening.  I  may,  however,  avail 
myself  of  the  capabilities  for  new  combinations  of  old 
ideas  with  those  of  more  recent  date,  in  relation  to  subjects 
that  are  akin  to  that  of  medicine,  notwithstanding  the  barren- 
ness of  ideas  that  has  characterized  the  medical  profession 
in  relation  to  therapeutics,  fully  up  to  the  commencement 
of  the  present  century.  For,  while  iA  all  those  branches 
of  scientific  investigation  that  are  elementary  and  collateral 
to  medicine,  vast  progress  has  been  made,  medicine  itself, 
as  an  art,  has  been  content  to  rest  where  the  dark 
ages  of  the  past  had  left  it,  so  that  to- day,  even  as  then, 
the  majority  of  its  representatives  are  satisfied  with  the 
usages  and  with  the  methods,  as  they  are  with  the 
means  of  cure  that  were  then  customary,  and  these  are 
still  the  prevailing  and  popular  ones  upon  which  the  great 
bulk  of  the  human  race  relies  in  its  utmost  needs,  and  under 
its  sorests  trials.  This  is  due  to  those  causes  that  have 
already  been  alluded  to  in  a  former  paragf^iaph,  a  barrenness  of 
ideas,  as  also  to  a  neglect  of  those  processes  of  development, 
and  of  those  means  of  evolution  that  have  insured  the  greater 
progress  that  has  been  made,  both  in  science  and  art,  every- 
where but  in  medicine;  those  resources  have  evidently  not 
been  called  into  requisition  in  the  cultivation  of  the  medical 
art. 

In  mechanics,  if  we  look  at  the  steam  engine  of  the  past 
and  of  the  present,  we  shall  behold  the  great  strides  that 


22  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

have  there  been  taken  in  the  line  of  progress  and  improve- 
ment. Some  of  us  here  can  recall  those  primitive  structures 
that  were  regarded  with  wonder  and  astonishment,  as  they 
were  by  steam  propelled  all  along  the  course  of  the  Hudson, 
and  under  the  observation  of  the  sparse  populations  contigu- 
ous to  these  great  lakes  not  a  very  man'y  years  ago;  and,  the 
first  specimens  of  steam  locomotion  upon  land,  which  the 
writer  can  well  remember,  within  the  past  forty -five  years, 
that  transported — in  more  senses  than  one — the  passengers 
of  those  stage  coaching  days  from  Albany  to  Schenectady, 
only  sixteen  miles  of  the  journey  to  the  then  far  west  of  Ohio 
and  Michigan. 

Look  now  at  the  magnificent  and  commodious  steamships 
that  traverse  the  wide  ocean  in  every  conceivable  direction; 
regard  that  superb  structure,  that  almost  thing  of  life,  the 
locomotive  of  the  present  day,  with  its.  long  train  of  hand- 
somely equipped  and  artistically  constructed  cars,  supplied 
with  every  convenience  and  comfort  that  the  weary  or 
the  exacting  traveler  could  demand,  and  behold  the  march 
of  progress.  A  progress  that  is  the  result  of  the  evolution 
and  the  development  of  ideas.  The  first  steamboat,  the 
first  locomotive  were  but,  so  to  speak,  the  efflorescence, 
the  flowering  out  of  a  simple  idea,  you  might  almost  say, 
the  germ  of  an  idea.  This  physical  manifestation  of  this 
first  idea,  suggested  new  combinations  of  it  with  others 
that  had  already  been  made  manifest  and  utilized,  and  so 
on  from  one  improvement  to  another,  until  the  present 
splendid  triumphs  of  science  and  art,  as  applied  to  mechanics, 
have  been  thus  reached.  An  idea,  a  series  of  continually 
evolving  ideas,  were  the  germs,  the  seed  about  which  all 
these  results  have  clustered.  Like  the  seeds  of  vegetation 
and  their  germs  which  supply  themselves  with  nourishment 
from  the  elements  that  surround  them,  combining  and  arrang- 
ing their  particles  in  obedience  to  fixed  laws,  until  we  wit- 
ness the  magnificent  forest,  the  prolific  grains  and  fruits  for 
the  food  of  man  and  beast,  and  the  beautiful  flowers  of  the 
field  and  garden.  Who  can  tell  how  far  apart  are  the  ideas  out 
of,  and  from  which,  such  superb  results  of  mechanical  art  have 


A  Betrospect  of  Medicine.  23 

sprung,  and  the  controlling  principles  and  laws  that  deter- 
mine the  development  and  manifestations  of  organic  life? 
In  the  construction  of  machinery  are  not  living  principles 
and  eternal  laws  as  truly  operative  and  potent  as  in  the 
more  subtle  and  hidden  processes  that  result  in  living  organ- 
isms? May  it  not  be  that  both  series  of  results  are  due  to  a 
similar,  if  not  to  an  identical  relationship  of  cause  and  effect? 
Both  are  indeed  supplied  and  perfected  from  common  ele- 
ments as  they  are  constructed  and  developed  through  the 
agency  of  common  laws  and  universal  principles. 

Again  let  us  regard  the  vast  attainments  in  science  and 
art,  that  have  been  made  while  medicine  has  thus  remained 
stationary  and  dormant  through  its  many  years  of  hyberna- 
tion, its  sleep  of  centuries,  and  we  will  but  glance  at  them, 
hardly  more  than  to  enumerate  some  few  of  them.      Com- 
pare  the   chemistry   of  the    last  with    that   of  the   present 
century,    especially  as  applied    to  the  arts  and   to  kindred 
sciences,  who  would  recognize  the  relationship  from  its  pres- 
ent standpoint  with  that  of  the  past;  even  within  the  memory 
of  the  writer  it  has  almost  past  recognition  and  comprehension. 
Then,  the  discoveries  in  astronomy  and  microscopy,  and  the 
revelations  that  are  constantly  made  manifest  through  their 
agency;  so  also  the  vast  and  important  advances  in  spectro- 
scopic analyses  and  their  results;  the  media  of  communica- 
tion and  inter-communication  between  points  near  and  most 
remote  furnished  by  telegraphy  and  its  kindred  agents;  the 
processes  of  transferring  almost  by  magic  the  images  of  ob- 
jects, the  symbols  of  thought,   into  tangible  and   convenient 
shape  for  use  and  ornament;  the  wonderful  developments  in 
the  art  of  printing,  and  the  great  perfection  attained  in  the 
construction  of  the  printing  press,  and  their  wonderful  re.-ults 
and   transformations.      So  also   in    biology — the   science  of 
life,  the  science  of  the  sciences — have  thought  and  research 
begun  to  bestir  themselves,  and  ideas  hitherto  widely  separ- 
ated  have    commenced   the  processes  of  affiliation  and    of 
association,  combining  into  definite  forms,  and  into  proposi- 
tions, many  of  which  await  farther  investigation  and  ultimate 
solution.      Investigations  and  problems  that  reach  back  into 


24  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

the  ages,  that  dig  down  into  the  hidden  depths  of  the  ejyth» 
that  stretch  forth  into  the  spheres,  that  question  as  to  the  origin 
and  history  of  the  universe,  that  consult  the  very  arcana  of 
nature,  and  that  stop  at  nothing  thj(t  is  between  heaven  and 
earth.  Investigations  that  regard  the  most  subtle,  as  well, 
as  the  most  material  of  the  processes  and  manifestations  of 
life,  that  relate  to  mental  as  to  physical  phenomena,  that  find 
analogies  everywhere,  and  correspondencies  on  every  hand; 
in  fact,  thkt  tend  to  unity  and  harmony,  to  universal  s'mi- 
larity  and  relationship,  to  a  grand  incomprehensible  central 
idea,  the  germ,  the  source  of  all  things  in  the  heavens  above 
and  in  the  earth  beneath;  that  regard  all  organic  life  as  but 
a  microcosm,  a  representative  of  the  universe  itself,  the  out- 
come of  an  infinite  series  of  evolutions  and  developments 
obedient  to  the  same  eternal  laws,  subservient  to  the  same 
subtle  forces  and  constructed  from  the  same  elementary 
material.  Such  in  general  terms  is  the  nature  and  direction 
of  biological  research,  a  science  so  vast,  so  comprehensive, 
that  it  embraces  all  the  rest  within  itself,  one  that  can  not 
be  regarded  nor  investigated  without  involving  a  knowledge 
that  is  universal,  an  apprehension  that  is  eternal;  a  full  com- 
prehension of  which  must  ever  be  unattainable. 

It  is  "passing  strange"  that  the  medical  art,  the  one  whose 
relations  are  so  exclusively  confined  to  organic  life,  for  the 
preservation  and  maintenance  of  its  forces  in  equilibrium, 
and  in  the  exercise  of  their  highest  capabilities  should  have 
been  eminently  the  laggard  in  all  that  pertains  to  progress 
and  development.  It  is  astounding  that  it  should  have  been 
an  art  so  barren  of  ideas,  one  so  destitute  of  a  capacity  for 
appropriating  those  of  other  arts,  and  of  the  collateral 
sciences  also,  to  its  own  use,  and  of  recombining  them  for 
its  own  advancement.  That  such,  however,  is  the  fact,  can 
not  be  controverted;  almost  daily  and  hourly  does  the  evi- 
dence of  it  come  under  the  notice  of  ordinary  observation. 
But  originality  in  the  conception  of  ideas  does  not,  nor  ever 
has,  characterized  the  medical  profession.  It  has  rather  been 
distinguished  for  its  decided  and  persistent  opposition  to  all 


A  Retrospect  of  Medicine,  25 

sucl^  innovations,  as  are  the  outgrowth  of  original  thought,  as 
it  has  ever  treated  the  authors  of  them  with  its  disapproval, 
and  not  unfrequently  with  persecution  and  a  vindictiveness 
worthy  of  the  bigotry  that  belongs  only  to  ignorance  and 
superstition.  While  we  may  not  be  able  fully  to  explain  the 
causes  that  have  led  to  these  results,  or  to  deny  the  facts,  or 
the  history  that  records  them,  we  are  left  to  lament  the  con- 
sequences that  an  equally  faithful  history  has  also  recorded, 
a  history  written  not  merely  in  books,  but  that  is  as  indelibly 
stamped  upon  the  victims  of  this  ignorance  and  intolerance 
through  a  long  succession  of  generations,  as  upon  the  profes- 
sion itself. 

Why  the  medical  profession  did  not  long  before  the  present 
century,  detect  the  intimate  relations  that  exist  between  the 
three  great  kingdoms  in  nature,  the  mineral,  the  vegetable 
and  the  animal,  in  relation  to  itself,  why  it  has  remained* 
oblivious  to  the  suggestions  of  nutrition  and  development 
incident  to  these  relations,  is  a  question,  the  solution  of  which 
has  puzzled  wiser  heads  than  ours  perhaps.  Why  it  has  not 
from  these  facts  of  nutrition  and  growth,  facts  that  have 
necessarily  existed  since  the  advent  of  organic  life  upon  the 
earth,  deduced  a  system  of  therapeutics  commensurate  with 
those  relations,  is  another  cause  for  wonderment  to  those 
who,  at  this  advanced  period  of  the  history  of  the  world, 
have  begun  to  enter  upon  the  investigation  and  the  practical 
application  of  them. 

From  our  standpoint,  the  inference  is  most  direct  and 
legitimate,  that  upon  those  laws  that  determine  the  facts  and 
the  phenomena  of  organic  life,  must  its  continued  existence 
and  its  healthful  conditions  depend;  and,  that  the  same 
elementar}'  constituents  that  enter  into  its  construction,  that 
administer  to  its  nutrition  and  development,  that  maintain 
its  functional  action  and  direct  its  forces,  are  requisite  for 
the  maintenance  of  their  integrity,  and  for  the  restoration  of 
their  harmonious  action  whenever  disturbed  or  impaired, 
through  disease  or  by  accidental  circumstances.  Yet  it  has 
remained  for  representatives  of  the  profession  in  this  nine- 


26  Cincinnati   Medical  Advance, 

teenth  century  to  make  these  deductions,  and  to  announce 
this  discovery,  and  to  put  them  to  the  test  of  experience. 
And  not  only  this,  but  in  doing  so  to  meet  the  determined 
opposition,  the  unjust  opprobrium  and  reproach  of  the  great 
bulk  of  the  profession,  a  reward  for  progressive  research  and 
advancement  that  has  not  been  as  liberally  accorded  to  dis- 
coverers in  those  sciences  and  arts  that  are  collateral  to,  and 
concurrent  with  the  medical  art.  Well  might  the  denuncia- 
tions of  one  of  old  against  the  bigots  and  hypocrites  of  his 
day,  be  hurled  by  them  at  their  brethren  and  most  unworthy 
representatives  of  the  medical  profession.  "But  woe  unto 
you  scribes  and  pharisees,  hypocrites!  for  ye  shut  up  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  against  men ;  for  ye  neither  go  in  your- 
selves, neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering  to  go  in." 

That  these  men  who  have  had  such  a  relish  for  pathologi- 
cal research,  and  who  have  w.asted  so  much  time,  and  con- 
sumed so  many  volumes  in  their  almost  barren  theories  and 
speculations,  should  have  failed  to  see  the  necessary  connec- 
tion, through  the  materia  medica  of  nature,  between  physio- 
logical conditions  and  the  requirements  of  therapeutics, 
while  they  were  so  keen  on  the  pathological  scent,  is  one  of 
those  bewildering  things  that  meet  us  along  the  dreary  path- 
way pf  medical  science.  Unhappily  too,  the  counterpart  of 
this  is  found,  far  too  largely  found,  in  the  midst  of  those 
who  should  know  better,  having  themselves  advanced,  or 
assumed  to  do  so,  into  a  pui:er  atmosphere  of  medical  thought. 
Here  also  we  are  confronted  by  this  absorbing  and  blinding 
bewilderment  as  to  the  paramount  advantages  of  pathologi- 
cal research,  the  supreme  importance  of  a  per  se  knowledge 
of  diseased  states  and  conditions,  apart  from  a  perfect 
familiarity  with  the  intimate  relations  existing  between 
physiological  and  therapeutic  ones.  Had  an  observation  of 
every  day  facts,  in  relation  to  health  and  disease,  as  con- 
stantly and  as  systematically  commanded  the  attention  of  our 
professional  ancestors,  as  did  their  studies  and  lucubrations 
upon  abstract  pathology,  or  pathology  in  the  abstract,  the 
revelations  of  this  our  day  as  to  therapeutic  science,  would 


A  Betroapect  of  Medicine,  27 

not  have  awaited  the  advent  of  the  present  century  for  their 
recognition  and  observance,  nor  would  their  reception  have 
been  as  ungenerous  and  as  ungracious  as  the  history  of  that 
reception  abundantly  records.  Had  the  materia  medica,  which 
nature  has  always  so  profusely  supplied,  and  scattered  along 
the  pathway  of  the  past  ages,  been  studied  in  its  relations  to 
the  physiological  status;  and,  had  the  results  of  its  applica- 
tion thereto  been  as  strictly  observed  and  as  faithfully  re- 
corded, as  during  the  later  years  of  the  history  of  the 
medical  art,  we  would  not  now  have  been  compelled  to  the 
acknowledgipent,  the  humiliating  confession,  that  medical 
science  is  far  behind  its  cotcmporaries  and  its  competitors,  in 
the  race  for  scientific  supremacy  and  advancement.  Such 
obliviousness  to  their  everywhere  surroundings,  would  require 
the  almost  logical  inference  that  through  all  those  ages  of 
the  past,  and  especially  through  these  later  years  of  progress, 
the  members  and  the  representatives  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion, as  a  class,  have  not  been  the  recipients  of  as  thorough 
training,  or  of  as  full  and  complete  education,  as  their 
fellows  and  cotemporaries  in  kindred  scientific  pursuits. 
How  else  shall  we  explain  the  fact  that  the  suggestions,  deriv- 
able from  mechanical  and  kindred  forces,  the  study  of  which 
has  always  been  prosecuted  and  enforced  in  all  institutions  of 
learning,  have  not  been  observed  nor  regarded  in  their  appli- 
cation to  medical  science.  The  subtle,  the  almost  inscrutable 
power  of  the  screw,  the  lever  and  the  pulley,  the  hidden, 
but  most  potent  forces  developed  in  the  process  of  crystalH- 
zation,  of  vegetable  growth,  and  of  the  conversion  of  water 
into  steam,  to  say  nothing  of  those  elementary  forces,  attrac- 
tion and  repulsion,  would,  or  should,  be  suggestive  of  the 
intimacy  of  their  relations  to  animal  life,  and  to  the  integrity 
of  its  heathful  and  continued  existence. 

To  the  completely  educated  medical  mind,  and  to  the  truly 
observant  one,  the  human  organism  represents  the  sum  of  all 
the  forces  in  nature,  both  those  that  are  purely  subtle,  and 
those  that  are  merely  mechanical;  so  also  in  the  performance 
of  its   functions,  voluntary   or  otherwise,    he  recognizes  an 


28  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

implicit  obedience  to  the  same  laws,  and  the  same  influences 
that  govern  the  movements  of  the  planets  as  also  of  the  uni- 
verse itself,  for  of  these  it  is  the  legitimate  and  direct  pro- 
duct, and  upon  these  it  is  dependent  for  sustenance  and 
growth,  as  well  as  for  all  the  phenomena  that  characterize, 
or  that  relate  to  its  existence. 

Mental  function,  which  distinguishes  the  animal  from  all 
other  manifestations  of  organic  life,  and  most  conspicuously 
in  the  human  race,  may,  after  all,  be  found  to  be  but  the 
highest  form  of  force,  the  ultimate  of  the  refining  processes 
through  which  the  forces  of  nature  have  progressed,  the 
finality  of  many  series  of  evolutions,  the  completion  of  the 
great  circle  of  revolution  that  brings  organized  beings  to 
their  perhelion,  to  their  nearest  possible  approach  to  that 
grand  central  force  that  governs  and  prevades  all  else  in 
nature.  At  this  point,  in  the  order  of  nature,  for  the  first 
time  do  we  find,  in  kind  though  not  in  degree,  a  manifestation 
of  attributes  that  belong  only,  so  far  as  we  are  capable  of 
understanding  them,  to  the  Deity  itself,  the  great  source  of 
intelligence,  and  of  all  things  else.  Here  we  must  be  content 
to  rest,  to  be  satisfied  that  we  are  animated  by  those  forces, 
that  we  are  the  possessors  of  those  faculties  that  make  us 
capable  of  observing,  and  of  investigating  all  phenomena 
that  emanate  or  flow  out  from  the  great  source  of  all  things, 
from  the  divine  mind  itself.  We  may  congratulate  ourselves, 
and  feel  happy  over  the  thought  that  the  medical  profession 
even,  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  may  yet  aspire  to  the  exer- 
cise of  these  functions,  and  indulge  in  their  development 
whenever  it  shall  awaken  from  its  long  period  of  inaction,  its 
almost  sleep  of  death,  through  which  we  may  charitably 
suppose,  that  like  the  victims  of  its  ignorance,  it  has  been  held 
under  the  influence  and  dominion  of  some  demon  of  narcot- 
ism, of  some  infernal  spell  that  bound  it,  body  and  soul,  to 
the  tralitions  and  superstitions  of  the  past  in  relation  to  medi- 
cine. If  such  reflections  as  these  are  pertinent,  if  such  con- 
clusions are  just,  as  regards  the  medical  profession  of  the 
past,  with  how  much  more  force  and  justice  do  they  apply  to 
the  profession  of  this,  our  day,  when  knowledge  stalks 
abroad,  and  when  science  and   art  enjoy  their  holiday,  and 


A  Betrospect  of  Medicine.  29 

revel  in  the  sunshine  of  their  ever  fresh  discoveres.  Must 
the  members  of  the  profession,  individually  or  collectively, 
rest  content  with  the  acquirements  of  past  generations,  yea, 
of  past  ages,  with  the  methods  of  antiquity  only  at  their  com- 
mand in  their  conflicts  with  disease,  and  especially  at  this 
juncture  when  the  horoscope  of  the  astrologer,  as  the  prog- 
nostications of  the  astronomer,  alike  point  to  the  dire  calami- 
ties of  war,  pestilence  and  famine,  that  have  already  begun 
to  swell  their  onward  tide,  a  tide  which,  before  it  ebbs  again, 
may  swallow  up  and  destroy  a  tithe  of  the  human  race,  and 
bring  woe  and  desolation  to  millions  more?  Ah'eady  do  we 
hear  the  tramp  of  this  ''pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness," 
still  louder,  perchance,  will  its  warning  notes  assail  our  ears 
before  the  current  year  shall  have  passed  away,  and  it  may  be 
that  before  the  summer  of  1S79  ^^^^  faded  into  the  autumnal 
months,  many  of  us  will  have  recorded  our  numerous 
victories  or  our  many  defeats  in  our  conflict  with  it. 

The  great  prodigality  of  nature  in  the  production  of  life, 
which  seems  to  spring  spontaneously  from  everything,  and 
from  everywhere,  and  which  is  so  suggestive  of  her  recupera- 
tive powers,  is  but  the  counterpart  of  her  wastefulness  and 
extravagance  in  the  destruction  of  it.  Thus  is  put  at  naught 
the  great  importance  that  is,  by  tlie  human  race,  centered  in 
itself  as  the  supreme  end  and  object  of  all  things  else  in 
nature,  and  for  whose  especial  use  and  benefit  the  earth  and 
all  that  it  holds,  the  firmament  and  its  myriads  of  shining 
orbs,  were  definitely  created  and  set  in  motion. 

Such  events,  such  great  casualties  as  are  just  now  fore- 
shadowed, serve  to  teach  man  that  his  race,  in  common  with 
all  others  of  the  animal  creation,  is  but  an  humble  manifesta- 
tion of  nature's  resources  and  capabilities,  hidden  away 
in  this  corner  of  the  universe,  and  upon  which  the  foot  of 
old  Time  as  he  passes  this  way,  may  but  momentarily  press 
to  crush  millions  of  its  representatives  out  of  sight  and  put  of 
mind.  We  are  also  now  and  then  reminded,  and  to  our- 
selves most  forcibly  and  painfully,  that  man's  existence  is  no 
impediment  to  the  onward  march  of  the  hurricane,  or  the 
resistless  flow  of  the  flood,  no  more  than  it  for  a   moment  re- 


30  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tards  the  volcano's  or  the  earthquake's  relentless  course; 
truly  "all  flesh  is  but  grass,"  and  we  the  creatures  of  a  mo- 
ment, and  human  existence  but  a  flower  that  blooms  to-day 
and  to-morrow  is  dissolved  into  its  elements;  whose  great 
prototype  and  exemplar  is,  nevertheless,  the  universe  itself  in 
its  ever  changing  and  ever  varying  course.  Is  it  possible 
then  that  immortality,  the  immortality  of  which  prophets  and 
philosophers  have  written  and  speculated  so  much,  of  which 
the  poets^of  all  ages  have  sung,  individual  immortality,  is  but 
a  dream  of  the  imagination,  a  fantasy  of  the  brain?  Can  it 
be  that  immortality  appertains  only  to  the  perpetual  evolution 
of  the  elements,  and  of  the  forces  of  nature,  alike  through 
organic  and  inorganic  matter,  using  them  only  for  their 
manifestation  and  for  the  exhibition  of  their  power?  The  ana- 
logies and  the  suggestions  of  all  natural  phenomena  would 
almost  lead  to  such  a  conclusion,  as  would  also  the  lavishness 
of  nature,  both  in  the  production  and  in  the  destruction  of 
life,  her  utter  unconcern  and  indifference  relative  to  the 
kind  or  the  condition  of  it,  whether  vegetable  or  animal,  or, 
of  a  lower  or  a  higher  degree,  it  matters  not;  it  is  all  the 
same. 

Such  problems  as  these  do  not  yet  admit  of  flnal  conclu- 
sions, they  must  await  the  further  developments  of  scientiflc 
investigation  and  the  results  of  biological  research;  but,  in 
regarding  them  solely  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  such 
may  be  the  only  alternative  conclusion  presented  for  our 
acceptance.  To  no  class  of  investigators,  to  no  branch  of 
scientists,  do  these  investigations  so  properly  belong  as  to 
those  of  the  medical  profession.  The  science  of  life  in  all  its 
relations,  and  under  all  its  conditions  and  manifestations, 
even  to  its  final  outcome  is  the  physician's  appropriate  field 
of  action,  the  study  of  it,  his  peculiar  province. 


That  Same  Old  Question,  ,         31 


That  Same  Old  Question.     By  C.  Pearson,  M.  D.,  Washing, 
ton,  D,  C. 

There  appears  to  be  quite  an  effort  on  the  part  of  some 
physicians,  and  particularly  of  pharmaceutists,  to  make  the 
impression  general  that  the  high  potencies,  i  M,  and 
upwards,  of  Swan  and  Finke,  are  really  nothing  more 
than  the  third  or  the  sixth  centigrade.  If  this  important 
discovery  is  calculated  to  make  these  men  happy,  and  they 
seem  to  feel  good  over  it,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  spoil  their  fun. 
They  are  probably  at  a  loss,  on  any  other  hypothesis,  to 
account  for  the  many  brilliant  cures  effected  by  those  who 
use  these  preparations.  They  appear  to  recognize  no  differ- 
ence between  diluting  and  potentiating.  One  drop  of  a  tinc- 
ture in  a  barrel  of  water  would  be  diluting,  and  from  their 
standpoint,  as  well,  probably,  as  from  any  other,  no  toxical 
or  even  curative  effects  would  be  likely  to  be  perceptible, 
though  the  patient  were  to  swallow  the  whole  of  it;  but 
when  this  water  is  taken  ten  or  qne  hundred  drops  at  a 
time,  and  thoroughly  succuss>ed  with  the  medicine,  a  power 
is  developed  that  is  potent,  call  it  dynamic  or  what  you  will, 
the  fact  is  not  to  be  gainsayed.  Do  these  objectors  believe 
that  Doctors  Swan,  Finke  and  Skinner  are  dishonest,  or  do 
not  know  the  third  from  the  two  thousandth  potency  when 
they  prepare  it,  while  others,  a  thousand  miles  away,  are 
able  to  tell  just  how  the  thing  is  done,  and  when  these  men 
have  blundered,  why  the  most  of  these  medicines  have  been 
run  up  by  hand  to  the  thirtieth,  or  even  above,  according  to 
Hahnemann's  formula,  before  these  men  commence  with 
their  machines  to  carry  them  higher.  What  nonsense,  then, 
to  prate  about  these  potencies  being  low.  Thirty  years  ago, 
it  was  customary  for  physicians  to  prepare  their  own  attenu- 
ations. I  did  so  and  for  some  ten  years  seldom  prescribed  a 
medicine  above  the  twelfth  decimal.  I  afterwards  carried 
them  higher,  to  the  thirtieth,  and  a  number  even  to  the  two 
hundredth,  and  found  that  the  higher  I  went,  in   most  dis- 


32  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

eases,  the  better  was  my  success  in  practice.  Some  two 
years  ago  I  commenced  using  Dr.  Swan's  high  potencies, 
with  a  good  deal  of  caution  though,  for  years  before  the 
two  hundredth  had  been  my  favorite,  in  that  time  I  have 
rarely  prescribed  any  medicine  below  the  i  m.,  generally 
fifty,  or  cm,,  and  can  truly  say,  notwithstanding  I  have 
been  reasonably  busy  treating  all  the  diseases  incident  to 
this  locality,  including  scarlet  fever  and  diphtheria,  that  the 
mortality  in  my  practice  during  this  time  has  been  much 
less  than  during  any  former  two  years.  If  these  prepara- 
tions are  the  third  or  the  sixth  why  is  the  mortality  reduced 
one  hundred  per  cent,  below  what  it  was  when  I  used  these 
potencies  exclusively?  We  leave  this,  question  to  those 
mathematicians  that  have  no  trouble  in  showing  us  that  two 
and  two  make  six. 

A  writer  in  the  December  15th  number  of  the  Investigator 
labors  hard,  and  successfully,  to  show  how  little  he  knows  about 
the  treatment  of  "malignant  diphtheria,"  and  says,  "any  one 
who  proposes  to  arrest  its  course  by  a  dose  of  Sulph.  200th  or 
anything  else,  should  be  chained  up  as  a  mad  man  or  sent  to 
an  idiotic  asylum."  It  is  a  strange  coincidence  that  insane 
men  should  always  believe  every  one  else  crazy  but  them- 
selves. I  claim  to  be  the  first  person  to  maintain  that  diph- 
theria was  a  blood  poisoning,  for  which  Sulph,  was  as  nearly 
a  specific  as  it  was  possible  to  have  one  remedy  for  a  disease, 
l)ut  that  it  was  useless  or  nearly  so,  below  the  two  hundredth, 
I  had  practiced  according  to  this  belief  for  years  before,  making 
any  such  public  statement  in  a  lecture  to  the  class  of  1873 
and  1874  in  the  medical  college  at  Cleveland,  an  extract 
from  which  may  be  found  in  the  February  15,  1876,  number 
of  The  Investigator.  I  recommend  this  treatment,  and 
again  in  discussing  this  subject  at  the  World's  Convention 
in  Philadelphia,  the  only  change  my  opinion,  since  then,  has 
undergone  is  that,  instead  of  giving  it  at  the  two  hundredth 
I  now  give  it  cm.  with  much  better  results.  Those  who 
give  Mercurial  and  other  preparations  low,  with  applications 
oi  hot  or  cold  water,  as  this  writer  so  highly  recommends, 


That  Same, Old  Question.  33 

usually  experience  much  more  relief  themselves  mentally, 
than  their  patients  do  physically,  for  they  can  congratulate 
themselves  they  did  something  as  they  pass  the  cemetery 
where  their  patients  are  buried. 

But  when  they  counsel  us  to  resort  to  the  same  treatment 
we  have  tried  time  and  again,  even  to  binding  ice  on  the 
throat,  only  to  see  our  little  patients  struggle  and  die.  Their 
talk  about  '^men  of  real  genius  coming  to  the  front*'  in  the 
treatment  of  malignant  diseases,  and  those  that  practice  to 
sustain  a  special  '*  ism  ''  being  compelled  *'  to  step  down  and 
out,"  **  passes  by  as  the  idle  wind  which  we  respect  not," 
and  is,  ''as  a  tale,  told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury  sig- 
nifying nothing." 

But  the  Milwaukee  Academy  of  Medicine  proposes  to 
finally  and  permanently  settle  this  vexed  question  of  potency, 
to  determine  whether  there  is  any  curative  virtues  in  the 
thirtieth,  and  if  they  decide  there  is  not  th-^n  those  who 
**  parade  their  cures  "  with  this  and  still  higher  potencies  in  our 
medical  journals  are  to  be  regarded  as  frauds.  In  other  words, 
they  propose  to  determine  whether  Hahnemann  was  a  fool, 
and  all  his  true  followers,  from  his  day  to  the  present,  a  pack  of 
deluded  asses.  Now  this  is  quite  an  important  question,  and 
some  of  us  naturally  feel  interested  to  know  just  what  we  are. 
Why  do  they  not  accept  the  unanimous  verdict  of  ten  thous- 
and allopathic  physicians  in  regard  to  this  matter.  Why  do 
they  not  appoint  a  committee  to  determine  whether  the  sun 
shines  or  the  earth  moves,  because  some  lunatics  still  doubt 
it.  "Ye  Gods!  it  doth  amaze  me"  that  men  will  go  to  so 
much  trouble  to  weaken,  and  excite  suspicions  in  regard  to 
the  only  systecn  of  medicine  that  has  ever  blessed  the  race. 
But  then  we  are  getting  some  wise  young  men  in  the  pro- 
fession, and  it  would  seem  that  the  only  way  some  of  the 
veterans,  who  have  grown  gray  in  the  practice,  can  keep  from 
being  humiliated  and  save  their  credit  is  to  die  soon.  What 
do  you  say  to  this,  Hering,  Lippe,  Guernsey,  Bayard,  Mc- 
Manus,  Gallupe  and  other  survivors  .of  the  old  guard;  men 
who  forty  years  ago  gave  to  Homoeopathy  by  their  success 
July-3 


34  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

in  practicing^  it  in  its  purity  that  reputation  which  induced 
hundreds  of  adventurers  to  embrace  the  name  without  its 
principles.  Is  it  to  be  supposed,  that  if  these  pioneers  had 
prescribed  as  many  do  now,  that  their  success  would  or  could 
have  gained  the  attention  and  confidence  of  the  people  as  it 
did  in  those  days?  No  never,  and  though  there  can  be  little 
fears  that  legitimate  Homoeopathy  will  ever  die,  now  that  its 
true  principles  have  been  discovered;  still,  its  reputation  is 
being  seriously  injured  by  the  many  miserable  failures  of  its 
numerous  mixed  prescribers.  My  old  friend,  Dr.  Gallupe,  in 
the  January  nth  number  of  The  Investigator,  speaking  of  the 
treatment  of  cases  of  convulsions  reported  in  a  previous 
number,  truly  says,  such  published  statements  "are  an  open 
disgrace  to  any  professedly  homoeopathic  journal;"  and  he 
might  have  added,  enough  to  damn  Homoeopathy  in  the 
eyes  of  any  one  who  could  b:;  led  to  the  belief  that  such 
treatment  was  homoeopathic.  The  editor,  in  commenting  on 
the  strictures  of  Dr.  Gallupe,  remaiks  that  *'the  management 
of  convulsions  is  no  child's  play;  that  the  physician's  highest 
calling  is  to  restore  health  to  the  sick,"  all  of  which  is  very 
true,  and  in  view  of  which  we  ask  whv  in  God's  name  men 
who  profess  Homoeopathy,  do  not  practice  it.  Dr.  Gallupe, 
like  many  others,  has  no  doubt  become  tired  and  discouraged 
reporting  cases  "to  show  how  ic  is  done."  There  is  a  class 
of  men  now,  as  there  has  always  been,  who  would  not  be- 
lieve though  one  rose  from  the  dead,  and  he  who  would 
point  out  a  better  way  would  be  only  likely  to  receive  abuse 
in  return  for  his  kindness,  and  if  Ephraim  is  determined  to 
be  joined  to  his  idiots,  it  is  not  surprising  that  there  should 
be  a  disposition  to  let  him  alone. 


I 


I 


I 


'TrOSt-BltO.  Death  from  Septsemia."  By  Alex.  Main  Cur- 
tiss,  M.  D.,  House  Surgeon,  Ward's  Island  Hospital, 
New  York  City. 

In  the  early  treatment  of  frost-bite  all  authorities  recom- 
mend that  the  patient  be  placed  in  a  room  with  the  tempera- 
ture low  and  either  that  friction  be  gently  made  with  snow, 
or  that  the  frozen  parts  be  placed  in  ice  water.  Although 
these  means  are  very  simple  and  easy  of  application,  cases 
are  continually  coming  to  the  notice  of  surgeons  which, 
through  the  neglect  of  early  using  these  measures,  often 
prove  disastrous.  The  following  case  is  a  fair  illustration, 
and  resulted  in  the  death  of  the  patient,  simply  because  of  the 
ignorance  and  carelessness  of  himself  and  his  friends. 

William  Tutttle,  aet.  seventy;  nativity,  England;  occupa- 
tion, laborer;  entered  the  hospital  December  28th,  '78,  in  a 
delirious  condition. 

The  patient,  a  prisoner  in  the  Workhouse,' had  been  at 
work  attending  hogs  in  an  out  house  connected  with  the  New 
York  City  Insane  Asylum  on  Ward's  Island,  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  stirring  hot  swill  with  his  bare  arm,  after  which  he 
slept  in  a  cold  room.  About  a  week  ago  on  awakening  one 
morning,  he  noticed  that  his  right  hand  and  wrist  were  stiff 
and  without  sensation;  in  fact,  he  knew  they  were  frozen. 
On  the  advice  of  his  comrades,  he  immediately  immersed  his 
hand  and  arm  to  the  elbow^  in  hot  swill.  With  the  exception 
of  using  some  kind  of  liniment,  the  man  entirely  neglected 
his  frozen  member  until  his  mates,  becoming  alarmed,  had 
him  sent  to  the  hospital. 

The  hand  and  arm  were  very  much  swollen,  dark  in  color, 
the  skin  moist  and  covered  with  watery  bullae,   and  emitting 


6  Cincnnati  Medical  Advance. 

a  foul  odor.  Over  the  hand  and  wrist  the  skin  was  abraded 
in  several  places,  from  which  issued  a  sanious,  watery  dis- 
charge. 

Sensation  was  present  to  a  slight  degree  along  the  outer 
margin  of  the  little  finger  and  palm.  Delirium  was  constant, 
the  patient  muttering  to  himself,  tossing  about,  continually 
restless,  thirsty,  drinking  a  little  whenever  it  was  offered; 
with  a  pulse  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  and  a  temperature  of 
one  hundrled  and  four  and  one  half.  It  was  clear  that 
septic  poisoning  had  occurred,  and  owing  to  the  low 
condition  of  the  patient,  and  from  the  absence  of  any  line  of 
demarkation,  amputation  was  contra-indicated. 

The  blisters  were  all  opened  with  a  bistoury,  and  a  carbol- 
\zec\  flaxseed  poultice  applied  over  the  gangrenous  portion 
of  the  limb  from  the  elbow  down.  A  high  and  concentrated 
diet  was  ordered,  and  Ars,  ^x  was  given  hourly. 

Dec.  29.  Patient  was  a  little  improved;  not  quite  so  deli- 
rious and  more  ready  to  lake  food.  Temperature  during  the 
day  varied  from  one  hundred  and  three  degrees  to  one  hun- 
dred and  four  and  one  fifth  degrees,  and  the  pulse  from 
one  hundred  and  twenty-Hve  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-five. 

Dec.  30.  'Much  worse,  the  delirium  was  continuous,  of  a 
low  muttering  character  with  subsultus  tendinum.  It  was 
with  difficulty  patient  could  be  gotten  to  take  nourishment; 
temperature  and  pulse. same  as  previous  day, 

{I  BelL  IX  and  Carlo,  veg.  3c  in  alternation  half  hourly. 

Dec.  31.     Fell  into  a  coma  and  died. 


-♦-»- 


Appliod  EoxnGOOpathy.     ^y  F.  Park  Lewis,  M.  D.,  Buffalo, 
New  York. 

There  are  two  methods,  aside  from  the  proving  of  drugs, 
by  which  our  knowledge  of  the  application  of  medicine  may 
be  enlarged.     These  are  first,  what  may  be  termed  analogical 


Theory  and  Practice.  37 

reasoning,  and  second,  the  accumulated  clinical  experience  re- 
sultincr  from  this  method  of  practice.  Thi^  may  appear  to 
savor  of  the  so-called  physiological  school,  and  yet  its  neces- 
sity will  in  certain  cases  be  almost  universally  acknowledged. 
In  ophthalmological  and  otological  practice,  this  is  perhaps 
more  readily  apparent  than  in  any  of  the  other  departments 
of  medicine.  Few  provers  will  continue  the  use  of  a  drug  until 
decided  tissue  changes  have  resulted,  or  until  either  the 
sense  of  sight  or  hearing  is  to  any  marked  degree  impaired. 
Diagnosis  too — at  the  time  in  which  our  most  reliable  prov- 
ings  were  made,  was  in  a  very  crude  and  imperfect  condition, 
and  to-day,  it  is  quite  impossible,  in  many  cases,  from  the 
proving  alone,  to  determine  which  of  the  several  structures 
was  affected  by  the  drug.  We  are  obliged  therefore,  in 
order  to  prescribe  with  discrimination,  to  resort  to  what  I 
have  termed  analogical  reasoning.  We  know  for  instance, 
that  certain  drugs  appear  to  exercise  a  specific  action  on  cer- 
tain kinds  of  tissue.  Bryonia  shows  an  affinity  for  serous 
membranes  wherever  found,  and  hence  its  value  in  pleuritis, 
pericarditis,  arachnitis;  and  although  it  is  not  at  all  probable 
that  all  of  these  membranes  have  ever  been  inflamed  under 
its  continued  use;  still  the  characteristic  sharp  stitching  pain, 
denotes  the  nature  of  the  part  diseased,  and  the  exhibition  of 
the  drug  is  many  times  followed  by  the  happiest  results. 

This  method  of  reasoning  is  by  no  means  infallible,  as  a 
drug  does  not  in  every  case  affect  similar  tissues  in  a  similar 
way,  but  is  offered  merely  as  a  clinical  expedient  in  those 
cases  in  which  the  provings  appear  to  be  insufficient.  Take 
for  example,  the  single  symptom  hemiopia.  This  may  arise 
from  cerebral  tumor  pressing  upon  the  optic  nerve  or  com- 
missure, and  which  may  be  either  osseous  or  gummy;  it  may 
be  due  to  cerebral  blood  clot,  or  to  interocular  hemorrhage; 
it  may  be  a  symptom  of  idiopathic  optic  neuritis;  it  may 
arise  from  a  retinal  detachment;  yet  without  in  any  way  in- 
dicating the  affected  tissue,  we  find  that  Aurum^  Calc.  card., 
Caust.y  Lycop»,  Mur.  acid  and  Nat.  mwr,  all  have  the  symptom 
half  sight.     How,  then,  are  we  to   determine  which  of  the 


38  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

drugs  is  the  one  required?  Of  course  we  must  rely  as  far  as 
possible  on  the  accompanying  general  symptoms;  but  as 
these  are  oftimes  very  few,  we  must  depend,  until  provings, 
based  on  carefully  made  diagnoses,  are  instituted  on  our  ana- 
logical reasoning  and  clinical  experience.  We  know  that  in 
syphilitic  periosteal  tumors,  Aurum  exercises  a  marked  influ- 
ence. Should  such  a  condition  be  accompanied  by  perpen- 
dicular half  sight,  it  would  be  an  additional  indication  for 
the  exhibition  of  the  drug.  But  should  the  tumor  be  of  a 
gummy  nature,  we  know  ih^t  Kali  tod,  will  probably  have  a 
more  marked  effect;  and,  if  under  its  influence,  the  symptoms 
of  hemiopia  should  vanish,  we  must  not  credit  the  Potash  in 
curing  the  hemiopia,  but  in  causing  the  absorption  of  the 
tumor  only,  by  which  the  half  sight  was  caused. 

A  case  recently  presented  itself,  in  which  a  cloud  seemed 
to  cover  the  outer  half  of  the  field  of  vision  in  the  left  eye. 
This  was  found  to  be  due  to  sub-retinal  eflTusion.  The  prov- 
ing of  Gelsemium  has  no  symptom  of  this  kind;  still,  clinically, 
we  know  the  value  of  this  drug  in  serous  efl*usion  beneath 
the  retina.  The  thirtieth  potency  was  employed  and  the 
trouble  vanished.  But,  we  must  not  on  that  account,  consider 
Gelsem.  as  having  cured  perpendicular  half  sight,  but  as  hav- 
ing renewed  the  obstruction  by  which  perfect  vision  was 
prevented,  and  with  it  the  predominant  symptom.  A  case  ot 
plastic  iritis  following  inflammatory  rheumatism,  did  not  re- 
spond kindly  to  the  remedies  employed.  The  pupil  would 
contract,  notwithstanding  the  local  use  of  a  one  per  cent  so- 
lution of  Atrop,  svlph;  while  the  night  pain  was  of  a  most 
agonizing  character,  and  only  temporarily  relieved  by  hot 
applications.  Remembering  the  pleasing  results  of  Salycilate 
of  Soda  in  inflammatory  rheumatism,  and  knowing  the  simi- 
larity of  the  two  diseased  conditions,  the  drug  was  exhibited 
in  material  doses  at  short  intervals,  with  the  eflfect  of  at  once 
controlling  the  pain,  allowing  the  pupil  to  dilate  and  leading 
to  a  speedy  recovery.  , 

This  is  a  method  that  maybe  frequently  employed;  not, 
be  it  understood,  is  it  meant  in  any  degree  to  supplant  our 


Theory  and  Practice,  39 

provings,  but  as  an  auxiliary  to  them;  and  in  this  way,  dis- 
eased conditions  to  which  the  drug  is  probably  strictly  hom- 
oeopathic, but  which  have  never  been  developed  in  the  prov- 
ing, are  cured. 

It  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  and  in  the  highest  degree 
important,  that  successful  clinical  results  should  be  recorded 
and  preserved.  These,  and  repeatedly  verified  provings, 
would  form  the  basis  of  scientific  therapeutics,  and  inestima- 
ble advantages  would  accrue  to  the  school  and  its  patrons. 
Most  carefully  made  diagnoses,  however,  are  necessary,  and 
honest  prescriptions  and  results,  and  upon  such  results  the 
profession  would  be  enabled  to  place  a  reliance  that  would 
greatly  augment  the  confidence  manifested  in  our  law  of 
cure. 


laflMnceS.     By  P.  B.  Hoyt,  M.  D.,  Paris,  III,     Wabash  Val- 
ley Homoeopathic  Association. 

An  old  poem  begins  somewhat  after  this  manner  :  "  We 
are  living,  we  are  dwelling,  in  a  grand  and  awful  time." 
This  may  seem  a  strange  text  for  an  essay  upon  clinical 
medicine,  but  as  we  look  over  the  history  of  medicine  and 
see  how  great  the  changes  have  been,  how  varied  have  been 
the  opinions  of  great  men  and  physicians,  and  the  strange 
therapeutical  means  that  have  been  employed  for  the 
removal  of  the  ills  of  this  mortal  life.  Nay,  more,  as  we 
look  over  the  condition  of  the  medical  world  of  to-day,  and 
see  bow  little  is  made  conformable  to  established  law,  while 
astronomy,  chemistry,  anatomy,  physiology  and  all  the 
sciences  are  moving  on  in  solid  phalanx,  each  giving  out 
its  quota  of  instruction,  each  adding  to  the  great  fund  of 
human  knowledge  and  advancepient.  While  the  world,  as 
u  mass,  are  leaning  upon  the  medical  profession,  looking  to 
them   as  safegaurds  from  the   destruction  that  walketh  at 


40  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

noonday,  or  the  pestilence  that  starketh  abroad  at  nigbt, 
calling  on  us  to  tell  them  how  to  avoid  the  evil  on  the  one 
band,  and  bow  to  escape  its  consequences  when  it  is  fastened 
upon  them.  May  I  not,  in  justice,  say  with  the  poet. 
"  We  are  living,  we  are  dwelling,  in  a  grand  and  awful 
time?"  And  to  us  belongs  the  task  of  bringing  har- 
mony out  of  confusion.  And  this  is  precisely  what  the 
bomceopathic  school  of  medicine  is  doing;  it  being  the 
only  system  of  medicine  that  has  a  definite  law  governirjg 
it  in  the  selection  of  the  curative  remedy ;  a  law  upon  which 
we  all  unite,  no  matter  wbat  may  be  our  individual  opinion 
as  to  the  dose;  a  law  that  experience  has  demonstrated  to  be 
reliable  and  universal  in  its  application,  sure  in  its  results 
as  any  thing  can  be  in  this  mortal  state,  understandingly 
applied  a  boon  and  a  blessing  to  the  sick  and  a  safeguard  to 
the  healthy. 

Yet  we  have  much  to  learn,  not  only  in  the  influence  of 
drugs  upon  the  system,  '*both  in  health  and  disease,"  but  a 
vast  field  is  opened  to  us  as  we  turn  attention  to  climate  and 
the  influences  exerted  on  it  by  planetary  changes.  It  has 
long  been  known  that  the  planetary  system  exerts  a  most 
powerful  influence  on  the  conditions  of  climate  and  atmos- 
pheric changes.  Also  that  some  remedies  always  act  more 
satisfactory  in  certain  phases  of  the  moon.  There  is  no 
superstition,  moonshine  or  foolishrcss  about  it.  It  is  a 
simple  matter  of  observation.  In  studying  the  relations  of  the 
planets  to  earth,  astronomers  have  been  able  to  determine, 
with  a  fair  degree  of  certainty,  the  atmospheric  changes 
that  are  likely  to  take  place  long  before  their  occurrence, 
and  as  atmospheric  changes  do  most  certainly  influence  the 
health  of  the  community,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  no  small 
importance  to  us,  looking  at  it  from  a  therapeutical  stand- 
point, to  understand  how  and  when  these  changes  are  to 
occur.  Since  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era  there 
has  been  two  great  periods  in  which  the  planitary  system 
has  stood  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  sun  and  earth,  at 
both  of  which  very  destructive  diseases  have  visited  the  in- 
habitants of  the  earth.     Either  by  coincidence  or  else  by 


Theorv  and  Practice,  41 

the  influences  thus  exerted,  working  through  the  atmos- 
pheric changes  on  the  bodies  and  minds  of  the  people,  wars, 
pestilences,  famine,  have  followed  and  thousands  on  thou- 
sands have  gone  down  in  death.  These  tripartite  conjunc- 
tions occurred  in  the  fifth  and  seventeenth  century.  I  can 
not,  in  this  short  paper,  enter  into  detail.  But  this  I  say  : 
That  during  the  next  six  years  will  happen  what  has  not 
occurred  for  centuries.  "All  the  great  planets  will  attain 
their  perihelion,  or  nearest  point  to  the  sun/'  "and  as 
science  has  come  to  regard  the  periodical  increase  of  plani- 
tary  attraction  which  occurs  when  the  superior  planets 
make  their  perihelion  circuit  as  the  direct  cause  of  the  inaug- 
uration of  epidemics  or  the  recurrence  of  what  are  called 
"pestilential  periods."  Docs  it  not  become  us  to  keep  our 
ej-es  open  and  to  watch  with  more  than  ordinary  care  the 
developments  of  the  coming  six  years  ? 

The  immortal  Hahnemann  told  long  before  he  ever  saw  a 
case  of  cholera  what  would  be  the  remedies,  and  to-day  they 
stand  as  our  sheet  anchors  in  treating  this  terrible  disease. 
What  we  want  to  do  is  this:  To  so  observe  and  watch  the 
atmospheric  influences  and  the  development  of  disease 
under  these  influences  that  we  shall  be  ready,  before  hand  if 
vou  please,  to  meet  every  emergency.  Please  do  not  turn 
away  and  cry  moonshine,  astrology,  etc.,  etc.  But  as  true 
learners  of  nature  and  nature's  laws,  prove  ourselves  worthy 
of  our  high  profession.  Gentlemen,  if  I  have  said  enough 
to  rouse  in  you  a  spirit  of  earnest  inquiry,  I  shall  feel  ex- 
ceedingly happy.  Perhaps  some  of  you  know  more  on  this 
subject  than  I  do.  1  hope  so,  at  least.  There  are  many 
other  things  that  exert  a  powerful  influence  on  health  and 
disease  which  I  can  not  here  more  than  mention.  Such 
as  the  purity  or  impurity  of  water.  And  I  am  glad  to 
note  that  much  attention  is  being  paid  to  this  branch  of 
sanitary  science,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that  through  this 
medium  disease  is  generated  and  carried  from  one  to 
another.  We  can  not  be  too  careful  in  selecting  the  water 
we  daily  use  in  cookery,  for  drinking  and  for  bath'ng. 
lioreover  more  attention  should  be  given  to  ventilation,  to 


42  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

the  sleeping  apartments,  to  the  position  we  assume  while 
sleeping,  with  reference  to  the  points  of  the  compass,  always 
sleeping  with  our  heads  to  the  north,  if  possible.  Again 
the  covering,  while  sleeping,  should  receive  more  attention. 
We  are  apt  to  cover  onrselves  too  heavily.  There  should  be 
covering  enough  to  prevent  any  chilliness,  but  not  enough 
to  produce  perspiration.  Diet  comes  in  for  its  share  of  atten- 
tion. We  should  eat  to  live,  not  live  to  eat.  Much  disease 
is  induced  by  eating  too  much,  as  well  as  improper  food.  I 
am  satisfied  that  eight-tenths  of  the  diseases  of  the  alimen- 
tary canal  are  caused  by  errors  in  diet  and  the  quantity  of 
food  consumed.  Lastly,  we  will  mention  medicine.  Too 
much  medicine  is  taken,  even  in  the  small  quantities  of 
Homoeopathy.  Many  persons  would  be  infinitely  better  off 
without  a  particle  of  medicine,  would  enjoy  better  health, 
be  more  happy,  and  consequently  enjoy  life  better.  We 
have  studied  to  know  the  right  remedy  in  a  given  case. 
This  is  well.  Bnt  what  is  better  is  to  know  how  to  avoid 
the  necessity  lor  medicine.  All  things  considered,  then, 
did  I  not  well  sa}^ :  **  We  are  living,  we  are  dwelling,  in  a 
grand  and  awful  time,"  in  an  age  on  ages  telling.  To  be 
living  is  sublime. 


^$mul  €Iittk$. 


Glaucoma.  —  Argentum  nit.  200. — Mrs.  C.  consulted  me 
for  a  severe  glaucoma.  After  treatin^r  her  for  a  few 
days,  I  advised  her  to  go  to  Boston  and  see  Professor 
Angell,  which  she  did.  The  Professor,  after  a  careful 
examination,  told  her  she  must  have  the  worst  eye  removed 
>n  order  to  save  the  other  eye,  which  was  getting  bad  by 
sympathy.     This  she  did   not  consent  to,  but  consulted  an 


General  Clinics,  43 

oculist,  who  advised  to  wait  a  little  and  fixed  up  something 
for  her  to  take,  and  also  to  use  as  a  collyrium.  She  came  back 
to  me  worse  than  when  she  went  away,  bringing  me  a  leiter 
from  Prof.  Talbot,  to  whom  I  also  gave  her  a  letter,  advising 
the  internal  use  of  Jfer.  cor.  In  a  short  time  she  decided  to 
give  up  all  her  treatment,  commenced  from  advice  received 
in  Boston,  and  depend  on  her  home  phj'sician.  I  studied 
her  case  carefully  and  decided  to  give  her  Argentum  nit,  200, 
and  use  no  applications  to  the  eye.  The  left  eye  was  so 
painful  she  was  nigh  distracted,  pains  being  deep  in  socket, 
behind  the  eye,  and  shooting  up  into  the  brain.  She  could 
just  discern  light  but  no  distinct  objects  with  that  eye.  The 
other  was  red  «nd  very  painful,  with  sharp  stitching  pains, 
going  back  deep  into  the  socket  and  up  about  the  super- 
ciliary ridge.  Pains  would  make  her  knit  her  eyebrows. 
Clusters  of  intensely  red  vessels  extended  from  both  canth, 
to  the  cornea,  the  left  cornea  being  opaque.  She  complained 
of  feeling  as  if  hot  sand  were  in  her  eyes.  The  Argentuvi 
gave  her  relief  in  a  few  hours  when  she  had  been  almost  dis- 
tracted for  days.  I  gave  her  no  other  remedy  and  no  other 
potency,  as  she  seemed  to  mend  quite  beyond  my  expecta- 
tions and  far  beyond  any  predictions  given  of  her  case.  In 
a  few  weeks  the  right  eye  was  fully  cured  and  the  pain  about 
the  left  eye  was  only  felt  occasionally.  She  only  partially 
recovered  her  sight  in  the  left  eye,  however,  but  it  has  troub- 
led her  very  little  since  six  months  after  beginning  to  take 
the  Argentum,  She  kept  a  little  phial  with  her  to  take  a 
dose  of  if  she  felt  pains  about  the  eye  for  two  or  three  years. 
Scrofulous  Ophthalmia. — I  have  found  Merc,  protoiod, 
in  the  30th  and  200th  a  very  certain  remedy  for  ulcers  of  the 
cornea  of  this  class  of  constitutions.  Nasal  ulcers  are  found 
a  frequent  accompaniment.  Have  cured  several  cases  of 
congenital  sore  eyes  with  the  J/er.  biniod.,  using  more  often 
the  third  trit.  Should  have  confidence  in  higher  prepara- 
tions fFoiil  my  experience  in  the  Protoiod,  Some  of  these 
cases  were  in  children  born  of  consumptive  mothers. — G.  N. 
Brigham,  M.  D. 


46  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

During  these  spells  the  patient  struggled  with  great  force 
in  her  endeavor  to  get  breath.  So  powerful  wore  her  efforts 
that  it  required  two  men  to  hold  her  and  prevent  her  doing 
herself  violence. 

Afler  thus  struggling  from  one  to  four  minutes  she  sud- 
denly inspired  again  and  would  sink  away  completely  ex- 
hausted until  aroused  by  another  similiar  paroxysm. 

Thus  she  suffered  during  the  night,  resting  between  her 
spells  from  five  to  thirty  minutes.  During  this  time  she 
was  seen  b^'  three  physicians.  At  ten  o'clock  a.  m.  I  was 
called  in  being  the  new  doctor  in  the  town. 

I  at  once  diagnosed  the  case  oedema  of  the  glottis,  with 
spasm.  This  case  occurred  about  the  lime  1  commenced 
giviug  some  attention  to  Homceopathy  and  I  was  conse- 
quently not  well  prepared  to  treat  the  case  according  to  our 
system  o^  therapeutics. 

I  advised  ice  cold  compresses  to  the  throat  and  Atropia 
svlph.  hypodermically,  to  relax  the  spasm  of  the  laryngeal 
muscles. 

I  accord ingl}"  administered  Atropia  sulph.^  -^  grain,  every 
three  hours,  and  applied  the  cold,  and  in  addition  the  posi- 
tive pole  of  a  Kidder  battery. 

The  effect  of  this  treatment  was  most  satisfactory.  In 
three  hours  the  spasms  had  become  very  much  lighter  and 
further  apart  and  soon  my  patient  was  sleeping. 

A  slight  return  the  next  day  was  treated  by  Arsenicum  3x, 
which  remedy  completed  the  cure.  There  has  been  no 
return  in  four  years'  time. 

1  think  there  could  have  been  no  mistake  in  the  diagnosis, 
since  inspection  of  the  larynx  revealed  decided  oedema  of 
the  glottis  and  epiglottis. 

The  homoeopathic  remedies  for  this  disease  are  Bell, 
Uyos  la:,  Smig  la;,  Ars.  apis,  Chi.,  Kali  bro., 

Dr.  Dunham,  in  his  *' Science  of  Therapeutics,"  recom- 
mends Chlorine  yus  in  watery  solution,  as  a  speedy  cure  for 
this  ditressing  affection. 

Elsewhere  L  have  seen  it  recommended  to  forcibly  flex  the 
toe  or  thumb  or  any  of  the  joints  of  the  extremities ;  it  being 


General  Clinics,  47 

stated  that  this  forcible  flexion  antagonizes  and  overcomes 
the  spasm  of  the  laryngeal  muscles. — A.  C.  Rickey. 

Intermittent  Fever. — Awa  samoa.  Case  I.  Paul  Sch. 
aet  21,  Frenchman,  cook,  dark  complexion,  March  11,  1878 
Had  the  Panama  fever  two  years  ago,  and  for  the  last  four 
months  has  been  suflFering  at  intervals  from  chills  and  fever. 
For  the  last  seven  days  had  every  day  chills  commencing  in  the 
forenoon;  fearful  pain  in  the  back,  great  weakness,  dull  pain  in 
the  head,  night  sweats.  Awa  samoa,  tr.,  one  powder  every 
two  hours.  March  18,  he  reported  no  chills  and  fever  and  no 
night  sweats.  I  continued  Awa  aamoa^  tr.,  every  two  hours 
one  powder,  which  I  should  not  have  done;  the  30th  or  200th 
would  have  been  appropriate  in  this  instance.  March  19th 
he  reported  a  slight  chill  and  fever.  This  time  with  short- 
ness of  breath  and  pain  in  the  region  of  the  heart  by  breath 
ing,  headache,  thirst.  Patient  says  that  the  attacks  now  are 
different  from  what  they  used  to  be.  So  I  gave  him  Ars.  alb, 
6  every  two  hours  a  powder.  March  22,  patient  had  no 
chills  but  complained  of  high  fever  with  thirst,  Ars.  alb.  6 
every  three  hours  a  powder.  March  26,  patient  improving, 
Ars.  alb,  6,  every  six  hours.  March  2^^,  patient  reported  him- 
self cured.  April  4,  patient  called  again  reporting  another 
slight  chill,  for  which  I  gave  him  Mer,  sol.  3,  Qwery  two  hours 
a  powder.  April  10,  patient  considered  himself  again  well 
and  discharged. 

Case  11.  F.  Gr.,  aet  24,  Irish  farm  hand.  March  19,  patient 
was  first  taken  with  chills  and  fever  in  Bakersfield  in  July 
last,  the  fever  coming  on  every  third  day.  He  had  it  broken 
up  with  Quinine  within  three  weeks  and  considered  himself 
well  until  last  week.  March  16,  while  working  on  a  farm  in 
San  Rafael  and  by  drinking  some  water,  he  was  suddenly  taken 
again  by  chills  coming  on  this  time  every  other  day.  During 
this  attack  he  experienced  a  pain  in  his  back,  and  during  the 
fever  he  drinks  large  quantities  of  water.  He  has  an  unus- 
ually bright  and  healthy  looking  color  in  his  face.  I  gave 
him  Bryonia  alb.  3,  every  two  hours  a  powder.  March  21,  at 
the  usual  time  the  fever  set  in  but  no  chills,  slight  headache 


48  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

and  thirst,  same  medicine  continued.  March  23,  patient 
much  improved  and  medicine  continued.  March  25,  patient 
considered  himself  discharged  as  cured,  requesting  me  to 
supply  him  with  a  few  more  powders  in  case  of  need.  May 
2,  patient  presented  himself  again  telling  me  that  he  had 
enjo3'ed  good  health  up  to  yesterday  when  he  was  taken  with 
another  chill.  I  now  put  him  on  Awa  samoa  tr.,  every  two 
hours  a  powder.  May  4,  patient  improved  and  medicine  con- 
tinued. May  8,  patient  again  improved  and  Awa  samoa 
every  four  hours.     May  12,  patient  cured.— D.  A.  Hillkr. 


FrolapsnS  UterL     By  Dr.  W.  T.  Branstrup,  M.  D,,  Vincennes, 
Ind.     Wabasli  Valley  Homceopathic  Association. 

• 

For  many  years  great  attention  has  been  directed,  by  au- 
thors, lecturers  and  proprietors  or  salesmen  of  patent  instru- 
ments, to  the  diseases  peculiar  to  women,  and  perhaps  more 
attention  has  been  paid  by  the  profession  to  such  diseases 
than  to  any  other  class;  as  well  in  striving!  to  determine  their 
true  nature,  as  to  seek  by  a  mechanical  and  therapeutical 
means  their  cure. 

In  my  humble  opinion  many  of  the  profession  have  wan- 
dered far  away  in  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  from  the  path  of 
rational  treatment,  and  the  object  of  this  puper  is  to  point  out 
some  of  the  deviations. 

It  has  been  sometimes  remarked  that  whenever  a  (so-call- 
ed) uterine  doctor  locates  in  a  community  and  promulgates 
for  a  time  his  doctrines  and  advertises  his  treatment,  every 
woman  that  has  a  uterus,  forthwith  has  something  the  matter 


Obstetrical  and  &n<Bcologicah  49 

with  it  And  the  passion  with  many  not  over-scrupulous 
practitioners  has  been  to  excite  the  sex  to  fear  of  uterine  dis- 
ease, and  to  practice  upon  them  with  all  the  great  variety  of 
mechanical  appliances. 

Indeed  so  great  tias  the  desire  of  the  majority  of  females 
become  to  be  examined  and  elabotately  treated,  that  every 
rational  and  conscientious  physician  has  been,  more  or  le^s, 
troubled  by  patients  who  find  fault  with  them  for  their  refusal 
to  use  these  modern  appliances. 

One  would  imagine,  for  instance,  that  prolapsus  uteri  was 
the  bane  of  every  lady  in  the  land,  that  the  uterus  itself  was  as 
large  as  the  whole  cavity  of  the  abdomen,  and  that  simple 
mechanical  and  medicinal  means  would  never  suffice  to  hoist 
this  pendulous  mass  into  place,  or  retain  it  into  position. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  few  moments  the  true  size  and  posi- 
tion of  the  uterus. 

In  size  not  to  exceed  a  very  small  pear,  its  measurement  in 
the  virgin  is  in  length  three  inches,  breadth  at  the  fundus 
two  inches,  and  one  inch  in  thickness,  sustained  in 
its  position,  between  the  bladder  and  rectum,  in  the  pelvic 
cavity  by  strong,  broad  and  round  Hgaments,  and  by  sub-adja- 
cent parts. 

How  singular  must  it  appear  to  the  young  student  of.  its 
anatomy  that  such  dire  effects  should  so  constantly  be  seen 
in  practice  as  are  reported  in  our  periodical  literature. 

In  a  majority  of  cases,  prolapsus  is  caused  directly  by  re- 
laxation of  the  pelvic  viscera,  other  causes  are  straining,  a 
shock  by  a  fall,  vomiting,  chronic  constipation,  etc.,  or  by 
extreme  doses  of  JErgot,  or  by  forcibly  dragging  away  the 
secundines. 

Most  of  the  reported  cases  of  prolapsus,  are  simply  a  descent 
of  the  uterus,  the  os  not  being  visible  between  the  labia. 

No  complicated  apparatus  for  sustaining  the  uterus  in  its 
normal  position  is  needed,  on  the  contrary,  its  use  is  a  posi- 
tive injury. 

The  dorsal  decubitis,  rest  abstinence  from  coitus,  being 
ordered  a  very  simple  .support,  and  proper  medication  soon 
produce  the  happiest  results. 

Juiy-3 


50  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

As  a  mechanical  means,  the  air  bag  fills  every  require- 
ment. The  g^fcneral  indications  for  medicinal  treatment  are 
restoration  of  the  impaired  powers  of  the  relaxed  parts,  the 
removal  of  any  obstruction  of  the  bowels,  or  the  cure  of  any  • 
ailments,  as  a  straining  cough,  upon  which  the  displacement 
may  depend. 

.The  most  frequently  indicated  remedy  is  ITux  vomica^  the 
indications  which  are  for  prolapsus,  caused  by  lifting  or 
straining,  urging  to  stool,  constipation  or  impaction  of  the 
rectum,  with  pain  in  small  of  the  bagk,  and  bearing  down 
pains. 

Sulphur  is  of  use  when  thete  is  pressure  and  weakness,  the 
difficulty  aggravated  by  standing,  with  burning  and  smart- 
ing leucorrhoea. 

Sepia.  When  the  pelvic  viscera  seems  about  to  protrude 
from  the  vagina,  the  patient  crossing  her  legs  involuntarily 
to  prevent  it,  with  papescent  but  sluggish  stool. 

Mer.  soL  has  been  of  advantage  in  cures,  when  there  is 
great  w:eakness  of  the  abdomen  drawing  downward  of  the 
genital  organs,  pale  gums,  perspiration  and  feeling  of  great 
illness. 

LachesiB,  Said  to  be  indicated  where  the  patient  can  not 
bear  the  weight  of  the  clothes  upon  the  abdomen. 

Other  remedies  are  Calc.  carb,,  Lyc.^  Arnica^  Puis,  and 
Aletris  far.  Many  of  the  so-called  cases  of  prolapsus  are 
simply  groups  of  symptoms  arising  from  a  variety  of  causes, 
simulating  the  disorder  under  discussion. 


MX%ulUmm%. 


Hahnemann. 


We  continue  Hahnemann's  masterly  essay  upon  venereal. 
A  number  of  our  readers  have  mistaken  the  part  already 
presented,  as  a  recent  essay  bpon  the  subject,  and,  therefore 


Miscellaneous,  51 

open  to  serious  objections,  on  account  of  certain  pathological 
views  not  considered  up  with  the  times.  It  should  be  re- 
membered that  this  was  written  in  iSi6.  In  no  respect, 
however,  has  the  true  homceopathic  method  of  treating 
syphilis  changed,  and,  however  one  may  view  Hahnemann's 
pathology  or  nomendature,  his  principles  of  medication  are 
true,  and  always  will  be. 

On  the  Venereal  Disease  and  Its  Ordinary  Improper  Treatment. 

For  the  first  thirty  or  forty  years  after  the  occurrence  of 
the  venereal  disease,  that  is,  from  the  year  1493  until  the  first 
third  of  the  following  century,  this  infecting  virus  was  much 
worse  than  it  is  now;  nature  then  strove  much  longer  before 
it  allowed  the  completion  of  the  general  internal  diseases  in 
the  organism;  often  several  months  elapsed  after  the  local 
infection  before  the  chancre  then  burst  forth.     At  that  time 
too,  the  opposing  action  of  the  body  and  the  general  ill  state 
of  health  before  its  appearance,  as  the  signs  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  venereal  disease  going  on  in  the  interior,  were 
much  more  distinct  and  striking  than  now-a-days,  when  the 
infecting  virus  is  much  milder.     The  venereal  disease  pursues 
the  same  course  even  yet,  for  since  that  period  it  has  only  de- 
creased in  violence,  but  its  nature  is  not  altered.     Even  at 
the  present  day  there  is,  immediately  after  the  infection,  ab- 
solutely nothing  abnormal  to  be  perceived  on  the  spot;  the 
change  only  goes  on  in  the  interior,  and  a  general  feeling  of 
illness  is  felt  by  sensitive  individuals  for  some  days  or  weeks, 
until  the  thorough  alteration  of  the  organism  is  effected  by 
the  venereal  poison,  and  it  is  only  after  this  that  the  chancre 
is  produced  by  nature  on  the  suitable  spot,  and  is  the  infalli- 
ble sign  of  the  perfect  development  of  the  venereal  disease 
in  the  entire  organism,  and  the  silencer  of  the  internal  mal- 
ady.     After  the  breaking  out  of  the  chancre  the  previous 
feelings  of  debility  and  fatigue,  the  dullness  of  the  sensorium 
commune^  the  depression    of  the  spirits,  the    earthy  com- 
plexion with  blue  borders  round,  etc.,  go  off.     The  internal 
venereal  disease  then  remains  as  it  were  enchained  (latent) 


52   .  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

and  concealed,  and  can  never  break  out  as  syphilis,  as  long 
as  its  external  substitute  and  silencer  remains  uninterfered 
with  on  its  seat;  but  when  the  indwelling  venereal  disease  is 
completely  destroyed  and  cured  by  the  sole  internal  employ- 
ment of  the  best  Mercurial  preparation,  then  the  chancre 
heals  up  of  itself  without  the  aid  of  the  slightest  external 
remedy;  if,  however,  it  is  driven  off  by  external  means, 
without  curing  the  internal  malady,  the  latter  inevitably 
bursts  forth  in  the  form  of  syphilis. 

From  a  consideration  of  this  mode  of  the  production,  and 
of  the  nature  of  the  venereal  disease,  and  of  this  true  signifi- 
cation of  the  chancre,  which  are  founded  on  incontrovertible 
gbservations,  what  plan  of  treatment  of  this  disease  would 
suggest  itself  to  any  person  endowed  with  common  sense? 
Certainly  none  other — for  1  have  a  high  idea  of,  sound  un- 
prejudiced common  sense — than  the  following:  "Treat  the 
venereal  affection  of  the  whole  system  by  the  best  internal 
remedy  until  it  is  completely  eradicated,  that  is  to  say,  until 
the  thoroughly  cured  organism  no  longer  requires  any  viru- 
lent chancre,  any  external  silencer  and  substitute  for  the  now 
annihilated  internal  venereal  disease,  and  from  the  period  of 
the  completed  internal  cure,  it  must  become  a  healthy  ulcer, 
without  any  assistance  from  without,  and  rapidly  heal  up  of 
its  own  accord,  without  leaving  behind  the  slightest  trace  of 
its  previous  existence."* 

Thus,  I  imagined,  plain  common  sense  would  advise  and 
carefully  warn  against  meddling  with  the  chancre  by  any 
local  application,  either  before  or  during  the  internal  treat- 
ment, that  might  cause  his  premature  disappearance,  fbr  it  is 
the  only  certain  sign  of  the  indwelling  venereal  disease,  and 
it  only  can,  by  its  persistance,  infallibly- demonstrate  to  the 
patient  and  to  the  physician,  that  the  cure  of  the  disease 
throughout   the   organism    is  not  completed,  whilst  on    the 

*It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  any  chancre  burntoff  without  the  prelimi- 
nary cure  of  the  internal  disease,  always  leaves  behind  it  a  certain 
amount  of  redness  and  hardness  as  long  as  the  virus  in  the  interior  is  not 
destroyed  ;  a  bubo  must  then  occur  in  its  Btead,  which  assumes  the  office 
of  8ubstitutioD,  and  keeps  the  internal  affection  in  abeyance. 


Miscellaneous.  53 

dther  hand,  by  its  perfect  spontaneous  healing  under  the  in- 
ternal exhibition  of  Mercury  (without  the  employment  of  any 
sort  of  external  remedy),  it  gives  the  most  irrefragable  proof 
that  the  cure  is  completed,  and  that  nature  no  longer  requires 
this  substitutive  organ  for  an  indwelling  venereal  malady, 
since  it  has  been  eompletely  healed  and  annihilated  by  the 
medicine  given' internally. 

But  as  experience  moreover  incontrovertibly  teaches  us, 
that  when  the  chancre  is  driven  off  by  local  means,  and  na- 
ture is  thus  deprived  of  the  silencer  and  substitute  of  the  in- 
ternal venereal  disease  by  external  desiccative  or  corrosive 
applications,  it  then  invariably  happens  that  either  an  in- 
guinal bubo  soon  occurs,  or  after  a  few  months  the  general 
venereal  disease  (syphilis)  breaks  out;  we  might ^  have 
imagined,  that  physicians  would  have  had  the  sense  to  per- 
ceive the  importance  of  preserving  the  chancre  inviolate, 
and  without  disturbing  it  by  any  external  remedy  whatso- 
ever, have  made  it  their  duty  to  employ  only  internal  treat- 
ment, with  the  best  anti-venereal  medicine,  until  the  system 
was- completely  cured  of  this  disease. 

But  no! — In  spite  of  all  these  loud  speaking  facts,  proving 
the  true  nature  and  signification  of  the  chancre,  almost  all 
the  physicians  and  surgeons  of  the  habitable  globe  have 
gone  on  regarding  it  as  a  purely  local  and  at  first  insignifi- 
cant ulcer  confined  to  the  outer  surface  of  the  skin,  and  have 
exerted  themselves  to  dry  it  up  and  destroy  it  by  local 
means  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  have  even  considered  this 
destruction  of  the  chancre  as  the  chief  object  of  their 
treatment,  just  as  though  the  venereal  disease  proceeded 
from  it  (the  chancre)  as  its  source,  just  as  if  the  chancre  were 
the  originator  and  producer  of  the  venereal  disease;  whereas 
it  is  only  an  evidence  of  the  fully  developed  internal  malady, 
which  they  might  have  inferred  from  this,  that  the  conse- 
quence of  the  local  destruction  of  a  chancre*  performed 
ever  so. early,  and  even  on  the  very  first  day  of  its  appear- 
ance, was  always  a  subsequent  breaking  out  of  syphilis;  and 

•John  Hunter*8  Treatise  on  the  Venereal  Disease,  p.  651 — 553,  (Leip- 
zic  edition.) 


54  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

they  might  also  have  learned  this  from  the  incontrovertible 
experience,  that  not  a  single  patient  escapes  syphilis  if  his 
chancre  have  been  only  locally  destroyed.* 

Now,  as  the  indwelling  venereal  malady  can  never  break 
out  as  long  as  the  chancre,  undisturbed  by  external  applica- 
tions, remains  on  its  seat  (however  long  it  remains  there) 
and  as  the  venereal  disease  at  every  period,  whether  it  has 
broken  out  as  syphilis  or  betrays  its  hidden  existence  merely 
by  the  presence  of  the  chancre  (or  the  bubo)  can  only  be 
radically  cured f  by  the  use  of  (the  best  preparation  of)  Mer- 
cury (when  the  chancre  heals  up  spontaneously  without  the 
aid  of  external  remedies)  I  would  ask  if  it  be  not  very  fool- 
ish, nay,  sinful,  to  destroy  the  chancre  by  external  desiccative 
and  corrosive  applications,  seeing  that  thereby,  not  only  is 
no  part  of  the  venereal  disease  removed,  but  we  deprive 
ourselves  of  this  conclusive  sign  of  a  perfect  or  imperfect 
cure,  which  should  be  our  guide  during  an  internal  Mercur- 
ial treatment:  nay,  more,  what  is  much  worse,  we  even 
cause  the  outbreak  of  the  syphilis,  which  had.  hitherto  con- 
tinued to  lie  latent  and  enchained  in  the  interior,  and  as  long 
.  as  the  chancre  existed  could  never  burst  forth,  but  would 

*Hunter,  op.  cit.,  531.  "Not  one  patient  out  of  fifty  will  escape 
syphilis  if  the  chancre  be  only  locally  destroyed.*'  So  says  Fabre  also 
(Lettres,  supplement  a  son  traite  des  maladies  veneriennes,  Paris  1786) — 
"A  chancre  always  causes  syphilis  if  it  be  only  treated  with  external 
remedies.''  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  these  local  irritating  corrosive 
remedies  caused  a  recession  of  the  virus  from  the  chancre  into  the  inte- 
rior of  the  body,  and  thus  produced  the  syphilis.  No  I  a  chancre  de- 
stroyed locally  without  employing  any  irritant  remedies,  produces  the 
same  result.  "Petit  (so  says  Fabre,  loc.  cit.)  excised  a  portion  of  the 
nymphie of  a  woman  on  which  some  chancres  had  existed  for  some  days; 
the  wound  healed,  it  is  true,  but  the  syphilis  broke  out  notwithstanding.'' 
And  this  might  naturally  have  been  expected,  as  the  venereal  disease 
exists  completely  in  the  body  before  the  chancre  appears,  and  is  only 
prevented  bursting  forth  by  the  presence  of  the  chancre  on  the  skin. 

tFritze  On  the  Venereal  Disease,  Berlin,  1790,  and  Sam.  Hahnemann,  ' 
Instruction  for  Surgeons  Respecting  Venereal  Diseases.     Leipzig,  1789, 
§  273—284,  290—293,  614,  635,  [vide  antea,  p.   72,  et   seq.]  wherwith 
although  they  contradict  themselves,  the  other  better  writers  agree,  as 
Schwediaur,  Hunter,  Bell. 


Miscellaneous,  55 

have  been  forever  healed  and  destroyed  had  we  medicinally 
treated  the  disease  solely  by  the  use  of  the  internal  remedy, 
whilst  the  chancre  still  existed  until  its  cure  was  completed, 
that  is  to  say,  until  the  chancre  had  disappeared  without  the 
aid  of  an  external  remedy! 

"But,"  say  these  medical  men,  "we  give  Mercury  inter- 
nally whilst  we  dry  up  or  burn  off  the  chancre.'** 

I  would  ask — ^in  a  sufficient  or  insufficient  manner?  (It 
must  have  been  insufficient  if  the  syphilis,  as  usually  hap- 
pens, breaks  out  afterwards.) 

"  Oh,  we  give  it  in  a  sufficient  manner,"  they  reply. 

Possibly:  but  how  can  they  tell  during  their  treatment 
whether  their  internally  administered  Mercury  sufficed  for 
the  cure,  as  it  is  only  the  healing  of  the  chancre  that  has  re- 
mained untouched,  under  the  influence  of  internal  remedies 
alone,  that  can  give  us  the  sole  certain  proof  thereof ;  but  the 
chancre  has  been  burnt  of!  by  them  before  or  during  the 
treatment. 

Had  their  employment  of  Mercury  sufficed  for  the  perfect 
cure  of  the  internal  venereal  disease,  they  had  not  needed  to 
burn  off  the  chancre,  this  would  and  must  have  disappearedf 
at  the  same  time  that  the  internal  malady  was  eradicated 
without  the  simultaneous  employment  of  any  external  remedy 
whatever! 

But  it  is  just  because  .they  know  that  their  internal  treat- 
ment does  not  suffice  for  the  extirpation  of  the  internal  mal- 
ady, consequently  also  not  for  the  spontaneous  healing  of 
the  chancre;  it  is  just  for  this  reason  that  they  burn  off  the 
chancre  to  give  their  treatment  the  superficial  appearance  of 
having  cured  everything  (the  poor  patient  is  deceived;  he 
can  not  help  believing  himself  to  be  cured);  they  give  at  the 
same  time — if  they  wish  to  do  the  thing  thoroughly — Mer- 
cury internally  without  knowing    (since   the  chancre,   the 

*The  worst  kind  of  physicians  advise  nothing  more  to  be  done  than 
destroying  the  chancre,  e.  g.  Girtanner,  Treatise  on  the  Venereal  Disease. 
Gottingen,  1803,  p.  215,  and  Hecker,  On  the  Venereal  Disease,  2d  edit, 
pp.  67, 180, 182. 

tSee  Fritze  and  Hahnemann,  op.  cit. 


5^  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

guiding  sign,  is  gone)  how  much  or  how  long  they  require 
to  give  it,*  and  this  they  do  under  the  idea  that  even  though 
the  patient  may  not  be  thereby  thoroughly  cured,  they  have 
at  least  advanced  the  treatment  of  the  disease  .as  far  as  it 
will  go. 

But  this  is  a  mere  delusion.  For  they  torment  the  patient 
by  burning  off  his  chancre,  which  is  of  no  use,  but  is  of  the 
greatest  injury,  as  it  is  certainly  followed  by  the  breaking 
out  of  syphilis,  and  they  at  the  same  time  harass  him  by 
giving  him  an  indefinite  quantity  of  Mercury  by  the  mouth 
without  avail.  For  the  venereal  disease  can  not  be  half  or 
three  quarters  cured;  it  must  either  be  quite  cured  (and  in 
that  case  not  a  trace  of  it  is  left),  or  it  is  not  all  cured;  even 
though  it  be  treated  until  it  is  almost  cured  (but  not  perfectly 
eradicated)  it  is  not  at  all  cured;  what  has  been  done  for  it  is 
equivalent  to  nothing,  for  in  the  course  of  time  it  infallibly 
spreads  round  about  again  and  reaches  the  same  extent  and 
again  plants  itself  just  as  firmly  as  if  nothing  at  all  had  been 
done  for  it. 

Therefore  what  is  the  certain  consequence  of  this  local 
drying  and  often  very  tedious,  often  very  painful  burning  off 
of  the  chancre,  whereby  a  portion  of  the  genital  organ  is 
destroyed,  and  of  the  blind  employment  of  internal  Mercur- 
ial remedies?     That  the  patient  is  deceived  into   believing 

^Thej  often  attempt  to  justify  themselves  by  saying  that  they  pushed 
the  internal  administration  of  Mercury  until  the  appearance  of  the  Mer- 
euricd  fever,  whereby  they  obtained  a  certainty  of  cure  being  effected. 
But  what  do  they  usually  call  Mercurial  fever?  Something  that  is  not 
the  least  like  it,  and  that  affords  no  proof  whatever  of  an  internal  cure; 
looseness  and  falling  out  of  the  teeth,  ulceration  of  the  mouth,  swelling 
of  the  cheek  and  neck,  violent  pains  in  the  belly,  salivation  ?  No  I  not 
every  violent  assault  with  useless  Mercurial  preparations  as  is  now  the 
fashion  (Calomel  with  or  without  Opium)  can  deserve  that  appellation  ; 
their  remedies  very  seldom  produce  that  peculiar  ferbile  state  which  can 
still  serve  as  the  sign  of  the  internal  cure,  when  some  mischievous  hand 
has  burnt  off  tho  still  more  convincing  chancre.  It  is  only  the  purest, 
most  perfect,  and  hence  most  efficacious  sesquioxyde  of  Mercruy  that 
produces  it  in  venereal  diseases,  whereby  the  chancre  (if  it  be  still  pres- 
ent) spontaneously  heals  without  the  aid  of  an  externa]  remedy,  showing 
that  the  internal  disease  has  been  completely  eradicated. 


) 


Miscellaneous.  57 

himself  cured,  and  that  his  lesser  evil  (chancre  with  latent 
internal  venereal  disease)  is  changed  into  a  greater!  Now, 
either  a  bubo  (a  now  much  more  troublesome  substitute  for 
the  indwelling  venereal  disease)  or  (where  no  bubo  has  ap- 
peared, or  if  it  llfeve,  has  been  driven  off  again)  after  a  few 
(three,  four,  six.  nine)  months  syphilis  breaks  forth. 

And  if,  after  it  has  broken  out,  (as  it  inevitably  must  if  the 
patients  were  not  assailed  with  unhelpful  Mercurial  prepara- 
tions so  violently  that  there  was  a  struggle  betwixt  life  and 
death,  when  if  they  did  not  go  the  way  of  all  flesh,  some 
few  of  them  were  thereby  freed  from  their  venereal  disease) 
the  physician  be  asked  if  the  ulcers  on  the  tonsils,  the  bluish 
pimples  on  the  face,  extending  even  into  the  hairy  scalp,  the 
round  copper-colored  spots  on  the  skin,  etc.  be  not  remains 
of  the  venereal  disease  that  was  thought  to  be  cured,  he 
usually  seeks  to  get  out  of  the  scrape  by  alleging:  "That  he 
certainly  had  thoroughly  cured  him  on  the  former  occasion, 
there  was  then  nothing  more  to  be  seen  about  him "  (he 
had  burnt  off  the  chancre  and  removed  from  sight  the  proof 
of  the  existence  of  the  indwelling  disease;  this  he  calls  a 
cure) — "  the  patient  must  certainly  have  caught  a  fresh  in- 
fection during  these  four,  six,  or  nine  months,  whence  this 
venereal  ulceration  of  the  throat,  etc.  has  arisen." 

Thus  the  poor  betrayed  sufferers  must,  in  addition  to  their 
misfortune,  bear  the  doctor  s  disgrace,  because  they  knew  not 
how  syphilis  can  and  must  arise. 

It  can  only  proceed  from  the  uncured  indwelling  venereal 
disease,  whose  external  substitute  and  suppresser  (the  chan- 
cre, which,  as  long  as  it  exists  undisturbed,  prevents  the  out- 
break of  the  syphilis)  has  been  destioyed  locally  by  the 
physician,  and  can  consequently  no  longer  hinder  its  out- 
break; and  even  though  our  patient  may  be  conscious  of 
having  had  several  suspicious  connexions  since  the  removal 
of  his  former  chancre,  but  got  no  chancre  therefrom,  yet  he 
has  not  been  infected  anew,  and  the  syphilis  that  has  broken 
out  must  be  derived  indisputably  from  the  chancre  that  was 
formerly  burnt  off,  consequently  from  the  bad  treatment  of 
his  former  venereal  disease.     For  it  has  never  occurred  that 


58  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

syphilis  has  been  produced  without  a  previous  (destroyed) 
chancre,  *  there  is  no  authentic  instance  on  record  of  such  a 
case  having  happened. 

Did  the  patients,  whose  syphilitic  symptoms  the  physician 
attributes  to  a  new  infection,  know  this,  they  having  in  the 
meantime  contracted  no  fresh  chancre  (which  has  been 
driven  away),  they  would  know  how  to  reply  to  the  physi- 
cian when  he  tries  to  transfer  his  disgrace  upon  them,  whose 
treatment  he  has  bungled. 

But  as  patients  are  ignorant  on  this  subject,  they  alone 
have  to  bear  the  injury  and  the  disgrace;  the  doctor  subjects 
them  to  a  new  course  of  Mercury^  and  if  this  be  not  pushed 
by  him  to  a  much  more  violent  and  serious  extent  than  the 
former  one  during  the  destruction  of  the  chancre  was — if,  I 
sny,  the  patient  be  not  assailed  until  his  life  is  endangered 
with  the  ordinary  unserviceable  Mercurial  preparations,  a 
radical  cure  of  the  disease  will  not  be  effected  even  with  this 
second  course;  the  patient  gets  rid  of  his  ulcers  in  the 
throat  for  example  (for  each  of  the  primary  symptoms  of 
syphilis  is  easily  removed  even  by  small  quantities  of  a  bad 
Mercurial  remedy,  whereby  the  disease  is  not  radically  cured) 
but  after  a  few,  or  after  many  months,  a  new  syphilitic 
symptom  appears  in  their  stead — and  after  a  third  and  a 
fourth  similar,  imperfect  Mercurial  treatment,  a  third  and  a 
fourth  affection  appear  in  succession,  and  at  length  the  affec- 
tions of  the  joints  and  the  agonizing  nocturnal  pains  in  the 
bones,  for  which  the  useless  Mercurials^  decoctions  of  woods 
and  baths  are  no  longer  of  any  avail;  and  the  patient  is  left 
in  the  lurch,  that  is  to  say,  to  suffer  his  torture. 

Thus,  from  an  insigniffcant  primary  malady  (for  the  orig- 
inal venereal  disease  still  accompanied  by  chancre  may  be 
readily  cured  by  the  internal  use  of  the  best  Mercurial  pre- 
parations), there  arises  a  succession  of  sufferings  and  mor- 
bid alterations  of  many  years'  duration,  often  on  account  of 
the  health  destroying  treatments  attended  with  danger  to 
life,  and  all  this — from  the  original  local  destruction  of  the 

*Hunter,  op.  cit.  p.  487,  says,  *'  Probably  not  in  one  case  out  of  500,' 
i.  e.,  in  no  case. 


Miscellaneous.  59 

chancre  which  was  designed  by  the  beneficent  Creator  to  be 
the  constant  preventive  of  the  breaking  forth  of  the  syphil- 
itic malady  and  the  sure  monitor  of  the  physician  as  to 
whether  the  internal  treatment  is  complete  (if  it  heals  up  of 
itself),  or  the  disease  is  not  yet  radically  cured  (if  it  remains 
unaltered  on  its  seat). 

It  is  only  by  the  discretion  of  the  patients  themselves  that 
physicians  can  ultimately  be  improved.  Let  every  one  that 
is  infected  immediately  dismiss  the  physician  who  wishes  to 
commence  the  destructive  plan  with  him,  of  treating  the 
chancre  by  local  remedies,  though  he  bestow  on  the  remedy 
he  would  employ  externally  the  mildest  and  most  seductive 
of  names,  even  though  he  should  call  it  cooling,  sedative, 
alleviating,  emollient,  relaxing,  descutient,  purifying  or  heal- 
ing; all  these  fine  appellations  serve  to  but  disguise  the 
enemy.  The  chancre,  being  the  most  important  witness  of 
what  takes  place  within,  must  on  no  account  be  touched  or 
treated  with  any  kind  of  external  remedies  by  whatever 
names  they  may  be  called.*  The  patient  ought  only  be 
allowed  to  wash  the  genitals  occasionally  with  tepid  river 
water  or  warm  cow's  milk. 

On  the  contrary,  let  him  choose  a  physician,  who,  fully 
alive  to  the  extreme  importance  of  the  chancre,  leaves  this 
quite  alone,  and  understands  how  to  conduct  the  internal 
treatment  alone  in  a  masterly  way;  that  is  to  say,  eradicate 
it  by  means  of  the  best  Mercurial  preparation  that  is  capable 

*And  should  the  patient  have  allowed  himfielf  to  be  seduced  and  have 
permitted  tfie  external  driving  off  of  his  chancre,  and  should  there  arise, 
as  usually  happens,  in  the  place  of  it  a  bubo,  let  him  remember  that  this 
has  the  same  significance  as  the  chancre  and  it  is  a  substitute  for  the 
internal  malady,  and  that  if  allowed  to  stay  there  undisturbed  it  alao 
prevents  the  outbreak  of  the  syphilis.  Therefore  he  should  not  allow  this 
at  least  to  be  driven  off  by  external  remedies  (inunctions  of  the  blue  oint- 
ment beneath  the  bubo,  called  frictions,  and  the  application  of  many 
other  things  which  physicians  term  resolving  the  bubo),  for  after  a  few 
months  the  syphilis  follows  inevitably ;  but  he  should  rather  let  himsel  f 
be  only  treated  by  the  best  Mtreurial  preparation,  only  inwardly,  until 
the  bubo,  withont  the  aid  of  external  remedies  and  without  frictions 
disappears  spontaneously  when  the  internal  malady  is  cured ;  and  it  is 
only  thus  that  he  can  be  certain  of  his  complete  recovery. 


60  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

of  doing  so,  given  internally  without  the  production  of  sali- 
vation, in  such  a  manner  that  the  chancre  heals  up  of  its  own 
accord,  without  the  aid  of  the  slightest  external  remedy. 

Then  and  then  only  can  the  patient  be  sure  that  his  disease 
16  cured. 

The  best  Mercurial  preparation  for  effecting  this  is  the 
dark- colored  pure  sesquioxide  of  Mercury^  of  which  a  small 
portion  rubbed  with  a  drop  of  water  on  the  palm  of  the 
hand  by  means  of  the  point  of  the  finger,  runs  into  minute 
globules  of  metallic  Mercury  which  are  observable  either 
with  the  naked  eye  or  with  a  lens.  My  mode  of  prepar- 
ing it  will  be  found  in  many  books.  This  only  is  the  most 
innocuous  and  most  powerful  preparation  wherewith  the 
venereal  disease  of  all  degrees  may  be  cured,  without  saliva- 
tion, if  the  general  state  of  the  patient's  health  be  not  very 
much  broken  up  and  weakened. 

If,  however,  the  patient  have  been  mistreated  by  a  physi- 
cian by  having  his  chancre  or  the  subsequent  bubo  driven 
off  by  external  remedies,  and  the  syphilis  have  consequently 
broken  out;  if  it  be  already  present,  after  several  long  con- 
tinued, fruitless  treatments  with  bad  Mercurial  preparations, 
in  a  high  degree,  the  general  health  that  has  been  ruined  by 
such  violent  treatment  must  first  be  restored,  and  the  acces- 
sory ailments  usually  present  must  first  be  removed  before 
the  master  in  his  art  can  employ  even  the  best  Mercurial 
preparation  to  effect  the  perfect  cure. 

In  such  masterpeices  of  treatment,  where  the  malady  has 
taken  such  deep  roots,  and  the  chancre  having  been  pre- 
viously driven  off  serves  no  more  as  a  loadstar;  there  is  noth- 
ing to  show  that  the  treatment  has  accomplished  a  perfect 
cure,  but  the  closest  observation  for  the  arrival  of  the  period, 
when,  after  the  complete  restoration  of  the  patient,  some 
fresh  symptoms  present  themselves  that  are  only  peculiar  to 
the  action  of  Mercury,  but  which  are  quite  new  to  the  patient 
in  the  course  of  his  venereal  complaint,  and  have  scarcely 
ever  been  experienced  before,  but  among  which  neither  sali- 
vation, nor  toothache,  nor  ulcers  of  the  mouth,  nor  pains  in 
the  bowels,  nor  diarrhoea  are  to  be  found. 


Miscellaneotis,  61 


Correspondence. 

Bois  Brule,  May  9th,  1879. — Dear  Advance: — No  witti- 
c'scn  in  the  address,  mind  you.  For  really  I  consider  the 
Advance  not  dear  at  all,  but  the  cheapest  "reading'*  I  get. 
Not  even  excepting  some  journals  which  have  my  name  on 
their  free  list,  in  commiseration  of  my  impecuniosity. 

Bold  to  fearlessness;  courting  no  favors;  serving  no  clique; 
promoting  no  cabals;  shrinking  not  from  the  fullest  aiid 
freest  discussion  of  all  the  controversial  aspects  of  forensic 
Homoeopathy.  Taking  no  care  to  be  softly  shod  for  corns  it 
may  tread  upon.  As  ready  to  tickle  the  intellectual  nose  of 
some  snoozing  friend,  with  the  soul  vexing  straw  of  sarcasm, 
as-  to  hurl  the  hurtling  javelin  of  irresistible  logic  of  facts 
straight  into  the  incautious  Achillean  heel  of  Allopathy,  the 
Advance  stands  alone,  the  picket  guard  of  true  "scientific 
medicine,"  and  the  vidette  of  universal,  non-partisan  Homoeo- 
pathy. 

Now  who  says  I  don't  indorse  the  Advance?  In  fact 
everybody  knows  that  my  indorsement  of  Homoeopathy  is 
cosmopolitan.  But  there  is  getting  to  be  a  large  amount  of 
red  tapery  about  Homoeopathy  of  late.  Formerly  the  new 
school  welcomed  all  comers  with  open  arms  and  hearty 
words  of  cheer  and  gratulation.  Now  she  coolly  takes  your 
measure,  makes  note  of  the  height  of  your  instep,  observes 
the  ceruleanity  of  your  cutaneous  capillaries,  iand  if  up  to  the 
high  standard,  you  are  passed  in  with  a  coolness  and  for- 
mality that  may  be  courteous,  but  is  certainly  not  cordial. 

This  was  the  way  things  struck  in  at  the  May  meeting  of 
the  Indiana  Institute.  A  pioneer  of  my  sex  applied  for  mem- 
bership. She  was  in  all  respects  "up  with  the  times."  In 
years  gone  by  she  would  have  been  ao4epted  with  acclama- 
tion. But,  bless  you,  was'n't  she  put  through  an  inqtiisitorial 
process?  Diiln't  they  a^k  her  questions  all  the  way  from 
astrology  to  wheat  harvest?  And  when  with  woman's  tact 
and  acuteness  she  had  succeeded  in  disarming  two  of  her  ad- 
versaries, didn't  the  other  great  big  fellow  hold  out  against 


62  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

her  just  because  she  would  not  commit  herself  to  the  cardinal 
proposition  that  all  local  treatment  of  the  uterus  is  hurtful? 
I  glory  in  her  grit!  No  woman  in  the  world,  with  any  ex- 
perience, will  assent  to  such  doctrine. 

Some  queer  things  transpired  in  the  numerous  discussions 
of  valuable  papers;  and  in  the  light  of  the  experience  accu- 
mulated during  these  discussions,  I  am  compelled  to  the 
opinion  that  if  you  have  a  special  liking  for  some  "low"  pre- 
paration or  a  vile  crude  drug  of  any  name  however  sweet, 
you  had  better  keep  itito  yourself.  Don't  impart  it  as  valu- 
able information. 

O,  young  man,  if  it  happen  that  wholesale  dosing  with 
Kalichlor,  has  cured  a  whole  epidemic  of  malignant  diphthe- 
ria  and   scarlatina  for  you,  if  it  has,  as  you  aver,  succored 
your  cases  of  membranous  croup,   if  it  has  translated  an  ap- 
parently moribund  puerperal  woman  back  to  life  and  health,  ' 
if  it  has  rescued  some  little  ones  from  an  apparently  hopeless 
crisis  in  pleuro-pneumonia,   if  it  has  done  all  these  things, 
don't  allow  your  enthusiasm  to  carry  you  to  the  extreme  of 
openly  recommending  this  drug  in  its  undynamic  crudity  as 
an  antidote  to  malignancy  in  all  disease.     You  justly  deserve 
that  the  little  finger  of  scorn  be  pointed  at  you  for  confessing 
to  the  use  of  so  unhomceopathic  a  thing  as  an  uadynamized 
drug.     Verily   it  is    the  sense  of  the   "innertemplans"    that 
Homoeopathy  should  be  rendered  dynamopathy. 

The  inter- collegiate  conference  partially  failed  to  material- 
ize, as  neither  Ann  Arbor  nor  St.  Louis  were  represented. 
However,  Iowa  University,  Pulte,  Cleveland  and  the  two 
Chicago's  are  full  five-sevenths  of  the  combination,  and  the 
signs  of  the  times  indicate  longer  and  better  drill  for  the 
coming  doctor. 

The  knightly  Breyfogle,  of  the  Yellow  Fever  Commission, 
made  a  report  on  statistics  that  gladdened  the  homoeopathic 
hoosier  heart.  This  report,  from  actual  survey  of  the  ground 
shows  the  average  homoeopathic  death  rate  to  be  no  more 
than  eight  per  cent.  The  whole  death  rate,  according  to  the. 
daily  papers,  was  not  less  than  twenty-four  per  cent  The 
irrefutable  inference  is  that  the  allopaths  lost  three  where 
the  homoeopaths  lost  one. 


Miscellaneous.         '  63 

That  kind  of  argument  will  make  long  strides  toward 
proselyting  the  whole  country  to  littlepillics,  or  I  miss  my 
guess. 

The  veteran  Baer  was  to  the  fore,  with  all  the  vivacity  of 
a  second  youth.  Did  he  write  the  "Therapeutics?"  I  am 
sure  he  could  have  written  that  or  anything  else.  For  it  does 
seem  as  if  there  is  no  subject  that  he  has'n't  a  store  of  rare 
and  valuable  knowledge  upon. 

Woodyatt  represented  one  Chicago  college  and  Hawkes 
the  other.  I  expected  to  hear  them  clash  their  roman  shields 
and  cross  weapons  in  deadly  comoat  as  soon  as  they  entered 
the  room.  They  didn't.  They  didn't  even  look  mad.  Con- 
trary wise,  they  seemed  in  most  Christian  mood.  Is  the  fight 
of  the  Prairie  City  schools  only  a  stage  combat? 

There  were  many  signs  of  prosperity  of  the  professiou  in 
the  meeting. 

Sawyer,  of  Kokomo,  read  a  good  paper  on  alveolar  abscess 
and  had  a  skull  with  the  necessary  alveolar  appendages  to 
point  his  moral  and  adorn  his  tale.     He  should   be  encour- 
aged. 

Fahnestock,  of  La  Porte,  demonstrated  the  fijct  that  a  horn- 
oeopathic  surgeon  may  ilourish  among  allopathic  bone 
mashers. 

Jones,  of  Connersville,  and  Bowen,  of  Fort  Wayne,  showed 
by  their  presence,  good  clothes  and  practical  papers,  that 
Homoeopathy  will  not  want  for  live  advocates  in  their 
localities. 

Blakely,  from  Bowling  Green,  Ky.,  was  an  accession  to 
the  Institute,  and  I  confidentially  look  for  wide-spread  con- 
version to  the  new  faith  in  that  roaring  region  of  the  ready 
revolver.  • 

Mansfield,  O. — Editor  Advance: — Dear  Sir: — The  ar- 
ticle "Nailed  to  the  Counter"  in  last  number  of  this  journal, 
reminds  me  of  the  progress  that  Homceopathy  has  made  within 
'the  last  fifteen  years  in  this  (Richland)  countv.  At  that  time 
we  had  three  homoeopathic  physicians  in  the  county;  since 
then  two  of  these  have  died  and  the  other  removed  from  the 


64  (Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

county.  Now  in  their  stead  we  have  fourteen  homceopathic 
physicians,  and  have  sent  thirteen,  outside  of  the  county  to 
practice,  have  had  four  conversions  from  the  old  school,  and 
not  a  sing^le  homcBopath  to  leave  the  rank.  Ten  years  ago 
the  writer  whs  the  only  homceopath  practicing  in  this  city 
with  thirty-one  old  school  physicians  for  competitors.  Now 
we  have  four  homoeopaths  practicing  with  but  sixteen  old 
school,  and  so  far  as  my  knowledge  extends  into  adjoining 
counties  there  has  been  a  steadv  increase  in  our  numbers. 
With  this  corresponding  increase  all  over  the  country,  with 
each  year's  addition  of  colleges,  hospitals,  conversions  and 
students,  I  can  not  see  where  the  retrograde  comes  in.     A. 


Homosopathic  Progresa.     Bungletown  Letter  No.  4. 

Dear  Mr.  Editor:—!  hasten  to  inform  vou  that  I  am  still 
alive.  You  lUive  missed  me  no  doubt.  All  your  readers 
have  suffered  my  long  absence  from  your  pleasant  pages. 
The  shortest  account  I  can  give  of  myself  is,  that  I  have  been 
busy  making  maple  sugar.  I've  been  at  it  so  long  I  feel  that 
I  am  almost  too  sweet  to  live.  Besides  this,  the  roads  have 
been  so  long,  and  wide,  and  deep,  that  going  to  the  post-ofiice 
was  wholly  out  of  the  question.  But,  thank  God,  communi- 
cation is  opened  to-day  with  the  outer  world.  And  I  find  on 
looking  over  my  mail  that  things  have  been  going  on  quite 
briskly  of  late.  It  does  me  so  much  good  to  learn  how  the 
world  is  progressing.  Medical  matters  are  just  getting  into 
shape.  I  find  Homoeopathy  is  being  greatly  improved. 
Hahnemann  was  a  good  fellow,  but  with  narrow  ideas.  He 
has  really  been  a  great  injury  to  the  cause.  But  we  are  out- 
growing him  and  casting  off  his  shackles.  Now,  we  are 
laying  broader  and  more  stable  foundations;  and  there  is 
little  doubt  but  that  the  regulars  will  recognize  us  before  the 
close  of  the  present  century.     You  have  often  wondered,  no 


i 


Miscellaneous,  65 

doubt,  why  a  man  of  my  talents  could  consent  to  be  so  hidden 
away  in  a  little  place  like  Bungletown.  Well,  to  own  the 
truth,  I  have  always  felt  just  a  little  ashamed  of  my  profes- 
sional company.  A  man  of  my  abilities  ought  to  have  joined 
the  regular  school.  But,  unfortunately,  I  was  raised  a  hom- 
oeopath from  the  stump.  1  grew  up  in  ignorance  of  the  vir- 
tues of  the  allopathic  school.  Now  I  want  to  give  you  the 
result  of  some  mental  ebullitions  that  have  transpired  with 
me  while  the  sap  also  was  boiling  in  the  kettles.  Not  having 
much  practice  of  late,  I've  had  more  time  to  theorize.  I 
learn  from  history,  that  Troy,  the  ancient  beleagured  and 
walled  city  about  which  old  Homer  sang,  and  which  long 
resisted  assaults*  fell  at  last  by  craftiness.  I  learn  from  the 
same  source  that  while  Rome  burned,  the  Emperor  Nero  sat 
on  his  throne  and  played  a  fiddle.  I  believe  in  history.  I'm 
told  it  responds  rather  readily  to  an  encore.  In  other  words, 
it  is  prone  to  repeat  itself.  There,  for  instance,  is  that  once 
beautiful  system  of  medicine,  called  Homoeopathy.  A  few 
years  ago,  when  I  came  to  know  the  truth,  I  found  myself 
on  the  wrong  side.  Not  so  far  as  truth  was  concerned,  but  in 
matters  of  influence  and  reputation.  I  have  not  dared  to  ven- 
ture into  the  world,  because  I  could  not  help  feeling  op- 
pressed with  the  littleness,  and,  as  it  were,  the  political 
weakness  of  our  school.  There  is  no  mistake,  Homoeopathy 
has  many  serious  disadvantages  for  its  practitioners.  A  hom- 
oeopathic doctor  can  not  get  into  the  army  and  navy  of  the 
United  States,  except  as  a  high  private.  Nor  can  he  get 
into  insane  asylums,  except  as  a  patient.  In  that  respect,  the 
"fluxion  potency"  men  are  in  a  fair  way  to  enjoy  this  privilege. 
Nor  can  he  get  into  the  penitentiary  without  performing 
some  misdemeanor  more  gross  than  letting  his  patients  die 
for  want  of  "something  that  has  something  in  it." 

This  latter  item  is  not  likely  to  be  long  a  reproach  to  our 
school.  An  "empty  vacancy"  has  heretofore  been  our  chief 
characteristic.  We  have  largely  abounded  in  nothingness. 
This  is  fast  being  taken  away.  Every  year  we  have  more  or 
less  of  it  knocked  out  of  us.  When  the  last  of  it  is  gone, 
God  only  knows  if  anything  will  be  left. 

July  -4 


66  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

By  the  mails  received  to-day — the  first  for  several  months — 
I  have  gotten  some  joyful  news.  The  old  school,  out  of  sheer 
pity,  have  tried  for  years  to  reform  us,  and  have  failed.  Now, . 
I  see,  our  leading  men  have  set  up  bouse  cleaning  for  them- 
selves. Hom(Bopathy  must  reform  or  iUe!  That  cry  wakens 
in  my  heart  the  brightest  hopes. 

Two  years  ago  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Institute 
of  Homoeopathy,  a  distinguished  member,  and  a  college  pro- 
fessor at  that,  took  up  one  of  the  foremost  of  our  remedies 
and  showed  conclusively  that,  out  of  some  fifteen  hundred 
symptoms,  only  three  or  four  hundred  were  worth  a  cent; 
and  some  of  these  even  were  doubtful.  This  brilliant  feat 
made  him  chairman  of  the  materia  medica  bureau,  in  place 
of  a  very  worthy  gentleman  already  in  the  place,  but  unfor- 
tunately he  was  a  poor  pharmaceutist,  who  had  never  done 
anything  at  reforming  Homoeopathy.  The  following  year,  as 
I  see  by  another  document,  this  college  professor  fairly  im- 
mortalized himself  by  demonstrating,  before  the  same  august 
body,  that  triturations  of  metals  above  very  low  attenuations, 
were  all  myths.  He  proved  it,  I  also  discover,  by  the  use  of 
a  microscope.  Now  a  inicroscope  is  a  microscope;  and 
they've  got  the  thing  down  to  such  a  point  of  perfection,  that 
a  boy  can  run  it.  An  old  man  or  woman  who  has  been 
operated  on  for  cataract,  is  rather  the  best  manipulator.  He 
hasn't  so  many  things  in  the. way  of  his  eye  sight.  But  the 
demonstration  was  complete  and  satisfactory — proven,  in 
short,  by  what  was  not  there;  for  if  it  had  been  there,  he 
would  have  seen  it. 

Thus  two  great  nothings  having  been  exploded  by  this 
champion,  nothing  was  left  but  to  make  him  president  of  the 
society.  It  was  a  fitting  reward.  I  fear,  however,  it  was  a 
cunning  trick  to  shut  up  his  mouth;  for  in  the  name  of  good- 
ness, where  would  we  be  with  a  few  more  mines  like  these 
sprung  under  our  foundations! 

The  pharmaceutist,  whom  he  supplanted,  did  not  forget 
the  lesson  he  learned  at  Chautauqua.  While  his  rival  slept  in 
the  soft  embraces  of  the  presidential  chair,  he,  the  said  phar- 
maceutist, has  quietly  laid  in  store  nitro- glycerine  enough  to 


Miscellaneous.  67 

blow  the  earth  out  of  its  orbit;  and  it  looks,  now  that  the 
thing  has  gone  off,  as  though  HomoBopathy  would  be  knocked 
out  of  time.  When  the  thirtieths  are  gone,  where  is  the  un- 
derpining  for  the  high  dilutions? 

Mr.  Editor,  I  am  exhausted  at  the  contemplation.  JEx 
nthilo  nihil  Jit,  Ah,  what  classical  satisfaction  in  the  thought, 
that  nothing  comes  from  nothing.  It  is  not  so  with  makino- 
maple  sugar.  You  boil  it  down  and  there's  something  in  it. 
But  the  man  who  would  blaze  all  the  trees,  split  all  the 
troughs,  and  turn  over  all  the  kettles,  would,  if  worse  cnme 
to  worse,  be  taken  out  of  the  sap  bush,  and  sent  to  the  asy- 
lum, or  elected  to  the  legislature.     Fraternally  yours, 

Bungletown.  Dr.  Quidmuck. 

P.  S.  Mrs.  Qin"dmuck  says  the  title  of  my  article  is  am- 
biguous. She  has,  however,  no  diploma  and  may  therefore 
be  mistaken.  She  insists  that  I  am  sarcastic,  but  if  I  am,  I 
don't  know  it. 


Circular  Letter. 

As  two  (the  th  rd  member  being  Dr  H.  M.  Paine)  of  the 
committee  appointed  by  the  HomoBopathic  Medical  Society 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  to  co-operate  with  the  Mil- 
waukee Academy  of  Medicine,  in  its  proposed  tests  of  the 
thirtieth  attenuation,  after  due  reflection  and  consideration, 
we  protest  against  such  test,  and  advise  that  the  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  liew  York,  do 
not  commit  itself  to  any  such  action;  for  the  following 
reasons: 

It  would  be  calculated  to  destroy  confidence  in  attenua- 
tions as  high  as  the  thirtieth,  and  therby  do  great  injury  to 
our  school.  The  mode  proposed  can  never  be  satisfactory 
as  a  test,  because  under  certain  conditions  a  remedy  will  act 
with  clearness   and  distinctness,  and  in   other  cases,  where 


68       .  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

these  conditions  are  absent,  will  not  be  felt  at  all.  In  one 
individual  the  drug  may  be  a  similar  irritant  in  the  direction 
of  his  weakness,  and  then  will  act  with  a  power  and  fullness 
of  expression  which  will  leave  no  doubt  of  its  presence  and 
of  its  qualities.  In  another  individual,  in  whom  there  is  no 
tendency  to  the  direction  of  the  remedy,  it  may  produce  no 
appreciable  effect.  One  person  may  be  highly  impressible 
and  his  resisting  power  weak.  He  may  show  the  action  of 
a  drug  in  all  its  effects.  Another  is  strong  in  his  resisting 
power.  His  impressibilities  must  be  less,  and  the  disturbing 
action  of  the  attenuation  will  be  scarcely  felt  in  his  system. 
This  truth  is  exemplified  in  the  frequent  experience  that  one 
person  may  be  exposed  to  the  contagion  of  small-pox  dis- 
seminated in  the  air,  and  yet  resist  its  action.  It  has  no 
power  on  him.  Is  it  a  proof  that  the  small  pox  virus  is  not 
in  the  atmosphere  because  the  man  is  not  stricken?  A  robust 
man  may  laugh  at  the  contagion  of  small-pox  and  deny  its 
existence,  and  may  laugh  at  the  power  of  the  thirtieth  attenu- 
ation and  deny  its  existence;  and  yet  his  feebler  and  more 
impressible  brother  may  be  brought  to  death's  door  in  the 
same  locality  with  confluent  small-pox,  or  have  all  the  suffer- 
ings from  a  drug  in  the  thirtieth  attenuation.  An  individual 
is  vacinated.  He  resists  the  power  of  vaccine,  for  it  will 
not  take.  Another  time  when  his  conditions  are  altered,  the 
vaccine  is  developed  in  all  its  fullness  of  action. 

Now  if  this  be  true,  how  can  this  proposed  plan  of  the 
Milwaukee  Academy  be  any  reliable  test  of  the  power  or  ac- 
tion of  the  thirtieth  attenuation  of  a  drug?  What  possible 
value  can  such  a  test  have?  How  can  its  advocates  avoid 
the  inference  that  their  proposed  test  discredits  and  damages 
Homoeopathy  in  the  house  of  its  ministers  and  friends? 

T.  W.  Wildes,  M.  D.,  24  West  36th  St.,  New  York. 

Marcello  M.  Gardner,  M.  D.,  12  Steuben  Park,  Utica', 
New  York.  "  Majority  of  the  Committee. 


For  a  sensation  of  weight  in  the  graved  uterus,  it  seems 
too  heavy,  there  is  a  sensation  of  heaviness;  can  not  walk 
much,  this  sensation  seems  to  prevent.     Aloes. 


Miscellaneous.  69 


lEontgomery  Coimty  Homoeopathic  Medioal  Society.   Reported 

by  Dr.  A.  C.  Rickey. 

The  Montgomery  County  HomcEopathic  Medical  Society 
held  its  semi-annual  session  in  Dayton,  O.,  May  ist.  1879. 
There  was  a  large  attendance. 

After  a  few  well  chosen  remarks  by  the  President,  Dr.  J. 
W.  Miller,  of  Springfield,  O.,  Dr.  R.  F.  Buchanan,  of  Sid- 
ney, O.,  read  a  valuable  paper  on  diphtheria,  setting  forth 
the  views  held  by  pathologists  as  to  the  nature  of  the  dis- 
ease and  its  etiology. 

During  the  discussion  of  the  subject.  Prof.  Wm. 
Owens,  of  Pulte  Medical  College,  advanced  the  idea 
that  diphtheria  was  essentially  a  catarrhal  aifection  not 
owing  its  origin  to  the  direct  influence  of  either  bacteria  or  a 
miasm.  That  bacteria  were  in  the  air  we  breath,  the  water 
we  drink  and  the  food  we  eat,  and  that  so  long  as  the  epithel- 
ial coating  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  throat  remained 
unbroken,  the  bacteria  exerted  no  influence  upon  the  disease; 
that  the  membranous  formation  thrown  out  upon  the  throat 
furnished  a  nidus  in  which  not  merely  the  bacteria,  but  also 
the  poison  developed  thereby,  increased  rapidly,  and  that  so 
soon  as  an  abrasion  of  the  epithelium  occurred  from  any  cause, 
this  poison  was  absorbed  infecting  the  blood  and  whole  sys- 
tem. 

He  said  that  in  many  years  practice  he  had  not  had  a  case 
of  diphtheria  go  on  to  the  development  of  constitutional  symp- 
toms, showing  blood  poisoning,  and  believed  greater  success 
attended  mild  treatment  and  the  non  use  of  severe  caustic  or 
local  applications.  He  recommended  Chloride  of  potassium 
in  solution  as  a  wash  to  the  throat. 

Dr.  Wm.  Webster  relied  on  BelL^  Merc.j  Protoiodide  2a:, 
Milk  as  a  gargle  and  raw  cotton  to  the  throat.  Dr.  Wm. 
Egry  used  a  saturatad  solution  of  Sulph.  Copper  and  Chlorate 
potassium  aa  applying  with  brush  to  the  diseased  surface  to 
remove  membrane. 

Dr.  Miller  used  Zme  water  in  the  atomizer  for  the  same 
end. 


70  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Dr.  J.  W.  Clemmer,  of  Piqua,  read  a  very  able  paper  on 
lyphlitis,  based  on  a  case  from  practice.  On  the  subject  of 
treatment  he  advised  copious  injections  of ^  water,  in  those 
cases  which  result  from  impaction  of  feces,  aided  when  this 
alone  >Vas  insufficient,  bv  mild  cathartics.  Dr.  Wm.  Owens 
recommended  Beef  ^9  gall  as  a  solvent  of  the  hardened  fecal 
matter,  adding  two  tablespoonsful  to  a  quart  of  warm  water. 

Dr.  -Beebe,  of  Sidney,  reported  a  case  of  strangulated  in- 
guinal heinia  cured  by  the  use  ofoi  the  aspirator  after  all 
other  proceedures  failed. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Rickey  advised  the  administration  of  Atropia 
sulph.  -^  of  a  grain  by  rectal  injection,  dissolved  in  half  a  pint 
of  warm  water,  where  it  is  desirable  to  secure  prompt  evacua- 
tion of  the  rectum  and  colon  in  cases  of  impaction  of  feces 
Follow  the  injection  oi  Atropia  in  a  half  hour's  time  by  copious 
water  injections. 

This  soo4ety  meets  again  the  first  Thursday  in  Novem- 
ber, 1879. 


Eastern  Ohio  Homodopathists.      \ 

The  Homeopathic  Medical  Society  of  Eastern  Ohio  was 
called  'to  order  by  Vice  President  Dr.  Royer,  o(  Massillon, 
in -the  office  of  R.  B.  Rush,  M.  D.,  in  Salem.  There  were 
present  Drs.  R.  B.  Rush  and  Coon,  of  Salein;  McGranaghan 
and  Allen,  Youngstown;Clapp,  of  Wellsville;  R.  B.Johnson, 
of  Ravenna;  Peirson,of  Clarkson,  Narks,  of  Leetonia;  Saxon, 
of  Alliance;  Rockwell,  Grow,  Murdockand  Childs,orAkron. 
The  Society  was  also  complimented  by  the  presence  of  mem- 
bers of  the  press. 

Dr.  Rush  read  a  report  upon  yellow  fever,  by  Dr.  Hol- 
combe,  of  New  Orleans,  which  with  discussion  and  other 
minor  matters  occupied  the  forenoon  session. 

At  twelve  o'clock  the  Society  adjourned  to  enjoy  one  of 
Mrs.  Rush's  very  best  of  dinners. 

Dr.  Cbilds  made  a  short  verbal  report  on  typhoid;  Dr.  Grow 


Miscellaneoust  71 

also  on  dysentery.  Dr.  Rockwell  gave  a  written  report  on 
Hemorrhoid*  which  was  discussed  by  most  of  the  members 
Dr.  Johnson  read  a  paper  on  scarlatina,  which  was  discussed 
by  Drs.  Peirson,  Clapp,  Royer,  McGranaghan,  Childs  and 
Coon.  Dr.  Rush  reported  a  case  of  diphtheria,  following 
closely  an  attack  of  distinct  scarlatina;  Dr.  Murdock  also  a 
similar  case.  Dr.  Johnson  reported  a  case  of  relapse  which 
presented  a  clear  case  of  desquamating  twice.  Dr.  Royer  re- 
ported a  case  of  tumor  on  the  Iliac  Fossa  of  a  bony  nature, 
not  remedial;  also  a  case  of  double  cataract  operated  upon 
with  success  to  the  sight. 

Dr.  Grow  reported  a  case  of  dysmenorrhea  with  marked 
peculiarities,  which  brought  out  general  discussion. 

Adjourned  to  meet  in  Akron  on  the  third  Wednesday  in 
April  next  * 


Prench  Doctors. 

London  News. — ^The  fees  which  French  physicians  receive 
would  seem  to  their  English  brethren  very  low.  I  gather 
from  a  recent  controversy  in  the  papers  that  some  leading 
London  practitioners  lately  raised  their  fee  for  a  first  consul- 
tation to  two  guineas.  In  Paris  the  best  physicians  expect 
twenty  francs  for  a  consultation  at  home,  and  forty  francs  if 
they  go  out;  but  a  rather  exaggerated  sentiment  of  profes- 
sional delicacy  prevents  them,  as  a  rule,  from  demand- 
ing more  than  a  patient  chooses  to  give.  The  table  of 
a  busy  doctor  is  littered  over  with  gold  pieces  so  grouped  as 
to  convey  the  hint  that  fees  of  one,  two  or  three  Napoleans 
have  been  received;  but  if  a  patient  lays  down  ten  francs,  or 
even  five,  he  receives  his  bow  and  thanks  without  a  protest, 
the  doctor  assuming  (often  wrongly)  that  the  man  has  given 
all  he  can  afford.  In  country  towns  five  francs  is  the  usual 
fee,  but  two  francs  are  often  given  even  by  men  who  ought 
to  know  better;  and  two  francs  is  the  invariable  fee  which 
village   doctors   put   down  per  visit  when  sending   in    their 


72  Cincinnati  3fedical  Advance. 

bills  at  the  end  of  the  year.  One  is  ashamed  to  say  that  these 
doctors'  bills  often  give  rise  to  the  sorriest  hagling,  for  there 
exists  a  crooked  opinion  among  the  French  peasantry  and 
working  classes  that  a  physician  should  regard  himself  as  a 
philanthropist,  and  pay  his  butcher's  bill  with  mere  thanks 
of  his  patients.  A  country  doctor  attends  a  prosperous  peas- 
ant proprietor,  day  after  day  for  weeks,  supplies  medicines, 
effects  a  cure,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  is  treated  as  an  ex* 
tortioner  because  he  has  charged  a  sum  which  will  barely 
pay  for  the  wear  and  tear  of  his  horse  and  gig.  Some  doctors 
draw  a  regular  salary  from  a  medical  club;  but  these  are  the 
the  worst  used  of  all,  for  every  member  of  the  club  feels 
bound  to  take  out  five  or  six  times  the  value  of  his  subscrip- 
tion in  doctor's  visits,  even  if  he  have  nothing  the  matter  with 
him. 


Does  Btmning  Water  Purify  Itself? 

Mr.  J.  A.  Judson,  in  Popular  Science  Monthly^  says:  It  is 
not  impossible  to  point  out  authorities  on  sanitary  matters  so 
wedded  to  pet  theories  that  they  unhesitatingly  deny  that  the 
conversion  of  a  pure  running  stream,  or  even  a  large  river, 
into  a  conduit  for  the  sewage  filth  of  a  great  city,  will  have 
any  deleterious  effect  on  the  potable  quality  of  the  water 
taken  a  few  miles  below  the  filth  entering  point.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  that  this  is  not  only  false  in  theory  but  also  in 
fact.  It  was  Dr.  Letheby,  of  the  English  "Royal  Commis- 
sion on  the  Water  Supply  of  London,"  it  is  believed,  who 
was  the  first  to  announce  what  has  since  proved  a  fallacy, 
viz.,  that  "if  sewage  be  mixed  with  twpnty  times  its  volume 
of  river  water,  the  organic  matter  which  it  contains  will  be 
oxidized  and  completely  disappear  while  the  river  is  flowing 
a  dozen  miles  or  so;'^  and  further,  that  "it  is  safe  to  drink 
sewage  contaminated  water  after  filtration."  The  "Royal 
Rivers  Pollution  Commission"  of  1868,  unwilling  that  this 
expression  of  opinion  should  remain  untested,  submitted  it  to 


Miscellaneous.  73 

careful  and  ingenious  experimental  investigation.  The  re- 
sult is  thus  announced:  .  .  .  ^4t  is  thus  evident  that  so 
far  from  sewage  mixed  with  twenty  times  its  volume  of 
water  being  oxidized  during  a  flow  of  ten  or  twelve  miles, 
scarcely  two- thirds  of  it  would  be  so  destroyed  in  a  flow  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  miles,  at  the  rate  of  one  mile  per 
hour,  or  after  the  lapse  of  a  week."  And,  after  mentioning 
certain  details  in  support  of  this,  the  commissioners  conclude 
with  the  remark  that  "it  will  be  safe  to  infer,  however,  from 
the  above  results,  that  there  is  no  river  in  the  United  King- 
dom long  enough  to  effect  the  destruction  of  sewage  by  oxi- 
dation." Dr.  Frankland,  an  eminent  English  authority,  be- 
fore the  Royal  Commission  on  Water  Supply,  gives  some 
strong  testimony  in  support  of  the  statement  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  remove  the  sewage  contamination  from  water  by 
any  known  process,  natural  or  artificial,  so  as  to  render  it 
harmless,  except  by  boiling  for  a  long  time,  or  by  distillation; 
and,  as  these  two  processes  are  impracticable  on  a  large  scale, 
then,  he  says,  in  his  opinion,  "water  that  has  once  been  con- 
taminated by  sewage  ought  not  afterward  to  be  used  for  do- 
mestic purposes;  and,  inasmuch  as  it  is  generally  believed 
that  the  noxious  matter  of  sewage  exists  there  in  the  form 
of  minute  germs,  which  are  probably  smaller  than  blood 
globules,  I  do  not  believe  that  even  filtration  through  a 
stratum  of  chalk  could  be  relied  upon  to  free  the  water  per- 
fectly  from  such  germs." 


A  Cheap  Disinfectant. 

The  editor  of  the  Scientiflc  American  says: 

**A  correspondent  writes  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  say- 
ing that  during  a  long  life  spent  in  tropical  fever  districts  he 
has  been  able  to  escape  infection  and  miasma    by   the  use  of 


74  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

gunpowder,  supplemented  by  a  few  simple  precautions 
against  sudden  changes  of  temperature,  sunstroke,  bad  water 
and  the  like.  He  uses  no  water  that  has  not  been  boiled  and 
afterward  kept  from  air  intact;  but  his  main  reliance  is  upon 
the  practice  of  burning  a  thimblefulof  gunpowder  in  his  bed- 
room and  very  small  quantities  in  his  trunk,  wardrobe,  etc., 
so  as  to  keep  his  clothes  in  an  atmosphere  feebly  charged 
with  gunpowder  gas.  In  Madagascar,  Reunion,  Mauritius, 
the  East  Coast  of  Tropic  Africa  and  other  fever  smitten 
lands  he  has  found  such  simple  means  a  sure  preventive 
of  epidemic  diseases,  and  has  thereby  been  often  brought  to 
the  philosophic  reflection  that  gunpowder  is  destined  to  in- 
vert the  aim  intended  by  its  fabrication. 


%n\  Misiitn. 


Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  tho  Work  House  and  House  of  Refuge  of 
Cleveland. 

Our  friend,  H.  F.  Biggar,  M.  D.,  is  the  surgeon  in  charge  and 
makes  a  good  showing.  Among  the  nine  hundred  and  seventy-five 
inmates  we  notice  three  lawyers,  one  lecturer,  one  lecturess  (?),  but 
no  doctor  nor  clergyman.  There  is  one  student  and  one  druggist,  and 
alas !  there  are  three  school  teachers  and  nine  printers.  Education, 
we  are  told,  is  a  good  thing,  but  occupation  is  better  if  like  that  of 
medical  practice,  it  only  serves  to  keep  one  out  of  the  work  house. 

Chemistry,  General  Medical  and  Pharmaceutical,  etc ,  etc.  By  John 
Attfields,  M.  A.  Ph.  D.  Eighth  Edition.  Henry  C.  Lea,  Phila- 
delphia, 1879. 

As  a  manual  for  pharmacists,  pharmaceutical  and  medical  students, 
we  know  of  no  work  so  adapted  to  general  use  as  this  most  excellent 
Chemistry  of  Mr,  Attfields. 


Book  Notices.  75 

After  considering  the  properties  of  the  leading  non-metallic  ele- 
ments, the  doctrines  of  chemical  philosophy  are  very  ably  set  forth, 
following  which  the  metallic  elements  and  their  compounds  are  dis- 
cussed in  order,  both  analytically  and  synthetically.  The  alkaloidst 
alcohols,  fats,  oils,  resins,  etc.,  firethen  treated  at  some  length,  and  the 
concluding  portions  of  the  book  devoted  to  a  general  exposition  of 
the  methods  employed  in  qualitative  and  quantitative  analysis.  The 
scope  of  the  work  can  be  best  understood  by  quoting  a  few  words 
from  the  preface :  **  This  work  differs  from  other  chemical  text  books 
in  three  particulars;  first,  in  the  exclusion  of  matter  relating  to 
compounds,  which  at  present  are  only  of  interest  to  the  scientific 
chemist;  secondly,  in  containing  more  or  leas  of  the  chemistry  of 
every  substance  recognized  officially,  or  in  general  practice  as  a 
remedial  agent;  thirdly  in  the  paragraphs  being  so  cast  that  the  vol- 
ume may  be  used  as  a  guide  to  the  study  of  the  science  experi- 
mentally." It  has  the  advantage  over  most  text  books,  of  being  thor- 
oughly practical,  and  this  is  a  feature  which,  from  its  great  value, 
will  at  once  commend  the  work  to  those  for  whom  it  was  designed. 
The  solid  wortii  of  this  most  excellent  manual  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  it  has  now  reached  its  eighth  edition.  For  sale  by  Robt. 
Clarke  <&  Co.,  price  $3.00. 

Headaches.    By  John  King,  M.  D.     Chicago,  W.  A.  Chatterton  &  Co. 

As  a  characteristic  of  many  diseased  states  headache  holds  a  high 
rank,  and  it  is  per  »  a  condition  of  no  mean  importance.  That  our 
materia  medica  is  full  of  material  to  meet  the  varying  states  of  this 
pathological  symptom,  no  one  familiar  with  it  can  deny.  These 
facts  have  led  the  author  to  collate  from  oiir  leading  remedies  such 
symptoms  as  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  headache,  and  to  connect 
with  these  concomitant  symptoms  all  so  neatly  arranged  as  to  render 
the  greatest  possible  assistance  to  the  physician.  The  monograph  is 
neatly  printed  and  substantially  bound,  and  so  small  is  it  and  yet  so 
comprehensive  and  so  fitted  for  ready  reference,  that  almost  every- 
body will  buy  it  and  use  it.    For  sale  at  the  Pharmacies. 

American  Health  Primers.    By  E.  W.  Keen,  M.  D.    Philadelphia,  Lind 
say  &  Blakiston. 

The  publishers  announce  eleven  volumes  already  in  press,  and  to 
be  issued  about  once  a  month.  The  writers  are  all  Americans,'  and 
discuss  the  various  subjects  from  the  American  stand  point  as  effected 
by  climate,  modes  of  life,  etc.,  etc.  The  list  selected  to  date,  is 
I.  Hearing,  and  How  to  keep  It.    II.  Long  Life,  and  How  to  reach 


76  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

It.  III.  Sea  Air  and  Sea  Bathing.  IV.  The  Summer  and  its  Dis- 
eases. V.  Eyesight,  and  How  to  Care  for  It.  VI.  The  Throat  and 
the  Voice.  VII.  The  Winter  and  its  Dangers.  VIII.  The  Mouth  and 
the  Teeth.  IX.  Our  Homes.  X.  The  Skin  in  Health  and  Disease. 
XI.  Brain  Work  and  Overwork.    Price  30  cents;,  in  cloth,  50  cents. 

Ziemssen's  CvclopaBdia  of  Medicine.  Vol.  XV.  Diseases  of  the  Kidney. 
Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  New  York. 

It  seems  really  astonishing  when  we  note  at  certain  points  the  rapid- 
ity of  growth  of  medical  science.  It  is  comparatively  a  few  years  ago 
that  the  pathology  of  the  kidneys  was  an  almost  unknown  land. 
And  now  we  have  here  a  robust  volume  of  nearly  eight  hundred 
pages,  wholly  devoted  to  this  department.  Prof.  Badets,  of  Keil,  and 
Prof.  Elstein,  of  Goettingen,  furnish  all  the  material  included  in  this 
book.  In  preparation  of  our  recent  course  of  lectures  upon  theory 
and  practice,  we  have  had  occasion  to  consult  this  volume  with  some 
care,  and  our  studies  of  it  have  filled  us  with  the  highest  regard  for 
the  clearness  and  correctness  of  the  writers.  The  whole  subject,  in- 
cluding the  peri-nephritic  tissue  and  the  ureters,  is  exhaustively  dis- 
cussed and  up  to  date.  Several  excellent  illustrations  help  to  set  off 
the  text,  and  give. the  reader  a  clear  and  correct  idea  of  the  subject. 
Now  that  we  have  come  to  recognize  these  heretofore  obscure,  and, 
in  many  instances,  wholly  hidden  pathological  conditions,  we  find 
them  in  general  practice  alarmlingly  prevalent,  and  their  careful 
study  demands  just  such  a  work  as  this.  It  is,  therefore,  a  pleasure 
to  commend  it  to  physicians  and  students,  as  incomparably  the  best 
thing  of  its  kind  extant.    For  sale  by  Robert  Clarke  &  Co. 

Medical  Chemistry,  Including  the  Outlines  of  Organic  and  Physiological 
Chemistry.  By  C.  Gilbert  Wheeler,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in 
Hahnemann  College,  Chicago. 

This  work  is  divided  into  two  equal  parts.  The  first  treats  of  Or- 
ganic Cliemistry,  dealing  with  many  of  the  most  important  medicinal, 
commercial  and  dietetic  substances.  The  second  part  treats  of  Ani- 
mal Chemistry,  and  in  this  portion  we  have  to  do  with  subjects  of  great 
value  to  medical  students.  There  is  not,  to  our  knowledge,  a  work  ex- 
tant that  so  nearly  fits  the  wants  of  our  medical  schools  in  this  depart- 
ment, as  this  little  book  of  Prof.  Wheeler's.  The  author  modestly 
terms  his  work  as  ''Outlines,"  but  the  student  who  masters  it  will 
find  himself  possessed  of  a  large  share  of  valuable  and  practical  facts, 
the  possession  of  which,  in  a  good  degree,  make  the  difference  be- 
tween the  modern  physician  and  the  doctor  of  the  olden  time. 


Book  Notices.  77 

Popular  Guide  to  Homoeopathyi    For  Private  and  Famijy  Use.   Smith's 
Homoeopathic  Pharmacy,  Cincinnati,  1878. 

Among  the  multitude  of  domestic  treatises,  we  have  seen  nothing 
that  we  like  better  than  this.  It  seems,  indeed,  to  be  the  ne  p/u« 
uLlra  of  hand  books,  and  we  think  no  more  unexceptionable  arrange- 
ment of  diseases  and  remedies  could  be  made  than  this.  It  is 
small  and  yet  quite  large  enough.  The  price^  sixty  cents,  puts  it 
within  the  reach  of  all. 


%H%m'%  %Mt. 


Died. — Dr.  James  M.  Cadmess,  of  Waverly,  N.  Y.  Suddenly,  May 
10th,  1879.  He  was  a  physician  greatly  beloved,  and  will  be  long  la- 
mented. 

DowLiNG. — Wednesday,  May  21st,  1879,  of  Meningitis.  Mamie, 
eldest  daughter  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Dowling,  of  New  York  City,  aged 
eleven  years  and  six  months. 

Mabiued. — Dr.  Geo.  C.  Jeffrey  and  Miss  Amanda  Walton,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  May  14.     Good  luck  Brother  George. 

BoERicKE  &  Tafel  wcre  severe  losers  by  fire,  which  destroyed 
much  of  their  stock  qf  unbound  books.  They  expect  to  have  all  in 
order  again  by  October  next.    They  are  irrepressible. 

Tally  no!  Lake  George. — American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy. — 
All  aboard!  Saturday  evening,  June  21,  a  special  Pullm^  car  will 
leave  Cincinnati,  via  Atlantic  &  Great  Western  R.  R.,  through  to  the 
lake  without  change.  Excursion  rate.  Secure  your  berth  by  ad- 
dressing Editor  Advance  or  W.  B.  Shattuc,  General  Ticket  Agent  A. 
&  G.  W.  R.  R.,  Cincinnati. 

Prof.  Dowling  writes  concerning  the  New  York  Homoeopathic 
College: 

New  York,  Dec.  4,  1878. 

Our  graduating  class  of  last  spring  numbered  thirty-eight.    If  al 
graduate  who  apply,  it  will  number  over  fifty  this  spring.    We  have 
one  hundred  and  fifty  students  so  far  this  session.    More  will  come 


Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 
• 

in'  before  the  close  of  the  term,  but  this  is  the  actual  number 
registered  to  date.  Considering  that  our  school  is  not  open  to  mem- 
bers of  the  opposite  sex,  we  look  upon  the  number  as  perfectly  satis- 
factory. 

Our  class  has  not  fallen  off,  but  is  Jarger  than  it  has  ever  been  be- 
fore at  this  stage  of  the  term. 

Db.  H.  C.  Jesses  has  removed  from  277  to  167  S.  Clark  st.,  Chicago- 

PuLTE  Boys. — Dr.  R.  S.  Brigham  removes  to  Cincinnati  to  ttike  the' 
agency  of  the  U.  S.  Home  and  Dower  Association ;  office  in  Emery 
Arcade. 

Dr.  J.  T.  LowRY  has  settled  in  Lexington,  Ky.  The  doctor  takes 
with  him  a  large  experience  and  a  fine'  reputation. 

Dr.  O.  C.  Evans  has  removed  to  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.  We  cordi- 
ally commend  the  Doctor  to  his  new  patrons. 

Dr.  D.  B.  Morrow  has  gone  to  Honduras.  We  hope  to  hear  from 
him  anon. 

Dr.  Alfred  Kicb  is  studying  this  summer  in  Marysville,  0. 

Dr.  D.  K.  Overmann  is  in  Hillsboro,  O. 

Dr.  J.  F.  McClain  has  removed  to  College  Corner,  0. 

Dr.  H.  N.  Guerksey  sails  for  Europe,  June  14th. 

At  THE  usual  monthly  meeting  of  the  British  Homoeopathic  iSo- 
ciety,  held  on  the  1st  of  May,  Dr.  Pope,  senior  editor  oi  the  Homoeo- 
pathic Review,  was  requested  to  represent  the  society  at  the  forth- 
coming meeting  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homieopathy.  We  un- 
derstand that  Dr.  Pope  intended  sailing  for  Boston  in  the  Batavia,  on 
the  21st  of  May. 

Popular  Science  Monthly  for  May,  is  replete,  as  usual,  with  the 
best  of  reading.  T^his  journal  is  always  a  welcome  visitor  to  our 
table,  and  we  never  fail  to  get  out  of  it  both  profit  and  pleasure.  One 
is  sure  to  find  in  it  something  satisfactory  and  instructive,  upon 
most  of  the  current  questions  of  the  day.  A  careful  reader  of  this 
publication  may  consider  himself  tolerably  well  posted  on  most 
scientific  topics,  and  there  will  be  few  questions  in  philosophy  which 
he  will  not  find  touched  upon  in  the  course  of  a  year's  reading. 

In  our  recent  notice  of  Prof.  Clapp's  new  book  on  Physical  Diag- 
nosis we  were  made  to  say  "care,"  when,  in  fact,  wo  intended  to 
say  "  ease,"  and  it  makes  a  mighty  difference  in  the  sense.  And 
now,  that  we  are  speaking  of  it,  this  book  should  be  adopted  by  all 
our  colleges,  for  it  is  the  cheapest  and  best  of  its  kind. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  the  Indiana  Instiiute  of  Homoe 
opathy  at  its  recent  meeting  in  Indianapolis,  and  spending  one  day 
with  the  earnest  and  intelligent  gentlemen  composing  that  body 
Thanks  to  the  energetic  Secretary  a  fine  attendance  was  secured  and 


Editor's  Table,  79 

a  full  supply  of  papers  presented.  The  <liscus«ion8  were  able  and 
interesting?.  We  expect  a  share  of  the  essays  and  will  give  them  to 
our  readers  in  due  time.  We  are  under  special  obligations  to  Dr. 
Eggert  for  hospitalities  which  no  one  knows  how  to  dispense  better 
than  be. 

Our  friend,  Dr.  W.  H.  Taylor,  who  was  pronounced  by  compe- 
tent authority  at  the  meeting  of  the  Indiana  Institute  of  Homce- 
opathy  to  be  **  no  homoeopath''  but  an  allopath  out  of  his  place/' 
was  elected  President  of  that  august  body  for  the  ensuing  year. 
Now  what  does  that  mean  ?  Is  the  conundrum  we  propose. 

A  scRiMAGE  between  two  Indianapolis  doctors  occurred  the  other 
day  at  the  medical  meeting  in  that  city.  It  was  a  small  affair  but  it 
has  been  widely  reported  over  the  country  as  a  very  grave  encounter. 

**  However,  I'd  remark  that  it's  not  a  projjer  plan 
For  any  scientific  gent  to  whale  his  fellow  man. 
And  if  a  member  don't  agree  with  his  peculiar  whim. 
To  lay  lor  that  same  member  for  to  *  put  a  head  '  on  him." 

American  Homceopathic  Ophthalmological  and  Otological  So- 
ciety.— ^The  third  annual  meeting  of  this  Society  will  be  held  June 
24th  and  2oth,  at  the  Fort  William  Henry  Hotel,  I^ke  George.  The 
session  will  begin  each  day  at  two  and  a  half  V.  M.  A  large  number 
of  valuable  papers  have  ])een  promised,  and  all  i interested  in  the 
study  of  eye  and  6ar  diseases  are  urgently  invited  to  be  present.  By 
order  of  the  President.  F.  Park  Lewis,  Secretary. 


-•-♦■ 


WantSy  Locations,  Practices  for  Sale,  Etc. 


Under  this  head  we  will   he  glad  to  insert,- gratis,  notices,  change  r>i  location, 
practices  fur  sale,  exchanges  otVercii  or  any  niisctllaiieous  want  pcrlaining  to  tlie  pro 
fcssion,  not  of  a  purely  ativertising  <>r  person. il  nature.     We  will  be  specially  obliged 
to  physic i 'I n 8  giving  the  names  ot  good  locations. 


Louisville,  Kv.,  May  8th,  1879. 
Medical  Advance  Co.: — In  answer  to  your  question,  what  places 
arc  needing  homoeopathic  physicians,  I  would  say  that  almost  any 
town  in  Kentucky  offers  inducements.  We  have  good  men  in  Dan- 
ville, Hopkinsville,  Henderson,  BowlingCrreen,  Paducah.  Physicians 
are  needed  in  Clarksville,  Lexington,  Shelbyville,  Elizabethtown 
The  two  first  mentioned  are  really  good  points.  I  am  also  informed 
that  there  is  a  first-class  opening  at  Omaha,  Nebraska.  The  farther 
south  we  go,  the  more  difficult  to  introduce  Iloma^opathy. 

Yours  respectfully,  W.  L.  Bueyfocjle 


80      *  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  June  5th,  1879. 
I  beg  pardon  for  delay  in  answering  your  request.  Worthington, 
O.,  (twelve  miles  north  of  Columbus)  is  a  beautiful  little  place  of  a 
few  hundred  inhabitants,  is  the  location  of  a  normal  school.  Has  an 
educated  and  refined  population,  with  excellent  surroundings  i 
country  beautiful.  Quite  a  number  of  homoeopaths  now  come  to  this 
city.  Patoska,  a  nice  little  place,  twelve  miles  east,  good  county. 
Shadeville.  (ten  miles  south)  small  place,  country  best  part  of  Scioto 
bottom.  At  all  these  places  Homoeopathy  stands  well,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  but  a  young  man  could  well  support  himself  at  either  place. 

E.  C.  Beckwith,  M.  D. 

Mobile,  May  13th,  1879. 

Medical  Advance,  Cincinnati. — Gentlemen: — Mobile  has  a*  white 
population  of  thirty  thousand;  society  the  best,  but  very  poor.  It 
offers  a  good  opening  for  younger  members  of  the  profession,  more 
especially  for  a  surgeon.  We  have  been  cursed  with  traveling  prac* 
titioners,  so-called  homoeopaths,  who  have  retarded  the  advance  of 
the  cause  here,  but  we  look  for  better  times;  and  a  young  competent 
man  of  good  address  will  grow  up  with  the  city.  I  have  not  the 
health  desirable  for  the  climate,  and  might  be  induced  to  sell  out. 
I  am  the  only  homoeopath  in  the  field,  was  born  here,  educated  in 
New  York,  and  have  practiced  here  seventeen  years. 

Selma,  with  a  white  population  of  four  thousand  and  black  of  five 
thousand,  is  rapidly  improving  and  offers  a  good  field.  Dr.  Henry  is 
here.  Pensacola,  with  a  population  of  eight  to  ten  thousand  bids* for 
a  homoeopath — no  regular  there.  Montgomery  has  never  had  a  true 
and  competent  man;  one  of  good  address  would  do  well  there.  Pop- 
ulation, fifteen  thousand.  Meridian,  Miss.,  Columbus  and  Aberdeen, 
with  five  to  ten  thousand  population  each,  ought  to  support  a  hom- 
oeopathic doctor,  being  especially  good  at  Columbus,  Aberdeen, 
Montgomery,  Selma  and  Pensacola.   Yours  truly,  Wm.  J.  Murrell. 

Austin,  Texas,  June  10,  1879. 
Medical  Advance  Co.,  Cincinnati,  O. — Dear  i^irs: — Palestine, 
Texas,  three  thousand  population,  railroad  machine  sHops,  no  homoe- 
opathic physicians;  Marshall,  five  thousand  population,  also  railroad 
machine  shops ;  Brenhan,  Texas,  five  thousand  population,  good 
town ;  Paris,  seven  thousand  population ;  Coraicana,  two  thousand 
population ;  Brownsville,  ten  thousand,  and  Matamoris,  immediately 
across  the  river,  twenty  thousand  population  and  no  honxiiompathic 
physician  in  either  place,  (address  Judge  Powers,  Brownsville, 
Texas,) ;  Victoria,  thirty-five  hundred  population.  These  are  all  the 
places  I  now  think  of,  and  I  am  quite  certain  none  of  them  have 
homcuopathic  physicians,  and  most  all  have  persons  who  would  be 
glad  to  employ  a  good  homoeopath,  and  none  other  ought  to  come,  as 
the  self  styled  "  regulars  "  oppose  the  school  bitterly  and  a  man 
must  be  able  to  hold  his  own  for  a  while  and  he  will  come  out  all  O. 
K.  in  time.  I  had  a  hard  fight  here  at  first.  I  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  and  the  regulars  fought 
it,  but  no  use,  I  held  the  fort,  and  am  now  reappointed  and  elected 
Secretary  of  the  Board.  I  have  also,  since  then,  been  appointed  a 
meml>er  of  the  Bf»ard  of  Health  of  Austin,  and  this  appointment  re- 
ceived no  opposition,  and  I  meet  with  the  Board  and  have  my  say  at 
each  meeting.  So  yon  see  Homoeopathy  holds  her  own  in  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Lone  Star  Empire.  Any  further  information  I  will  gladly 
give.  Yours  fraternally,  G.  E.  Routh,  M.  D. 


T. 

p.  WILSON,  H. 

D.  G.N.-AL  BB.ro«. 

VOLUKB  VII. 

CmciKNATI,  0 

1.,  AcorsT,  1879. 

NUMBBB  2. 

lar.lM  Brtadwar. 

s 

Hb»lpllDn.>ndb 
Co.,80  W.  tUiSt. 

Hid  be  Dddrmed  to  Da.  T. 

P.  Wrtiow,  edl- 

,  Cincinnili,  O.  SabKri|iti< 

.««.«.  per  j«,. 

Thi  Amsbicas  Ihbtitute  or  Howeopathy. — The  Lak«  Geoige 
roeetibg  haa  come  and  gone  like  a  bright  dream.  Competent  an- 
tboritjp  proDOUDced  it  the  veiy  best  of  its  kind.  It  wu  worth  all  It 
coat  To  look  upon  that  beautilul  lake  with  its  clean  cut  crystal  face, 
and  upon  the  glorloua  monatalna  that  stand  forever  like  faithtal  sea- 
tinele  about  it,  is  to  excite  our  highest  admiration  and  warmest  ees- 
thetic  feelings.  Yes,  the  events  that  marked  the  session  are  indeed 
gone,  but  the  memory  of  that  time  will  linger  in  our  hearts  until  we 
also  are  gone  to  return  no  more.  Our  gratitude  is  hereby  feebly  ex- 
prewed  to  the  genial,  noble-bearted  Dowumq,  in  that  he  enticed  the 
Institute  to  meet  in  such  alovely  spot  ItwasdonbtlesstbisiutImat« 
association  with  nature  in  her  grandest  moods,  which  helped  to  lift 
the  Institute  out  of  the  common  path,  and  to  stamp  its  work  with  a 
loftiness  of  thooght,  and  endeavor  quite  unusual  to  its  annual  pro- 
ceedings. 

President  CorradWvsblhobvt  opened  the  ball  with  an  address 
which  was  devoted  chiefly  to  the  question  of  requirements  of  society 
Aug-i 


82  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

membership.  The  order  of  exercises  was  full  to  the  brim  and  taxed 
the  energy  of  the  officers  and  members  to  bring  matters  to  a  comple- 
tion within  the  four  days  allotted.  This  was  done  only  at  considera- 
ble sacrifice,  leaving  many  valuable  papers  unread,  and  many  valua- 
ble thoughts  unuttered.  The  occasion  taken  as  a  whole,  was  produc- 
tive of  much  social  enjoyment.  Over  four  hundred  were  present  who 
properly  belonged  to  the  Institute  either  as  members  or  friends.  The 
Fort  William  Henry  Hotel  gave  very  general  ratisfaction  to  its  guests. 
An  event  of  no  small  importance  was  the  presence  of  Dr.  AlfrsdC. 
Pops,  editor  of  the  Homoeopathic  Review  (London)  and  delegate  to 
the  Institute  from  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society.  The  Doctor 
made  himself  thoroughly  at  home,  and  won  many  friends  by  his 
courtesy  and  geniality.  If  we  say  he  wasn't  a  bit  stuck  up,  we  ex- 
press an  element  in  his  character  much  admired  by  all.  Dr.  Pope  is 
talented,  intelligent  and  well  up  in  general  as  well  as  professional 
matters.  He  will  bear  to  our  British  brethren  the  warmest  wishes 
and  fraternal  greetings  of  their  American  confreres. 
^^e  need  no  more  than  refer  to  the  boat  ride  and  banquet,  and  to 
say^.they  were  all  that  could  be  desired.  Dr.  Dowling  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
I  did  all  that  lay  in  their  power  to  make  our  stay  at  Lake  George  both 
pleasant  and  profitable.  It  would  be  easy  upon  our  part  to  look 
with  a  cynical  eye  upon  some  particular  events  of  the  session.  Most 
serious  objections  might  be  raised  upon  several  points,  but  where 
every  one  seems  to  strive  after  the  good  and  true,  we  may  safely 
leavQ  mistakes  to  be  corrected  and  errors  to  be  reformed,  all  in  their 
own  good  time.  The  general  work  of  the  Institute  is  rapidly  advanc- 
ing toward  a  high  degree  of  excellence.  To  an  extent  not  easily 
sieasured,  its  power  for  good  is  being  more  and  more  felt  throughout 
the  entire  country.  The  retirement  of  Dr.  McClatchey  from  the  post 
•of  secretary,  occasioned  some  sadness.  For  the  work  he  has  done  in 
past  years  for  the  Institute,  he  will  ever  be  held  in  grateful  remem- 
i)rance.  As  it  was,  it  was  better  he  should  go,  but  of  his  ability  in 
4;hat  position  there  can  be  but  one  opinion.  We  are  now  promised 
ior  a  certainty  the  transactions  of  the  present  session,  and  the  two 
Centennial  volumes  within  the  next  four  months.  The  bureaus  for 
1th e  coming  year  are  all  well  represented,  and  the  probability  is  now 
•that  their  work  will  be  chiefly  done  in  sections,  and  this  will  give  a 
wider  scope  and  better  opportunities  to  the  members.  The  Institute 
adjourned  to  meet  next  June  in  Milwaukee. 

Statistics. — Now  after  so  many  centuries  we  are  approaching  the 
one  desirable  thing  in  medicine.  Vital  statistics  are  the  vital  want 
of  our  profession.  At  last  the  government  is  awake  to  its  duty.  If 
it  hold  true  to  its  purposes  we  will  have  in  a  few  years  so  perfect  a 


Editorial.  83 

machinery  that  almost  nothing  will  be  lost  ih  the  way  of  statistics. 
The  Department  of  Interior,  through  the  superintendent  of  census,  is 
now  furnishing  gratuitously  to  all  physicians  neat  blank  books  for 
recording  deaths.  The  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  at  its 
last  meeting  passed  resolutions  in  support  of  this  work,  and  urging 
all  to  keep  and  forward  these  records.  We  earnestly  hope  all  read- 
ers of  the  Advance  will  take  hold  of  this  work,  so  that  in  this  as  in 
all  good  words  and  works,  our  school  shall  be  foremost.  But  deaths 
are  only  one  item  among  the  many  we  need  to  record.  The  govern- 
ment can  not  be  wiser  than  the  people.  It  is  we  who  should  urge  the 
government  and  not  wait  ourselves  to  be  forced  into  duty.  The  fact 
is,  the  homceopathic  school  must  strive  for  leadership.  Here  is  an 
open  and  most  important  field.  By  all  means  let  us  have  statistics. 
We  are  in  receipt  of  a  circular  setting  forth  the  virtues  of  Damiana 
as  an  aphrodisiac,  or  in  other  words,  an  excitor  of  the  sexual  passion. 
The  advertisement  contains  matter  of  an  altogether  improper  charac- 
ter. We  do  not  hesitate  to  brand  it  as  a  lewd  publication,  unfit  to  be 
seen  in  a  physician's  office.  With  evident  propriety  a  druggist  by 
the  name  of  Dunq  is  general  agent  for  the  drug,  and  is  probably  cir 
culating  this  filthy  publication.  We  do  not  believe  medical  journals 
will  knowingly  aid  or  abet  such  work.  To  stamp  on  it  as  you  would 
on  fire  is  the  only  remedy. 


Two  Sadical  Cnrofi  of  Ulceri  Ventricola.    From  "  Die  Aiige- 

meine    Homopotische    Zeitung.     Translated    by    A. 
McNeiJ,  M.  D. 

We  ought  not  only  to  add  to  our  materia  medica,  but  that 
already  conquered,  investigated  and  discovered  we  should 
retain,  and  confirm  and  preserve  in  increasing  usefulness. 

The  sage  Zoraster  said  that  to  plant  a  tree  was  as  praise- 
worthy as  making  ten  prayers;  but  to  preserve  one  was 
equal  to  a  hundred. 


84  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Almost  every  journal  brings  us  daily  new  remedies  but 
most  of  them  disappear  like  ephemera.  Drugs  become  fash- 
ionable as  well  as  style  of  dress,  and  after  they  have  made  a 
furore  for  a  while  they  are  thrown  in  the  lumber  room  in 
which,  however,  there  is  often  valuable  material.  The  rea- 
son for  this  lies  partly  in  the  very  imperfect  pathogenesis 
and  deficient  understanding  of  their  action,  and  partly  in  the 
wrong  dietic  management  of  the  patient 

I  hope  that  I  will  be  excused  in  relating  cures  with  well 
known  remedies,  accompanied  by  well  established  dietic 
care.  However,  I  will  demonstrate  my  reasons  for  my  selec- 
tions, which  I  have  missed  in  the  history  of  most  cases  of 
diseases  and  of  cures  and  which,  therefore,  remained  fruit- 
less. 

I  was  called,  in  both  cases,  only  after  several  months  of 
allopathic  treatment  in  its  most  diverse  forms  and  copious 
medication,  and  accompanied  by  the  most  liberal  diet,  so  that 
I  am  unable  to  produce  the  original  picture  of  the  disease, 
unmixed  with  drug  effects. 

The  first  of  these  cases  I  have  already  mentioned  in  my 
report  to  this  journal  of  the  Nice  Homoeopathic  Asylum. 
The  patient  was  a  governess  from  French  Switzerland. 
After  I  cured  her  she  returned  to  her  home,  where  she  be- 
came strong  enough,  being  actuated  by  gratitude,  to  volun- 
teer as  a  nurse  in  the  Asylum  last  autumn,  and  she  was  fully 
capable  of  performing  the  duties  of  the  situation. 

The  second  case  was  a  dark  brunette,  widow  of  a  phy- 
sician  from  Nice,  seventy-eight  years  old,  who,  partly  from 
dwelling  all  her  life  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  city,  in  a  house 
with  a  southern  exposure  close  by  the  sea,  and  partly  from 
the  habitual  abuse  of  red  wine,  (without  which  people  here 
think  they  would  be  unable  to  digest  their  food),  had  acquired 
an  extremely  fiery  temperament,  although  not  unamiable. 
Soon  after  her  menses  began,  which  were  scanty  and  pain- 
ful, she  was  advised  by  a  foreign  lady  friend  to  take  some 
powders  which  had  relieved  her  from  similar  complaints. 
The  result,  however,  was  very  lamentable.  She  was  attacked 
by  a  terrible  metrorrhagia,  accompanied  by  the  most  torment- 


Theof^  and  Practice.  85 

ing  cramping  pains,  both  of  which  continued  nearly  a  week 
and  were  only  controlled  by  the  most  powerful  (allopathic) 
drugs.  (What  they  were  she  did  not  know).  The  hazard- 
ous drug  was  Secale  comutum^  notwithstanding  her  power- 
ful constitution,  restored  her  partially.  There  still  remained, 
after  this  poisoning,  a  weakness  of  the  eyes,  particularly  of 
the  right;  and  also  of  the  stomach.  She  complained  con- 
stantly of  the  heat  in  all  of  these  parts,  and  when  her  climae- 
teric  occurred  (she  had  never  been  pregnant)  a  cataract 
appeared  in  the  right  eye  and  a  trace  of  one  in  her  left.  She 
also  suffered  continually  from  violent  rheumatic  pains  in  the 
entire  body,  but  most  of  all,  of  constant  pains  in  the  stomach 
and  entire  abdomen.     So  much  for  the  anamnesis. 

In  the  beginning  of  December,  1877,  I  was  asked  by  one 
of  my  patients  to  call  immediately  on  the  above  mentioned 
lady.  She  would  not  take  any  more  allopathic  drugs,  and 
her  gastric  inflammation  had  become  so  violent  that  a  priest 
had  been  called  three  days  before,  and  on  the  morning  of 
my  visit  he  had  administered  extreme  unction,  which,  of 
course,  meant  that  she  was  in  a  desperate  condition  and  that 
she  could  not  live  for  more  than  a  few  days.  I  found  her  in 
a  state  of  violent  mental  excitement,  with  large  quantities  of 
drugs  on  the  stand  by  the  bedside.  She  had  also  taken 
Concentrated  bouillon^  small  portions  of  half  cooked  Beef- 
steak and  strong  Bed  wine  to  revive  her  (apparently 
extremely)  depressed  strength.  They  informed  me  that, 
after  the  smallest  quantity  of  any  of  these  she  was  attacked 
by  the  most  indescribably  violent  burning  pains  and  strain- 
ing retching,  with  occasionally  vomiting  of  every  thing  taken 
on  her  stomach,  but,  however,  no  blood,  a  only  few  brown 
flocks,  yet  every  stool,  which  only  passed  after  repeated 
injections,  was  very  hard  and  black  and  only  passed  with 
excruciating  pain. 

STATUS   PR^SENS. 

I.  Amblyopia  amaurotica,  right  eye  at  times  very  red  and 
hot;  11.  Face  occasionally  deathly  pale  (Hippocratic  counte- 
nance); III.  Frequent  severe  vertigo  and  frontal  pains;  IV. 
Tongue  coated  white,  with  red  tip;  V.  Constant  eructations; 


86  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

VI.  Thirst  not  very  great;  VII.  Appetite  not  entirely  absent; 
VIII.  Taste  in  her  mouth  salty  and  sour;  IX,  Heart  and  lungs 
normal;  X.  Violent  pressure  and  burning  as  if  on  fire  in  the 
epigastrum,  but  more  particulary  in  the  pit  of  the  stomach,  so 
that  she  often  lifted  the  bed  clothes  in  order  to  cool  herself;  XI. 
Abdomen  tense,  hot  to  the  touch,  and  bloated;  XII.  Urine  sat- 
urated,  yellow,  with  acid  reaction,  and  scanty;  XIII.  No  stool, 
legs  and  feet  cool;  XIV.  Pulse  one  hundred;  XV.  Respiration 
somewhat  accelerated. 

No  emaciation,  they  said,  had  occurred  since  her  illness,  be- 
ginning at  the  last  of  October.  A  constant  pressing,  burning 
pain  on  the  spinal  column  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  eighth, 
ninth  and  tenth  dorsal  vertebra.  The  disease'  had  began 
with  frequent  eructations,  nausea  and  retching,  which  had 
been  combatted  by  cathartics,  and  as  they  produced  debility; 
a  strengthening  diet  was  ordered.  I  was  informed  that 
vomiturition  was  very  frequent,  (almost  every  half  hour), 
which  was  always  followed  by  exhaustion,  for  a  short  time, 
that  almost  became  a  faint. 

I  informed  her  that  the  principal  condition  to  a  cure  was 
that  she  must  swallow  nothing  but  milk  as  a  food,  and  as 
drink  water  which  had  been  boiled  and  cooled.  "  Only  these 
and  nothing  more"  must  be  allowed.  I  then  told  her  I 
v/ould  not  give  her  any  medicine  till  morning,  which  caused 
great  consternation  in  the  family.  Her  eldest  sister  exclaimed, 
Impossible!  She  has  not  tasted  milk  for  sixty  years  and  even 
then  she  could  not  digest  it.  That  I  might  not  be  misunder- 
stood I  insisted  on  the  use  of  milk  as  a  conditio  sine  qua  non 
to  my  taking  the  case.  But  I  comforted  her  by  saying  that 
she  might  begin  with  only  ten  drops,  and  then,  after  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  a  half  dessertspoonful,  and  if  her  stomach 
bore  this  an  entire  spoonful,  and  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
more  another  spoonful,  in  another  hour,  if  she  had  not 
rejected  any,  two  teaspoonsful.  In  this  way,  and  by  giving 
her  a  warming  in  "  Mary's  Bath,"  the  family  acquiesced.  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing,  during  my  stay  of  an  hour,  that 
she  bore  the  milk,  a  half  spoonful,  well. 

On  my  evening  visit  I  learned  that  she  had  taken  a  small 
cup    full  in  the  prescribed  manner  and  with    perceptible 


Theory  and  Practice.  87 

relief,  and  she  had  retained  it.  The  retching  came  at  longer 
intervals  I  did  not  even  yet  give  her  any  medipine,  partly 
to  allow  the  former  diet  and  medication  to  be  dissipated  or 
exhausted,  and  partly  to  permit  the  milk  to  accomplish  its 
work  without  interruption. 

The  night  following  was  still'  stormy,  but  the  tempest  was 
allayed  by  the  milk,  which  was  not  vomited;  only  a  little, 
sour  smelling,  slimy  substance  was  brought  up;  no  more 
blood  (locks. 

Morning,  pulse  ninety;  mind  less  restless.  She  had  taken 
two  cups  of  milk  and  had  retained  them.  Evening,  vomit- 
ing still  unchanged.  On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  she 
had  taken  four  cups  of  milk,  although  she  took  it  without 
desire,  only  because  she  was  requested  to  do  so.  But,  the 
burning  and  tension  in  the  bowels,  the  anguish  before  vom- 
iting and  the  painful  eructations  still  continued.  I  then  jgave 
her  Oarbo.  veg.  6th  dec,  ten  drops  in  one  hundred  grammes 
of  distilled  water,  five  drops  of  this  solution  were  put  on 
the  tongue  every  twq  hours,  alternating  with  milk,  ».  e.,  one 
hour  milk,  the  next  Carbo.  veg. 

Reasons  I  gave  Carbo.  veg,  instead  of  Arsenicum:  I.  Be- 
cause the  patient  lay  quietly  and  the  former  restlessness  was 
more  mental  than  corporeal,  more  from  the  weeping  friends 
about  her,  which  I  could  allay  easily;  II.  The  appetite  had 
not  failed;  III.  The  salvia  was  rather  increased  than  dimin- 
ished; IV.  She  always  had  a  repulsion  to  milk;  V.  Ameli- 
oration by  partial  recovering;  VL  Amelioration  from  cold 
drinks;  while  the  contrary  is  the  case  in  all  of  these  points 
with  Arsenicum. 

Fourth  day. — Last  night  much  quieter;  burning  less  violent; 
abdomen  less  tense;  for  the  first  time  empty  eructations 
(which  relieve),  but  accompanied  by  inclination  to  vomit; 
stool  still  black  (bowels  only  moved  by  clysters);  pulse 
ninety. 

Carbo,  veg,  was  continued  till  the  seventh  day,  but  in  the 
tenth  dilution.  After  the  seventh  day  no  more  inclination 
to  vomit.  Tongue  clearing;  but  still  burning  pains,  which, 
on  the  ninth  day  were  unusually  violent,  and  were  no  longer 
relieved  by  Carbo.  veg.  (An  aggravation? — ^Trans.);  great 


8H  Oineinnati  Medical  Advance. 

thirst,  but  satisfied  by  a  little  water;  appetite  failed  entirely, 
and  also  the  salivary  secretion;  the  burning  still  continues, 
but  is  no  longer  ameliorated  by  the  cool  air  (liAing  the  bed 
clothing);  the  milk  now  agreed  with  her  better  warm  than 
cold;  the  retching  and  the  vomiting  of  mucus  with  brown 
flocks  now  returned ;  anxious  tossing  about  in  bed,  which  is 
followed  either  by  faintness  or  fear  of  death.  The  time  for 
Arsen.  had  now  come,  which  I  gave  in  the  tenth  cent.,  in 
the  same  manner  as  I  had  administered  the  Carbo,  veg.^  two 
drops  every  hour,  which  was  soon  followed  by  relief.  The 
medicine  was  continued  every  two  hours  in  alternation  with 
a  cup  of  warm  milk,  for  two  days,  which  was  followed  by  a 
striking  improvement  with  the  eleventh  day.  Now  the 
twentieth  potency  but  only  three  times  a  day  was  ordered. 
As  the  pains  returned  with  violence  on  the  fifteenth  day  I 
gR\e  Arsen,  yo  for  two  days,  which  was  accompanied  by 
constant  improvement  The  medicine  was  now  discontinued 
and  on!}'  milk,  of  which  she  took  two  liters  a  day  with 
relish,  and  water  were  given  her. 

Notwithstanding  the  decidedly  progressive  relief  and  even 
disappearance  at  times  of  some  symptoms,  yet  vertigo 
occurred  frequently,  the  heat  in  the  abdomen,  the  burning 
pain  in  the  stomach  (region  of  the  p^'lorus)  and  the  back 
still  remained,  which  symptons  were  no  longer  relieved  by 
Arsen.  In  fact,  most  of  the  symptoms  demanding  it  had 
disappeared,  in  a  great  measure.  But  there  began  a  general 
itching  of  the  skin  that  was  aggravated  by  scratching. 
These  indications,  as  well  as  the  reappearance  of  the  blood 
congula  in  the  hard  stools,  the  great  weakness,  the  newly 
appearing  grayish  blue  color  of  the  lips  and  gums,  the 
pulse,  which  had  again  become  harder  and  more  accelerated, 
one  hundred,  the  melancholy  disposition  instead  of  the 
former  anguish,  the  amblyopia  amaurotica  almost  to  the 
extent  of  blindness,  the  appearance  of  a  bluish  swelling  in 
the  right  nostril,  with  discharge  of  a  brownish  fluid;  increas* 
ing  thirst;  increase  of  the  urine  and  of  the  palpitation,  all 
indicated  Argenium  nitricum,  which  I  prepared  as  I  had  the 
Arsen,  in  the  tenth  potency,  but  I  gave  it  every  three  hours, 
instead  of  hourly.     Behold!  now  the  pains  first  began  to  be 


Theory  and  Practice.  89 

relieved  constantly,  instead  of  only  periodically,  as  before,  as 
well  as  the  dark  color  of  the  mucous  membranes  and  the 
stools.  Even  in  three  days  there  was  a  desire  for  solid  nour- 
ishment. I  allowed  her  toast  and  bread  crust  soaked  in 
milk,  which  were  well  borne.  She  drank  more  milk,  two 
liters  a  day.  She  was  afterwards  allowed  white  fish  made 
fine  and  the  bones  carefully  picked  out,  then  gradually  far- 
inaceous food  was  allowed.  After  three  days  the  Arg,  niL 
was  given  in  the  twentieth,  and  after  seven  days  in  the 
thirtieh,  but  only  twice  a  day;  then,  after  eleven  days,  only 
once,  and  after  fifteen  only  on  alternate  days  a  dose;  and 
after  the  twenty-first  day  it  was  entirely  discontinued.  On 
the  eleventh  day  after  the  use  of  Arg,  nit  she  could  leave  her 
bed,  and  on  the  twenty-first  she  could  take  her  accustomed 
food,  with  the  exception  of  a  bouillon  and  meat,  viz.:  vege- 
tables and  farinaceous  substances,  but  as  a  drink  only  water 
and  milk.  All  the  symptoms,  excepting  the  amblyopia,  es- 
pecially that  of  the  right  eye,  were  gone. 

At  the  end  of  a  month  she  could  again  drive  out  and  eat 
any  kind  of  food  that  she  had  formerly  eaten,  even  meat.  I 
only  prohibited  all  acids,  uncooked  fruits,  and  particularly 
oranges,  as  I  saw,  twenty  years  ago,  a  woman  with  the  same 
disease,  who  had  become  convalescent,  while  standing  at  the 
window  eating  an  orange,  she  suddenly  fell,  deathly  pale, 
with  the  cry:  "Oh!  what  a  burning  pain  in  my  stomach." 
She  was  laid  on  a  sofa,  where  she  died  in  ten  minutes.  The 
post-morteu  revealed  hemorrhagic  erosions  of  great  exttmt 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  pylorus. 

Two  years  have  now  passed  since  the  beginning  of  the 
convalescence  of  this  lady.  She  is  healthier  than  ever  before, 
only  her  eyes  remain  in  the  same  condition.  She  eats  every- 
thing, drinks  wine,  goes  out  daily  several  hours,  only  she 
now  and  then  feels  a  slight  heat  in  the  stomach,  when  she 
takes  a  small  swallow  of  Carbo.  veg.j  ten  drops  of  the  tenth 
in  two  hundred  grammes  distilled  water,  and  soon  it  passes 
away.     She  still  continues  to  drink  milk  with  a  great  relish. 

Remarks. — ^The  first  few  months  I  never  allowed  her  to 
swallow  the  medicine,  but  in  the  small*  frequent  doses  above 
mentioned^  it  was  dropped  on  her  tongue,  so  that  it  was  only 


90  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

wet,  and  I  found  that  the  medicine  acted  quicker  in  this  way 
than  when  swallowed,  which  many  patients  are  afraid  to  do 
in  this  disease,  fearing  that  it  will  derange  the  stomach.  In 
this  mode  of  administration,  particularly  with  gastric  troubles 
or  those  who  can  not  bear  cold  water  or  spirits  are  deprived 
of  the  pretext  that  they  can  not  take  medrcine.  In  many 
cases  the  smallest  quantity  of  water  is  hurtful,  and  fox.  fear 
of  perforation  of  the  gastric  walls  the  stomach  must  be 
allowed  absolute  rest.  And  also  to  such  who,  from  mental 
or  physical  reasons  (insanity,  obstinacy,  trismus,  etc.)  hold 
the  teeth  closed,  we  are  thus  enabled  to  give  medicine. 

I  was  first  induced  to  administer  medicine  in  this  way  by 
a  peculiar  case.  Twenty  years  ago  there  came  to  the  water- 
ing place,  Gastein,  the  well  known  wine  dealer,  Herr  M — , 
in  order  to  be  relieved  of  a  very  troublesome  complaint.  He 
showed  to  me  the  ends  of  his  fingers,  which  nearly  all  con- 
tained small  deposits  of  the  Carbonate  and  Pho^hate  of 
lime,  I  could  actually  make  dents  in  these  with  instruments. 
These  gouty  deposits  he  had,  in  fact,  in  all  his  joints,  but 
there  were  more  easily  discovered  in  the  clubbed  finger  ends. 
Why  these  accretions  should  be  formed  just  there  may  per- 
haps be  explained  by  the  physiologists,  particularly  by  those 
who  have  made  electro-therapeutics  a  specialty.  To  these 
the  resemblance  of  the  rounded  electrical  conductors  with 
the  finger  ends  must  be  apparent.  The  Rhine  wine  districts 
have,  it  is  well  known,  a  calcareous  soil.  The  wine  dealer 
said,  in  reply  to  my  question  if  he  had  not  drank  too  much 
wine:  **  I  wish  to  God  I  had  drank  it  instead  of  tasting  it, 
for  I  would  not  now  be  in  so  miserable  a  plight  if  I  had, 
for  I  made  it  a  rule  never  to  eat  a  particle  of  food  till  I  had 
completed  my  task  of  'wine  tasting.'  I  had  determined  to 
drive  all  opposition  out  of  the  field  by  my  ability  to  discrim- 
inate between  the  finest  shades  of  difference  in  wine  better 
than  my  competitors  and  this  was  only  possible  by  taking  a 
few  drops  of  the  wine  in  my  mouth  or  putting  it  on  my 
lips  when  fasting,  and  then  spitting  it  out.  I  did  this  for 
years  and  thereby  accomplished  my  purpose,  but  at  the  cost 
of  this  terrible  disease."  His  suflTerings  were  considerably 
relieved  by  several  seasons  of  the  Gastien  waters. 


Theory  and  Practice,  91 


BoUadoniia  Provingi     By  S.  Mills  Fowler,  M.  D.,  Dubuque, 
Iowa. 

Was  called  early  January  17th,  1879,  to  see  Charles  G., 
aet.  sixry-one;  marked  bilious  temperament;  tall,  slim  Ameri- 
can, with  dark  complexion  and  eyes,  who  had  just  swallowed 
two  teaspoonsful  of  Fl,  ext  bell,  by  mistake.  Immediately 
he  discovered  his  mistake,  and  with  assistance  of  his  wife, 
began  swallowing  large  quantities  of  black  coffee,  salt  and 
water,  mustard  seed  and  water,  rare  eggs,  lard,  milk,  and 
eveything  else  that  suggested  itself  to  them  to  induce  vomit- 
ing; and,  as  maybe  inferred,  succeeded  admirably,  as  when  I 
arrived,  not  more  than  twenty  minutes  after  the  accident, 
they  showed  me  not  less  than  two  gallons  of  liquid,  which 
had  passed  into  and  been  ejected  from  his  stomach,  to  say 
nothing  of  a  large  quantity  which  he  had  vomited  on  the 
ground  outside  the  door.  (Surely  his  capacity  for  swallow- 
ing was  not  small.)  This,  I  judged,  had  accomplished  all 
that  could  be  hoped  for  in  the  way  of  vomiting.  Enough  of 
the  Bell,  had  been  absorbed,  however,  to  develop  the  follow- 
ing symptoms:  '  In  thirty  minutes  a  giddy,  light  feeling  in 
head,  with  staggering  as  if  intoxicated,  on  attempting  to 
walk,  rapidly  increasing  until,  at  the  end  of  one  hour  he  was 
obliged  to  lie  down  or  sit  still,  as  he  could  not  control  his 
lower  limbs,  making  miss  steps,  etc. ;  giddiness  increases,  pupils 
beginning  to  dilate;  begins  to  talk  a  little  incoherently,  but 
can  yet  answer  questions  correctly. 

One  hour  and  thirty  minutes — Talks  incessantly,  but 
tongue  seems  thick  and  does  not  articulate  understandingly; 
we  can  understand  but  an  occasional  word,  and  it  seems  to 
be  entirely  foreign  to  preceding  words. 

In  two  hours  articulates  more  plainly,  but  talks  of  all  sorts 
of  things,  each  sentence  or  part  of  sentence  being  entirely 
different,  but  seems  to  dwell  more  upon  the  history  he  has 
been  recently  reading  than  anything  else;  pupils  dilated  to 
fullest  capacity. 

Two  and  one-half  hours — Is  quite  delirious;  wants  to  put 
feet    into  everything,  stool,  chair,   goblet   or   whatever    is 


92  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

brought  near,  and  says:  "Pour  in  the  water  if  you  are  going 
to  bathe  my  feet."  Medicine  in  goblet  (^Stram,  3)  "  tastes 
like  Nitrate  of  silverP  Sees  and  talks  of  cats  and  rats. 
Tries  to  kick  flowers  from  oil  cloth  on  floor;  constantly  pick- 
ing and  ruboing  face,  lips  and  hair  as  if  it  itched  or  some- 
thing w^ere  crawling  over  it;  pulls  oflf  slippers  and  puts  them 
on  again  repeatedly;  wants  to  go  out  of  doors;  gets  angry 
and  talks  very  loudly  on  account  of  opposition,  and  because 
they  can  not  understand  him;  on  moving  about  or  rising  from 
reclining  on  sofa,  he  puts  his  feet  down  to  within  several 
inches  of  the  floor,  when  he  seems  to  think  they  are  on  the 
floor,  and  lets  them  drop,  which  jar  startles  and  surprises 
him.  Thinks  his  son  is  lying  on  the  floor  in  front  of  him. 
and  a  large,  strange  cat  is  lying  across  his  (the  son's)  neck; 
but  the  cat  soon  changes  to  a  rat  and  runs  away,  and  he 
follows  it  with  his  eyes.  Seems  constantly  following  some 
imaginary  spectre  through  the  air,  or  about  the  floor  with 
his  eyes.  Very  frequent  micturition  of  clear,  pale  urine, 
nearly  odorless,  not  very  profuse — about  two  to  two  and  a 
half  ounces  each  time. 

These  symptoms,  with  little  variation,  last  about  three 
hours  or  poss^bly  some  less  when  he  begins  to  improve 
gradually. 

Frida}*  night  was  very  restless  and  wakeful. 

Saturday  there  was  yet  some  trouble  with  eyes.  For  in- 
stance his  old  father  (aged  ninety-three)  sat  about  nine  feet 
distance  from  him,  cleaning  his  flnger  nail,  and  the  old  gen- 
tleman's hands  appeared  to  him  as  though  they  were  covered 
with  wool,  or,  "as  if  covered  with  gloves,  lined  with  lamb's 
wool,  and  the  gloves  were  wrong  side  out"  On  looking  at 
the  morning  paper  could  not  read  ^  word.  "  Letters  were 
in  all  kinds  of  shapes,  sideways,  etc.,  and  could  not  make 
out  a  single  word." 

On  retiring  Saturday  night,  for  some  time  drowsy,  but 
could  not  sleep;  on  closing  eyes  saw  the  newspaper  with 
its  odd  arrangement  of  letters,  the  woolly  hands,  and  every- 
thing he  had  noticed  through  the  day. 

He  has  no  remaining  consciousness  of  any  part  of  Friday. 
"  It  is  a  total  blank,"  and  remembers  nothing  between  Friday 


Theory  and  Practice,  93 

morning  and  Saturday  morning.  Bowels  locked  from  Friday 
morning  to  Sunday  evening,  when  there  was  a  very  scanty 
discharge  of  very  dry  faeces,  and  voided  only  with  great 
pressure  and  straining. 

Treatment. — Stram,^,  Friday  and  Saturday;  Sunday,  J90^Z. 
2om.     Monday,  a.  m.,  nearly  well. 

There  has  been  no  change  in  the  pulse  from  beginning  to 
end,  unless  a  little  more  volume.  No  acceleration.  Patient 
suffered  from  a  "bad  feeling"  in  head  every  morning,  com- 
ing on  after  breakfast  and  lasting  till  after  dinner,  for  about 
a  week.  I  asked  him  to  describe  his  sensations,  but  he  could 
not,  only  a  "  bad  feeling."  Has  now  entirely  recovered,  at 
least  so  he  says,  but  he  is  one  who  will  not  confess  to  indis- 
position till  he  is  obliged. 


Oomplicated  Case  of  Ssrphilis.    By  w.  H.  Blakeley,  M.  D., 

Bowling  Green,  Ky,     Read  at  the  Indiana  Institute 
of  Homoeopathy,  May  ist,  1879,  Indianapolis. 

Them.  A..  Englishman,  aet.  sixty-four,  stout  build,  black- 
smith by  trade,  has  had  double  inguinal  herina  from  youth. 
His  father  and  two  brothers  and  sons  all  have  double  herinse. 
His  father  died  from  strangulation  of  same,  he  has  been  in 
the  habit,  through  life,  of  getting  on  periodic  drunks,  lasting 
for  several  days  or  weeks.  Thus  to  premise  on  July  4th, 
1878,  had  connection  with  a  prostitute  while  on  a  spree. 
Knew  nothing  of  her  condition.  Had  no  further  intercourse 
with  any  one  until  November  ist,  when  he  h^d  connection 
with  his  wife,  who  was,  at  the  time,  suffering  with  cancer 
of  the  breast,  (variety  not  known),  and  she  died  in  about 
three  weeks  from  that  time.  She  was  entirely  free  from  any 
uterine  lesion.  No  pain  or  discharge  from  vagina  or  uterus. 
Fifteen  days  after  connection  with  his  wife  a  small  double 
yellowish  blister,  situated  just  back  of  the  corona  glandis  on 


94  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

upper  side.  At  the  time  it  had  a  hard  and  infiltrated  base. 
Began  treatment  under  the  old  school  with  Merc,  cor,  and 
lod,  potassium  internally.  Was  Mercurialized  badly  in  a 
few  days.  Acid  nit.  mere,  and  Carbolic  acid  was  applied 
externally.  Sore  began  to  spread  rapidly.  Had  phimosis, 
which  was  slit  back  on  the  under  side.  No  inoculation; 
wound  healing  rapidly.  The  case  was  under  the  old  regime 
for  about  sixty  days.  I  was  called  on  January  28th,  1879, 
and  found  the  patient  badly  salivated  and  exceedingly  anaemic. 
The  penis  was  infiltrated  and  hard  as  wood  or  ivory  for 
about  three  inches  back  from  the  sore,  glans  penis.  Mostly 
sloughed  off.  Ulcer  looking  dark  and  gangrenous.  The 
phimosis  had  been  but  imperfectly  relieved.  So  I  made  a 
cut  directly  over  the  ulcer  for  about  one  and  a  half  inches, 
reaching  behind  the  destroyed  tissue,  which  I  carefully 
dissected  out  and  applied  as  a  styptic  Persul.  iron,  and 
afterwards  a  solution  of  JVtY.  acid  internally.  Applied 
Slippery  elm  dry  to  absorb  moisture.  The  discharge  at  all 
times  has  been  very  small. 

About  the  time  I  operated  for  phimosis,  a  copper  colored 
eruption  began  to  appear  on  the  chest  and  arms  and  after- 
wards spread  to  the  balance  of  body.  I  then  gave  Kali 
hyd,  and  in  about  ten  days  it  was  entirely  gone,  leaving  no 
colored  spots,  leaving  the  skin  clear  and  smooth.  About  this 
time  the  ulcer  began  to  spread  again,  so  I  concluded  to  try 
Merc,  sol,,  which  I  gave  for  about  five  days.  When  the 
ulcer  had  extended  for  about  two  inches  back  I  quit  the 
Merc.  soL  and  gave  If  it.  acid  again,  which  only  seemed  to 
give  new  impetus  to  the  spread.  I  then  gave  Arsenicum  3, 
which  had  no  visible  effect  on  the  spread.  His  general  con- 
dition was  one  of  great  agitation;  had  but  little  pain;  no 
glandular  involvement.  To  quiet  the  restlessness  I  gave 
Bell,  and  several  other  remedies  and  finally  gave  Sul.  morph. 
i  grain  at  night,  to  induce  sleep.  At  the  present  time, 
April  28th,  his  penis  is  entirely  gone,  only  a  black  string- 
like mass.  The  whole  is  destroyed  to  its  connection  with 
the  pubic  bone.  The  urethra  was  the  last  to  be  destroyed,  as 
the  disease  progressed.     There  never  has  been  a  particle  of 


Theory  and  Practice.  95 

hemorrhage  at  any  time.     Pain  at  first  was  of  a  burning  and 
twinging  kind,  at  the  present  time  there  is  but  little. 

Now,  gentlemen,  my  object  in  presenting  this  is  to  get 
some  opinion  ^s  to  what  the  disease  is.  Was  it  uncompli- 
cated syphilis?  which  would  appear  frpm  the  copper  colored 
eruption  and  indurated  base,  but  never  destroys  tissue,  and 
would  not  have  lain  dormant  for  over  four  months.  Cer- 
tainly not  syphilis.  Was  it  chancroid  only?  which  would  ' 
appear  from  the  rapid  spread  of  the  disease  after  it  had 
nearly  healed,  and  the  aggravation  from  Merc.^  but  never 
has  a  hard  base  nor  an  eruption;  or  was  it  cancer?  which 
would  appear  from  the  extensive  induration  and  the  fact 
of  its  appearing  so  soon  after  connection  with  his  wife,  who 
died  of  cancer;  or  was  it  gangrena  engrafted  on  phagadena? 

My  diagnosis  is  a  mixed  disease,  chancre  and  chancroid, 
both  on  the  same  base.  Was  I  correct?  What  will  he  die 
with,  cystitis,  enteritis,  peritonitis,  pyemia,  or  general  ex- 
haustion? 


-•-•- 


Cancer  of  the  Kidney. 

Mr.  J.  B.,  aet.  forty-seven,  light  complexion,  nervous  tem- 
perament, sedentary  habit,  scrofulous  diathesis,  was  discharged 
from  the  army  in  1864  for  disability,  resulting  from  what  was 
diagnosed  at  that  time  inguinal  hernia.  There  was  a  tumor 
in  the  inferior  portion  of  the  left  lumbar  region,  in  external 
appearance  about  like  thai  of  an  ordinary  hernia.  Any 
slight  fatigue  from  walking  or  remaining  long  upon  the  feet, 
would  produce  a  tired  feeling  in  region  of  tumor,  which 
would  be  relieved  b}'  sitting  down,  flexing  the  thigh  and 
resting  the  leg  upon  an  opposite  chair,  general  health  other- 
wise good.  Here  is  a  brief  history  of  the  ca  e  up  to  August, 
1878,  when  he  was  attacked  with  chills  and  fever,  with  par- 
oxysms of  hemorrhage  from  kidneys  and  bowels. 


96  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

In  this  sickness,  and  up  to  January  ist,  1879,  he  was  treated 
by  an  allopathic  physician  of  some  prominence,  (and  con- 
nected with  one  of  the  medical  colleges)  who,  after  treating 
the  case  for  several  weeks,  arrived  at  the  following  rather 
unique  diagnosis,  which  appeared  in  one  of  our  city  papers: 

"STRONGYLUS   GIGAS. 

"The  following  account  of  a  very  peculiar  case  we  clip  from 
the  Liberal:  *  Joseph  Bevington,  of  this  city,  has  been  for  some 
weeks  confined  to  his  bed  by  a  disease  that  is  remarkably  rare 
There  are  small  parasites  now  and  then  found  in  the  kidney 
called   technically  echinococci.      These  are  generally  small 
and  exist  in  sacs  that  sometimes  become  as  large  as  a  child's 
head,  and  are  quite  like  those  found  in  the  liver  and  spleen. 
They  are,  however,  a  rare  variety  of  worms  found  in  this 
organ  and  its  capsules.     They  are  from  three  to  ten  inches  in 
length,  and  from  one- half  to  a  line  and  a  half  thick.    They 
have  no  common  name,  but  are  designated  strongylus  gigas. 
In  all  the  history  of  medicine  and  surgery  there  are  but  few 
of  these  cases  described.     The  case  is  one  of  great  interest  to 
medical  men.    The  worms  are  cylindrical,  and  when  fresh 
are  of  a  blood-red  color.    The  cephalic  end  is  blunt,  and  has 
six    papilae    surrounding  a  small  mouth;  the  tail  is  funnel 
shaped.     Mr.  B's  sufTering  is  at  times  intense.    The  escape 
of  one  or  more  of  the  worms  is  accompanied  by  more  or  less 
hemorrhage.     Notwithstanding  the  grave  character  of  the 
disease,  the  many  friends  of  Mr.  Bevington  hope  that  he  may 
soon  be  restored  to  his  accustomed  healtli.'  " 

January  ist,  1879,  the  attending  physician  was  dischargod 
and  myself  called.  After  a  careful  examination,  I  informed 
the  family  that  I  thought  the  case  to  be  a  scirrhus  tumor 
whereupon  Dr.  A.  £.  Keyes  was  called  in  consultation,  when 
resort  was  had  to  the  exploring  needle,  which  confirmed  our 
previous  opinion.  Up  to  the  time  that  Mr.  B.  received  our 
opinion  of  the  case  he  had  endured  his  intense  suffering  with 
the  greatest  fortkude,  but  now  he  at  once  gave  up  all  hope 
and  soon  went  into  a  delirium,  which  continued  for  several 
days,  when  death  ensued.  We  then  made  a  post  mortem,  at 
which  were  present  a  number  of  the  physicians  of  the  city, 


Theory  and  Practice,  97 

which  revealed  an  encephaloid  tumor,  involving  the  left  kid- 
ney and  ureter,  pancreas,  mesenteiy,  omentum,  descending 
colon,  and  firmly  adhered  to  the  walls  of  the  abdomen,  weigh- 
ing ten  pounds.  There  was  no  evidence  of  ever  having  been 
hernia.  J.  C.  A. 


A  Ngw  SiseacO.     Translated  by  A«  McNeil. 

Professor  Winckel  reports  concerning  this  disease,  which 
was  observed  by  him  in  the  lying-in  hospital,  which'  is 
under  his  care,  at  the  first  session  of  the  Congress  of  Pedial- 
ru8,  as  follows:  A  very  malignant  epidemic  broke  out  which 
has  raged  since  the  last  of  March.  Of  twenty-three  children 
attacked  nineteen  died.  This  murderous  disease  tears  them 
away  after  an  average  of  thirty -two  hours'  8ufi*ering.  It 
begins  with  dullness  (benommenheit)  of  the  little  patient, 
groaning,  respiration,  sometimes  attended  with  salivation. 
The  most  extraordinary  was  the  alteration  in  the  blood,  on 
scorifying  the  skin,  it  only  appeared  after  violent  pressure, 
as  a  thick,  blackish-brown,  syrup-like  fluid.  The  abdomen 
was  soft,  the  liver  somewhat  swollen.  Convulsive  action 
soon  followed,  with  which  the  child  died.  The  Professor 
proposed  for  this  new  disease  the  name,  "  Cyanosis  afebrilis 
icterica  perniciosu  cum  haemoglobinuria,"  but  the  president, 
Professor  Gerhardt,  proposed  that  it  should  be  called 
"  Winckel's  Disease." 

COMMENTS    BY    TRANSI«ATOR. 

This  newly-discovered  monster  is  one  which  Homoeopathy 
may  have  to  meet  in  deadly  combat,  but  it  behoves  us  to 
learn  how  to  attack  and  destroy  it.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
we  have  not  fuller  information  regarding  the  symptomalology 
of  Winckel's  Disease,  but  it  is  clear  that^the  remedies  for  it 
are  the  serpent  poisons,  Hydrocyomc  acid^  Carbo.  veg.,  and 
Secale  cornutum,  according  to  the  characteristic. indications. 
I  will  communicate  any  further  information  the  German 
journals  may  contain. 
Aug-2 


Betained  Placenta  and  Its  Treatment.    By  G.  W.  Bowen, 

M.  D.,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.     Read   before  the   Indiana 
Institute  of  HomcBopathy,  Indianapolis,  May  ist,  1879. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  describe  the  placenta,  or  its  use, 
for  there  is  none  here  who  have  not  been  intimately  related 
to  it,  and  perhaps  have  used  it  for  a  pillow,  though  uncon- 
sciously. 

Its  retention  after  confinement,  or  in  abortion,  has  fright- 
ened more  than  one  doctor  out  of  a  year's  growth,  and 
caused  many  a  mother  to  become  anxious  about  her  hereafter, 
and  perhaps  set  some  man  to  looking  over  his  list  of  acquaint- 
ances to  see  who  should  be  Mrs.  No.  2,,  Now  I  plainly 
assert  that  there  is  no  more  danger  from  a  retained  placenta 
than  there  is  in  keeping  an  ulcerated  tooth  in  the  head,  and 
in  some  cases  not  so  much. 

I  have  a  placenta  in  my  office  that  remained  in  the  uterus 
fifty-six  days  after  the  abortion  took  place.  When  it  was 
thrown  off  at  the  second  menstrual  period,  it  was  all  right 
and  not  at  all  dbcomposed,  as  one  would  have  supposed  it 
would  be. 

True,  the  woman  did  not  have  any  fever  to  heat  it  up  and 
cause  it  to  soften  up.  On  the  contrary,  she  was  nearly  froze 
to  death,  (and  that  in  July).  So^  cold  was  she  that  I  gave 
her  Hot  batJis,  one  quart  of  Brandy,  and  nearly  two  grains 
of  Strychnine  (in  decimal  plain  doses)  before  I  got  her 
warm  enough  for  a  healthy  woman.  She  has  had  a  baby 
since,  so  I  know  her  structure  is  all  right  again. 

If,  from  any  cause,  at  any  time,  the  cord  has  been  broken 
off  or  the  uterus  has  contracted,  or  the  neck  of  it  has  been 
bruised,  inflamed  or  spasmodical  constricted,  do  not  force 
either  hand  or  instrument  into  that  sacred  precinct  and  ruth- 
lessly force  it  away,  but  let  it  alone  and  give  the  appropriate 
remedies  and  all  will  come  out  right.     I  mean,  of  course,  the 


Obstetrical  and  On(Bcological. 

• 

contractions  will  force  it  out  into  or  through  the  neck  of  the 
womb,  and  then  you  can  judiciously  assist  nature's  delivery 

I  haye  only  found  four  remedies  called  for  in  some  thirty- 
two  cases  that  have  all  terminated  successfully,  in  complete 
recovery,  and  getting  what  was  wanted. 

Aconite  and  Belladonna  will  relieve  the  seduousness  and 
fever,  as  also  the  congestion  of  the  first  six  or  twelve  hours, 
then  the  Pulsatilla  will,  if  possible,  bring  on  labor  pains  and 
expel  all  retained.  If  it  does  not,  then  give  Arsenicum  in  rea- 
sonable doses  every  few  hours,  and  the  system  can  not 
become  contaminated  by  reabsorption  of  the  decomposed  or 
decomposing  sccundincs  or  placenta.  It  will  not  decompose 
at  all  if  you  give  Arsenicum  enough  and  diet  your  patient 
so  as  not  to  cause  an  elevation  of  temperature. 

With  the  natural  timidity  and  nervous  susceptibility  of 
women,  they  are  prone  to  expect  death  if  all  is  not  right,  and 
they  need  to  be  repeatedly  assured  that  no  ill  can  come  from 
its  present  retention,  but  danger  will  ensue  if  the  hand  is 
ruthlessly  forced  in  and  it  is  extracted  by  "  force  of  arms." 

Perhaps  cold  applications  may  be  needed  the  first  day  to 
aid  in  reducing  the  exhaustion  but  not  longer.  Let  us  not 
forget  the  physiological  condition  without  regard  to  what 
the  symptoms  may  be,  and  bear  in  mind  the  object  co  be 
accomplished.  The  neck  of  the  womb  must  be  relaxed  so 
the  obstruction  can  be  forced  through  or  out.  -  Physiologi- 
cally we  find  that  Opium  and  its  adjunct  forms  all  contract 
the  circular  muscles  of  the  system,  hence,  we  can  not  give 
prudently  anything  of  the  kind.  Belladonna^  on  the  other 
hand,  relaxes  every  circular  fiber  in  the  body,  so  that  should 
be  given  to  relax  the  neck  of  the  womb  so  the  remnants 

**  Essential  to  creation  of  immortal  man '' 
can  be  extended  from  the  citadel  of  life. 

So  with  Belladonna  to  relieve  congestion,  produce  rclaxa- 
tio:i  of  the  constrictor  muscles  of  the  neck  of  the  womb, 
Pulsatilla  to  favor  solution,  excite  sedition  and  contract  the 
fundus,  Arsenicum  to  sustain  the  nervous  system,  prevent 
decomposition  and  reabsorption,  and  all  will  go  safely  to  a 
happy  termination  if  you  add  a  few  kind  and  assuring  words 
to  you  patient  so  as  to  convince  them  there  is  no  danger. 


Wituntil  €Iitiic$. 


Diphtheria, — Lac  Caninum  aoo, — It  is  seldom  I  witness 
a  more  brilliant  cure  than  I  did  recently,  effected  by  the 
above  named  remedy;  Patient  was  an  Irish  servant  girl  in 
one  of  our  leading  hotels;  a  very  large,  fleshy  person  about 
twenty-two  years  of  age;  fair,  rosy  complexion,  with  dark  hair 
and  blue*gray  eyes.  She  complained  of  sore  throat,  which 
was  growing  rapidly  worse;  some  fever;  difficulty  of  swallow- 
ing; worse  on  right  side.  Inspection  revealed  right  tonsil  in- 
tensely inflamed;  bright  red  and  greatly  enlarged,  and  a  spot 
the  size  of  a  dime,  of  a  yellowish  gray  color  upon  the  inner 
surface.  The  whole  pharynx  uvula  and  velum  were  much 
inflamed.  I  diagnosed  a  case  of  diphtheria,  and  gave  Kali 
bich.  3  internally,  and  Kali  bich»  i  in  solution  as  a  gargle, 
with  instructions  to  report  next  morning.  Report  no  im- 
provement;  but,  if  anything  worse,  and  I  was  requested  to 
•call. 

Found  the  spot  larger  and  others  forming  in  the  pharynx, 
«nd  the  other  tonsil  nearly  as  large  as  the  one  first  affected, 
with  considerable  more  fever,  and  the  characteristic  fetor  of 
breath.  Changed  medicine,  giving  Merc,  cyan, 6  (which 
has  done  me  splendid  service  in  such  cases)  alternating  it 
with  BelL^j  every  hour. 

The  following  morning  found  all  of  the  symptoms,  aggra- 
vated, and  on  face,  hands,  neck  and  chest,  a  bright  scarlet 
eruption,  exactly  resembling  scarlatina.  Almost  total  inabil- 
ity to  swallow,  especially  fluids.  Gave  Bell.  2c^  t\ery  hour 
for  six  hours.  No  better.  Gave  Lac.  can.  2c.  in  solution  one 
teaspoonful  every  hour,  which  was  followed  by  almost  in- 
stantaneous  relief,  which,  without  any  other  remedy,  entirely 
cured  the  case,  and  she  resumed  her  duties  in  forty  hours  and 
has  been  well  from  that  time.  May  2d,  1879. 

This  is  a  comparatively  new  remedy,  and  clinical  verifica- 
ttions,  and  experiences  are  now  only  wanting  to  teach  us  its 


:••: 

•  vJ 


General  ClnicM.  101 

sphere  and  place  in  our  therapeia.  One  symptom  I  noticed 
especially  prominent,  was  aversion  to  liquids,  particularly 
water,  which,  by  the  way,  was  about  the  only  one  I  obtained 
from  the  patient  herself.  Even  the  teaspoonful  of  medicine 
in  solution  caused  much  suflTcring. — S.  Milub'  Fowler, 
M.  D.f  Dubuque^  Iowa,  May  22d,  1879. 


MhttlUmm*. 


TTfllmftTWitpTi  The  Genius  of  the  Homceopathic  Healing 
Art.  Preface  to  the  Second  Volume  of  S.  Hahne- 
mann's Materia  Medica  Pura,  1833.  Translated  by 
Dr.  Ad.  Lippe,  Philadelphia,  1878.    Part  L 

It  is  impossible  to  guess  at  the  internal  nature  of  diseases, 
and  at  what  is  secretly  changed  by  nature  in  the  organism, 
and  it  is  folly  to  attempt  to  base  the  cure  of  them  on  such 
guesswork  and  such  propositions;  it  is  impossible  to  divine 
the  healing  power  of  medicines  according  to  a  chemical 
hypothesis  or  from  their  colors,  smell  or  taste;  and  it  is  folly 
to  use  these  substances  (so  pernicious  when  abused)  for  the 
cure  of  diseases  based  on  such  hypotheses  and  such  propo- 
sitions. And  had  such  a  course  been  ever  so  much  in  vogue 
and  been  generally  introduced;  had  it  been  for  thousands  of 
years  the  only,  and  ever  so  much  admired,  course,  it  would 
nevertheless  remain  an  irrational  and  pernicious  method 
thus  to  be  guided  by  empty  guesswork;  to  fable  about  the 
diseased  conditions  of  the  internal  organism,  and  to  combat 
them  with  fictitious  virtues  of  medicines.  In  order  that  we 
may  change  disease  into  health  it  must  be  laid  open  to  our 
senses  what  is  discernibly — clearly  discernibly — removable 


102  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

from  every  disease,  and  clearly  must  each  medicine  express 
what  it  can  cure  with  certainty,  before  it  may  be  applied  to 
the  cure  of  diseases;  then  the  medical  art  will  cease  to  be  a 
lottery  in  human  life,  and  will  then  become  a  certain  means 
of  rescuingr  men  from  disease. 

I  will  now  show  what  we  discern   as  indubitably  curabfe 

in  diseases;  how  the  curative  virtues  of  medicines  can  be- 
come clearly  perceivable,  and  how  they  can  be  applied  to 
the  cure  of  the  sick. 


What  life  is  can  only  be  empirically  discerned  by  its  mani- 
festations and  appearances;  but  it  can  never  be  explained,  a 
priori^  thiough  metaphysical  speculationb;  what  life  is,  in 
itself  and  in  its  internal  essence,  can  never  be  comprehended 
by  mortals,  and  can  not  be  explained  by  conjectures. 

The  lifeof  man, as  well  as  his  twofold  condition  (health  and 
sickness),  can  never  be  demonstrated  in  a  manner  usual  in 
demonstrating  other  objects  according  to  definite  principles; 
it  can  not  be  compared  with  anything  else  in  this  world  but 
with  itself;  it  can  not  be  compared  with  a  wheelwork,  with 
a  hydraulic  machine,  with  chemical  processes,. with  decom- 
position or  formation  of  gases,  with  a  galvanic  battery,  nor 
with  anything  inorganic.  Life  is  in  no  respect  controlled 
by  any  physical  laws,  which  govern  only  inorganic  sub- 
stances. The  material  substances  composing  the  human 
organism  are  not  governed  in  their  living  composition  by  the 
same  laws  to  which  inorganic  substances  are  subjected,  but 
they  follow  solely  laws  peculiar  to  their  vitality;  they  them- 
selves are  animated  and  vivified,  just  as  the  whole  organism 
is  animated  and  vivified.  Here  reigns  a  nameless  all-power- 
ful fundamental  force  which  suspends  all  forces  of  the  con- 
stituents of  the  body  inclined  to  follow  the  laws  of  pressure, 
collision,  depression,  fermentation  and  decomposition;  and 
only  this  force  guides  and  governs  by  the  wonderful  laws 
of  life;  that  is  to  say,  it  maintains  the  necessary  conditions 
for  the  preservation  of  the  living  whole  in  sensation  and 
actio  I,  and  that  in  an  almost  spiritual  dynamic  condition. 

As  the  organism  in  its  normal  condition  depends  only  on 
the  state  of  its  vitality,  it  follows  that  the  changed  condition 


-  Miscellaneous,  l63 

which  we  call  sickness  must  likewise  depend  not  on  the 
operation  of  physical  or  chemical  principles,  but  on  origin- 
ally changed  vital  sensations  and  actions;  that  is  to  say,  a 
dynamically  changed  state  of  man — a  changed  existence — 
through  which,  eventually,  the  constituent  parts  of  the  body 
become  altered  in  their  character  as  is  rendered  necessary  in 
each  individual  case  through  the  changed  conditions  of  the 
living  organism. 

Further,  the  noxious  influences  which,  as  a  general  rule, 
create  in  us  from  without  the  various  sicknesses,  are  gener- 
ally so  invisible  and  immaterial*  that  is  impossible  for  them 
to  change  or  disturb  the  form  and  structure  of  the  compo- 
nents of  our  body  mechanically,  nor  can  they  bring  into  the 
circulation  pernicious  or  acrid  fluids  whereby  all  our  blood 
would  be  chemically  changed  or  vitiated;  an  inadmissible 
crude  speculation  of  material  brains  which  can  in  no  way  be 
proved.  The  causes  producing  disease  affect,  by  virtue  of 
their  qualiflcations,  the  conditions  of  our  life  (our  state  of 
health)  simply  in  a  dynamic  (similar  to  a  spiritual)  manner; 
and  while  at  first  the  higher  organs  and  vital  forces  become 
disturbed,  there  arises  through  this  dynamic  alteration  of  the 
whole  living  condition  (discomfort,  pain)  a  changed  activity 
(abnormal  function)  of  single  or  all  organs;  this  necessarily 
causes  secondarily  a  change  of  all  the  fluids  in  the  circula- 
tion, and  also  the  secretion  of  abnormal  matter;  and  this  is  an 
inevitable  result  of  that  changed  condition  which  is  at  vari- 
ance with  a  state  of  health. 

These  abnormal  substances  appearing  in  disease  or  there- 
fore only  products  of  the  disease  itself,  and  as  long  as 
the  sickness  retains  its  established  (present)  character, 
they  will  necessarily  continue  to  be  secreted,  and, 
thereby  form  a  part  of  the  signs  of  the  sickness  (symp- 
tojns);  they  are  only  effects,  and,  therefore,  demonstrations 
of  the  present  internal  sickness,  and  reactf  on  the  whole  dis- 

*Rare  exceptions  are  some  surgical  conditions  and  complaints  aris- 
ing from  indigestible  or  foreign  substances  occasionally  coming  into 
the  alimentary  canal. 

tEzpalsion  and  mechanical  removal  of  these  abnormal  substances, 
impurities  and  execrescences,  can  not  care  the  origin  of  the  disease 


104  Ctnetnnati  Medical  Advance. 

eased  body  (while  they  frequently  contain  the  germs  of 
disease  affecting,  other  healthy  persons)  which  produced 
them,  not  at  all  as  disease  sustaining  or  creating  matter,  not 
as  the  material  cause  of  disease.  It  is  just  as  impossible  for 
a  person  to  infect  his  body  or  augment  his  disease  with  the 
poison  of  his  own  chancre,  or  with  the  gonorrhosic  secretion 
from  his  own  urethra,  as  it  is  for  a  viper  to  inflict  upon  itself, 
with  its  own  poison,  a  dangerous  or  deadly  sting. 

Therefore  it  is  obvious  that  the  diseases  of  mankind  caused 
through  the  influence  of  a  dynamic  (morbid)  noxiousness 
can  originally  be  but  dynamic  changes  (caused  almost  only 
in  a  spiritual  manner)  of  the  life  character  of  our  organism. 

We  perceive  easily  that  these  dynamic  disorders  of  the 
life  character  of  our  organism,  which  we  call  disease,  inas- 
much as  they  are  nothing  else  but  changes  in  sensations  and 
actions,  express  themselves  only  through  an  aggregate  of 
symptoms,  and  are  recognized  only  as  such  by  our  powers  of 
perception.  As  the  work  of  healing  is  such  an  important 
one  to  human  life,  and  as  our  steps  must  be  guided  only  by 
our  perception  of  the  condition  of  the  sick  body,  (to  be 
guided  by  conjectures  and  improbable  hypothesis  would  be 
a  dangerous  foUy,  yes,  even  a  crime  against  mankind),  it  is 
obvious  that  diseases,  as  dynamic  disorders  of  our  organism, 
express  themselves  only  through  changes  in  sensations  and 
actions  of  the  organism;  that  is,  only  through  an  aggregate 
of  perceptible  symptoms;  therefore  they  alone  must  be  the 
object  to  be  healed  in  every  case  of  illness.  If  all  the  symp- 
toms of  the  disease  are  removed,  nothing  but  health  remains. 
For  the  reason  that  diseases  are  nothing  but  dynamic  dis- 
orders of  the  condition  and  character  of  our  organism,  they 
can  not  possibly  be  cured  by  mankind  in  any  other  way  than 
through  potencies  and  forces  which  are  equally  able  to  pro- 
duce dynamic  changes  in  the  condition   of   man;   that   is. 

Itself,  as  little  can  coryza  be  shortened  or  cured  by  possibly  fre- 
quent and  perfect  blowing  of  the  nose.  The  coryaa  does  not  continue 
any  longer  than  its  stipulated  time,  if  the  nose  were  not  cleaned  at 
all,  by  blowing  it 


MUoellaneoHB,  105 

diseases  are  cured  virtually  and  dynamically  by  medicines.* 
These  efficacious  substances  and  powers  (medicines), which 
are  at  our  command,  elTect  the  cure  of  diseases  through  the 
same  dynamic  changes  of  the  present  condition;  through  the 
same  changes  in  the  character  of  the  organism  in  the  sensa- 
tions and  actions,  as  they  would  in  the  healthy  man;  chang- 
ing him  dynamically,  and  producing  in  him  certain  sickness 
and  characteristic  symptoms,  the  knowledge  of  which,  as  we 
shall  show,  gives  us  the  reliable  indication  of  the  diseased 
condition  which  can  be  most  surely  cured  by  each  particular 
medicine.  Therefore,  nothing  in  the  world  can  produce  any 
cure,  no  substance,  no  force  can  effect  any  such  change  in 
the  human  organism  as  to  make  the  disease  yield,  nothing 
except  a  power  capable  of  changing  dynamically  the  condi- 
tion of  man,  and  therefore  a  power  capable  also  of  changing 
the  healthy  condition  into  a  sick  one.f 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  agent,  no  power  in  nature, 
capable  of  affecting  healthy  persons,  which  does  not  at  the 

*Not  by  means  of  ostensibly  dissolving  or  mechanically  re* 
solving,  evacuating,  properties  of  medicinal  substances,  nor  by  means 
of  expelling  (blood  purifying  and  secretion  improving)  imaginary 
productions  of  disease,  nor  by  means  of  antiseptics  (only  acting  on 
and  useful  to  purify  dead  matter),  nor  through  chemical  and 
physical  forces  of  any  kind  imaginable,  in  sucti  manner  as  they 
affect  inorganic  material  substances;  nor  in  the  manner  in  which 
the  medical  schools  have  always  erroneously  imagined  and  dreamt.' 

The  more  modern  schools  have  begun  to  consider  diseases  in  some 
measure  dynamic  changes,  and  to  a  certain  degree  they  have  tried 
to  combat  them  through  dynamic  means;  but  they  do  not  perceive 
the  sensitive,  irritable,  reproductive  forces  (dimensions)  of  life,  so 
endless  and  perpetually  changeable  in  modo  et  quaUtaU,  and  do  not  look 
on  the  innumerable  and  changing  s3rmptoms  of  diseases  (those  endless 
and  only,  by  us,  by  reflex  discernible  internal  changes)  as  the  only 
reliable  object  to  be  healed,  which  they  really  are :  and  as  they  only 
accept  hypothetically  an  abnormal  increase  or  decrease  of  their 
dimensions  quoad  quaniUatemj  and  as  they  ascribe  arbitrarily  to  the 
medicines  used  by  them  for  the  cure  this  one  sided  power  to  increase 
or  decrease,  and  bring  these  dimensions  to  a  normal  condition,  and 
thereby  profess  to  cure,  they  have  nothing  but  illusions  before  them 
— ^illusions  of  the  object  to  be  healed  (the  indication),  an  illusion  as 
to  the  action  of  drugs  (indicate). 

tTberefore  none,  as,  for  instance,  merely  nutritive  substances. 


106  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

same  time  pof^sess  the  capacity  of  curing  certain  diseased 
conditions.  But  as  the  power  of  curing  diseases,  as  well  as 
the  power  of  affecting  healthy  persons,  is  found  inseparable 
in  all  medicines,  and  as  both  active  powers  derive  their 
origin  from  the  same  source,  that  is,  from  their  capacity 
to  change  dynamically  the  condition  of  man,  and  as  they, 
therefore*  can  not  possibly  follow  different  inherent 
laws  of  nature  in  sick  persons  thlin  in  healthy  ones, 
it  follows  that  it  must  be  identically  the  same  power  of  the 
medicine  which  cures  the  disease  in  sick  persons  and  pos- 
sesses sick  making  properties  in  healthy  ones.^ 

We  will,  therefore,  also  find  that  the  healing  power  of 
medicines,  and  what  each  of  them  is  capable  of  curing  in 
diseases,  can  not  be  expressed  in  any  other  possible  way,  and 
can  never  come  to  our  knowledge  in  greater  purity  and  com- 
pleteness, than  through  the  diseased  phenomena  and  symp- 
toms (a  kind  of  artificial  disease)  which  medicines  produce 
on  well  persons.  If  we  have  before  us  a  record  of  the 
characteristic  (artificial)  symptoms  which  the  various  medi- 
cines have  produced  on  well  persons,  it  becomes  only  neces- 
sary to  let  the  pure  experiment  decide  what  particular  symp- 
toms of  diseases  are  invariably  quickly  and  permanently 
removed  by  the  medicinal  symptoms,  so  that  we  may  know 
always  in  advance  v\rhich  of  the  proved  medicines,  and 
which  of  their  known  characteristic  symptoms,  will  be  the 
surest  curative  remedy  in  each  case  of  disease.f 

*The  different  result  in  both  of  these  cases  depends  solely  on  the  differ-' 
ence  of  the  object  to  be  changed. 

tAs  simple,  as  true,  and  as  natural  as  this  proposition  is — and  there- 
fore it  would  seem  as  if  it  should  have  been  made  the  fundamental  means 
of  ascertaining  the  curative  powers  of  medicines — it  is  evident  that,  in 
fact,  np  to  this  time  it  has  not  been  approached  even  distantly.  During 
these  thousands  of  years,  and  as  far  as  the  history  of  medicine  is  known, 
not  one  person  conceived,  a  priorif  the  source  of  ascertaining  in  ro  natural 
a  manner  the  healing  properties  of  medicines  before  they  were  applied 
for  the  cure  of  the  sick.  For  hundreds  of  years,  up  to  the  present  time, 
it  was  surmised  that  the  curative  powers  of  medicines  could  only  be 
ascertained  by  the  effects  they  produced  on  diseases  (ab  vsa  in  morbuB), 
It  was  attempted  to  ascertain  theoi  in  cases  in  which  a  certain  medicine 
(and  then  most  frequently  a  compound  of  different  medicinal  substances) 


Miscellaneous,  107 

Finally,  we  appeal  to  experiment  (experience),  in  order  to 
determine  what  artificially  sick-making  powers  (observed  of 
medicines)  should  be  applied  successfully  against  certain 
natural  diseases.     We  ask: 

has  been  beneficial  in  a  named  given  case  of  disease.  It  is  impoRsible 
to  learn  from  the  curative  effect  of  a  single  medicinal  substance,  even 
(which  not  often  happened)  in  an  accurately  described  case  of  diseasey 
in  what  cnse  of  disease  this  remedy  might  again  become  curative ; 
because  (with  the  exception  of  diseases  caused  bj  fixed  miasms,  small 
pox,  measles,  lues,  the  itch,  etc.,  or  those  consequent  on  the  same  disturb* 
ing  element,  as  the  gout)  all  other  cases  of  diseases  are  single  cases,  that 
is,  they  appear  under  varying  and  different  symptom  combinations ;  have 
never  appeared  in  just  the  same  manner  it  is  on  that  account  that  we 
can  not  draw  the  conclusion  that  the  same  remedy  will  also  cure  another 
(diflferent)  case.  The  forcible  combination  of  such  cases  of  disease 
(which  nature  produces  in  her  wisdom  in  such  an  endless  variety)  under 
certain  named  forms,  as  is  done  arbitrarily  by  Pathology,  is  leading  to 
continuous  illusions,  and  a  temptation  to  a  mistaking  of  various  condi- 
tions one  with  another — human  guesswork  without  any  reality.  Equally 
seductive  and  inadmissible,  although  from  times  immemorial  introduced, 
is  the  establishment  of  general  (curative)  effects,  based  on  occasional 
results  in  diseases,  which  the  Materia  Medica  does  when,  for  instance,  in 
some  cases  of  diseases  occasionally  during  the  use  of  (generally  com- 
pounded) medicines,  increased  urinary  secretions,  perspiration,  appear- 
ance of  the  menstruation,  cessation  of  convulaiong,  a  kind  of  sleep,  or 
expectoration  appeared ;  the  medicine  (which  among  the  rest  was  honored 
with  being  charged  with  this  effect)  was  credited  with  possessing  the 
virtue  of  being  diuretic  or  sudorific,  or  capable  of  restoring  menstruation 
or  anti-spasmodic,  or  soporific,  or  expectorant,  thereby  committing  a 
faUacium  causa  by  confounding  the  terms  vith  and  of.  But  there  was 
likewise  drawn  a  wrong  conclusion,  a  partieulari  ad  ttntversa/e,  in  contra- 
vention of  all  the  laws  of  reason,  even  changing  the  conditional  into  the 
unconditional.  Because  that  which  is  not  capable  of  causing,  in  every 
case  of  disease,  an  increase  of  urinary  secretions,  or  perspiration,  or 
menstruation,  or  sleep;  which  can  not  allay,  in  all  cases,  convulsions,  or 
loosen  the  cough,  can  not,  without  violating  common  sense,  be  pronounced 
unconditionally  and  absolutely  diuretic  or  sudorific,  or  emmenagogue,  or 
anti-spasmodic,  or  expectorant.  Furthermore,  it  is  impossible  that  a 
medicine  in  these  compound  phenomena  of  our  conditions,  in  such  multi- 
plied combinations  of  a  variety  of  symptoms  as  are  the  nameless  varieties 
of  the  diseases  of  men,  can  possibly  reveal  its  original  medicinal  effects, 
and  that  which  we  expect  to  know  with  certainty  of  its  sick-making, 
sensation-changing  properties. 


108  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

1.  Whether  they  be  such  medicines  as  are  capable  of  pro- 
ducing on  the  healthy  organism  different  (allopathic)  changes 
from  those  observed  in  the  disease  to  be  healed. 

2.  Or  such  medicines  as  are  capable  of  producing  on  the 
healthy  organism  opposite  (enantiopathic,  antipathic)  changes 
to  those  observed  in  the  disease  to  be  healed. 

3.  Or,  whether  we  can  expect  restoration  to  health  (cure) 
with  the  greatest  certainty,  and  in  the  most  permanent  man- 
ner, by  such  medicines  as  are  capable  of  producing  on  the 
healthy  similar  (homoeopathic)  changes  to  those  observed  in 
the  natural  disease  (there  are  only  these  three  modes  of  ad- 
ministering medicines  possible);  experience  most  emphati- 
cally and  indubitably  decides  for  the  last. 

It  is  even  self-evident  that  medicines  acting  heterogene- 
ously  and  allupathically,  capable  of  producing  different 
symptoms  on  the  health  organism  to  those  then  observed  in 
the  disease  to  be  cured,  are  in  the  very  nature  of  things 
incapable  of  being  suitable  to  the  cure,  and  can  not  cure. 
Their  effects,  consequently,  must  be  injurious;  otherwise 
every  disease  would  be  cured  by  means  of  any  imaginable, 
ever  so  differently  acting,  medicine,  quickly,  safely  and  per- 
manently. Whereas  each  medicine  possesses  effects  differ- 
ing from  all  other  medicines;  and  so  each  disease  causes  on 
the  human  organism,  under  the  eternal  laws  of  nature,  differ- 
ent and  varying  ailments  and  sufferings;  this  in  itself  would 
demonstrate  a  contradiction  (contradictionem  in  adjecto), 
and  would  by  itself  demonstrate  the  impossibility  of  a  bene- 
ficial result.  Furthermore,  each  demonstrated  change  can 
only  be  produced  by  a  cause  especially  belonging  to  it,  but 
not  per  quam  libet  causam.  And  experience  proves  it  daily 
that  the  common  practice  of  prescribing  for  the  cure  of  the 
sick  a  compound  of  medicines,  the  powers  (effects)  of  each 
of  these  unknown,  causes  a  variety  of  effects,  but  the  least  of 
all — a  cure. 


*  • 


HowcEOPATHic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  Semi -Annual  meeting  at  Rochester,  September  9th 
and  loth. 


MisceUaneatM.  109 


Sew  Discoveries.     By  E.  J.  Lee,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

Past  experience  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that  new  dis- 
coveries, calculated  to  overthrow  long  existing  errors,  uni- 
versally regarded  as  facts,  are  never  well  received. 

This  is  especially  true  in  medicines.  The  profession  deny 
new  theories  without  examination ;  the  laity  endorse  and  adopt 
the  opinions  of  the  profession,  deeming  them  to  be  unbiassed 
aud  skilled  judges. 

Does  the  fact  need  proof  that  the  opinions  of  high  contem- 
poraneous authorities,  as  regards  new  doctrines,  are  less  than 
worthless? 

As  a  practical  illustration  is  often  more  forcible  than  pages 
of  argument,  we  quote  a  recorded  dialogue  concerning  Har- 
vey and  his  discovery.  It  applies  most  aptly  to  Hahnemann. 
The  discussion  is  between  Lords  Holland,  Seymour,  South- 
ampton, a  doctor  and  a  clergyman. 

"One  object  of  old  Parr's  going  to  London,  is  that  Harvey 
may  study  the  case,  and  see  if  he  can  gain  hinis  from  it  for 
lengthening  our  lives." 

»*But  surely,"  said  the  clergyman,  "it  can  matter  but  little 
what  Dr.  Harvey  concludes  and  g^ives  out  about  the  case  of 
this  old  parishioner  of  mine,  or  about  any  other  case.  No 
one  can  have  any  respect  for  his  judgment  in  the  face  of  the 
wild  doctrines  he  gives  out  about  the  blood." 

"  Does  he  adhere  to  that?"  asked  Lord  Southampton. 

"Yes,"  replied  Lord  Holland,  "  He  will,  ere  long,  publish 
another  tract  upon  it.  It  is  astounding  to  see  a  man  who 
8een)8|  otherwise  rational  and  sensible,  lose  himself  on  this  one 
point  There  is  no  making  any  impression  updh  him ;  he  per- 
sints  as  quietly  as  if  all  the  wise  people  in  the  world  agreed 
with  him." 

"Quietly?"  said  Lord  Seymour,  I  thought  he  was  a  pas- 
sionate, turbulent  fellow,  who  thought  all  the  world  a  fool  but 
himself." 

"  Whatever  he  may  think,"  replied  Lord  Holland,  "  he  says 
nothing  to  give  such  an  idea;  on  the  contrary  the  most  amus- 


110  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

ing,  and  yet  melancholy  part  of  the  business  is  his  entire  com- 
placency.  He  is  so  self-satisfied  that  nothing  can  move  him." 

"Dr.  Oldham,"  said  Southampton  to  the  family  physician, 
who  sat  smiling  while  this  description  of  Harvey  was  given, 
"you  have  looked  into  this  business — this  pretended  discovery 
— what  have  you  to  say  of  it?  " 

"  But  little,  my  lord,  it  is  not  worth  so  many  words  as  have 
just  been  spent  upon  it.  There  is  not  a  physician  in  Europe 
who  believes  in  this  pretended  discovery. 

"After  examination?  " 

"  Surely,  my  Lord.  Any  announcement  of  a  discovery 
made  by  a  physician  whose  merits  havQ  raised  him  to  Dr. 
Harvey's  post,  can  not  but  meet  with  attention  from  a  pro- 
fession whose  business  it  is  to  investigate  the  facts  of  the  hu- 
man frame  and  constitution." 

"Then  the  known  facts  are  against  him?" 

"  Entirely,  my  lord.  No  point,  for  instance,  is  better  un- 
derstood than  that  the  arteries  are  occupied  by  the  vital  spir- 
its, which  are  concocted  in  the  left  side  of  the  heart,  from  the 
air  and  blood  in  the  lungs." 

"  And  what  says  Dr.  Harvey  to  this? " 

"  He  controverts  it  of  course.  Neither  the  opposition  of 
all  living  physicians,  nor  even  the  silence  of  Galen  on  this 
notion  of  his  has  the  least  effect  upon  him.  It  is  sad  and 
pernicious  nonsense,  and  ruinous  to  a  man  who,  but  for  his 
madness,  might  have  been  an  honor  to  his  profession.  Of 
course  his  opinions  on  any  subject  are  of  no  value  now." 

"In  the  profession,  do  you  mean  or  out  of  it?  " 

"  I  believe  there  are  a  good  many  out  of  the  profession  who 
listen  to  him,  open  mouthed,  as  to  every  professor  of  new 
doctrines;  butit  is  an  affair  in  which  no  opinions  but  those  of 
physicians  can  be  of  any  consequence,  and,  as  I  said,  not  a 
physician  in  Europe  believes  Harvey's  doctrines." 

"  It  ought  to  be  put  down,"  said  Lord  Seymour;  to  which 
the  physician  gave  an  emphatic  assent,  observing,  that  "  in  so 
important  an  affair  as  a  great  question  about  the  human  frame 
false  opinions  must  be  most  dangerous,  and  ought  to  be  put 
down," 


Miscellaneous,  111 

"And  how  is  new  knowledge   to  fare,  when  it  comes?" 
said  Lord  Southampton. 

"By  my  observation,  Dr  Harvey's  notion,  is  so  following 
the  course  that  new  knowledge  is  wont  to  run,  that  I  could 
myself  almost  suppose  it  to  be  true.  It  has  been  called  nonsense; 
that  is  the  first  stage.  Now  if  it  be  called  dangerous  that  is  the 
next.  I  shall  amuse  myself  by  watching  for  the  third.  When 
it  is  said  there  is  nothing  new  in  it,  and  that  it  was  plain  to  all 
learned  men  before  Harvey  was  born,  I  shall  know  to  how 
apportion  Harvey  his  due  honor." 

"I  thought,  my  lord,*'  said  the  physician,  "you  had  held 
my  profession  in  respect." 

"  Am  I  not  doing  homage  to  the  mosc  eminent  member  of 
it — perhaps  the  most  eminent  in  the  world,"  said  Lord  South- 
ampton; "and  it  appears  I  am  rather  before  than  behind 
others  in  doing  so.  There  is  no  man,  not  even  the  greatest, 
who  may  not  stand  hat  in  hand  before  the  wise  physician; 
and  I  for  my  humble  part,  would  even  do  so.'  " — (Kopp,  in 
"The  American  Journal  of  Homoeopathy.") 

Such  arguments  (?)  as  the  above,  most  of  us  have  heard 
advanced  by  our  shallow  opponents.  "  'Tis  false  because  'tis 
not  true"  is  their  cry. 


-<•-•- 


Dr.  Sakd  on  Elgh  Fotenoies. 

Mr.  Editor.  In  the  last  volume  Transactions  o(  the 
American  Institute  on  page  263,  Section  ii,  I  find  Dr.  J. 
P.  Dake  reported  as  saying: 

"I  have  no  confidence  or  belief  whatever  in  the  power  of 
medicine  without  medicinal  matter.  When  that  limit  is 
passed  the  spirit  is  intangible.  You  cannot  handle  or  direct 
it;  it  does  not  act  upon  the  human  body  for  us  so  that  we 
can  make  it  useful.  I  say  that  disembodied  spirits  are  of  no 
earthly  use  to  us.    (Applause).    We  are  acting  on  the  material 


112  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tissues  of  the  body,  and  must  have  matter  which  is  the  body, 
the  spirit  or  soul  of  force." 

The  first  impressix)n  one  gets  upon  reading  this,  is  that  the 
statement  is  utterly  without  meaning.     That  it  has  a  mean- 
ing however  is  apparent  from  the  applause  which  greeted  it. 
Somebody   understood  what  the   speaker  was   saying.     In 
fact  it   seemed   so  good  a  thing,  it  was  encored;  and   our 
quotation  was  a  second  and  more  elaborate  rendering  of  what 
must  have  been  considered  by  the  doctor  and  his  friends  a 
peculiarly  happy  thought.     For  all  this  it  is  a  matter  of  re- 
gret that  so  distinguished  a  gentleman  could  allow  himself  to 
utter  so  ill-considered  a  statement.     **I  have   no  confidence 
or  belief  whatever  in  the  power  of  medicine  without  medi- 
cinal  matter."     A   brave   statement  indeed  for  a  scientific 
man!    Incorporeal  force  is  a  myth  to  all  learned  men.    There 
is  not  a  man  in  the  Homoeopathic  school  that  does  not  be- 
lieve all  that  the  doctor  says  is  true.     "When  that  limit  is 
passed,"  what  limit  doctor?  "the  spirit   is  intangible."     Are 
you  quite  sure    it  is  tangible  in  bodily  forms?    If  so   how 
does  it  feel,  or  smell  or  taste?  "You  cannot  handle  or  direct 
it     It  does  not  act  upon  tbe  human  body  for  us  so  that  we 
can  make  it  useful."     Speaking  of  limits  here  is  one  that 
would    satisfy   the   most   dogmatic    mind.     Is   Dr.   Dake  a 
homceopathic  Pope  that  he  can  issue  such  a  bull  as  this  with 
impunity.     How  came  he  know  so  much  of  dynamics?     A 
beardless  youth  might  hurl  such  a  glove  into  the  arena  but  a 
gray  haired  man  should  be    more  cautious.     "I  say  disem- 
bodied spirits  are  of  no  earthly  use  to  us  (applause)."     What 
surprised  us  at  the  time  was  that  so  many  good  orthodox 
brethren  joined  in  the  applause  notwithstanding  Dr.  Dake 
slapped  their  theological  faith  squarely  in  the  face.     Why, 
Christianity   and    Spiritualism,  to  say  nothing  of  all  other 
forms  of  religion,  should  rise  and  crush  out  this  bold  heretic. 
"We  are  acting  on  the  material  tissues  of  the  body  and  must 
have  matter  which  is*  the  body,  the  spirit  or  soul  of  force." 
Here  the  doctor  is  incorrectly  reported.     "The  spirit  or  soul 
of  force"  is  too  meaningless  even  for  Dr.  Dake.     What  he 
did  say  is  not  known  and  it  is  of  no  consequence  for  the 


Miscellaneous,  113 

meaning  of  it  all,  is  not  in  the  lines  themselves,  but  in  what 
is  known  to  exist  between  the  lines.  The  thing  stated  is 
absurd,  but  the  thing  understood  is  plain  as  the  nose  on  your 
face,  and  hence  the  applause.  Had  he  said,  Gentlemen  I 
dont  believe  in  high  protencies,  they  are  too  ethereal  for  me, 
they  remind  me  of  disembodied  spirits.  There  is  no  me- 
dicinal substance  in  them  and  hence  no  medicinal  action.  I 
want  something  that  is  tangible  and  hence  I  have  faith  only 
in  low  protencies",  he  would  have  said  what  he  meant.  He 
would  have  said  at  least  what  he  was  understood  to  say. 
And  this,  to  say  the  plain  truth,  is  Dr.  Dake's  view  of  the 
potency  question.  He  is  the  champion  heavy  weight  of  our 
school,  but  he  is  not  a  safe  leader  in  matters  pertaining  to 
science.  This  fine  piece  of  sarcasm,  that  made  the  ground- 
lings roar,  is  a  betrayal*of  weakness.  He  has  no  ar<yu- 
ments,  but  he  hurls  spiritualism  and  theology  at  the  heads  of 
his  supposed  enemies,  and  postulates  a  universally  accepted 
fact  as  something  quite  unheard  bf.  Now  the  high  potency- 
men  always  use  matter  forms  by  which  to  convey  their  'me- 
dicinal force  to  the  bodies  of  their  patients.  They  were 
never  known  to  use  insensible  agents  for  the  cure  of  diseased 
Even  "smelling  of  the  cork"  is  on  a  par  with  smelling  of 
one's  handkerchief;,  in  both  cases  there  being  invisible  but 
potent  particles  of  matter  floating  in  air.  Dr.  Dake's  as- 
sumption or  perhaps  I  should  say  implication  that  even  the 
highest  potency  men  attempt  to  use  in  any  case  abstract 
force  is  as  gratuitous  as  it  is  untrue.  But  when  he  declares 
that  it  is  not  possible  to  use  force  in  that  form  he  clearly 
transcends  the  limits  of  a  scientist.  He  says  "we  must  have 
matter."  This  is  by  no  means  correct.  We  do  have  matter 
and  we  must  have  force  is  the  true  statement.  It  is  not  for 
Dr.  Dake  to  say  when  the  bodily  form  if  ever  shall  be  finally 
thrown  away  and  the  soul  or  force  of  the  drug  be  whollv 
used  apart  from  any  form  of  matter,  let  the  future  decide 
that  The  rostrum  of  the  Institute  is  a  place  where  too 
many  utter  crude  ideas,  but  Dr.  Dake  should  beware  of  such 
a  result  when  he  stands  up  to  expound  science  to  his 
younger  brethren  of  whom  one  is 

FiNGAL  HaPGOOD,  M.  D. 

Aug.3 


114  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


The  True  Issue  Stated.     By  Dr.  Ad,  Lippe,  Philadelphia, 

It  is  a  fatal  error  to  ask  for  a  proof  that  the  thirtieth  po- 
tency possesses  sick  making  and  curative  powers,  because 
this  question  has  been  decided  in  the  aHirmative  without  any 
possible  doubt;  and  because  the  question  was  definitely  and 
positively  settled  by  persons  who  would  have  preferred  a 
negative  answer  but  who  were  compelled  by  necessity  to 
give  an  affirmative  answer,  and  this  necessity  was  the  result 
of  investigations  by  the  experiment. 

It  is  now  our  purpose  to  produce  such  evidence  as  shall 
convince  the  most  sceptic  questions  to  admit  that  this  ques- 
tion has  been  permanently  settled,  and  our  evidence  is 
"Documentary  Evidence." 

The  Austrian  pro  vers  published  in  the  first  part  of  the 
fourth  volume  of  the"Oesterreichische  Zeitschrift  fuer  Hom- 
oeopathy," and  among  the  contributors  to  the  development  of 
the  physiological  materia  medica  of  Hahnemann,  an  essay  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty-six  pages  on  the  sick-making  and  cura- 
tive effects  of  Natrum  muriaticum.  This  essay  was  written 
by  Dr.  Watzke  in  1848. 

The  sick-making  properties  were  ascertained  by  thirty-five 
provers,  who  repeatedly  and  perseveringly  tried  this  salt  on 
themselves;  there  were  also  added  experiments  with  salt  on 
animals.  There  existed  then  as  now  sceptical  philosophers, 
who  asserted  that  a  substance  which  was  daily  used  by  mil- 
lions of  individuals  could  not  possibly  cause,  and  also  cure 
such  a  multiplicity  of  ailments  as  were  enumerated  in  Hah- 
nemann's rendition  of  the  effects  of  Natrum  muriaticum; 
they  did  decline  to  make  ''the  experiment,"  declined  to  prove 
this  remedy  on  themselves,  and  remained  in  the  opposition — 
sceptics,  on  the  other  side.  The  thirty-five  provers  made  the 
provings  with  the  crude  salt  in  large  doses,  and  also  in  poten- 
cies up  to  the  thirtieth.  One  prover  reports  only  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  symptoms  from  a  few  pellets  of  the 
thirtieth  potency.  Hahnemann's  provings  were  not  only 
confirmed,  but  also  materially  supplemented.     To  those  of  us 


Miscellaneous.  115 

acquainted  with  our  literature,  I  refer  to  this  exhaustive  doc- 
umentary evidence;  others  unacquainted  with  our  literature 
might  be  offended  if  their  newly -promulgated  proposition  to 
prove  the  efficacy  of  the-  thirtieth  potency  should  be  pro- 
nounced unnecessary  or  preposterous.  The  most  positive 
proof  was  published  over  thirty  yeais  ago,  and  has  been  ac- 
cepted. To  make  our  paper  short,  we  will  only  quote  the 
final  decision  Dr.  Watzke  arrived  at.  *  He  says,  on  pas^e  251: 
"Concerning  the  dose  of  our  remedy,  [Natrum  muriaticum)  I 
am  unfortunately — I  say  unfortunately  compelled  to  declare 
myself  for  the  higher  potencies,  unfortunately,  because  I 
would  have  preferred  it,  could  I  remain  a  repressntativc  of 
the  ordinary  views  favoring  the  ordinary  larger  doses.  The 
physiological  provings  of  the  Ifatrum  muriaticumy  as  well  as 
the  overwhelming  preponderance  of  clinical  results,  obtained 
all  along  by  it,  speak  decidedly  and  positively  for  the  higher 
potencies." 

Where  we  furthermore  take  into  consideration  that  this 
conclusion  was  the  result  of  experiments  made  with  the  po- 
tencies of  a  substance  never  before  supposed  to  possess  me- 
dicinal powers,  except  in  the  shape  of  natural  water,  heavily 
saturated  with  Salt  applied  as  baths,  when  we  see  from  these 
elaborate  provings  that  potentized  Muriate  0/  soda,  causes  on 
the  healthy  more  prominent  and  more  characteristic  symptoms 
than  material  doses,  should  we  not  be  able  to  see  very  clearly 
that  what  we  understand  under  medicinal  powers,  both  sick- 
making  and  health-restoring,  are  a  thing  which  is  not  suscepti- 
ble to  weight,  are  imponderables.^  Again,  when  we  con- 
sider that  Dr.  Watzke  voluntarily  acknowledges  that  the  de- 
ductions drawn  from  the  facts  revealed  and  elucidated  by 
"the  experiment,"  are  entirely  in  contravention  to  his  pre- 
viously held  opinion,  we  are  forced  to  admire  his  honesty, 
his  good  sense  to  make  the  experiment,  and  accept  facts, 
make  more  experiments  and  proclaim  such  facts  to  be  true, 
even  if  they  did  not  turn  out  to  be  in  harmony  and  in  accord- 
ance with  preconceived,  well  cherished  opinions. 

The  lesson  we  learn  from  the  above  is  this,  every  honest 
seeker  of  truth  will  make  the  experiment  himself:  it  is  pre- 
posterous to  ask  others  to  make  the  experiment  for  him,  give 


116  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

him  facts  only,  and  let  the  sceptic  draw  his  own  doductions 
from  the  facts  as  he  accepts  and  represents  them  and  the 
sceptic  can  only  be  convinced  of  his  errors  by  experiments 
made  by  himself  and  on  himself. 

It  is  a  fatal  error  to  agitate  the  posological  question  at 
present  In  almost  every  number  of  our  journals  we  find 
some  severe  paper  denouncing  as  spiritualists  or  worse  than 
that,  as  blind  and  audacious  men  the  members  of  the  pro- 
fession who  publish  cures  made  by  means  of  high  potencies. 
One  of  these  scandalous  papers  is  found  in  the  July  No.  of 
the  Homeopathic  Times,  the  author  of  it,  Frank  A.  Ruck- 
with,  M.  D.,  Saginaw,  Michigan.  We  will  not  here  discuss 
the  assertion  made  by  Dr.  R.,  page  80,  that  the  very  origin 
of  Hahnemannianism  dates  from  the  time  when  its  founder 
said  that  nothing  could  he  make  out  of  his  battle-cry,  of 
Similia  Similibus  Curantur,  as  a  thing,  per  «e,  he  was  forced 
to  resort  to  the  stratagem  of  inventing  attenuation  (vcrdu- 
ennung).  Did  the  learned  Dr.  find  this  in  the  Organon  of 
the  Healing  Art,  and  where?  The  posological  question  is 
untimely,  is  a  false  issue  and  always  has  been  a  false  issue;  it 
is  the  last  of  all  questions  to  be  considered,  it  never  was  a 
stratagem;  it  is  a  historical  fact  that  men  well  versed  in  the 
teachings  of  the  Master  finally  are  enabled  to  gradually  de- 
crease their  doses,  that  is  all.  The  battle-cry  of  to  day  is 
"The  Law  of  the  Similars."  Is  it  a  universally  applicable 
therapeutic  Law  or  have  we  no  such  law — have  we  supple- 
mentary and  auxiliary  laws?  have  we  to  be  guided  by  our 
individual  judgment  when  we  exercise  the  sacerdotal  duty 
of  a  true  Healer,  or  are  we  to  be  unerringly  guided  by  un- 
erring laws,  by  natural  laws,  or  in  other  words  does  our  pro- 
fessions to  be  Homeopathic  Healers  admit  freedom  of 
action,  or  does  our  School  bind  us  to  obey  the  laws  on 
which  it  is  founded?  Are  Homeopathy  and  Eclecticism 
synonyms?  The  Philosophers  who  proclaimed  that  the  law 
of  the  Similars  was  not  the  ne  plus  ultra,  but  that  other 
supplementary  and  auxiliary  laws  existed,  were  discovered 
or  were  discoverable,  would  now  do  well  to  come  to  the  aid 
of  the  man  who  impliedly  denounces  the  Law  of  the  Simi- 
lars  as   a   battle-cry  which  amounted  to  nothing,  let  them 


Miscellaneous,  117 

illustrate  these  other  laws.  Let  them  illustrate  the  possibility 
of  admitting  the  palliative  treatment  to  be  in  harmony  with 
the  Law  of  the  Similars,  or  that  it  can  by  any  possibility  be 
consistently  applied  by  a  professing  Homoeopathician!  These 
are  the  vexed  questions  of  the  day — not  the  question  of  the 
dose:  and  the  silly  attempt  to*  divide  our  school  into  high 
and  low  potency  men  must  fail.  We  are  divided  on  the 
question  of  the  "Law  of  the  Similars."  While  one  side  ac- 
cepts it  as  a  universally  applicable  Law  the  other  side  claim 
a  right  to  accept  it  occasionally  if  it  does  not  interfere  with 
their  own  individual  judgment,  and  if  it  does,  or  if  the  in- 
dividual can  not  pjoperly  apply  it,  do  anything  he  chooses. 


Pleasure  and  Pain. 

No  one  knows  better  than  a  physiologist  how  false  is  the 
old  maxim,  "Seeing  is  believing."  He  knows  that  sight  and 
all  the  other  senses  never  show  us  things  as  they  are.  "No 
kind  and  no  degree  of  similarity,"  observes  Professor  Helm- 
holtz,  "exists  between  the"  quality  of  m  sensation  and  the 
quality  of  the  agent  inducing  it  and  portrayed  by  it." 
Our  sensations  tell  us  nothing  of  the  real  nature  of  the  exter- 
nal world.  They  are  mere  symbols,  every  whit  as  remote  as 
the  written  word  horse  is  from  the  animal.  Their  value  de- 
pends, however,  not.  on  the  fidelity  of  their  correspondence, 
for  this  is  null,  but  on  their  fidelity  at  all  times  to  the  same 
impression.  The  color  red  is  always  the  color  red;  the  scent 
of  the  rose  is  the  scent  of  the  rose,  and  it  is  this  logical  law 
of  identity  which  gives  sensations  their  value,  not  the  objects 
which  call  them  forth. 

The  laws  which  govern  the  correspondence  of  sensations  to 
impressions  are  those  of  transmission;  in  other  words,  of  nutri- 
tion. By  an  accidental  variation  of  structure  at  some  remote 
epoch,  a  cranial  nerve  became    sensitive  to  light;  this  aided 


18  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

the  animal  in  its  efforts  to  nourish  and  preserve  itself,  and 
strengthened  by  descent,  gave  rise  to  an  eye.  All  the  senses 
arose  and  were  ripened  in  a  similar  manner.  The  stimulus 
of  all  of  them  is  their  preservative  powers. 

Now,  it  is  conceded  by  students  of  sensations  that  all  of 
them  partake- either  of  the  nature  of  pleasure  or  of  pain, 
•Every  impression  is  either  one  agreeable  or  disagreeable.  It 
is  further  experimentally  demonstrable  that  an  agreeable 
sensation  is  one  which  is  produced  by  a  sustained  and  con- 
tinuous impression  up  to  the  point  of  fatigue,  a  musical  tone, 
for  example;  while  intermittent  and  discontinuous  impressions, 
as  tones  of  different  pitches,  or  a  flickering  light,  produce 
disagreeable  sensations.  This  is  the  inductive  axiom  on 
which  Helmholtz  bases  his  celebrated  Lehre  der  Tonemp- 
flndungen. 

Continuous  impressions,  short  of  fatigue,  mean  increased 
nutrition,  repair  exceeding  waste,  preservation  strengthening 
itself  Pleasure,  therefore,  is  physiologically  the  quality 
given  to  sensation  by  nervous  action  not  in  excess  of  nutri- 
tion. The  utmost  pleasure  is  derived  from  maximum  action 
with  minimum  waste. 

This  generalization  oflTers  many  instructive  corollaries. 
That  which  we  call  the  beautiful  in  art  depends  upon  it. 
Hogarth  drew  a  "line  of  beaut}','*  which  he  found  to  be  that 
which  in  its  variations  most  gratifies  in  outline  and  form.  It 
is  a  double  curve,  and  an  analysis  of  it  shows  it  to  be  that 
which  the  muscles  of  attachment  of  the  eye  permit  our  sight 
to  follow  with  least  labor  to  themselves.  A  curve  is  preferred, 
in  art,  to  a  rectangle,  for  the  same  reason.  The  changes  in 
llinguagcs  toward  greater  brevity  and  sonorousness  are  de- 
pendent upon  the  rising  preference  for  action  with  least 
waste  which  the  use  of  such  idioms  implies. 

Waste  exceeding  repair  produces  a  disagreeable  sensation 
reaching  as  it  increases  to  actual  pain.  As  such  it  incites  to 
action,  but  to  deterrant  and  evasive  action.  Pain  is  the  sen- 
sation attendant  on  the  death  of  the  part  or  system,  as  the  sen- 
sation opposed  to  self-preservation  and  continuity,  as  con- 
trary to  the  first  law  of  existence  or  motion,  it  is  avoided  by 


Miscellaneous,  119 

all  organisms.     "To  move  from  pain  and  to  pleasure  is  the 
fundamental  law  of  organic  beings,"  says  Professor  Bain. 

The  reader  may  still  be  dissatisfied  with  the  explanation,* 
and  ask,  through  the  operation  of  what  general  law  are  de- 
terrant  sensations,  that  is,  painful  ones,  associated  with  waste? 
Is  it  an  a  priori  arrangemeut  in  "the  fitness  of  things"?  The 
question  is  a  proper  one,  and  the  reply  is,  not  at  all;  it  is  a 
mere  accident;  not  hardly  so  much  as  an  accident,  but  a 
piece  of  unconscious  choosing.  There  is  nothing  in  waste 
itself  which  necessarily  ties  it  to  pain.  No  god  fastened  their 
heads  together. 

Probably  many  creatures  have  been  born  whose  nerves  felt 
pleasure  in  waste  of  tissue.  Their  race  is  not  extinct. 
"There  are,  says  the  Baron  d'Holbach  in  one  of  his  works, 
"some  men  who  find  no  pleasure  except  in  actions  which 
will  bring  them  to  the  gallows."  Fortunately,  human  law 
generally  brings  ihem  there;  and  natural  law  with  infinitely 
greater  certainty  soon  or  forthwith  destroys  that  organism 
which  finds  pleasure  in  waste,  but  preserves  that  one  which 
feels  pain  from  waste  and  transmits  this  feel  ng,  strength- 
ened by  descent,  to  its  progeny.  The  vices  which  conceal 
waste  under  pleasure,  such  as  alcohol  and  opium-taking,  are 
the  most  dangerous  ones. 

This  physiological  discussion  shows  how  erroneous  that 
doctrine  is  which  regards  pleasure  as  the  negative  of  pain 
(pessimism),  or  pain  the  negative  of  pleasure  (optimism). 
The  Scandinavian  mythology  represented  Odin,  the  god  of 
action  and  effort,  as  accompanied  by  his  two  brothers,  Vili 
and  Ve  (  Wohl  and  Weh^  pleasure  and  pain).  So  in  fact  every 
action  disturbs  the  pre-existing  relations  of  nutrition,  and 
brings  out  agreeable  or  disagreeable  feelings.  But  as  repair 
is  one  definite  thing  and  waste  is  another  definite  thing,  so 
are  the  feelings  to  which  they  give  rise. 

This  inquiry  does  not  stop  with  physiology.  All  religions 
are  founded  on  some  theory  of  pain.  They  all  teach,  to  some 
extent,  "purification  by  suffering,"  they  all  connect  pain  with 
sin,  death  with  evil,  pleasure  with  goodness,  life  with  joy.  In 
much  that  they  teach  the  confusion  of  sensation  and  thought 


120  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

is  evident;  pain  and  death,  as  has  been  shown,  can  not  have 
come  into  the  world  by  sin,  for  the  latter  can  exist  in. the  in- 
tellect alone,  while  the  former  is  common  to  all  organic 
existence.  But  thatjn  which  the  better  religions  are  right  is 
that  in  preservation,  in  continuous  life,  in  obedience  to  law, 
lies  man's  true  happiness;  that  through  the  destruction  of 
those  who  disobey,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  the  race  is 
purified;  and  that  sin,  wrongfulness,  conscious  evil-doing  has 
a  punishment  as  certain,  as  eternal,  as  irrevocable  as  Calvin 
ever  taught.  The  easy  doctrine  that  "bad  is  good  in  the 
making,'*  or  that  "an  error  is  a  truth  half  seen,"  finds  not  a 
vestige  of  support  before  the  merciless  laws  which  take  no 
steps  backward,  hear  no  prayers,  and  admit  of  no  moment  of 
trbce.  The  ground  maxim  of  all  morals  lies  in  pleasure  and 
pain,  and  is  embraced  in  this  sentence  from  Schopenhauer: 
"No  error  is  harmless;  every  one  will  sooner  or  later  do  him 
who  harbors  it  a  hurt." 


Lines  on  a  Skeleton. 


Behold  this  ruin  I  'Twas  a  skull, 
Once  of  etherial  spiiit  full. 
This  narrow  cell  was  life's  retreat, 
This  space  was  thought's  mysterious  seat'. 
What  beauteous  visions  filled  this  spot, 
What  dreams  of  pleasure  long  forgot  I 
Not  hope,  nor  joy,  nor  love,  nor  fear, 
Uave  left  one  trace  of  record  here. 

Beneath  this  mouldering  canopy, 
Once  shone  the  bright  and  busy  eye. 
But,  start  not  at  the  dismal  void. 
If  social  love  that  eye  employed, 
If  with  no  lawless  fire  it  gleamed, 
But  through  the  dews  of  kindness  beamed. 
Til  at  eye  shall  be  forever  bright, 
When  stars  and  suns  are  sunk  in  night. 


Miscellaneous.  121 


Within  this  hollow  cavern  hung 

The  ready,  swift,  and  tuneful  tongue. 

If  falsehoods  honey  it  disdained, 

And  where  it  could  not  praise,  was  chained, 

If  hold  in  virtue*8  cause  it  spoke, 

Yet  gentle  concords  never  broke, 

This  silent  tongue  shall  plead  lor  thee 

When  time  unveils  eternity. 

Say,  did  these  fingers  delve  the  mine  ? 
Or  with  its  envied  rubies  shine  ? 
To  hew  the  rock  or  wear  the  gem 
Can  little  now  avail  to  them. 
But  if  the  page  of  truth  they  sought 
Or  comfort  to  the  mourned  brought^ 
These  hands  a  richer  meed  shall  claim 
Than  all  that  wait  on  wealth  or  fame. 

Avails  it  whether  bare  or  shod, 
These  feet  the  paths  of  duty  trod? 
If  from  the  borers  of  ease  they  fled, 
To  seek  afflictions  humble  shed. 
If  grandeur's  guilty  bribe  they  spumed, 
And  home  to  virtue's  cot  returned, 
These  feet  with  angels  wing's  shall  vie 
And  tread  the  palace  of  the  sky. 


^QQ|  MMtti* 


Clinical  Lectures  upon  Inflammativeand  other  Diseases  of  the  Ear-  (Lon- 
don School  of  Homoeopathy).  By  Robert  T.  Cooper,  A.  B., 
M.  D.    London  Homoeopathic  Publishing  Co.,  1878. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  we  have  here  an  excellent  treatise  upon  diseases 

of  the  ear.    The  style  is  easy  and  colloquial,  and  the  student  will 

read  it  with  interest.    As  a  systematic  treatise  apon  this  department 

it  does  not  meet  many  of  the  requirements  of  the  profession.    Its  ar. 


122  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

raDgexnent  is  altogether  too  disconnected,  and  the  discussions  too 
discursive.  At  the  outset  we  are  struck  with,  the  author's  failure  to 
appreciate  the  power  of  hot  water^&nd  a  knowledge  of  its  right  applica- 
tion in  controlling  pain  and  inflammation  of  the  ear.  The  author 
w6uld  do  well  to  consult  American  homoeopathic  literature  upon  this 
point.  But  of  American  contrihutions to  this  subject,  Dr.  Cooper. is 
seemingly  and  unfortunately  not  well  informed.  He  is  a  faithful  dis- 
ciple of  Hinton,  and  this  author  he  quotes  on  numberless  points. 
His  range  of  homceopathic  remedies  is  remarkably  limited,  and  be 
gives  only  the  most  general  indications  for  their  use.  The  ghosts  of 
speculative  pathology  haunt  him  at  every  step.  "Wide-spread  ner- 
vous derangement,''  ''profound  spinal  disturbances,"  "cerebral  anae- 
mia*' and  the  like  are  very  learned  (?)  but  sadly  empty  phrases. 
The  author  will  excuse  us,  but  if  he  had  studied  the  homoeopathic 
materia  medica  as  much  as  he  has  Hinton,  he  would  have  given  his 
readers  a  clearer  line  of  treatment.  He  goes  aside  at  one  point  to 
thrust  an  imaginary  class  of  men  who  would  make  no  distinction  be- 
tween the  tinnitus  and  vertigo  of  induced  by  cerumen,  and  that  in- 
duced by  exudation  into  the  vestibule.  He  declares  them  "a  perfect 
nuisance  in  Homoeopathy.''  This  is  in  bad  taste.  It  uncovers  an 
objectionable  animus.  In  all  schools  there  are  men  who  can  not  dif- 
ferentiate these  conditions ;  and  who,  therefore,  treat  their  patients 
improperly.  This  is  not  strange,  nor  is  it  altogether  disgracef uli 
when  we  consider  the  state  of  medical  knowledge  when  these  men 
received  their  education.  There  is  no  justice  in  specialists  abusing 
those  less  informed  than  themselves.  There  is  no  man  in  the  hom- 
oeopathic school  who  would  treat  his  patient  solely  with  internal 
remedies  for  tinnitus  and  vertigo,  arising  from  impacted  cerumen,  if 
he  knew  the  cerumen  toae  there.  The  author  is  learned  in  pathology,  but 
he  is  not  wise  in  its  use,  if  this  is  a  fair  specimen  of  his  work:  page 
21.  ''When  we  place  a  w*atch  or  a  tuning  fork  upon  the  mastoid 
process,  the  non-transmission  of  vibrations  would  simply,  if  acute  in- 
flammation be  present,  complete  blocking  up  of  the  cells,  and  there/ore 
the  necessity  for  operative  procedure,  in  the  shape  of  incision  over  the 
mastoid  process."  Such  advice  we  most  unhesitatingly  condemn. 
A  homoeopathic  teacher  would,  in  such  a  case,  do  well  to  try  Home- 
opathy. We  earnestly  recommend  it  to  the  attention  of  the  author. 
Homoeopathy  is  great  only  in  the  hands  if  those  who  understand  it. 
Page  25  he  says,  "Homoeopathy  dispenses  with  leeches,  mercury 
and  blisters,  not  by  aseuming  their  abeolute  inutility  for  the  purpose  in 
hand,  so  much  as  by  substituting  in  their  stead  less  harmful,  and 
more  efiicient  measures."  We  would  not  like  to  say  that  this  sort  of 
teaching  "is  a  perfect  nuisance  in  Homoeopathy,"  but  we  do  say,  it 
wholly  misrepresents  our  attitude  toward  such  agents.    Why,  if  Dr. 


Book  Notices, 


123 


Cooper  would  have  the  courage*  to  charge  upon  leeches,  blisters, 
aiid  mercury,  ''absolute  inutility"  as  he  should,  and  yet  confess  that 
homoeopathic  treatment  was  only  "less  harmful"  than  any  other 
mode,  he  would  only  bring  disgrace  upon  the  school  he  attempts  to 
represent.  These  are  by  no  means  the  only  weak  and  objectionable 
pomts  in  this  otherwise  valuable  book. 

The  author  bravely  courts  criticism.  Had  we  space,  he  should 
have  more  than  enough  of  it.  His  position  as  "physician  for  Eat 
Diseases  in  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital,"  will  give  him  an 
excellent  chance  to. improve  his  future  utterances  upon  this  subject. 
The  fact  is,  he  lags  in  his  therapeutics.  He  needs  knowledge,  or 
iaith,  or  both.  When  he  has  a  needed  fullness  of  these  in  our  ma- 
teria medica,  he  will  give  better  lectures  and  write  a  better  book. 
And  for  all  this,  the  work  before  us  is  a  good  one  in  many  respects, 
and  it  would  give  us  more  pleasure  to  point  out  its  virtues,  which  are 
many,  rather  than  display  its  faults,  which  are  serious.  We_  com- 
mend Dr.  Cooper's  treatise,  therefore,  to  the  profession,  but  not  in 
unqualified  terms. 


A.*Critique.    Dedicated  to  the  author  of  "  Scratches, "  etc. 


0  Wm.  Tofl, 
Dei  gratia/ 
A  poet  bom, 
Nmfit! 

I've  read  your  book 
From  end  to  end, 
Wisdom  and  wit. 

J  like  it  not, 
AbaJLinvidia^ 
But  thats  a  thing 
AdguMtm. 

1  am  a  critic 
And  must  object, 
For  that's  the  custom. 


You  are  a  surgeon, 

OwnaogUurd 

In  scalpel  work 

Afidax  and  Canteiu. 

Now,  see  my  friend, 

To  what  a  strait 

Your  tricks  have  brought  us. 

You've  ventured  on 
LicenHa  vaium, 
A  miracle, 
MirabUe  dietu/ 
Pray  drop  the  pen, 
And  after  this 
The  catlin  stick  to. 


Was't  not  enough 
That  one  Old  Scratch 
Has  cursed  mankind 
Since  the  days  of  Eden? 
Why  has  your  brain 
More  Seraiehes  still 
Alas  I  been  breedin'? 


/ 


124  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

NoT£. — ^It  is  simply  to  avoid  profanity,  that  the  first  Latin  phrase  is 
here  introduced.  The  English  rendering  of  it  would  make  an  excellent 
rhyme  with  the  first  line,  but  as  will  be  readily  seen  it  would  not  be  allow- 
able. Having  commenced  the  ase  of  La^in  it  became  necessary  to  con- 
tinue it  at  intervals  through  the  entire  poem  (for  such  I  candidly  consider 
it.  Of  this,  however,  posterity  must  judge).  Uneducated  readers  may  be 
greatly  assisted  in  understanding  this  production  by  consulting  the  table 
of  phrases  in  Webster's  unabridged,  etc.  We  speak  from  experience  on 
this  point.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  late  Robert  Burns  has  imitated  our 
style  but  not  successfully.  The  last  verse  contains  no  Latin.  This  is  en- 
tirely the  fault  of  the  table  of  phrases  referred  to.  But  this  is  less  a 
matter  of  moment  since  this  verse  contains  the  gist  of  the  entire  pro- 
duction. When  this  Critique  is  published  in  book  form  the  * 'Scratches  of 
a  Surgeon"  will  be  published  an  appendix  thereto  as  an  explanatory  ne- 
cessity. 

P.  S.  It  seems  a  hard  thing  to  say  of  this  celebrated  surgeon  and 
author  that  he  is  not  fit  for  a  poet.  But  since  he  comes  to  it  by  a  higher 
right  we  maintain  the  statement. 


American  Journal  of  Electrology  and  Neurology. 

Volume  one,  number  1,  of  this  Journal  made  its  appearance  for  July. 
It  is  a  neat  Journal  mechanically  and  should  its  able  editor  present  such 
an  attractive  table  of  contents  each  quarter  we  bespeak  for  it  a  hearty  and 
extended  recaption  by  the  profession.  Messrs.  Boericke  and  Tafel  are  the 
publishers,  than  whom  there  are  none  better  known  to  our  school. 
Price  $2.00  per  year. 


Report  of  the  London  School  of  HomcBopathy  for  1879f  etc  i  etc. 

This  is  an  honest  showing  of  both  saccess  and  failure.  There  is  no 
concealment  of  difflcolties  that  surroand  the  maintenance  of  this 
enterprise.  The  school  evidently  has  too  many  friends  from  whom 
it  may  well  pray  to  be  delivered.  The  men  who  would  make  this 
institution  a  mere  tail  to  the  allopathic  kite,  are  not  yet  in  the  as- 


Book  Notices.  125 

cendant.  We  hope  they  never  will  be.  The  school  will  live  in 
spite  of  those  who  would  drag  it  down  in  suppliance  at  the  knees  0£ 
Allopathy.  It  makes  a  good  showing.  It  lacks  in  that  moral  support 
which  comes  from  a  genuine  love  for  Homceopathy,  but  it  has  a  few 
intelligent  and  sincere  friends.  It  has  valid  assets  to  the  amount  of 
£2,169.40,  and  last  year  an  income  of  £904,191.  It  is  doing  a  good 
work  and  we  wish  it  success.  By  the  way  do  our  English  friends 
give  any  attention  to  matters  of  this  sort  in  this  country? 


^HWi  %Mt. 


Another  Straw, — In  his  recent  important  work  on  Gynaecology 
page  145,  Dr.  Emmet  says  of  uterine  diseases :  "We  must  also  bear 
in  mind  that  as  a  rule  the  local  condition  is  but  an  expression  of  the 
state  of  the  whole  body.  Therefore  the  local  condition  is  not  likely 
to  be  permanently  benefited  unless  we  can  at  the  same  time  im- 
prove general  nutrition  by  a  careful  and  well  regulated  consti- 
tutional treatment." 

As  a  statement  in  Pathology  this  sounds  decidedly  Hahnemannic. 
It  is  a  doctrine  which  the  stricter  class  of  homoeopaths  have  be- 
lieved in  and  practiced  for  over  three  quarters  of  a  century,  and  yet 
there  are  men  even  in  our  school  whose  practice  in  uturine  diseases 
is  wholly  opposed  to  this  theory  of  disease,  else  why  do  they  use 
local  applications  precisely  as  laid  down  in  the  books  of  the  allo- 
pathic schools.  B. 

"Drying  up"  Milk.— Who'd  a  thought  it.  "At  a  meeting  of  the 
New  York  Academy  of  Medicine  (old  school)  nearly  all  the  speakers 
argued  that  the  best  plan  for  drying  up  milk  in  non-nursing  moth- 
ers is  to  let  the  breasts  entirely  alone;  no  pumps,  OifUmerUSf  Belladonna 
or  fridiont  etc.,  etc. — New  York  Medical  Record,  This  is  almost  as  good 
as  Homoeopathy.  It  is  too  good  to  be  true.  Locally  nothing;  add  to 
that  such  homoeopathic  medications  as  the  derangements  of  the  sys, 
tern  if  any  may  demand,  and  you  have  adopted  a  treatment  rational 
scientific  and  successful. 

An  Obstetric  Aphorish. — When  there  is  delay  in  labor  from  ple- 
thora, employ  the  lancet  [in  picking  your  teeth  or  cleaning  your 
nails,  meantime  give  Bell,  or  Aeon,  or  Pida.,  as  may  be  indicated.]— 
Hospital  Gazette  (old  school).    No  charge  for  the  amendment. 


126  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

L.  L.  D. — This  distinguished  title  recently  felPupon  the  ample 
shoulders  of  Dr.  Nicho.  Francis  Cooke,  M.  D.,  of  Chicago.  We  can 
not  object  to  this  but  why  on  earth  did  it  not  fall  to  some  poor  devil 
who  needed  it  to  make  him  happy?  Brother  Cooke  did  not  need  it 
for  that  purpose  nor  any  other,  butas  he  richly  deserved  it  he  shall 
keep  it  with  our  consent  and  congratulations. 

New  York  Ophthalmic  Hospital. — Report  for  the  month  ending 
June  30,  1879.  Number  of  prescriptions,  three  thousand,  three  hun- 
dred and  fourteen;  number  of  new  patients,  three  hundred  and 
eighty  ;  number  of  patients  resident  in  the  hospital,  thirty-six;  aver- 
age daily  attendance,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three ;  largest  daily  at- 
tendance, two  hundred  and  three.  J.  H.  Buffum,  M.  D.,  Resident 
Surgeon. 

A  Frsb  Dispensary  for  women  and  children  has  recently  been 
opened  at  306  Linn  street.  The  financial  management  is  under  the 
control  of  an  able  board  of  ladies,  and  the  cliuical  work  in  charge  of 
Dr.  Ellen  M.  Kirk  and  Dr.  Martha  May  Howells.  The  Dispensary 
for  women  and  children  will,  no  doubt,  soon  be  numbered  among 
the  successful  charities  of  our  city. 

The  Governor  of  Indiana  vetoed  the  health  bill  passed  by  the 
legislature  of  that  state,  to  regulate  the  practice  of  medicine,  for  the 
very  good  reason  that  the  dear  old  mothers  in  Israel,  the  Good 
Samaritans  and  those  wise  people  who  know  more  about  medicine 
*'than  all  the  faculties  put  together,'' would  be  prevented  from  carry- 
ing on  their  labor  of  love. 

Cincinnati  Homcsopathic  Free  Dispensary. — ^Annual  report  for 
year  ending  July  1st,  1879.  Medical  Department — ^New  cases,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  twelve;  prescriptions,  seven  thousand 
one  hundred  and  forty -eight ;  visits,  three  hundred  and  fifty-eight; 
teeth  extracted,  three  hundred  and  thirty  ;  obstetrics,  eight ;  surgical 
operations,  twenty -eight.    C.  A.  Quirell,  M.  D.,  Resident  Physician. 

Ax  THE  late  meeting  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  at 
Lake  George,  the  iollowing  officers  were  elected  for  the  ensuing  year: 
President,  T.  P.  Wilson,  M.  D.,  Cincinnati ;  Vice  President,  Geo.  A. 
Hall,  M.  D.,  Chicago;  Secretary,  J.  C.  Bui:gher,  M.  D.,  Pittsbyrg; 
Treasurer,  £.  M.  Kellogg,  M.  D.,  New  York;  Chairman  Board  Censors, 
F.  R.  McManus,  M.  D.,  Baltimore. 

The  Ophthalmolooical  and  Otological  Association  held  daily 
sessions,  and  the  eye  and  ear  men  gave  up  the  Institute  meetings  for 
this,  their  "particular  vanity."  It  won't  do,  gentlemen.  You  must 
come  earlier  or  stay  later.  You  make  too  big  a  hole  in  the  old  ship 
when  you  are  all  out. 


Editor's  Table,  127 

Thb  ladies  made  a  good  showing  at  the  Institute.  Drs.  M.  A.  B. 
Woods,  of  Erie ;  0.  T.  Canfield,  of  Titusville,  and  M.  J.  Chapman,  of 
Pittsburg,  read  interesting  and  valuable  papers.  They  were  listened 
to  with  pleasure  by  all. 

SuBscRiBEBS  will  couver  a  favor  by  sending  their  money  directly 
to  Medical  Advance  Co.,  80  W.  9th  Street,  and  not  to  the  editor. 
The  latter  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  financial  department  of  this 
journal. 

Are  you  a  believer  in  the  thirtieth?  Hold  up  your  right  hand. 
Very  well,  you  have  just  saved  thirty  cents.  This  is  one  of  the 
many  blessings  that  come  from  being  a  ''high  dilutionist." 

Dr.  D.  G.  Curtis,  of  Chatanooga,  has  just  been  elected  to  the  Board 
of  Health  for  that  city  for  three  years.  He  reports  the  cause  of  Hom- 
oeopathy on  a  sound  basis  in  his  section.    It  looks  like  it. 

Dr.  A.  S.  Everett,  on  account  of  the  health  of  his  family,  has  re- 
moved from  St.  Louis  to  Denver,  Col.,  and  formed  a  co-partnership 
with  Dr.  J.  M.  Walker, 

Married.— Dr.  J.  Pettet  and  Miss  Delia  Wolke,  Cleveland,  Satur- 
day, May  24th. 

Married. — Geo.  Pyburn,  M.  D.,  of  Sacremento,  and  M.  Jennie 
Bearby,  M.  D.,  of  Oakland  Cal.  Accept  the  congratulations  of  an  old 
friend. 

Married.— April  30,  1879,  O.  J.  Travers,  M.  D.,  of  North  Brook- 
field,  Mass.,  and  Mary  P.  Lytle,  of  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.  May 
they  always  recall  this  day  with  pleasure. 

Dr.  T.  Wood,  of  Cincinnati,  reports  eight  cases  of  removal  of  the 
uterus,  ^y^  of  which  were  successful,  the  patients  recovering. 

Died.-— July  15, 1879  in  Cumberland,  Md.,  the  estimable  wife  of 
Dr.  J.  T.  Lowry. 
PulteBoys. — Dr.  Chas.  A.  Littler  has  removed  to  Onondaga,  Mich. 
F.  B.  Hornbll  has  located  at  Spring  Valley,  0. 

RECEIVED. 

Cyclopaedia  of  the  practice  of  Medicine.  Ziemssen  Vol.  XVII. 
General  Anomalies  of  Nutrition  and  Poisons.  Wm.  Wood  &  Co., 
New  York. 

Spermatorrhoea.  By  Robert  Bartholow,  M.  D.  Wm.  Wood  &  Co., 
New  York. 

Clinical  Therapeutics.  Vol.  II,  Part  VI.  By  T.  S.  Hoyne,  M.  D., 
Chicago. 

Demonstrations  of  Anatomy  and  Dissections.  By  Geo.  Vineo 
Ellis.    Henry  C.  Lea,  Philadelphia. 


128  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

The  Narse.  By  G.  T.  Harris,  A.  M.,  M.  D.    Dancan  Bros.,  Chicago. 

Scratches  of  a  Surgeon.     By  Wm.  Tod  Helmuth,  M.  D.    W.  A. 
Chatterton  &  Co.,  Chicago. 

Posological  Tables.  By  Chas  Rice.  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  New  York. 

Sielier's  Art  of  Singing.    Translated  by  Dr.  F.  Seeger.     Wm.  A. 
Pond  &  Co..  New  York. 

Rhymes  of  Science,  Wise  and  Otherwise.  Illustrated.  Industrial. 
Publication  Co.,  New  York. 

The  Laws  of  Therapeutics.    By  Joseph  Kidd,  M.  D.    Lindsay  & 
Blakiston,  Philadelphia. 


WantSy  Locations,  Practices  for  Sale,  Etc. 


Under  this  head  we  will   be  glad  to  insert,  eratis,  notices,  c^an^e  oi  location, 

Sractices  for  sale,  exchanges  offered  or  any  miscellaneous  want  pertaining^  to  the  pro- 
ession,  not  of  a  purely  advertising  or  personal  nature.    We  will  be  specially  obliged 
to  physici«ins  giving  tne  names  of  good  locations. 


Dear  Sir:  Cleveland,  July  19, 1879. 

A  friend  of  mine  living  at  Jamestown,  Mercer  Co ,  Pa.,  is  anxious 
to  have  a  good  homoeopathic  physician  settle  there.  It  is  a  village 
of  1,800  inhabitants,  a  growing  place  and  surrounded  by  a  wealthy 
farming  country.  There  is  no  homoeopathic  physician  nearer  to  him 
than  six  miles.    He  thinks  it  an  excellent  opening  for  the  right  man. 

Fraternally  Yours,  B.  P.  Brown,  M.  D. 

« 

CoasicANA,  Texas. — I  am  settled  in  this  little  city ;  it  is  in  the  finest 
section  of  the  country  I  ever  saw,  and  is  rapidly  improving.  There 
are  many  other  fine  locationn  in  this  state  for  homoeopathic  doctors. 
Can't  you  spill  a  few  of  them  through  this  country?  The  circulation 
of  '^Solid  Facts"  published  by  Munson  <Sc  Co.,  of  St.  Louis,  has  done 
me  much  good.  After  the  Ist  of  September,  1879,  the  law  regulating 
the  practice  of  medicine  goes  into  efifeot,  after  which  graduates  of  re- 
cognized  medical   schools   can  practice  without  being  examined. 

Yours,  A.  P.  Davis,  M.  D. 

Dr.  M.  H.  Phister  of  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  reports  good  locations 
as  follows:  Portsmouth,  Va.  10,000;  Lynchburg,  19,000;  Charlottown, 
7,000.  Danville,  9,000. 


^ 


T.  P.  WILSON, 

,  M, 

.  D. 

G.H 

«AI. 

EOITOB 

-   Volume 

VII 

CiNCISNATI, 

0., 

Sbptshber, 

1879. 

Number  3. 

tof,  130  Broadway.  All  tubKripllonia 

ndb 

:s 

bead 

?mm" 

d  tnDa 
.licaCioni 

ripti 

p.  Wilson,  «1 

iiildbcaddrcBH 
Dnn.lWperycai 

i- 

Frocoedings  of  the  Fifteenth  Animal  Session-  of  the  Eomcso- 
pathio  Medical  Society  of  Ohio.  Held  at  Cleveland, 
Mity  13  and  14,  1879. 

The  society  was  called  to  order  at  ten  o'clock,  a.  m.,  by 
the  president,  H.  H.  Baxter,  M.  D.,  of  Cleveland.  Prayer 
was  offered  by  Rev.  C.  T.  Collins,  followed  by  an  address 
of  welcome  by  W.  A.  Phillips,  M.  D.,  of  Clevt^Iand,  in  be- 
half of  ihe  Cleveland  Academy  of  Medicine  and  Surgery. 

E.  P.  Grtylord,  M.  D.,  of  Toledo,  responded  in  behalf  of 
visiting  brethren. 

President  Baxter  then  delivered  the  annual  address. 

On  motion  the  address  was  received  and  referred  to  D  s. 
Schneider,  Owens  and  E.  C.  Beckwith  for  disposal. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Sanders    all    physicians   present  w.tc 
invited  to  participate  in  the  proceedings  of  the  meetings. 
Sepl-i 


130  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

The  president  appointed  Drs.  J.  Pettet,  R.  B.Johnson  and 
£.  Gillard  committee  to  audit  the  books  of  the  treasurer,  and 
Drs.  H.  F.  Biggar,  H.  W.  Carter  and  L,  W.  Sapp  on  cre- 
dentials. 

BUREAU    OF    LEGISLATION,    REGISTRATION    AND    STATISTICS. 

Dr.  J.  pettet,  the  chairman  of  this  bureau,  made  a  verbal 
report  that  no  laws  ha,d  been  passed,  detrimental  or  other- 
wise, to  the  interests  of  the  profession.  He  also  recom- 
mended that  the  chairman  of  this  bureau  be  selected  from 
Columbus. 

Society  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  two  o'clock,  p.  m. 

AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

The  society  re  assembled  at  two  o'clock,  the  president  in 
the  chair. 

Dr,  H.  F.  Biggar  presented  a  case  of  excision  of  the  elbow 
joint,  with  a  fibrous  union  taking  place  within  six  weeks 
after  the  operation. 

The  censors  reported  favorably  upon  the  following  appli- 
cations for  membership:  N.  B.  Armstrong,  M.  D.,  Bedford; 
D.  Gillard,  M.  D.,  Port  Clinton;  N.  E.  Wright,  M.  D.,  Berea; 
W.  F.  Miller,  M.  D.,  Cleveland.  The  report  of  the  board  of 
censors  v/as  accepted,  and  on  motion  they  were  admitted  to 
membership. 

REPORTS    OF    DELEGATES. 

Dr.  Carter,  of  Cuyahoga  Falls,  reported  for  the  Northeast- 
ern Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  Ohio.  Announcing 
its  prosperous  condition.  '  Holding  semi -monthly  meetings, 
and  has  forty  members. 

Dr.  Schneider  asked  if  they  took  under  graduates  into 
their  society. 

Dr.  Carter  said  they  had  on  one  or  two  occasions  done  so, 
but  for  a  limited  time  only,  and  that  they  were  subjected  to 
an  examination  before  admittance. 

Dr.  Owens,  of  Cincinnati,  reported  that  the  Cincinnati 
HomcBopathic  Society,  consisting   of  twenty -five   members. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,         131 

holds  weekly  meetings,  was  thoroughly  alive  and  doing  good 
work.  He  thought  it  an  advantage  to  the  people,  as  well  as 
the  under  graduates  to  be  allowed  to  skirmish  a  little  on  the 
outer  line  under  the  protection  of  local  societies. 

BUREAU    OF    GYN-fiCOLOGY. 

Dr.  H.  F.  Biggar  reported  the  following  clinical  papers: 

1.  Amputation  of  the  Neck  of  the  Uterus. 

2.  Recto-vesical  Fistula. 

3.  Uterine  Fibroids. 

Dr.  E.  C,  Beckwith  read  a  paper  on  gynaecology. 

On  motion  the  papers  were  received,  and  the  discussion 
was  opened  by  Dr.  Owens. 

Dr.  Schneider  spoke  of  the  diagnosis  of  fibromata  and  said 
he  had  cured  them  by  rest  in  the  recumbent  position  without 
medication.  He  had  had  good  effects  in  the  use  of  Iodide 
of  lime,  3d  trit.        ^ 

On  motion  of  Dr.  D.  H.  Beckwith  it  was  voted  that  two 
speeches,  of  five  minutes  each,  be  allowed  in  discussion. 

BUREAU    OF   SURGERY. 

Dr.  N.  Schneider,  chairman,  read  a  paper  from  Dr.  S.  R. 
Beckwith  on  "Esmarch  Bandages." 

Dr.  H.  M.  Logee  read  a  paper  on  "Renal  Calculi." 

Dr.  J.  G.Jones  read  a  paper,  "How  to  Administer  Chloro- 
form." 

Dr.  J.  A.  Gann  on  "Anchylosis  Following  Pneumonia." 

Dr.  N,  Schneider  closed  the  report  in  this  bureau  by  read- 
ing a  paper  on  "Ulcers." 

On  motion  the  reports  were  received  and  referred  to  com- 
mittee on  publication. 

The  discussion  was  opened  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Jones,  who  sug- 
gested the  use  of  the  "holder"  instead  of  the  "bandage,"  as 
the  bandage  is  usually  too  strong. 

Dr»  N.  Schneider  objected  to  the  indiscriminate  use  of  the 
Esmarch  Bandage,  though  he  thought  it  a  great  help  in  some 
cases. 


132  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

t 

Dr.  W.  "A.  Phillips  extended  an  invitation  to  the  society  to 
visit  the  new  hospital  at  half  past  eight  o'clock,  Wednesday 
morning. 

Society  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  eight  o'clock,  p.  m. 

EVENING   SESSION 

Was  called  to  order  by  the  president,  and  during  Dr.  Logee's 
temporary  absence  Dr.  J.  A.  Gann  was  elected  secretary 
pro  tern. 

BUREAU  OF  ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY  AND  PATHOLOGY. 

Dr.   M.   H.  Parmalee  presented   a   paper  on   "Muscular 

Paresis." 
Dr.  A.  Claypool  read  a  paper  on  "Stenosis  of  Ascending 

Aorta,  etc." 
Dr.  M.  A.  Canfield  read   a  paper  on  "Physiological  and 

Pathological  Position  of  Alcohol." 

Dr.  M.  B.  Lukens  read  a  paper  on  "Practical  Physiology." 
The  above  papers  closed  the  bureau,  and   were  accepted 

and' referred  to  committee  on  publication. 

BUREAU   OF    MATERIA   MEDICA. 

Dr.  Wm.  Owens  read  the  following  paper:  "How  far 
can  Physiological  Effects  of  Drugs  be  Considered  Patho- 
genetic, and  how  far  Available  as  a  Guide. ^" 

The  above  paper  was  received  and  referred  to  committee 
on  publication. 

Society  adjourned  to  half-past  nine  o'clock  Wednesday 
morning. 

WEDNESDAY — MORNING    SESSION. 

Society  called  to  order  by  the  president  at  nine  o'clock. 

The  censors  reported  favorably  on  the  following  applica- 
tions for  membership:  D.  F.  Baker,  M.  D.,  Cleveland;  B. 
F,  Gambler,  M.  D.,  Cleveland;  L,  R.  Sturtevant,  M.  D., 
Conneaut;  E.  H.  Jewett,  M.  D.,  Oberlin,  The  report  of  the 
board  of  censors  was  accepted,  and  on  motion  they  were 
admitted  to  membership. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,  l33 

Bureau  of  sanitary  science. 

Dr.  E.  P.  Gaylord  read  a  paper  on  "Wells." 

Dr.  D.  H.  Beckwith  presented  a  paper  on  "Sanitary  Duties 
of  Doctors  to  Themselves." 

On  motion  the  reports  were  received  and  referred  to 
the  committee  on  publication. 

Dr.  T.  P.  Wilson  expressed  his  entire  disapprobation  of 
sanitary  science,  as  presented  to  this  society. 

Dr.  Wm.  Owens  followed  in  much  the  same  strain. 

The  papers  were  defended  by  Drs.  Sanders,  Lukens? 
Morrill  and  Beckwith. 

BUREAU    OF   CLINICAL   MEDICINE. 

Dr.  J.  G.  Jones  read  a  paper,  "How  to  Prevent  Pitting  in 
Small  Pox." 
Dr.  B.  P.  Brown  presented  a  paper  on  "Movable  Kidney," 

BUREAU   OF   INSANITY. 

Dr.  E.  R.  Eggleston  read  a  paper  on  "Insanity." 
Society  adjourned  to  two  o'clock,  p.  m. 

AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

The  society  was  called  to  order  by  the  president  promptly 
at  two  o'clock,  p.  m. 

The  censors  reported  favorably  upon  the  following  appli- 
cations for  membership:  R.  N.  Warren,  M.  D.,  Wooster; 
F.  P.  Putnam,  M.  D.,  Cleveland.  The  report  of  the  board  of 
censors  was  accepted,  and  on  motion  they  were  admitted  to 
membership. 

Dr.  J.  G.  Jones  opened  the  discussion  on  insanity,  taking 
strong  ground  in  favor  of  the  patient  being  entirely  cared 
for  by  strangers. 

Dr.  Eggleston  closed  the  discussion  by  referring  to  the 
harsh  treatment  that  that  poor  demented  class  of  sufferers 
so  often  receive  in  our  public  institutions, 

BUREAU    OF    OPHTHALMOLOGY    AND   OTOLOGY. 

Dr.  T.  p.  Wilson  presented  "Studies  in  Refraction." 


134  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

m 

Dr.  W.  A.  Phillips,  "Hints  on  Ophthalmic  and  Aural 
Medicine," 

BUREAU    OF   OBSTETRICS. 

Dr.  J.  C.  Sanders  read  a  paper  on  "A  few  Aphorisms 
and  Practical  Hints  Pertaining  to  the  Third*  Stage  of 
Labor." 

The  above  papers  were  received  and  referred  to  the 
committee  on  publication. 

On  motion  a  committee  of  three,  consisting  of  Drs.  D.  H. 
Beckwith,  J.  C.  Sanders  and  T.  P.  Wilson,  were  appointed 
to  publish  the  transactions  of  the  society. 

The  treasurer  presented  his  report,  showing  a  balance  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  eighty-three  cents 
in  the  treasury.  The  report  was  received  and  referred  to 
the  auditory  committee. 

On  motion  it  was  voted  to  meet  in  Cincinnati  on  the  call 
of  the  officers. 

The  auditing  committee  reported  that  they  had  examined 
the  treasurer's  books  and  vouchers,  and  found  them  correct. 

ELECTION   OF  OFFICERS. 

President,  E.  P.  Gaylord,  M.  D.,  Toledo. 
First  Vice  President,  Wm,  Owens,  M.  D.,  Cincinnati. 
Second  Vice  President,  E.  Gillard,  M.  D.,  Sandusky. 
Secretary,  J.  A.  Qann,  M.  D.,  Wooster. 
Treasurer,  J.  C.  Sanders,  M.  D.,  Cleveland. 
The  society  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  call  of  the  officers 
next  year.  H.  M.  Logee,  Secretary. 


•  • ' 


Address  of  Welcome.     I^r*  W.  A.  Phillips,  Cleveland. 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Society: — Representing 
our  local  society,  it  is  my  privilege  to  extend  to  you  a  cordial 
welcome,  to  greet  you  in  a  spirit  of  warm,  earnest  hospitality, 


Address  of  Welcome.  135 

and  in  the  name  of  fraternal  regard,  to  hail  3'ou  as  champions 
of  a  cause  worthy  of  profound  attainments,  demanding  most 
subtile  skill,  and  meriting  the  noblest  ambition  of  practical 
life.  With  a  high  estimate  of  the  motives  calling  us  together, 
I  greet  you  in  the  full  expectation  that  we  will  enjoy  a  free 
and  kindly  interchange  of  thought  and  experience,  and  thus 
convert  our  individual  work  into  mutual  profit. '  But  while 
the  "stern  logic*'  of  potency,  dose  and  "totality  of  symptoms" 
is  crowding  the  brains  of  this  society,  do  not  let  us  forget  the 
freedom,  toleration  and  words  of  cheer  that  filleth  the  heart 
and  doeth  good  like  a  medicine.  But  gentlemen,  for  your 
entertainment  as  the  compliment  of  our  welcome,  we  have 
not  presumed  upon  extremes  as  the  measure  of  your  antici- 
pations— have  not  thought  to  vie  with  Alexander,  whose 
royal  feasts  were  at  the  expense  of  a  conquered  world,  nor 
yet  of  the  eccentric  Diogones,  who  flourished  in  a  tub  and 
tickled  his  palate  with  the  suggestions  of  a  feast  afforded  by 
a  mouthful  of  pebbles.  In  other  words,  our  philosophy  of 
entertainment  does  not  take  us  into  the  speculative  realms 
of  "high  potency" — that  is  somewhat  the  style — nor  stop 
with  a  consideration  of  the  crude,  unprepared  material,  but 
with  generous  impulses  we  do  hope,in  an  acceptable  manner,to 
banquet  you,  to  toast  you,,and,  if  you  like,  show  you  our  new 
viaduct — the  symphysis  that  joins  the  limbs  of  our  city — a 
monument  of  engineering  skill,  and  a  prodigy  of  endurance 
when  we  consider  the  amount  offerrum  and  silex  it  has  taken ; 
in  a  word,  geometrically  and  financially  speaking,  Cleveland's 
"Bridge  of  Sighs"!  But  I  would  not  have  you  infer  that 
this  reference  to  the  viaduct  even  remotely  suggests  anything 
more  than  lake  water,  by  way  of  beverages;  for  it  is  the  repu- 
tation of  the  profession  in  Cleveland,  that  our  doctors  never 
give  or  take  anything  strong — they  always  dilute  it. 

But  aside  from  all  considerations  of  personal  friendship 
and  hospitality,  you  are  to  be  especially  welcomed  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  art  which  it  is  your  pleasure  and  duty  to  ad- 
vance by  every  means  which  observation,  aided  by  improved 
appliances,  can  afford.  And  I  assume  that  your  presence 
here  to-day  is  an  earnest  that  you   are  alive   to   the   pro- 


136  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

« 

gress  of  the  limes,  and  to  the  demand  which  it  imposes  on  . 
all  who  adopt  the  responsible  office  of  relieving  physical  suf- 
fering-and  deformity.  Certainly  the  advances  made  in  the 
medical  world  during  the  last  score  of  years,  merit  our 
highest  congratulations,  and  it  is  scarcely  presumptuous  to 
s:iy  that  with  all  the  later  revelations  of  minute  anatomy, 
physiology,  pathology,  chemical  analysis,  the  definite  action 
of  drugs  and  all  other  contributions  which  the  collateral 
branches  have  laid  as  a  tribute  at  the  feet  of  medical  science; 
it  is  not  too  much,  I  repeat,  to  affirm  that  the  schools  are  ap- 
proaching remarkably  near  to  the  practical  possibilities  of  an 
art,  which  from  the  very  nature  of  things  must  always  re- 
main comparatively  inexact.  This  possible  perfection  of  the 
medical  art  will  not,  we  may  suppose,  be  found  in  an  entirely 
new  departure,  but  rather  in  a  modification  of  the  old  and 
new  systems  as  now  practiced,  represented  by  the  **bloody 
lancet''  on  the  one  side  and  the  eighty-thousandth  potency 
on  the  other — a  modification  to  be  celebrated  when  the  rival 
schools  shall  be  drawn  together,  and  a  more  rational  system 
than  either  extreme  shall  lead  the  world  captive.  To  the 
end  of  creditably  sustaining  our  characteristic  trusts  to  corres- 
pond with  the  developments  of  the  future,  not  the  least  im- 
portant of  the  work  to  be  done,  is  that  of  inciting  an  enthu- 
siastic interest  respecting  our  school,  in  the  minds  of  young 
men  of  pronjise  and  culture — in  the  minds  of  those  who  have 
already  acquired  habits  of  study,  and  who  are  competent  by 
nature  and  literary  training  to  sustain  themselves  in  any  so- 
ciety, social  or  professional.  With  a  like  earnestness  with 
which  I  welcome  you,  may  you  welcome  this  thought  of  re- 
cruiting our  ranks  with  young  men  who  will  each  prove  a 
buoy,  and  not  a  weight,  and  young  women  who  will  be  a 
credit  and  not  a  pull-back,  to  our  school.  When  this  hint  is 
faithfully  acted  upon  by  preceptors,  the  existence  of  an  "in- 
ter-collegiate congress"  to  vow  that  a  blockhead  shall  not  ma- 
triculate, will  be  as  superfluous  as  dubbing  a  doctor  "profes- 
sor," because,  perchance,  he  happens  to  deliver  a  few  lec- 
tures in  a  medical  college.  A  student  of  theology  was  once 
asked  at  his  examination  for  ordination,  to  quote  a  text  from 


Address  of  Welcome.  137 

either  the  old  or  new  Testament.     He  immediately  repeated, 
"And  Moses  said  when  in  the  whale's  belly,  almost  thou  per- 
8  ladestme  to  be  a  Christian."     He  is  said  to  have  been  con- 
verted too;  and  to  have  passeJ  a  matriculative  examination. 
A  "limb  of  the  law"  was  called  upon   to  define  an  alibi; 
whereupon  he  replied  that  "it  was  having  your  body  in  Ann 
Arbor  when  it  was  being  searched  for  in  Cleveland."     So 
when  a  candidate  for  graduation  defines  ^^sugar  of  milk  to 
be  condensed  lactic  acid,^^  it  is  some  consolation  to  think  that 
there  is  an   hereafter    for  some  representatives  of  the  other 
learned  professions  as  well  as  for  the  medical.     But  while 
students  are  to  be  taught  that  the  unravelled   mysteries  of 
medical  science  still  challenge  the  most  profound  knowledge 
and  keen  experimentation;  that  medicine  is  a  profession,  and 
not    a  trade — a  calling    embodying   philantropy,    zeal    and 
self-denial,  and  not   merely  an   occupation   presuming  only 
emoluments  and  large  fees;  still  we  should  not  forget  to  lend 
encouragement  by  citing  examples  of  great  reputations  that 
dazzle  and  obscure  even   the  glitter  of  gold.     Behold  as  an 
instance,  the  great  Bavarian  surgeon,  of  whom  it  is  said  that 
the  common  people  believe   he  can  open  a  man's  skull,  re- 
move a  part  of  the  brain,  close  up  the  wound  and  send  the* 
man  about  his   business,  if  he   has   any.     If,    however,    he 
should  feel  a  little  stupid  after  this  procedure,  he  would  only 
need  to  send  for  the  renowned  Liebig,  made  immortal  by 
his  beef-tea,  who  with  his  compounds  will  supply  cerebral 
substance  to  order,   fifty  dollars   for  cinericious  matter,  the 
gray  seventy-five!  •  An  instance  of  wonderful  skill  was  once 
related  to  me  by  a  son  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  who  assured  me  in 
all  seriousness,  that   Dr.  Weber,  of  this  cit)',  removed   his 
wife's  liver,  cut  a  tumor  from  it,  washed  it  in  milk  and  put  it 
back  again,  and  "Biddy"  got  speedily  well!     Now,  I   am 
creditably  informed  that  we  have  several  homoeopathic  sur- 
geons in  Cleveland,  who  do  not  regard  the  latter  exploit  as 
very  much  of  an  operation.     Indeed,  we  have  examples  in 
which  the  patient  has  had  her  "mortal  coil"  removed  and 
wings  given  her  instead.     But  these  examples  "must  give  us 
pause;"  for  eye  hath  not  seen,  and  e.ir  hath  not  heard  what 


138  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

a  Cleveland  Doctor  may  yet  do  for  this  world — to  say  nothing 
of  the  next! 

Dr.  Holmes  once  .made  the  witty  remark  about  Homoeo- 
pathy that  it  resembled  an  attack  of  erysipelas,  as  it  spread 
in  one  direction  it  faded  out  in  the  spot  of  its  origin. 

Now,  while  it  is  in  some  measure  true  that  Homoeopathy 
has  acquired  only  a  stunted  growth  in  the  laud  of  its  birth, 
when  intolerance  and  persecution  overshadowed  it — or  as  the 
boys  would  say,  "put  a  head  on  it" — we  have  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  it  has  made  a  most  significant  "spread"  on 
this  side  of  the  water;  that  happily  in  our  own  land  it  found 
the  sunshine  of  candid  investigation,  and  to-day  grows  in 
the  genial  atmosphere  of  a  gener  jus  support.  It  is,  therefore, 
an  encouraging  and  proud  reflection,  that  the  signs  of  the 
times  indicate  that  the  greatest  achievements  of  our  school 
are  to  be  acquired  in  our  own  country.  The  wide  spread 
and  intelligent  patronage  enjoyed  by  our  practitioners,  is 
unimpeachable  testimony  that  the  "regular"  school  is  sharing 
certainly  if  not  gracefully,  a  round  of  business  which  it  for- 
merly controlled  altogether.  Hence  with  equal  "pith  and 
point"  the  humorous  doctor' might  have  likened  the  old  and 
the  new  school  to  the  principle  in  medicine,  that  two  diseases 
do  not  invade  the  system  at  the  same  time — as  the  new  ad- 
vances the  old  recedes.  We  say,  then,  let  Homoeopathy 
"spread,"  and  let  advancement  be  the  motto,  whether  Dr. 
Holmes  calls  it  progress,  erysipelas  or  the  gout. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  I  am  glad  to  welcome  you  to 
this  meeting — glad  that  your  interest  in  the  growth  of  your 
profession  is  exhibited  by  your  coming  to  sit  in  council  and 
to  learn  of  each  other — glad  that  you  have  respite  from  your 
arduous  duties,  and  that  after  reading  and  meditating  and 
gathering  together  the  fruits  of  your  experience,  you  have 
brought  forth  well  conceived  papers  as  an  oflering  to  this 
convention,  and  with  your  labor  complete,  are  looking  at  last 
awell  li  C3  il.l    be  expected. 


Presidents  Address.  13^ 


Freddent's  Address.     H.  H.  Baxter,  M.  D.,  Cleveland. 

To  the  Members  of  the  Homo&opathic  Meaical  SocUty  of 
Ohio: — Oentlemen,  Again  the  time  has  arrived  for  the  an- 
nual session  of  our  society,  and  we  have  assembled  here  to 
learn  from  each  other  the  lessons  which  the  experience  of 
the  year  has  t<^  teach.  It  becomes  my  duty  in  the  position 
with  which  ^ou  have  honored  me,  to  say  a  few  words  upon 
such  topics  as  are  of  general  interest  to  the  profession,  and  of 
special  interes^to  this  society. 

The  past  year  has  not  been  distinguished  by  any  e^ent  of 
paramount  interest  to  the  medical  profession,  or  to  Homoeo- 
pathy. We  have  no  reason  to  think,  however,  that  the  prin- 
ciples in  medicine  to  which  we  have  given  our  allegience, 
have  retrograded  or  suffered  in  any  way,  by  this  apparent  in- 
activity. On  the  contrary  Homoeopathy  has  achieved  some 
substantial  victories,  and  has  made  steady  progress  all  over 
the  country.  In  this  connection  I  desire  to  call  attention  to 
what  seems  to  me  a  marked  change  which  has  slowly  taken 
place  in  the  relations  between  the  members  of  the  two 
schools  of  medicine.  With  one  exception,  there  has  been  an 
almost  entire  absence  of  those  bitter  controversies,  always 
more  or  less  personal  in  character,  which  were  so  common  a 
few  years  ago;  and  from  various  parts  of  the  country  come 
reports  which  indicate  a  manifest  desire  on  the  part  of  allo- 
pathic practitioners  to  live  on  more  friendly  and  intimate 
terms  with  tLose  of  different  schools.  Consultations  betw 
allopathic  and  homoeopathic  physicians  are  not  now  un 
common;  joint  attendance  at  post-mortem  examinations,  and 
mutual  interchange  of  opinions  and  observations  of  disease 
now  give  rise  to  no  remark  or  question.  In  their  conven- 
tions, too,  a  more  liberal  spirit  seems  to  be  manifested,  and 
those  intolerant  spirits  which  were  wont,  on  all  possible  oc- 
casions, to  denounce  Homoeopathy  as  a  humbug  and  its 
practitioners  as  quacks  and  swindlers,  do  not  now  meet  with 
the  same  encouragement  as  formerly.  As  peace  is  much 
pleasanter  and  more  to  be  desired  than  war,  this  may  be  con- 


140  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

sidered  a  cause  for  congratulation.  Moreover  there  seems  to 
be  a  decided  and  increasing  tendency  toward  a  recognition 
by  the  old  school,  of  the  law  of  similars  in  medicine.  Into 
their  later  works  on  materia  medica  and  therapeutics  are 
incorporated  some  of  our  best  known  and  most  frequently 
used  remedies,  and  the  recommendations  for  their  use  coin- 
cide exactly  with  their  sphere  of  action  as  demonstrated  by 
homoeopathic  provings.  Some  writers  go  even  further  and 
give  symptomatic  indications  for  the  use  of  these  remedies. 
These  works  cannot  but  bear  there  legitimate  fruit  in  the 
practice  of  allopathic  physicians.  These  are  encouraging 
signs  that  the  time  may  come,  perhaps  is  not  so  very  far  dis- 
tant, when  we  shall  be  able  to  meet  on  some  common  ground. 
It  can  hardly  be  expected  that  we  shall  ever  agree  upon  all 
points,  but  if  the  different  schools  into  which  the  medical 
profession  is  now  divided  shall  come  to  entertain  a  proper  re- 
spect  and  consideration  for  honest,  though  different  opinions, 
the  principal  cause  of  division  will  have  been  removed. 

In  looking  over  the  subjects  which  occupy  the  attention  of 
the  public  at  the  present  time,  we  find  the  cause  of  medical 
education  prominently  before  not  only  the  profession  but  the 
laity  as  well.  Great  advances  have  been  made  in  this  cause 
within  the  last  eight  years,  .and  it  is  a  source  of  just  pride  that 
we  are  able  to  cite  the  fact  that  to  homoeopathic  colleges  be- 
longs the  credit  of  making  real  progress  in  this  direction,  in 
securing  a  longer  attendance  at  college  and  maintaining  a 
higher  standard  of  excellence  for  their  graduates.  More  re- 
cently the  homeopathic  colleges  of  the  West  have  sent  dele- 
gates to  an  inter- collegiate  congress  for  the  purpose  of  se- 
curing still  other  improvements  in  the  system  of  educating 
our  students. 

One  of  the  first  problems  which  this  Congress  is  endeavor- 
ing to  solve  is  that  of  a  proper  preliminary  education.  One 
of  the  objects  sought  to  be  attained  by  the  colleges,  by 
means  of  this  Congress,  is  the  establishing  of  a  matriculate 
examination,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  at  the  beginning 
of  his  career  the  educational  qualifications  of  each  student. 
For  the  present  it  is  proposed  to  demand  a  thorough  familiar- 


Presidents  Address.  141 

ity  with  what  are  known  as  the  common  English  branches, 
as  a  condition  of  attendance  upon  lectures.  This  is  an  abso- 
lute necessity  if  the  profession  of  medicine  would  become  in 
fact  what  it  is  in  name — a  learned  profession.  At  first 
thought  it  might  seem  ungenerous  and  contrary  to  the  spirit 
of  our  republican  institutions  to  exclude  any  young  man 
from  the  privilege  of  seeking  to  "  rise  in  the  world,"  or  of  im- 
proving his  social  standing,  but  a  moment^s  consideration 
will  convince  any  one  that  it  is  right  and  just  to  all  concerned. 
The  people  have  rights  which  must  be  considered,  and  one  of 
these  is  the  right  to  be  protected  from  the  bungling  of  igno- 
rance, however  honest  or  well  meaning.  Great  improve- 
ment has  taken  place  in  the  character  and  attainments  of 
young  men  seeking  admission  to  our  colleges.  The  evil  still 
exists,  however,  and  every  year  students  present  themselves 
for  attendance  upon  lectures  who  are  woefully  deficient  in 
what  is  known  as  a  common  English  education.  The  time 
has  long  been  passed  for  an  ambitious  parent  to  attempt  to 
have  his  son  "learn  doctoring,"  simply  because  he  is  not 
good  for  anything  else.  It  is  too  late  for  the  young  man, 
who  is  tempted  by  the  deference  which  is  paid  an  intelligent 
practitioner,  to  leave  the  plow  or  the  bench,  and  attempt  to 
study  medicine,  regardless  of  his  educational  deficiencies. 
The  people  themselves  are  becoming  better  educated  and 
more  intelligent  and  are  demanding  more  of  their  physicians 
in  the  way  of  general  attainments  and  scientific  knowledge. 
They  are  demanding  fewer  doctors  and  more  physicians. 
They  are  moving  rapidly  to  the  front,  and  unless  the  profes- 
sion speedily  rouses  itself  to  a  full  realization  of  the  vital  im- 
portance of  this  subject,  we  shall  find  ourselves  in  that  po- 
sition which  the  medical  profession  has  too  often  assumed, 
viz:  Being  compelled  by  the  common  people  to  adopt  these 
measures,  which  we  should  have  been  the  first  to  propose, 
and  to  follow  and  learn  where  we  should  have  been  the  first 
to  lead  and  teach. 

There  is  another  point  in  this  connection  which  removes  all 
doubt  from  my  mind  as  to  its  justice  even  to  the  student  him- 
self.    The  country  is   thickly    dotted  with  free  schools  and 


142  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

academies,  and  any  one  can  obtain  a  reputable  education  with 
but  little  trouble  or  expense.  This  is  pre-eminently  the  age, 
in  this  country  at  least,  of  cheap  education,  and  it  is  not 
sufficient  for  any  young  man  to  plead  poverty  or  want  of 
time  and  opportunity,  or  anything  else,  as  an  excuse  for  de- 
ficiency in  this  particular.  Hence  I  do  not  think  it  is  saying 
too  much  to  assert  that  he  who  has  not  sufficient  energy  to 
overcome  all  ordinary  obstacles  that  may  stand  in  his  way, 
and  an  inherent  love  of  study  and  love  of  knowledge  strong 
enough  to  induce  him  to  obtain  not  only  a  good  English  edu- 
cation but  some  knowledge  of  the  classics,  has  no  right  to 
aspire  to  a  place  in  the  medical  or  any  other  profession. 
Wanting  in  this,  he  may  still  make  a  good  mechanic,  or  per- 
haps a  good  business  man  or  financier,  but  the  medical  pro- 
fession has  no  longer  any  use  for  him. 

If  any  of  you  still  think  this  unsympathetic  and  liable  to  in- 
duce hardship  and  injustice,  let  me  remind  you  of  the  scores 
of  men  who  have  been,  and  many  who  now  are  prominent  in 
the  nation  as  leaders  and  teachers,  whose  names  will  be 
known  to  future  generations  by  reason  of  their  scholarly  at- 
tainments, and  extensive  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  who  obtained  all  their  vast  learning  without  those  aids 
and  advantages  which  so  closely  surround  every  earnest  stu- 
dent of  the  present  day, 

I  commend  the  whole  subject  of  medical  education  to  your 
careful  and  thoughtful'  consideration.  I  would  respectfully 
suggest  that  before  the  close  of  this  session  you  take  such 
action  as,  in  your  judgment,  shall  best  serve  to  encourage  the 
inter- collegiate  congress  in  their  efforts,  and  to  sustain  those 
colleges  which  are  earnestly  striving  to  take  this  advanced 
position.  The  successful  inauguration  of  this  progressive 
measure  will  tend  greatly  to  advance  Homoeopathy  in  the  es- 
teem and  confidence  of  the  people  everj'where,  for  it  is  a  fact 
of  which  we  may  well  be  proud,  that  it  is  the  homosopathic  ' 
colleges  and  the  homoeopathic  profession  that  arp  insisting 
on  a  higher  educational  qualification  for  medical  practitioners. 

I  have  no  desire  to  occupy  your  time  unnecessarily,  and 
consequently  will  somewhat  abruptly  change  the  topic  for 


President's  Address.  143 

consideration,  and  call  your  attention  to  the  subject  of  sani- 
tary science.     This  has  assumed  of  late  such  proportions  as  to 
become  a  distinct  and  by  no  means  unimportant  department 
of  medicine.     Extended  research  and  investigation  have  been 
instituted,  and  a  large  amount  of  information  has  been  ob- 
tained, with  no  small  expenditure  of  time  and  labor,  and  its 
practical  value   is   being  demonstrated  every  day  in  all  the 
cities  and  large  towns.     The  homoeopathic  profession  has  not 
been  prominently  active  in  this  new  department,  and  it  is  too 
important  to   be  longer   neglected.     I  am  not  advised  as  to 
the  nature  or  extent  of  the  report  to  be  presented  by  the  pre- 
sent committee  on  this  subject,  and  I  have  no  intention  of  re- 
flecting upon  them  or  their  eflbrts.     I  would  earnestly  recom- 
mend, however,  that  a  larger  share   of  attention    be   given 
to  the  study  of  sanitary  science  than  heretofore,  not  only  by 
the  committee  especially  appointed  but  by  the  physicians  o-en- 
erally.      Most  of  the  information  thus  far  obtained  has  been 
under  the  authority  of  large  municipal  corporations.     This  is 
perhaps  natural,   since  with   them  it  is  a -matter  of  life  and 
death.     But  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  people  of  the 
state  are  inhabitants  of  the  rural  districts,  and  divellino-  as 
they  do  in  isolated  farm  houses,  or  in  small  villages,  much  of 
this  knowledge,  as  well  as    many  of  the  appliances  and  ex- 
pedients invented,  are  of  no  practical  value  to  them.     More- 
over their  attention  has  never  been  called  to  this  subject,  and 
consequently,  they  are  not  informed  concerning  what  seem 
to  others  the  most  common  sanitary  laws. 

It  has  been  stated  that  certain  diseases,  of  which  typhoid 
fever  is  the  type  and  is  of  most  frequent  occurrence,  prevail 
to  a  greater  extent — that  is  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
people — in  the  country  than  in  cities.  This  is  attributed  to 
the  ignorance  of,  or  at  least  the  total  disregard  of  all  sanitary 
measures  in  and  about  farm  houses  and  villages.  Here  it 
seems  to  me,  is  a  field  in  which  it  is  eminently  proper  for  a 
committee  of  this  society  to  labor.  Of  course,  at  present  at 
least,  there  can  be  no  legal  enactments  to  enforce  attention  to 
these  measures,  but  the  causes  of  diseases  prevalent  in  rural 
communities  should  be  carefully  investigated,   and   sugges* 


144  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tions  and  advice  given  for  their  abatement..  All  information 
on  this  subject  that  can  be  obtained  might  be  collected,  freed 
from  technical  language,  and  published  under  the  sanction  of 
this  society,  through  its  committee,  in  agricultural  and  local 
papers,  or  in  any  other  manner  that  may  seem  best.  Much 
good  would  thus  be  accomplished  which  would  redound  to 
the  credit  of  our  profession,  and  might  result  ultimately  in  the 
saving  of  many  lives. 


®|(ajjg  aul  ^mt%it$. 


How  to  administer  Chloroform.    Dr.  J.  G.  Jones. 

No  one  doubts  more  the  benefit  to  humanity  of  anaesthetics. 
The  surgeon  who  gives  an  anassthetic  almost  daily,  has 
some  definite  plan  of  operation,  but  physicians  generally 
give  Chloroform  or  Ether  but  seldom,  and  it  is  interesting  to 
hear  people  relate  how  it  is  often  given. 

Sometimes  a  sponge  large  enough  to  wash  a  carriage  with, 
is  thoroughly  saturated  with  Chloroform^  wasting  enough  to 
anaesthetize  a  dozen  persons,  or  a  large  towel  is  folded  six  or 
eight  times,  so  as  to  be  half  an  inch  thick,  and  a  drahm  or 
more  is  poured  upon  it,  the  Ether,  the  sponge  or  the  towel  is 
applied  closely  to  the  patient's  mouth,  and  atmospheric  air 
almost  excluded.  The  patient  soon  begins  to  show  unfavora- 
ble symptoms,  and  the  Chloroform  is  taken  away  until  he 
nearly  revives  from  the  effects  of  it,  when  the  same  process 
is  repeated. 

I  have  known  four  to  six  ounces  of  Chlorofotyn  to  be  given 
(or  wasted  in  giving)  to  a  patient  during  one  operation,  and 
eight  to  ten  ounces  of  Ether  to  another.     One  of  the  dangers 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med.  Society,         145 

in  the  use  of  the  anaesthetics  is  due  to  the  prostration  which 
follows  the  use  of  a  large   quantity. 

All  the  deaths  from  Chloroform  are  not  reported,  as  I 
believe  patient's  die  days  after  the  operation  has  been  per- 
formed, from  this  prostration  and  its  consequences, 

or  all  anaesthetics  in  general  use,  Chloroform  is  the  most 
powerful,  but,  if  properly  given,  it  requires  the  least  amount 
to  produce  the  desired  effect.  Chloroform  is  just  as  safe  in 
the  hands  of  an  expert  as  any  other  anaesthetic. 

During  the  last  few  years  it  has  been  my  privilege  and 
duty  to  anaesthetize  quite  a  large  number  of  persons. 

My  aim  has  always  been  to  give  as  little  as  possible,  and 
to  keep  the  patient  under  the  influence  no  longer  than  actually 
necessary.  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  M.  P.  Hay  ward,  late  of 
Oberlin,  O.,  for  some»  valuable  hints  in  this  connection.  I 
have  always  found  that  children  were  very  easily  anaesthet- 
ized, and  next  to  children,  women  whose  circulation  was 
good.  * 

As  a  rule,  large  people  do  not  take  Chloroform  as  well  as 
small  or  medium  sized  persons.  A  person  who  is  going  to 
take  Chloroform^  should  not  eat  for  at  least  six  hours  previous 
to  the  period  of  the  administration.  The  mind  should  be  as 
calm  as  possible,  and  the  body  should  not  be  exposed  to  the 
depressing  effects  of  excessive  heat  or  cold.  No  stimulants  of 
any  kind  should  be  allowed. 

I  have  found  Powers  &  Weightman's  Chloroform  fully 
equ2!l  to  Squibbs\  and  it  costs  about  one  half  as  much. 

The  articles  necessary  are  a  two  ounce  bottle  for  Chloroform^ 
with  a  perforated  cork,  such  as  we  find  in  many  perfumery 
bottles,  an  ounce  bottle  of  Ammonia,  a  small  bottle  of  Glif- 
cerine  and  a  coarse  handkerchief  or  towel.  It  would  be  well 
to  have  a  battery  at  hand,  although  I  have  never  used  one  in 
such  a  case,  and  I  would  not  forget  to  note  that  some  of  my 
colleagues  think  very  highly  of  the  Nitrite  of  amyL 

The  patient  should  lie  perfectly  straight  on  a  bed  or  table, 

placed  in  a  large,  well- ventilated  room,  not  too  cool  (I  like 

the  roDm  about  seventy-five  to  eighty  degrees)  and  directed 

that  as  soon  as  the   Chloroform  is  placed  to  the  mouth  and 

Sept-2 


146  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

« 
nose  to  breathe  regularly  and  deeply.     All  clothing  about 

the  neck  and  waist  should  be  loosened.  The  tip  of  the  nose, 
the  chin  and  the  prominences  of  the  cheeks  should  be  covered 
with  a  thin  layer  o( Glgcerine,  as  this  prevents  the  Chloroform 
from  affecting  the  skin ;  and  then  the  towel  should  be  placed 
over  the  whole  face,  as  the  patient  will  take  it  better  if  not 
disturbed  by  noticing  other  proceedings  in  the  room.  About 
ten  drops  of  Chloroform  are  allowed  to  fall  upon  the  towel 
just  below  the  nose  and  over  the  mouth,  and  after  that  the  bot- 
tle is  inverted,  permitting  a  drop  to  fall  every  three  to  five 
seconds,  keeping  a  spot  about  an  inch  in  diameter  constantly 
wet.  If  the  muscles  of  the  patient  should  become  rigid  or 
the  pulse  become  feeble  the  towel  can  be  removed  until  these 
troubles  are  corrected.  Ordinarily  a  patient  can  be  fully  an- 
aesthetized in  this  way  with  less  than  a  drachm,  and  then  kept 
under  the  influence  for  fifteen  to  thirty  minutes  with  as 
much  more.  After  the  operation  is  over  I  am  opposed  to 
rough  handling  or  harsh  treatment  to  bring  the  patient  out 
from  the  stupor.  Let  him  be  quiet,  if  the  circulation  is  good, 
for  at  least  fiVe  minutes,  then  bathe  his  face  with  cold  water 
and  let  him  inhale  a  little  Ammonia.  A  window  can  be 
opened  if  the  atmosphere  outside  is  not  too  cool,  or  a  fan  can 
be  used.  If  the  Nitrite  of  amyl  is  used  a  drop  or  two  may 
be  placed  upon  a  handkerchief  and  applied  to  the  patient's 
nose. 

I  have  given  Chloroform  in  at  least  fifty  cases  within  the 
past  ten  years  for  the  extraction  of  teeth,  using  on  an  aver- 
age one  and  one-half  drachms  of  Chloroform^  and  keeping 
them  under  its  influence  fifteen  minutes,  and  in  thirty  min- 
utes they  can  walk  home. 

The  advantages  are  simplicity  of  apparatus,  cleanliness 
(not  using  the  same  inhaler)  less  work  and  greater  safety. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         147 


Stenosis  of  AsCdndizig  Aorta,  with  Temperature  at  ninety  two 
for  Three  Days.     A.  Claypool,  M,  D.,  Toledo. 

Gentlemen: — It  is  with  a  sense  of  reluctance  that  I  oc- 
cupy the  tim2  of  this  society  in  reporting  a  case  in  practice, 
but  as  there  were  some  rare  physiological  and  pathological 
conditions  presented,  that  were  very  interesting  to  me  and 
other  physicians,  I  deem  the  time  I  thus  occupy  not  wasted. 

I   was   called    to  see  Mrs.    S ,    age ^  twenty  -  three, 

American;  married,  whom  I  found  suffering  from  an  aggra- 
vated form  of  cardiac  disease.  Some  ten  or  twelve  years  prior 
to  this  time  patient  had  a  severe  attack  of  pericarditis  which 
terminated — as  was  supposed — in  health,  but  dating  from 
that  time  the  patient  suffered,  at  irregular  intervals,  from 
palpitation  and  other  unpleasant  symptoms  about  the  heart, 
which  gradually  increased  in  severity,  but  occasioned  no  un- 
usual alarm  till  about  two  years  preceding  her  death. 

During  the  last  two  years  of  patient*s  life  she  was  com- 
pelled to  keep  very  quiet,  because  the  least  excitement  or 
over  exertion  would  produce  alarming  symptoms,  and,  at  no 
time  was  she  free  from  labored  action  of  the  heart.  A  year 
previous  to  death  there  was  observed  to  be  an  undue  promi- 
nence of  left  side  of  chest,  and  a  jarring  of  the  chest  walls  at 
every  pulsation  of  heart,  with  nearly  constant,  difEcult  respira- 
tion and  a  constant  hacking  cough,  these  symptoms  led  the 
patient  and  her  friends  to  believe  that  consumption  was  the 
disease.  A  physician  was  employed  and  treated  the  case  for 
that  malady  for  a  long  time,  but,  of  course,  without  benefit. 
Now  the  disease  was  recognized  to  be  an  organic  heart 
affection,  and  the  patient  was  constantly  under  treatment 
drifting  from  one  physician  to  another,  with  but  one  result — 
the  onward  march  of  the  disease. 

Thus  were  matters,  up  to  a  few  days  before  patient's  death, 
when  I  was  called  and  found  the  following  prominent  symp- 
toms: Patient  unable  to  remain  many  minutes  in  any  one 
position,  tossing  wildly  about  with  great  anxiety;  intense 
thirst;  continuous  retching  and  vomiting;  constantly  begging 


148  Cincnnati  Medical  Advance, 

for  air;  pinched  dusky  look  to  face;  pulsations  of  heart  shook 
the  whole  bed; respirations  forty  to  fifty  and  labored;  unable 
to  count  pulse;  temperature  one  hundred  and  six;  extremities 
cold,  great  beads  of  sweat  on  forehead;  cold  clammy  perspira- 
tion over  body;  occasional  sharp  pain  from  heart  to  left 
shoulder.  Palpation  and  percussion  showed  that  the  heart 
had  encroached  very  much  on  the  left  lung  and  considerably 
on  the  right,  causing  the  respiration  to  be  intensely  labored. 
Auscultation  developed  only  confusion  as  the  exceeding 
rough  whirring  or  washing  sound  masked  everthing  else,  I 
diagnosed  hypertrophy  of  the  heart,  but  as  to  its  cause  or 
other  conditions,  except  mechanical  obstruction  to  respira- 
tion, I  was  at  a  loss. 

Told  the  friends  it  was  a  hopeless  case,  but  at  their  request 
I  set  about  palliative  treatment.  During  the  first  two  days  of 
my  attendance  the  temperature  gradually  declined,  the  vom- 
iting ceased,  and  patient  took  a  little  nourishment  and  got 
some  sleep.  I  began  to  hope  that  life  might  be  prolonged  in- 
definitely, but  on  the  next  day  my  hopes  took  a  departure  for 
the  temperature  continued  to  decline  to  ninety-seven,  ninety 
six,  ninety-five,  till  on  the  fourth  day  it  reached  ninety-two, 
and  I  considered  death  from  collapse  inevitable.  Told  the 
friends  that  patient  could  not  survive  many  hours  with  such 
a  temperature  as  that,  but,  to  my  surprise,  at  my  next  visit  a 
few  hours  later,  I  found  'the  patient  rational  and  compara- 
tively strong  with  the  temperature  unchanged,  so  I  began  to 
think  that  through  carelessness  on  my  part,  or  a  defect  in  my 
thermometer,  I  had  failed  to  secure  a  correct  temperature 
therefore  I  used  extra  precaution  but  with  the  same  result. 
To  make  assurance  doubly  sure  I  sent  a  messenger  after  my 
friend  Dr.  Gaylord,  (the  doctor  is  present  and  can  verify  this 
statement),  who,  when  I  had  told  him  the  state  of  the  case, 
said  "it  is  impossible,  your  thermometer  is  incorrect,"  but  his 
proved  to  be  no  better,  for  it  registered  the  same,  ninety -two. 
We  then  verified  the  reliability  of  our  instruments  and  con- 
cluded to  take  temperature  again  in  a  few  hours,  if  patient 
survived  that  long,  the  result  was  that  for  seventy-two  hours 
the  temperature  did  not  vary  one  degree  from  ninely-two. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med.  Society.  149 

During  all  this  time  patient  had  entire  control  of  all  the 
senses  and  was  able  to  take  some  nourishment  and  converse 
with  relatives.  Respiration  was  about  twenty-five  to  thirty, 
but  pulse  could  not  be  counted.  During  the  next  twenty- 
four  hours  the  temperature  rose  to  ninety  seven,  and  patient 
felt  much  better  and  stronger.  I  left  her  sitting  propped  up 
in  bed  feeling  quite  cheerful,  and  conversing  with  friends, 
but  I  had  barely  reached  my  office  when  a  messenger 
announced  that  she  fell  over  dead.' 

An  autopsy  was  held  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  our 
physicians  and  revealed  the  fact  that  the  heart  was  enor- 
mously hypertrophied,  at  least  the  left  ventricle  was,  but  it 
was  more  of  a  dilatation  with  other  cavities.  The  walls  of 
the  left  ventricle  were  at  least  an  inch  in  thickness,  of  its 
valves,  the  mitral  was  perfect,  but  the  semi-lunar  failed  to 
close  perfectly,  but  the  change  was  deemed  too  slight  to 
cause  such  a  degree  of  hypertrophy.  The  auricles  and  right 
ventricle  were  very  much  dilated,  but  their  walls  were  not 
materially  thickened  and  the  valves  were  perfect.  The  peri- 
cardial sac  wa:s  almost  entirely  obliterated  by  adhesions.  On 
laying  open  the  aorta  the  cause  of  the  hypertrophy  was  ap- 
parent. At  an  inch  frotn  its  origin  and  involving  about  an  inch 
there  was  a  stenosis  of  the  vessel  contracting  its,  diameter  to 
one  fourth  an  inch,  (the  size  of  an  ordinary  lead  pencil.) 
and  ending  just  before  the  giving  off  of  the  arteria  innomin- 
ata;  the  caliber  of  the  vessel  was  normal  throughout  the  rest 
of  its  course.  The  volume  of  the  lungs  was  materially  less- 
ened by  the  encroachment  of  the  heart,  but  in  other  respects 
were  in  a  fair  condition.  The  stomach,  liver,  kidneys,  spleen, 
and  intestines  were  not  materially  changed. 

I  believe  that  the  pericarditis  of  twelve  years  before,  spent 
its  greatest  force  in  the  upper  part  of  the  pericardium,  or  that 
portion  of  the  membrane  immediately  surrounding  the  aorta, 
and  that  the  contraction  of  the  vessel  began  at  the  time  the 
pericardial  inflammation  ceased,  and  that  it  slowly  but  surely 
continued  to  contract  and  more  and  more  obstruct  the  circu- 
lation of  the  blood,  till  after  about  twelve  years  from  its  be- 
ginning it  destroyed  life. 


150  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

The,  to  me,  unprecedented  low  temperature  continuous  for 
a  long  time,  and  the  hypertrophy  of  the  heart  caused  by  a 
stenosis  of  the  aorta,  are  the  points  of  interest  that  induce  me 
to  make  this  report. 


The  Movable  Zidney.     B.  P.  Brown,  M.  D.,  Cleveland,  O. 

It  has  been  known  to  the  medical  profession  from  an  early 
date  that  the  human  kidneys,  under  certain  circumstances, 
are  liable  to  displacement,  and  as  a  healthy  condition  of  the 
body  depends  so  much  on  the  normal  functions  of  these  or- 
gans, any  derangement  of  them  would  necessarily  excite 
alarm  and  lead  to  an  examination  of  its  importance. 

The  frequency  of  movable  kidneys  perhaps  can  not  be 
easily  determined,  the  symptoms  often  being  so  slight,  as 
not  to  disturb  the  patient,  or  if  more  severe,  they  are  attribu- 
ted to  some  other  cause  and  the  true  difficulty  therefore  re- 
mains unknown  or  even  unsuspected,  and  the  discovery  of 
this  anomaly  has  principally  been  by  accident,  the  abdominal 
examination  having  been  made  for  some  other  purpose.  In 
clinical  history  on  this  subject  there  are  relative  estimates 
given,  embracing  the  result  of  both  ante- and  post-mortem  ob- 
servations, the  ante-mortem  being  i'25o,  the  post-mortem  1732, 
but  these  proportions,  if  correct,  could  scarcely  be  accepted 
as  of  general  application,  for  they  may  be  so  modified  by  the 
age,  sex,  occupation  and  physical  character  of  the  individuals. 

The  kidneys  are  located  in  the  lumbar  regions,  behind  the 
peritoneum,  and  rest  on  the  crura  of  the  diaphragm  and  the 
quadratus  lumborum  and  psoas  magnus. 

They  are  held  in  position  by  their  adipose  capsules,  by 
their  peritoneal  attachments,  and  by  their  own  vessels,  and 
also  by  their  contiguous  parts.  Any  change  by  which  these 
supports  are  weakened  or  destroyed,  such  as  wasting  of  the 
fatty  encasement  or  yielding  of  the  peritoneum  or  elongation 


Proceedings  qf  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,  151 

of  the  vessels,  or  relative  change  of  neighboring  organs,  or 
emaciation  of  the  body,  or  distention  and  consequent  re- 
laxing of  the  abdominal  walls,  blows,  hard  work,  want  of 
proper  nourishment,  etc.,  would  predispose  the  gland  to  dis- 
placement, and  further  it  may  be  dislocated  by  its  own  in- 
creased weight,  or  by  tumors  in  its  immediate  vicinity. 

The  right  kidney  is  far  more  frequently  affected  than  the 
left.  Few  suffer  from  this  before  the  age  of  twenty- five,  or 
after  forty.  Women  are  more  liable  to  it  than  men,  and 
mothers  than  maidens,  and  laborer's  than  those  of  sedentary 
habits.  It  may  take  place  in  three  directions,  inward,  for- 
ward and  downward,  and  to  any  extent  within  the  length  of 
the  renal  vessels. . 

The  symptoms  of  this  difficulty  will  depend  more  or  less 
on  its  new  location,  and  on  the  character  of  the  structures 
affected  by  the  change.  They  may  vary  therefore  from 
merest  feelings  of  uneasiness,  to  general  disturbance,  or  even 
severest  pain. 

In  examining  the  patient  we  would  be  guided  by  the 
history  of  the  case,  and  besides  this  occurrence  belonging 
almost  exclusively  to  those  thin  in  flesh,  we  would  have  the 
advantage  of  free  palpation;  should  the  presence  of  other 
tumors  however  be  suspected,  making  the  diagnosis  doubtful, 
we  should  carefully  study  the  different  indications  and  signs 
of  these  affections. 

The  movable  kidney,  in  itself,  is  not  considered  dangerous, 
but  its  contact  with  other  organs  may  be  followed  by  serious 
results.  It  may  lodge  on  the  ascending  vena  cava,  and  pro- 
duce oedema  of  the  lower  limbs,  it  may  compress  the  ureter 
and  cause  retention  of  urine,  it  may  be  incarcerated  and 
excite  peritonitis,  its  nerves  may  be  stretched,  occasioning 
abdominal  neuralgia,  or  its  vessels  may  be  deranged,  and 
thereby  interfere  with  its  normal  functions.  These  matters, 
however,  are  all  rectified  on  the  replacement  of  the  organ. 

In  dealing  with  this  trouble  we  would  aim  to  dislodge  the 
ghmd,  restore  it  to  its  place  and  retain  it  there.  Generally  its 
reduction  is  easily  effected  by  careful  manipulation,  and 
pressure  of  the  kidney  towards  its  original  site,  but  its  re- 


152  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tention  may  be  more  difficult,  and  to  accomplish  this,  various 
forms  of  bandages  and  trusses  have  been  employed,  but 
mostly  with  unsatisfactory  success.  As  a  precautionary 
measure,  the  patient  should  avoid  all  sudden  movement's,  or 
violent  exercises,  while  the  building  up  of  the  general  system 
may  be  looked  upon  as  a  very  important  element  in  the 
accomplishment  of  cure. 


» ♦ 


PnoTimcmia,  Followed  by  Anchylosis.    By  j.  A.  Gann,  M.  D., 

Wooster,  Ohio. 

On  the  30th  of  December  last  I  was  called  to  see  Mr.  J.  C. 
F.,  who  gave  me  the  following  history  of  his  case:  Two  days 
previous,  after  exposure  to  the  intense  cold  of  the  winter,  he 
was  taken  with  a  severe  chill,  which  was  followed  by  fever 
with  intense  pain  in  head  and  chest.  Thinking  it  was  prob- 
ably nothing  more  than  a  severe  cold,  the  common  household 
means  were  used,  but  ineffectually,  as  the  disease  marched 
rapidly  on;  . 

At  the  time  I  was  called  I  found  him,  in  brief,  in  the  fol- 
lowing condition:  Temperature,  103;  pulse,  120;  intense  pain 
in  chest,  and,  if  possible,  more  intense  pain  in  the  head. 

To  aggravate  his  condition,  the  right  limb,  which  for  more 
than  forty  years  had  given  him  more  or  less  trouble,  again 
began  to  suffer  greatly  from  fever  sores — born  in  the  heroic 
days  when  Calomel  was  a  synonym  for  medical  science,  and 

when  salivation  and  salvation  seemed  to  go  hand  in  hand. 
From  the  incipiency  of  the  feyer  the  limb  became  very  pain- 
ful and  much  swollen;  but  the  ankle  and  parts  below  were 
free  from  any  visible  complication. 

The  painfulness  of  the  limb  was  held  in  moderate  check 
by  the  frequent  application  of  mush  poultices,  while  the  pri- 
mary difficulty  progressed  ^rapidly  and  favorably,  and  in  ten 
days  was  dismissed  convalescent. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,         153 

When  I  dismissed  the  case  Mr.  F.,  who  seemed  well 
pleased  with  this,  his  first  experience  with  Homoeopathy,  sug- 
f^ested  that  I  now  lay  seige  to  his  leg,  and  if  possible  relieve 
him  of  the  condition  from  which  he  had  suffered  so  long; 
remarking,  that  no  physician  had  heretofore  been  willing  to 
undertake  it. 

I  requested  him  to  wait  a  few  days,  when  I  would  return, 
and  would  then  see  what  I  could  do.  In  a  few  days  I  re- 
turned, having  determined  to  treat  the  limb  with  electricity. 
But,  mirahile  dictUy  in  the  time  that  had  elapsed  the  treatment 
of  the  fevered  limb  had  become  a  question  of  but  minor 
importance  in  comparison  with  the  difiiculty  that  now  threat- 
ened. In  the  time  that  had  passed  since  I  last  saw  the  case 
the  ankle  joint  bad  completely  anchylosed.  The  flexor  and 
extensor  tendons  were  as  firm  and  rigid  as  if  they  had  always 
been  immovable.  And  this  had  occurred  without  any  addi- 
tional  febrile  symptoms  and  no  pain. 

The  gentleman  had  spent  the  greater  parf  of  his  life  as  a 
caipenter;  and  the  expression  he  used  to  describe  the  sensa- 
tion was:  "It  seemed  as  if  the  whole  ankle  joint  were  being 
tightly  shingled." 

The  leg  had  for  many  years  been  in  a  varicose  condition. 
For  this  I  ordered  a  wash  of  Hamamelis^  and  gave  the  same 
remedy  internally. 

On  account  of  the  positive  mercurial  dyscrasy  I  gave 
Nitric  acid  30th,  twice  daily.  But  the  principal  part  of  my 
treatment  was  the  active  treatment.  I  still  determined  to  use 
electricity — for  if  electricity  can  be  of  avail  in  its  recom- 
mended power  to  remove  abnormal  deposits,  I  thought  here 
was  a  case  in  which  to  test  it.  Being  gf  so  recent  origin,  I 
concluded  the  parts  about  the  ankle  must  be  abnormally  posi- 
tive, so  homoBopathically  I  applied  the  positive  electrode  to  the 
offending  ankle,  and  treated  it  for  a  period  of  fifteen  minutes 
daily.  In  connection  with  this  I  had  the  ankle  well  rubbed 
with  oil — which,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  should  be  of 
some  value. 

But  little  improvement  could  be  noticed  for  the  first  week. 
The  rigidity  promised  to  be  permanent;  and  yet  a  compari- 


154  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

son  of  condition  at  the  end  of  the  week  with  the  beginning, 
showed  there  was  some  slight  modification — the  toes  being 
slightly  movable;  but  the  foot  still  in  a  position  of  talipes 
equinus. 

Promising  nothing  but  my  best  eflbrts,  we  continued,  and 
though  no  change  was  perceptible  from  day  to  day,  yet  by 
the  end  of  the  following  week  we  could  notice  that  improve- 
ment had  really  taken  place,  and  were  therefore  encouraged 
to  continue.  This  was  continued  something  over  three  weeks 
at  his  home,  when  he  had  so  far  improved  that  with  the  aid 
of  a  cane  he  could  get  to  his  buggy  and  thus  visit  me  at  my 
office.  The  same  course  of  treatment  was  continued  some 
three  weeks  longer,  when  he  was  able  to  dispense  with  the 
cane — walking  with  ease. 

During  this  time  the  fever-sore  limb  had  also  received 
electrical  treatment.  The  negative  electrode  being  applied 
to  the  parts  above  the  apkle;  while,  as  before  stated,  the  posi- 
tive was  applied  to  the  ankle. 

The  judgment  of  both  was  that  the  limb  should  still  re- 
ceive occasional  treatment;  but  the  gentleman  was  so  gratified 
with  the  restoration  of  the  ankle,  and  from  the  fact  that  spring 
business  was  pressing  upon  him,  he  felt  willing  to  defer  the 
further  treatment  of  the  limb  until  some  more  convenient 
season. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  limb  had  improved  pari 
passu  with  the  ankle. 

Was  there  a  better  way  to  treat  the  case  than  the  one  I 
followed? 

I  could  not  discard  frictiony  for  in  many  cases  it  had  ren- 
dered good  service.  Nor  could  I  refuse  to  use  as  auxiliaiy 
meaub  which  of  late  years  have  been  gaining  so  much  in 
favor.  The  object  desired  was  twofold:  The  restoration  of 
the  ankle-joint,  and  the  improvement  of  the  limb. 

The  prognosis  from  the  general  condition  of  Hmb  and 
ankle,  from  the  expressed  old  school  standpoint,  was  upta- 
vorable.  The  deposition  was  so  abundant,  the  adhesions  were 
so  hard,  and  the  anchylosis  of  ankle  and  toes  so  complete, 
while  the  fever-limb  had  been  in  so  bad  a  condition  for  so 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,         155 

long  a  time,  that  even  from  a  most  favorable  standpoint'  it 
was  at  least  doubtful. 

While  true  that  many  cases  of  fibrous  anchylosis  have  been 
cured,  yet  since  the  exciting  cause  had  existed  so  long — for 
long  before  the  last  illness  the  limb  here  and  there  was  hard- 
ened from  obliteration  or  transformation  of  the  natural  struc- 
tures— this  case  seemed  very  doubtful;  and  we  have  at  least 
seen  cases  that  promised  to  be  readily  cured  that  were  in- 
tractable. 

I  again  saw  the  case  on  the  19th  of  April.  There  was  no 
stiffness  of  ankle  or  toes.  The  whole  limb  still  presented  a 
very  fair  appearance;  for  instead  pf  the  whole  leg  being  of 
a  livid  blue  or  redness,  the  blueness  had  become  circum- 
scribed to  an  area  of  less  than  two  inches  in  diameter,  and 
this  not  so  angry  looking,  nor  presenting  the  probability  of 
ulceration  as  when  the  limb  was  taken  in  charge. 

I  present  the  case,  hoping  there  may  be  some  who,  like 
some  of  the  boys  of  college  days,  "had  a  case  just  like  it," 
and  who  by  the  use  of  one  means  secured  results  as  fully  or 
more  satisfactory. 


M.tAni^  M.Mt%. 


How  far  can  the  Physical  Properties  of  Drags  be  Begarded  as 

Pathogenetic?     And  how  far  Available  as  Guides  in 
Therapeutics.^     Wm.  Owens,  M.  D.,  Cincinnati. 

We  submit:  First,  That  the  homoeopathic  law  of  cure  is 
bounded  by  careful  drug  pathogenesis. 

Second,  That  drug  pathogenesis  consists  in  the  induction 
of  morbid  processes  in  the  organism. 


156  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

And  third,  That  drug  pathogenesis  further  consists  in  dis- 
turbed sensations  and  functions  of  the  organism  as  a  result 
of  these  morbid  processes. 

And  fourth,  All  natural  sensations  or  phenomena  which 
occur  during  drug  provings,  such  as  taste,  smell,  weight  and 
contact  which  are  the  immediate  result  of  drug  impressions 
are  not  necessarily  pathogenetic,  and  therefore  should  be 
scanned  closely,  and  if  not  found  to -proceed  from  perverted 
function  should  be  rejected  as  non -pathogenetic. 

Our  writings  upon  materia  medica  and  therapeutics  are 
burdened  with  such  so-called  symptoms,  the  natural  proper- 
ties of  the  drugs,  such  as  taste,  smell,  weight,  acridity,  corro- 
siveness,  etc.  Substances  smell  like  Sulphury  smell  like  Musk 
or  Asc^fostida;  smell  sour,  badly,  horribly,  etc.;  or  they  possess 
acrid  or  corrosive  properties,  and  are  referred  to  under  vari- 
ous rubrics  of  head,  face,  eyes,  nose,  mouth,  air  passages,  ali- 
mentary canal,  mucous  membrane,  etc.,  etc.,  causing  rawness, 
erosions,  violent  inflammations,  suppurations,  ulcerations  and 
destruction  of  parts,  while  other  substances,  by  contact,  cause 
irritation,  burning,  stinging,  prickling,  vesication  and  postu- 
lation.  In  this  connection  three  questions  present  them- 
selves to  every  practitioner  under  our  law:  Are  these  symp- 
toms pathogenetic?  Are  they  reliable  guides  for  the  selection 
of  a  drug  in  treating  disease?  Or  if  not,  why  are  they  included 
in  our  pure  materia  medica? 

The  provings  of  Aconite,  Aurum^  Bell.,  Cal.  carb.,  Phoa., 
Graph.  Nux  Vom,  and  Nitric  acid,  develop  odors  of  various 
kinds  about  the  person,  some  of  them  the  most  horribly  offen- 
sive; yet  neither  of  these  substances  is  offensive  to  the  sense 
of  smell.  Some  of  these  odors  may  arise  from  decomposi- 
tion of  mucous  or  other  animal  substances,  but  the  large  ma- 
jority yield  these  symptoms  from  a  pure  pathogenesis. 

Musk,  AsafiBtida,  and  some  other  substances  yield  their 
peculiar  odors  from  supersaturation  of  the  organism. 

Ohamomile,  Colocynth,  Kali  bichrom.  and  Conium  yield 
a  bitter  taste  immediately  on  their  ingestion,  and  give  us  the 
same  pathogenetically  and  verify  it  chemically. 

Am.  mur,,  Chelidon.,  China^  Curare,  Drosera,  Ignatia,  Kali 
bichrom.,  Ledum,  Lycopod.,  Mag.  carb.,  Mag.  mur.,  Mag.  sulph.f 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  157 

Mer.  cor. J  Nat  mur.,  Nux  vom.,  Petroleum^  Bkus,  Sabina,  Se- 
pia and  Veratrutn,  have  naturally  a  bitter  tnste.  In  twelve 
of  these  drugs  it  occurs  again  pathogenetically,  in  the  others 
the  bitter  taste  is  not  again  found.  Eighty  drugs  yield  in 
their  provings  the  metallic,  coppery  or  brassy  laste.  Forty- 
eight  of  these  are  non-metallic  substances.  We  infer,  there- 
fore, that  the  impressions  made  upon  the  gustatory  nerve  by 
the  forty-eight  is  partly,  at  least,  pathogenetic.  Seventy- 
three  drugs  yield  in  their  pathogenesis  sour  or  acid  tastes.  A 
few  only  i>f  this  number  have  the  taste  naturally. 

The  corrosive  properties  of  many  substances  are  well 
known,  and  it  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  them.  It  would  be 
useless  to  extend  this  list  or  to  enumerate  the  various  natural 
properties  of  drugs  which  we  find  placed  in  our  "pure  materia 
medica,'*  encumbering  and  obscuring  its  valuable  pages,  con- 
fusing and  often  confounding  our  most  careful  therapeutists, 
and  which  in  many  cases  prove  a  stumbling  block  to  the  in- 
experienced and  unwary. 

We  beg  of  you,  the  more  experienced  members  of  the  pro- 
fession, that  you  will  consider  the  importance  of  this  subject 
matter  and  present  it  to  those  high  in  authorit}',  and  secure, 
if  possible,  a  revision  of  our  materia  medica,  with  a  view  to 
securing  greater  accuracy  and  the  elimination  of,  as  far  as 
possible,  all  non-pathogenetic  symptoms. 


^Ipiolog^^ 


The  Physiological  and  Pathological  Position  of  Alcohol.  Martha 

A,  Canfield,  M.  D.,  Cleveland, 

It  is  a  difficult  task  to  set  aside  the  great  moral  and  social 
questions  which  thrust  themselves  into  any  discussion  of  the 
use  of  Alcohol,  and  consider  it  purely  from  a  scientific  stand- 


158  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

point;  yet  thi»  is  the  practical  side  of  the  question,  for  life  is 
sweet,  and  self-preservation  instinctive. 

The  mass  of  mankind  believe -4 /co^oZ  to  be  food,  fuel  and 
strength,  the  fat  man  drinks  his  beer  and  grows  fatter;  the 
lean  man  takes  a  drop  to  keep  himself  wai'm;  the  old  man 
sees  visions  of  returning  strength  in  th^  sparkling  wine  cup, 
and  the  question  is,  do  they  base  their  confidence  upon 
physiological  authority?  What  are  the  immediate  and 
secondary  effects  of  Alcohol  upon  the  human  organism? 
What  are  its  effects  upon  the  animal  tissues  and  fluids? 

1.  Alcohol  is  a  powerful  astringent,  all  animal  substances 
inmersed  in  it  become  hardened  and  corrugated,  therefore 
we  use  it  in  preserving  pathological  specimens.  It  under- 
goes no  change  in  its  transit  through  the  system,  and  has  a 
similar  effect  upon  all  the  tissues  of  the  living  organism.  The 
stomach  of  the  habitual  drinker  is  tanned,  the  brain  hard, 
white  and  atrophied,  all  albuminoid  substances  are  modified; 
the  red  blood  corpuscles  shriveled. 

2.  It  is  a  powerful  solvent,  more  powerful  than  Pepsin^  the 
solvent  principle  of  Gastric  juice,  therefore,  it  dissolves 
Pepsin,  it  dissolves  the  coloring  matter  out  of  the  red  blood 
corpuscles. 

3.  Alcohol  is  an  irritant.  When  swallowed  it  irritates  the 
delicate  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach;  tnis  has  been 
demonstrated  in  the  case  of  that  useful  youth,  Alexis  St. 
Martin.  Whenever  Alexis  drank  liquor,  Dr.  Beaumont  found 
the  velvety  pink  Jmembrane  of  his  stomach,  reddened  and 
discolored,  while  he  complained  of  no  pain  or  sickness.  It  is 
not  digested,  but  goes  scorching  and  singeing  through  veins, 
arteries,  heart,  lungs,  liver  and  kidneys,  Alcohol,  the  irritant, 
to  the  end. 

Let  us  study  the  phenomenon  of  intoxication.  Alcohol 
passes  quickly  into  the  blood,  unchanged,  and  acts  directly 
upon  the  nervous  system.  The  increased  action  of  the  heart, 
noticed  in  eight  or  nine  minutes  after  its  ingestion,  has  by 
some  physiologists,  been  attributed  to  its  irritant  action  upon 
the  lining  membrane  of  that  organ,  but  more  recent  investi- 
gation regard  it  due  to  the  heart's  effort  to  overcome  the 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med.  Society,  159 

capillary  torpor,  caused  by  the  paralysis  of  the  nervous  force 
controlling  that  minute  vascular  system.     The  engorgement 
of  the  capillaries  consequent  upon  this  paralysis  is  evidenced 
by  the  flushed  face,  and  blood  shot  eyes,  and  every  tissue  of 
the  body  supplied  with  capillaries,    is  likewise   congested. 
Could  we  see  the  lungs,  or  the   brain,  we  would  discover  the 
same  engorged  net-work.    The  capillaries  thus  paralyzed  and 
engorged,  offer  but  feeble  resistance  to  the  heart's  stroke, 
and  to  use  the  illustration  of  Dr.  Richardson,  the  heart  is 
liberated,  like  the   main  spring  of  a  watch  set  free,  which 
means  not  increase,  but  waste  of  power.     Count  WoUowicz 
measured  the  action  of  Alcohol  upon  the  heart,  counting  the 
beats  when  the  patient  drank  nothing  but  water,  and  then 
when  he  drank  nothing  but  Alcohol  in  increasing  quantities. 
The   average   number   of  beats   during   twenty-four    hours 
water  period,  was  one  hundred  and  six  thousand.   In  Alcohol 
period,  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand,  or  twenty - 
one  thousand  more.     In  the  last  two  of  fourteen  days  trial, 
the  heart  was  doing  one-fifth  more  work,  adopting  the  lowest 
estimate  of  daily  work,  as  equal  to  one  hundred  and  twei.ty- 
two   tons  lifted   one   foot.   The  heart  during   the  Alcoholic 
period,  did  daily  work  in  excess  equal  to  lifting  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  tons  one  foot. 

The  cerebral  mass  soon  becomes  loaded  with  the  poison,  as 
Alcohol  has  a  special  affinity  for  the  brain;  reason  is  de- 
throned, and  the  animal  propensities  run  riot;  the  control  of 
the  muscles  is  lost,  and  we  have  the  phenomenon  of  a  more 
or  less  complete  paralysis  of  the  nervous  system.  If  it  were 
not  for  the  fact  that  the  emunctories  make  an  exhaustive 
effort  to  expel  the  poison,  the  blood  would  become  more  and 
more  venous,  until  the  medulla  oblongata  became  so  poisoned 
that  respiration  would  cease,  and  the  victim  die  from  asphyxia; 
but  in  non-fatal  cases,  all  the  excretory  organs  hurry  the  in- 
truder out  of  the  system  as  soon  as  possible,  and  in  the  same 
form  in  which  it  was  injected.  Although  Perry  many  years 
ago  demonstrated  the  presence  of  Alcohol  in  the  brain,  many 
hours  after  it  entered  the  body,  it  even  ourniug  with  its  pe- 
culiar lambent  blue  flame,  still  a  powerful  school  of  physiolo- 


160  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

gists,  with  Liebeg  at  its  head,  attested  that  it  was  largely  de- 
composed in  the  system  with  a  product  of  Carbonic  acid 
gas  and  water,  and  therefore  a  generator  of  heat  and  force. 
It  was  only  a  few  years  ago,  (the  man  who  drinks 
Alcohol  to  keep  himself  warm,  has  not  heard  of  it  yet,)  that 
Dr.  E.  Smith,  Lallemand,  Duroy  and  Perrin,  by  the  simple 
Chromic  acid  test,  overthrew  the  whole  theory.  They  found 
Alcohol  unchanged  in  the  blood,  brain,  nerves,  and  all  the 
tissues,  and  therefore  demonstrated  that  it  is  not  decomposed 
in  the  body,  and  is  not  a  fuel  food.  Not  only  is  it  not  a  fuel 
food,  but  by  its  chemical  action  upon  the  red  corpuscles,  and 
upon  albuminoid  substances,  it  prevents  combustion  of  worn 
out  tissues,  occasioning  the  accumulation  of  fatty  matter  in 
the  blood,  thus  actually  lessening  the  amount  of  Carbonic 
acid^  gas  expired,  and  lowering  the  temperature,  (see  experi- 
ments of  Prof.  Binz.)  From  this  experimental  knowledge,  it 
is  proven  beyond  doubt,  that  Alcohol  is  not  food,  for  it  is  not 
digested,  and  contains  none  of  the  elements  pf  nutrition;  that 
it  is  not  fuel,  for  it  lowers  the  temperature,  the  surface  glow 
being  due  to  the  stagnation  of  blood  in  the  capillaries,  the 
warmth  felt  in  the  stomach,  being  caused  by  the  irritant 
action  of  the  poison  upon  its  mucous  membrane,  and  the 
presence  of  the  blood  in  its  congested  vessel,  the  thermome- 
ter all  the  while  indicatiVig  a  fall  in  the  general  temperature; 
that  it  does  not  generate  force,  but  calls  it  out  and  wastes  it 
in  expelling  an  intruder;  that  while  it  does  not  nourish  tissue 
itself,  it  renders  the  blood  unfit  for  nourishment,  loading  it 
with  Carbonic  acid  gas  and  waste  tissue,  and  devitalizing  its 
corpuscles.  It  is  now  easy  to  understand,  how  the  use  of 
Alcohol,  in  moderate  or  excessive  quantities,  causes  disease  of 
various  organs.  The  powers  of  each  organ  in  the  human 
economy,  are  so  nicely  balanced,  that  it  can  do  its  own  work, 
and  do  it  well;  but  if  habitually  overtaxed,  its  functional 
activity  is  prematurely  exhausted.  When  ^icoAoZ  is  introduced 
into  the  stomach,  it  precipitates  the  Pepsin^  which  is  the  sol- 
vent principle  of  the  digestive  fluid.  If  the  superior  solvent 
was  not  rapidly  taken  up  by  the  blood,  digestion  would  never 
proceed,  but  it  is   quickly  absorbed,  and  then   the  Gastric 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med.  Society.         161 

juice  being  neutralized,  destroyed,  the  glands  are  over  taxed 
to  secrete  a  fresh  supply,  every  glass  creates  a  fresh  demand, 
and  every  demand  impairs  their  functional  activity,  until  dys- 
pepsia and  its  kindred  horrors  oppress  the  drunkard's  life. 

The  scientific  fact  that  Alcohol  precipitates  Pepsin,  destroys 
the  hope  of  the  moderate  drinker.  All  forms  of  liquor  con- 
tain Alcoholj  and  the  effect  of  each  differs  in  degree,  not  in 
kind,  but  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  Alcohol  that  each 
contains.  If  the  man  who  abhors  whisky,  but  indulges  in 
beer,  will  procure  two  bottles,  and  place  in  each  some  meat 
and  Gastric  juicCy  then  add  to  one  a  sm.ill  quantity  of  his 
favorite  beverage,  the  experiment  will  convince  him  that 
Alcohol,  even  in  small  quantities,  precipitates  Pepsin.  The  meat 
in  the  bottle  containing  the  beer,  will  never  be  changed,  while 
that  in  the  other  bottle  Will  undergo  a  process  simulating 
digestion. 

The  irritant  presence  o^  Alcohol  in  the  liver,  for  which  it 
also  has  a  special  aHdnity,  stimiihites  that  important  depura- 
tory  organ  to  increased  functional  activity,  and  consequent 
impairment,  while  the  presence  of  Alcohol  in  the  blood,  pre- 
vents perfect  respiration  and  oxygenation;  therefore  upon  the 
liver  is  thrown  the  added  task  of  disposing  of  the  hydro - 
carbonates,  which  ought  to  be  removed  by  the  lungs.  Thus 
compelled  to  do  its  own  work,  its  neighbors  work,  and  expel 
an  enemy  at  the  same  time,  it  soon  becomes  exhausted  and 
diseased.  Dr.  Peters  examined  the  livers  of  seventy  drunk- 
ards and  moderate  drinkers,  and  found  everv  one  diseased, 
the  substance  softened  and  mottled  with  fatty  degeneration. 
In  old  cases  the  liver  was  very  large,  weighing  ten  or  twelve 
pounds.  The  other  depurating  organs  are  subject  to  the  same 
law  and  suffer  equally,  while  the  nerve  degeneration  and 
partial  atrophy  of  the  brain,  re-act  upon  the  victim  in  a  list  of 
terrible  nervous  diseases.  The  two  of  most  frequent  occur- 
rence, lire  delirium  tremens  and  insanity.  Dr.  Sees  says  fiillj' 
six-tenths  of  the  insanity  in  Europe  and  America,  is  caused 
by  Alcoholism.  The  number  in  any  country  corresponds 
exactly  with  the  amount  of  drink  consumed.  Insanity  was 
unknown  among  the  American  Indians  until  the  fire  water 
Sept.3 


162  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

was  given  them.  In  Cairo,  comparatively  teetotal,  there  is 
only  one  insane  person  in  thirty  thousand  seven  hundred. 
In  Spain  consuming  one  gallon  per  head,  per  annum,  one  in 
seven  thousand,  one  hundred  and  eighty-one.  In  Normandy 
consuming  two  gallons  per  head,  annually,  one  in  seven 
hundred.  In  England  there  died  of  delirium  tremens  in  three 
years,  one  thousand,  four  hundred  and  twenty-six  persons,  the 
next  four  years  three  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  eighty-four. 
There  die  in  the  United  States  one  hundred  thousand  people 
annually,  from  diseases  caused  by  drink;  so  the  facts  bear 
out  the  theory.  Then  this  constant  weakening  of  the 
vital  forces,  renders  the  system  helpless  in  any  disease,  and 
many  more  die  from  diseases  caused  indirectly  by  Alcohol,  or 
for  want  of  resistance  to  disease. 

In  a  cholera  epidemic  in  Montreal,  of  twelve  thousand 
cases,  it  is  said  not  a  drunkard  recovered,  and  nearly  all  the 
other  victims  were  moderate  drinkers.  In  Warsaw  ninety 
per  cent  who  died  of  cholera,  had  been  drinkers.  In  Tiflis, 
Russia,  every  drunkard  is  said  to  have  been  carried  off  in  a 
cholera  epidemic. 

There  is  another  feature  of  the  case  that  is  terribly  appal- 
hng,  viz.,  that  degenerated  nerve  systems  are  stamped  upon 
progeny,  and  subject  to  unending  metamorphosis. 

Whether  we  accept  Darwin's  theory  of  pangenesis,  and 
span  the  chasm  between  the  generations,  with  the  infinitesi- 
mal gemules,  which  he  assumes  each  cell  constituting  the 
aggregate  unit  has  the  power  of  emitting,  and  which  are 
transmitted  by  parents  to  progeny,  either  developing  in  the 
immediate  generation,  or  lying  dormant  during  several  gen- 
erations, or  Joseph  Cook's  theory  of  transmitted  co-ordinating 
force,  or  any  other  theory  which  we  may  formulate,  we  can 
not  in  this  age,  deny  the  fundamental  law  of  heredity,  that 
like  begets  like.  My  connection  with  the  Open  Door,  which 
institution  is  the  sorting  mill  for  all  the  other  charitable  and 
reformatory  institutions  for  women  in  our  city,  has  given  me 
abundant  opportunity  for  investigation  upon  this  line.  There 
is  in  our  streets,  as  in  every  city,  aside  from  hardened  offend- 
ers and  shameless   magdalens,  an   army  of  young  girls,  be- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,  l63 

tween  the  ages  of  nine  and  nineteen,  marching  steadily  to 
destruction.  Detective  Goodrich  estimates  the  number  at 
one  thousand,  five  hundred  in  our  city.  Over  two  hundred  of 
these  have  been  under  my  observation,  and  fully  one-half  of 
them  are  the  children  of  parents  who  drink  either  moderatelv 
or  to  excess,  or  whose  grandparents  were  drunkards.  One 
condition  characterizes  the  whole  class;  a  vitiated  nervous 
system,  a  lack  of  co-ordination;  a  failure  in  balance  and  pro- 
portion. They  are  irritable,  hysterical,  vascillating,  incorrigi- 
ble.    "Like  sweet  bells  jungled,  out  of  tune  and  harsh." 

Thus  children  of  parents  who  have  injured  their  nervous 
systems  by -4 Zco^o/,  do  not  always  transmit  the  tendency  to 
the  drink  habit,  but  a  tendency  to  all  phases  of  neurosis. 
E,  g.  In  our  county  infirmary  is  dying  a  wretched  victim  of 
dipsomania,  though  the  member  of  a  very  respectable  family. 
She  has  two  daughters,  perfect  specimens  of  physical  beauty, 
they  have  been  nurtured  in  the  bosom  of  their  mother's 
family,  instructed  in  all  things,  good  and  needful,  but  alas! 
they  inherit  the  stamp  of  a  degenerate  nervous  system,  neither 
have  yet  developed  the  drink  habit,  but  they  will  steal  from 
the  very  hand  that  feeds  them;  they  are  violent,  passionate, 
untruthful;  one  scarcely  seventeen,  has  broken  away  from  all 
restraint,  and  wanders  a  prey  for  vile  men,  in. the  streets  of  a 
distant  city.  The  other,  still  younger,  has  just  closed  her  first 
term  in  our  work  house. 

Again,  a  patient  who  came  uVider  my  observation  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Northern  Ohio  Lunatic  Asylum  two  years  ago, 
and  is  still  an  inmate  of  that  institution;  her  father  died  of  de- 
lirium tremens;  her  only  child  is  a  half  idiot.  So  we  have 
dipsomania  in  the  first  generation,  insanity  in  the  second, 
and  idiocy  in  the  third.  Dr.  Howe  in  his  report  on  idiocy, 
says  out  of  three  hundred  idiots,  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
had  drunken  parents.  Dr.  Magnus  Huss  has  tabulated 
many  interesting  cases. 

It  is  claimed  that  in  disease  Alcohol  has  a  radically  dififer- 
ent  physiological  effect  upon  the  human  organism.  Its  two 
most  powerful  advocates  are  undoubtedly  Lionel  Beale 
and    Francis    Anstie.      The    former    affirms    that    Alcohol 


164  Cinoinnati  Medical  Advance, 

does  not  operate  upon  the  nervous  system  in  disease  as  in 
health,  but  spends  its  force  in  checking  the  growth  of  bio- 
plasm, hardening  the  cell  wall,  thus  preventing  the  ingress 
of  nutrient  matter,  and  therefore  excessive  growth,  which  he 
characterizes  excess  of  vital  action.  Anstie  does  not  be- 
lieve that  excessive  cell  growth  is  a  sign  of  excess  of  vital 
action,  but  of  the  escape  of  a  portion  of  the  organism  from 
the  control  of  the  nervous  system,  and  as  a  similar  benefit 
may  be  derived  from  other  substances,  as  Ammonia,  which 
can  not  possibly  have  a  similar  chemical  action  upon  the 
tissues,  he  argues  that  the  common  good  of  Alcohol  and 
Ammonia  must  depend  upon  their  power  to  nourish  the  nerv- 
ous system.  In  other  words,  he  declares,  in  the  face  of  the 
French  savants,  that  Alcohol  is  a  food;  and  challenges  Deals 
to  account  for  the  removal  of  the  coma,  cessation  of  the  de 
lirium  and  production  of  sound  sleep  on  any  other  theory. 
Beale  denies  that  Alcohol  is  a  food,  declares  that  it  does  not 
nourish  tissue,  for  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  greater  waste 
than  that  which  takes  place  while  a  patient  is  taking  Alcohol^ 
but  gives  up  the  problem  in  these  words:  "That  Alcohol  will 
produce  delirium  in  health  and  remove  or  prevent  delirium 
in  disease  are  facts,  but  they  can  not  be  explained  in  the 
present  imperfect  state  of  our  knowledge  concerning  nerve 
centeis  and  nerves." 

It  is  pitiful  to  see  the  great  genius  whose  name  is  so  revered 
in  the  scientific  world  to-day,  stumbling  over  the  problem 
which  a  babe  in  Homoeopathy  may  solve;  to  hear  a  man  of 
Anstie's  caliber  talking  of  a  drug  as  a  paralyzer  in  large  doses 
and  a  stimulant  in  small  doses,  without  stumbling  upon  the 
law  of  similia,  which  exolains  all  the  discrepancy.  A  state 
of  nervous  irritability  is  quieted  by  a  small  dose  of  Alcohol; 
excessive  wakefulness  and  delirium  yield  to  a  small  dose  of 
Alcohol,  because  the  primary  action  of  the  drug  is  to  dispel 
sleep  by  exciting  the  brain,  and  as  soon  as  the  primary  action 
is  past,  an  opposite  condition  or  reaction  sets  in;  hence,  in 
order  to  effect  a  cure  the  secondary  action,  or  the  reaction, 
has  to  be  opposed  to  the  disease.  This  is  effected  by  the 
small  dose,  not  because  its  action  is  essentially  different  from 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         165 

a  large  dose,  but  because  its  uniform  narcotic  effect  is  so 
transitory  in  a  small  dose  that  it  is  readily  overcome  by  the 
vital  reaction  or  depression. 

While  it  is  true  that  Alcohol  is  sometimes  homoeopathically 
indicated,  while  it  may  be  true  that  its  chemical  action  upon 
tissue  should  be  utilized,  the  advisability  of  its  use  in  medi- 
cine is  so  closely  entwined  with  the  great  moral  issue  of  its 
use  as  a  beverage  that  it  becomes  one  of  the  most  important 
questions  of  the  day,  and  beyond  the  province  of  this  paper. 
But  there  is  no  question  that  human  life  were  safer  with  this 
narcotic  poison  expunged  from  the  materia  medica  than  with 
its  present  wholesale  hap  hazard  use  under  the  false  impres- 
sion that  it  is  a  stimulant  and  a  food;  indeed,  we  have  well 
authenticated  tables  from  physicians  in  hospital  practice 
showing  a  decrease  in  mortality  exactly  as  the  dose  of  Alcohol 
is  diminished  and  milk  and  beef  tea  substituted;  e.  ^.,  Dr. 
Gardner  of  Glassgow,  reports  six  hundred  cases,  some  re- 
duced from  thirty-four  ounces  to  one  half  with  a  reduction 
of  nineteen  to  eleven  per  cent.  Two  hundred  and  nine  chil- 
dren treated  without  Alcohol  and  no  deaths,  while  infirmary 
cases  were  treated  with  Alcohol  with  a  loss  of  six  per  cent. 
Let  the  physician  show  us  carefully  compared  tables,  and  in 
the  meantime  remembering  his  responsibility,  in  as  much  as  his 
opinion  is  with  his' patient  as  final  as  if  they  had  inquired  of 
the  oracles  of  God;  let  him  teach  that  Alcohol  is  a  rank 
poison,  never  necessary  in  health,  and  to.be  administered  in 
disease  as  cautiously  as  any  other  deadly  narcotic.  He  has 
the  ear  of  every  mother  in  the  land;  let  him  whisper  this 
physiological  truth,  and  wholesome  knowledge  may  save  the 
child  at  her  knee,  while  the  mothers  enlightened  will  cry 
with  one  voice,  as  the  women  of  Chicago  are  crying  to- day, 
give  our  children  a  full  course  of  physiology  and  hygiene  in 
the  public  schools. 

This  would  do  more  to  stem  the  tide  of  intemperance  than 
ten  thousand  testimonies  of  ten  thousand  trembling  drunk- 
ards. 


]  66  Cin  ctnna ti  M  edical  A dvance. 


Importance  of  Physiological  Znowledge.  M.  B.  Lukens,  M.  D., 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

It  is  one  thing  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  Physiology  and 
quite  another  to  make  the  best  pract  cal  use  of  it. 

New  discoveries  are  continually  flaunted  before  us.  Theo- 
ries are  glibly  explained.  Yet  everything  seems  to  move  on 
as  usual.  Some  claim  that  the  average  duration  of  human 
life  is  gradually  increasing.  If  this  is  true  we  can  account 
for  it  in  the  diminished  number  of  violent  deaths — as  in  war — 
and  in  the  smaller  amount  of  poisons  taken  as  medicines. 
Improvement  in  the  treatment  of  disease  alone  is  sufficient 
to  favorably  affect  the  average  duration  of  life.  This  aver- 
age at  present  is  so  far  below  the  proper  standard  that  a 
crusade  should  be  organized  against  existing  practices,  which 
are  considered  highly  civilized;  but  which  the  physiologist 
knows  to  be  detrimental  to  life. 

He  who  best  understands  machinery  most  readily  detects 
the  points  where  friction  exists,  and  supplies  the  oil,  know- 
ing that  by  doing  this  he  insures  better  work  and  increased 
durability.  The  human,  the  most  complicated  of  machines 
and  infinitely  the  most  valuable,  ought  to  receive  at  least 
equal  attention  and  study. 

Perfection  in  mind  and  body  should  not  be  considered  the 
wild  dream  of  some  enthusiast,  whose  aim  is  to  carry  out 
some  impossible  theory,  for  our  great  prototype  is  perfec- 
tion— man,  made  in  the  image  of  his  Creator,  to  be  repro- 
duced in  time,  and  the  method  of  its  reproduction  should  re- 
ceive conscientious  investigation.  This  aim  may  be  ideal — 
one  that  can  not  be  attained  in  this,  or  may  be  a  score  of  gen- 
erations— yet  it  is, elevating  and  ennobling,  physically,  men- 
tally and  morally,  to  raise  the  standard  of  thought  and  aspira- 
tion, and  hence  the  standard  of  action. 

A  knowledge  of  Physiology  has  this  mission:  It  is  to  take 
its  place  among  the  influences,  second  to  none,  which  are  to 
elevate  the  moral  condition  of  the  world.  It  will  not  dis- 
place other  good  agencies,  but  will  prove  to  be  the  strong 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society.  167 

backbone  of  all.  Physiological  knowledge  correctly  directed 
will  diminish  disease  and  lengthen  life.  Who  is  to  enforce 
and  direct  this  knowledge?  By  whom  are  the  people  to  be 
inspired  with  a  desire  for  instruction  and  learning,  that  their 
"days  may  be  long  in  the  land?" 

Down  deep  in  the  souls  of  the  masses  will  be  found  a  will- 
ingness for  instruction  and  a  seeking  for  the  "elixir  of  life." 
The  parent  would  give  worlds  for  some  power  to  restore  his 
dying  child  to  life  and  health,  little  dreaming  that  the  cause 
of  his  anguish  lies  within  himself  or  his  antecedents. 

For  relief  in  all  physical  trouble  the  mind  turns  to  the 
physician.  The  patient  is  satisfied  with  the  removal  of  pres- 
ent suffering,  and  seldom  inquires  into  its  cause. 

There  is  entirely  too  much  importance  given  to  this  indi- 
vidual dubbed  "physician."  No  one  ought  to  accept  the 
guardianship  of  the  health  of  the  family  or  individual  unless 
he  is  a  practical  physiologist.  If  he  is,  he  will  look  after  the 
sanitary  conditions,  and  prevention  will  be  exalted  above 
cure.  It  might  be  safely  said  that  all  practical  physiologists 
are  physicians;  but  all  physicians  are  not  practical  physiolo- 
gists. 

The  present  state  of  intelligence  demands  of  the  doctor 
removal  of  present  pain;  so  the  supply  is  in  accordance  with 
the  demand.  Every  one  you  meet  has  a  cure  for  whatever 
disease  afflicts  you,  and  as  far  as  they  accomplish  the  object 
of  removing  pain  they  have  as  much  moral  right  to  recom- 
mend and  use  their  remedies  as  hundreds  who  have  acquired 
a  legal  right,  by  purchasing  an  "M.  D."  as  an  affix  to  their 
names;  for  all  have  the  same  object  in  view,  viz:  to  gratify 
the  patient  by  removing  or  alleviating  their  pain  temporarily. 
Few  pretend  to  do  more  than  this.  Teachers  ask  no  more 
from  the  graduate.  In  the  beginning  of  his  career  he  sounds 
his  key-note — relief.  He  does  not  waste  his  energies  in 
preventing  disease;  but  when  trouble  overtakes  his  fellow- 
man  is  willing  and  even  anxious  to  assist  him  (for  a  moderate 
fee).  He  is  generally  honest,  and  does  his  work  to  the  best 
of  his  ability,  so  as  to  gain  a  reputation  as  an  expert  in  his 
line,  that  he  may  be  preferred  above  all  competitors. 


168  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

It  might  be  asked,  "Is  it  not  good  to  alleviate  pain?"  Most 
assuredly.  It  is  also  good  to  have  appliances  to  extinguish 
fire  after  it  is  under  headway*;  but  it  is  better  to  prevent  the 
fire  or  make  the  building  fire-proof.  What  is  the  building 
worth  after  the  fire  is  put  out?  What  is  the  body  worth 
after  a  severe  attack  of  disease?  From  ten  to  twenty  years 
of  life  are  taken  away  by  every  severe  illness.  A  wise  physi- 
cian has  said,  "To  cure  a  disease  is  to  prevent  it."  The  con- 
scientious physican  will  look  to  this  and  endeavor  to  get 
above  the  practice  of  putting  drugs  into  the  stomach  that 
he  may  the  better  put  his  hand  into  the  pocket 

When  we  study  life,  whether  animal  or  vegetable,  we  find 
it  made  up  of  a  succession  of  periods  of  growth  and  decay. 
From  the  depositing  of  the  germ  there  is  a  gradually  as- 
cending series  to  maturity  and  from  thence  a  descending  one 
till  death.  Nature  has,  no  doubt,  affixed  a  limit  to  each  epoch, 
the  extent  of  which  can  never  be  exceeded  and  is  seldom 
attained.  In  applying  this  law  to  human  life  it  is  impossible 
to  ascertain  the  precise  length  of  each  epoch,  or  the  aggre- 
gate whole  of  existence.  The  greatest  age  ever  attained  by 
man,  must  fall  short  of  the  years  he  might  have  reached  had 
he  lived  in  strict  conformity  to  the  law  of  nature.  The 
famous  Thos.  Parr,  who  lived  one  hundred  and  fiftv-two 
years  was,  no  donbt,  prematurely  cut  off  in  consequence  of 
a  change  in  his  usual  manner  of  living.  It  was  found  upon 
post-mortem  examination  that  his  cartilages  had  not  turned 
to  bone,  as  is  the  case  with  the  very  aged. 

All  who  die,  whether  early  or  late,  have  had  the  elements 
of  a  more  enduring  existence.  The  length  of  the  descending 
series  depends  upon  the  length  of  the  ascending  series.  The 
more  slowly  maturity  is  reached,  or  the  longer  the  first  series, 
correspondingly  longer  will  be  the  last  series;  or  in  the  ratio 
of  one  of  the  former  to  four  of  the  latter.  Our  calculation 
here  will  not  admit  of  mathematical  precision,  but  approxi- 
mates to  the  truth. 

The  length  of  life  depends  upon  the  length  of  this  period 
of  youth.  During  this  period  the  material  is  accumulated  in 
the  superstructure,  which  by  constant  accretion  in  after  life 
determines  the  relative  power  of  resistance. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         169 

We  know  from  experience,  and  draw  our  conclusions  from 
nature,  that  the  conditions  of  this  period  decide  the  state  of 
after  life.  Health  and  longevity  depend  mainly  upon  the 
prolonging  of  the  ascending  series.  Let  physicians  so  devi- 
ate from  their  accustomed  line  of  action  as  to  give  this  feature 
especial  attention.  To  promote  healthy  maturity  will  best 
promote  longevity. 

The  most  of  those  who  have  carried  bad  habits  and  appe- 
tites beyond  the  period  of  maturity,  remain  unchanged  dur- 
ing life,  and  fortunately  for  the  race  the  life  of  many  is  short, 
Tiiose  who  are  diseased,  physically  or  morally  acquired  the 
first  taint  of  the  malady,  duting  the  maturing  period,  either 
before  or  after  birth.  Ail  that  skill  can  do  for  them  is  to  re- 
tard progress,  and  palliate  their  suflerings,  for  which  existing 
doctors  have  been  especially  educated. 

Drunkards,  consumptives,  nervous  wrecks  and  those  with 
chronic  taints  can  find  rest  only  in  the  grave. 

Some  of  the  special  means  of  promoting  healthy  growth 
are  the  food  and  the  habits.  From  the  beginning  of  life  the 
proportion  of  the  solid  parts  of  the  body  is  gaining  upon  the 
fluids.  Natural  death  occurs  when  the  structures  become  so 
consolidated  that  the  fluid  can  not  permeate  the  capillaries 
sufficiently  to  maintain  the  functions  of  nutrition  and  depu- 
ration. As  the  fluid  and  solid  portions  are  formed  mainly 
from  the  food  and  drink  taken  into  the  stomach,  it  follows 
that  the  character  of  the  aliment  has  a  controlling  influence 
in  determining  when  natural  death  shall  take  place. 

When  an  infant  makes  its  appearance  in  the  world  it  is  a 
soft,  pulpy,  juicy  thing,  if  the  mother  has  been  properlj' 
nourished  during  gestation.  If  she  has  indulged  to  a  great 
degree  in  food  rich  i:i  bone  producing  elements  the  child 
enters  the  world,  through  much  tribulation,  with  its  bony 
parts  advanced  toward  maturity  far  beyond  the  period  of  its 
existence.  The  fact  seems  to  be  well  established,  that  the 
food  which  contains  a  large  proportion  of  fluid,  as  compared 
with  its  solid  matter,  and  a  large  proportion  of  bulk  as  com- 
pared with  nutriment,  is  best  adapted  to  sustain  permanently 
the  organism,  provided  it  contains  the  requisite  elements  of 
nutrition. 


170  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

All  stock-growers  know  that  animals  raised  for  physical 
endurance  should  not  be  fed  with  concentrated  food  while 
maturing.  Experience  has  shown  that  it  is  not  the  best 
practice,  if  they  wish  to  produce  a  constitution  capable  of 
resisting  hardship.  So  during  the  maturing  period  they  are 
not  allowed  the  same  food  as  the  matured  animals  whicii  are 
subjected  to  hard  work. 

But  how  different  with  the  human  young!  In  the  greater 
number  of  families,  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  sit  alone  they 
are  placed  at  the  table  and  given  the  same  food  as  the  parents 
and  grandparents.  Such  children,  instead  of  having  devel- 
oped and  fostered  soft  body  tissue  have  old  people^s  tissue. 
They  become  old  far  beyond  their  years,  both  physically  and 
mental!}'.  They  early  develop  a  brilliancy  which  is  very 
pleasing  to  the  parents,  and  shortsighted  and  ignorant  as 
most  parents  are,  they  yield  readily  to  the  delusion  that  tbey 
have  the  smartest  children  in  the  world,  and  are  destined  to 
make  their  mark.  Such  children  usually  do  make  their  mark. 
There  is  a  precocity  of  both  mind  and  body  which  is  unfor* 
tunate  for  its  possessor  and  for  society,  for  it  makes  the  child 
a  giant  and  the  man  a  dwarf.  It  produces  manifestations  of 
maturity  at  twelve  and  symptdms  of  decay  at  twenty.  If 
this  forced  production  of  a  man  propagate  his  kind  the  off*- 
spring  will  inherit  an  imperfect  organization. 

If  we  examine  the  main  sources  of  education — the  pulpit, 
schools  and  colleges — we  find  no  provision  made  for  the 
symmetrical  development  of  mind  and  body.  If  we  analyze 
and  grant  all  they  claim  for  their  respective  spheres,  we  will 
still  find  that  the  physiologist  stands  alone  to  6ght  for  the 
lives  of  the  children.  The  central  thought  of  the  minister  of 
the  gospel  is  to  induce  the  mind  to  reflect  upon  the  Creator;  to 
remind  the  people  that  they  have  moral  powers  to  improve* 
His  specialty  is  the  soul.  Judging  from  his  preaching,  he 
knows  nothing  about  the  body — the  dwelling  place  of  the 
soul.  His  business  is  not  to  save  the  dwelling,  but  to  have 
the  tenant  "up  and  dressed,"  ready  to  depart  when  called  for. 
He  never  tells  how  to  keep  the  body  in  a  sound  and  healthy 
condition.     He  never  says  anything  about  clothing,  diet,  dry 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         171 

feet,  exercise,  ventilation,  etc.  That  is  left  for  the  doctors. 
But  when  the  tenement  is  fallen  and  the  tenant  has  departed 
he  pronounces  encomiums  over  the  wreck,  and  attributes 
this  physical  ruin  to  a  wise  and  benevolent  though  inscruta- 
ble Providence,  and  cheers  the  living  with  the  assertion  that 
all  is  for  the  best.     The  pulpit  then  fails  to  supply  the  need. 

We  have  been  in  the  habit  of  looking  upon  the  cortimon 
schools  and  colleges  of  our  country  as  par  excellence  for  the 
education  of  the  youth  of  the  land.  When  we  analyze  their 
methods  of  work  and  see  the  effect  upon  the  youth  after 
passing  through  these  educational  mills,  we  are  forced  to  an  ad- 
verse opinion.  To  preserve  the  body  while  the  mind  is  being 
properly  trained,  does  not  enter  into  the  modern  system  of 
fashionable  education.  The  art  of  keeping  up  the  bone, 
muscle  and  nerve  of  the  pupil  so  as  to  keep  pace  with  the 
brain  development,  is  yet  to  be  learned  and  practiced.  The 
o'd  Grecian  and  Roman  idea  of  keeping  the  body  strong  and 
vigorous,  whatever  might  be  the  state  of  the  mind,  is  now 
considered  a  relic  of  barbarism,  and  no  more  to  be  brought 
into  our  civilized  refined  educational  processes  than  are  their 
modes  of  physical  exercise,  the  Olympian  g^mes,  gladiatorial 
contests,  etc. 

The  high-toned  school  of  the  cities  and  larger  towns,  whose 
machinery  runs  in  such  perfect  order,  is  certainly  "a  thing  of 
beauty''  if  not  "a  joy  forever."  If  we  look  only  to  the  per- 
fect mental  discipline,  to  the  text-books  mastered,  to  the 
grace  and  elegance  acquired,  such  a  school  is  certainly  a. 
model,  but  to  the  more  practical  observer  who  looks  forward 
to  the  stern  realities  of  life,  who  appreciates  good  health, 
and  believes  that  future  usefulness  depends  as  much  upon  a 
sound  body  as  upon  a  cultivated  mind,  the  schools  appear  to 
be  conducted  upon  a  false  basis.  Follow  carefully  a  student 
through  his  whole  course,  and  witness  his  graduation.  It 
should  be  a  source  of  great  disappointment  to  both  himself 
and  his  friends,  that  after  spending  weeks,  and  perhaps 
njonths,  in  preparing  an  oration  or  an  csay,  he  can  not  to  be 
heard  distinctly  a  score  of  feet  from  the  platform.  I  here  place 
great  stress  upon  this  failure,  for  it  is  indicative  of  physical 


174  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

individuals  for  examination  we  would  certainly  discover  a 
remarkable  unlikeness  in  their  refractive  powers. 

We  are  now  enabled  to  classify  under  a  few  general  heads 
all  forms  of  refraction. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  REFRACTION. 

1.  Emmetropia.    2.  Ametropia,  ]  H^permetropia. 

C  Emmetropia,         } 
3.    }  Myopia,  >  Astigmatism. 

(  Hypermetropia,  j 

rSimple, 
Astigmatism,   -jCom pound, 

(Mixed. 

This  classification  needs  explanation.  At  least  we  may  de- 
fine the  terms  and  briefly  illustrate  their  applications. 

Emmetropia  represents  an  eye  which  in  a  state  of  rest  as 
to  its  accommodation  will  focus  parallel  rays  upon  the  retina. 
Such  an  eye  is  of  the  highest  type  of  excellence.  Yet  it  is 
comparatively  rare  even  in  childhood,  and  still  more  so  in 
after  life. 

Ametropia  represents  all  eyes  that  are  not  emmetropic 
Variations  from  the  emmetropic  standard  are  so  common, 
they  constitute  the  rule  and  not  the  exception.  These  varia- 
tions are  of  the  two  kinds  designated. 

ft 

Myopia  represents  an  eye  that  is  popularly  known  to  be 
near  sighted.  In  such  an  eye,  vision  is  improved  by  aeon- 
cave  glass.  Its  general. condition  is  that  it  possesses  excess- 
ive refracting  power. 

Hypermetropia  represents  an  eye  that  lacks  in  refractive 
power.  This  may  be  due  to  the  flatness  of  the  lens,  or  the 
shallowness  of  the  eye. 

We  come  now  to  Astigmatisnij  a  condition  in  which  we 
find  each  of  the  foregoing  conditions  variously  concerned.  It 
is  caused  chiefly  by  irregularities  in  the  curvature  of  the 
cornea.  Let  us  imagine  an  infinite  number  of  lines,  drawn  as 
diameters  over  the  cornea.  Each  one  of  these  will  represent  a 
meridian.  The  vertical  and  horizontal  lines  are  in  the  chief 
meridians,  with  these  alone  we  have  generally  to  deal.    They 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  175 

may  be  unequal  in  their  curvature.  If  so  then  we  have  an 
astigmatic  eye. 

Simple  Astigmatism  represents  an  eye  in  which  one  meri- 
dian is  emmetropic,  and  the  other  myopic  or  hypermetropic. 

Compound  Astigmatism  represents  an  eye  in  which  both 
meridians  are  either  myopic  or  hypermetropic  but  unequally  so. 

Mixed  Astigmatism  represents  an  eye  in  which  one  meridian 
is  myopiCy  and  the  other  hypermetropic. 

It  becomes  our  duty  as  medical  men,  to  detect  these  con- 
ditions, and  remedy  them  by  suitable  glasses. 

Liet  us  now  study  the  structure  and  function  of  various 
shaped  glasses.  These  are  known  as  lenses.  Of  these  we 
have  to  deal  with  two  kinds. 

o    u     •     I     (  Solid. 

1.  Spherical.  |  follow. 

2.  Cylindrical.   JhoIIow. 

These  may  be  best  shown  you  in  this  manner.  Here  is  an 
apple.  We  will  assume  it  to  be  perfectly  round.  We  will 
now  cut  from  it  about  one-fourth  of  its  structure.  This  piece 
you  will  observe  is  flat  on  one  side,  and  round  on  the  other. 
This  is  a  plano-convex  lens.  From  the  other  side  of  the 
apple,  we  will  cut  another  piece  of  equal  size  to  the  first. 
Putting  their  flat  surfaces  together,  we  have  a  double  convex 
lens.  Suppose  it  were  transparent,  it  would  refract  rays  of 
light  passing  through  it,  so  as  to  make  them  converge. 

Taking  now  another  apple  and  cutting  from  it  two  pieces 
as  before,  we  will  cut  from  the  convex  side  of  each  a  portion 
so  as  to  make  it  cup  shaped.  Putting  their  flat  surfaces 
together  we  have  a  double  concave  lens.  Such  a  lens  causes 
rays  of  light  to  diverge.  With  these  two  lenses — concave  and 
convex — we  are  enabled  to  change  an  ametropic  eye  to  an 
emmetropic  condition. 

I  now  hold  before  my  eyes,  which  are  emmetropic,  a  pair 
of  convex  glasses.  This  makes  the  refraction  too  great,  and 
I  am  therefore  now  myopic.  Before  these  glasses  I  hold  an- 
other pair  of  the  same  strength  as  the  first,  but  they  are  con- 
cave.    One  neutralizes  the  other,  and  I  am  restored  in  this 


176  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

* 

way,  even  v/hike  looking  through  both  glasses,  to  an  emme- 
tropic condition.  (Note. — This  is  to  be  repeated  in  this  way, 
and  vice  versa,  personally  by  the  investigator,  until  he 
fully  comprehends  the  point.)  Myopia  and  hypermeiropia, 
which  constitute  the  large  part  of  cases  we  have  to  treat  for 
conditions  of  refraction  are  to  be  accuratelv  measured  and 
relieved  with  glasses  whose  refractive  power  correspond  to 
the  want  of  the  eye. 

I  have  here  a  potato.  It  is  cylindrical  in  shape  (long  and 
round).  I  now  cut  it  in  two  through  its  longest  diameter. 
This  gives  us  the  section  of  a  cylinder  flat  at  both  ends  and 
on  one  side,  while  the  other  side  is  very  convex.  This  is 
now  a  solid  cylindrical  lens.  In  one  direction — its  longest — 
it  is  without  refractive  power.  In  the  other  it  is  capable  of 
converging  rays.  Taking  the  other  half  of  the  potato,  I  cut 
out  a  longitudinal  section  so  as  to  reduce  its  convex  side  to  a 
concave  condition.  You  will  now  observe  that  while  in  the 
long  diameter  it  is  still  without  refractive  power,  in  the  other 
direction'  it  is  a  concave  lens,  and  will  cause  rays  of  light 
which  pass  through  to  diverge.  This  is  a  hollow  cylindrical 
lens.  With  these  two  lenses  last  made  we  are  prepared  to 
treat  simple  astigmatism. 

The  presence  of  astigmatism  is  easily  detected.  Two  or 
more  parallel  lines  placed  before  the  eye  will,  by  an  astig- 
matic eye  be  more  easily  seen  in  one  meridian  than  any  other^ 
Groups  of  such  lines  maybe  drawn  upon  a  cardboard  twelve 
or  fourteen  inches  square.  They  should  be  drawn  through 
a  common  center  and  made  to  represent  not  less  than  six 
different  meridians.  , 

For  the  general  practitioner  itis  enough  for  him  to  deter- 
mine the  presence  or  absence  of  astigmatism.  It  must  be 
left  for  the  specialist  to  adjust  the  proper  glasses.  This  is  by 
no  means  an  always  easy  task.  But  the  principle  involved  is 
not  difficult  of  comprehension.  Let  us  suppose  we  have  an 
astigmatic  eye  with  one  meridian  emmetropic  and  the  other 
hypermetrupic.  We  correct  and  equalize  the  refraction  with 
a  convex  cj'^lindrical  glass.  We  place  it  so  that  the  long  axis 
of  the  lens  which  does  not  refract  corresponds  with  the  em- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,  177 

metropic  meridian  of  the  eye,  and  in  that  way  we  leave  it 
still  emmetropic.  The  convex  portion  of  the  lens  then  cor- 
responds with  the  hypermetropic  meridian  of  the  eye,  and 
renders  it  also  emmetropic.  With  cases  of  compound  and 
mixed  astigmatism,  we  have  to  employ  the  various  forms  of 
lenses  we  have  described  in  combination.  Only  by  careful 
study  and  much  practice  can  this  be  done  with  success.  But 
it  needs  no  argument  to  show  how  much  in  this  way  science 
is  doing  to  relieve  those  who  arc  afflicted  with  imperfect 
vision  and  to  restore  them  to  happiness  and  lives  of  useful- 
ness. 


■♦-♦- 


A  Eint  Begarding  Ophthalmic  and  Aural  Medicine.    W.  A. 

Phillips,  M.  D,,  Cleveland. 

Observation  is  quite  sufficient  to  teach  the  fact,  that  those 
who  devote  their  skill  to  the  treatment  of  any  particular  class 
of  diseases,  are  inclined  to  magnify  the  importance  ot  their 
special  work,  while  it  is  equally  true  that  general  practition- 
ers correspondingly  under-estimate  the  value  of  the  services 
rendered  practical  medicine  by  the  work  and  teachings  of 
specialists.  When  we  consider  that  it  is  principally  through 
the  senses  of  sight  and  hearing,  that  the  mind  is  rendered 
capable  of  the  higher  educational  advantages — that  it  is 
through  these  avenues,  that  the  mind  is  made  conversant  with 
and  developed  by  the  beautiful  and  varied  panorama  of 
nature,  as  it  is  pictured  in  delicate,  but  life  like  tracings 
within  that  exquisitely  wrought  organ,  the  eye;  that  all  the 
"concord  of  sweet  sounds,  "  which  minister  to  human  happi- 
ness, are  a  profound  and  death-like  stillness,  unless  the  ear 
be  attuned  to  its  perfect  function;  when,  in  a  word,  we  con- 
sider how  utterly  helpless  and  hopeless  each  of  us  would  be- 
come if  deprived  of  even  sight  alone,  where  is  the  man 
whose  ambition  is  so  great,  or  whose  genius  is  so  brilliant, 
Sept-4 


178  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

that  the  cunning  of  h'n  hand,  or  the  wit  of  his  brain,  can  not 
find  scope  in  preserving  or  restoring  the  senses  which  have 
been  mainly  instrumental  in  making  him  and  the  worhi  what 
ihey  are?  Now  I  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  practitioner, 
general  or  special,  to  so  systematise  his  study  and  practical 
experience,  as  to  be  competent  to  oflet  valuable  hints  to  his 
colleagues,  as  regiirds  the  development  of  some  branch  of  the 
healing  art.  It  is  obvious  that  the  most  important  step 
towards  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  purpose,  is  first  for  the 
physician  himself  to  entertain  a  correct  estimate  of  the 
nature,  course,  and  usual  termination  of  the  disease  or  dis- 
eases to  be  considered,  and  the  unfortunate  consequences  to 
result  by  a  loss  of  function  of  the  organs  implicated.  Ap- 
plying this  thought  to  a  clear  and  just  appreciation  of  the 
senses  referred  to,  who  does  not  see  at  a  glance  that  a  loss  of 
all  the  other  senses,  for  example,  would  in  no  wise  compare 
with  a  loss  of  sight?  What  patient  or  his  doctor,  would  will- 
ingly exchange  a  crippled  leg  or  a  withered  arm,  a  writhing 
rheumatism  or  a  howling  dyspepsia,  for  the  **blackness  of 
darkness,"  to  settle  like  Poe's  raven  forever  upon  him?  Or  yet 
for  that  reign  of  eternal  quiet,  which  the  loss  of  hearing  en- 
tails? The  pen  is  yet  to  be  wielded,  that  can  over  estimate  the 
value  of  the  visual  and  auditory  powers,  and  the  correspond- 
ing evils  to  accrue  in  consequence  of  their  destruction.  Hence 
the  conclusion  is  inevitable,  that  justice  to  the  patient,  and 
credit  to  the  physician,  can  not  be  maintained  without  a  more 
thorough  training  than  general  practitioners  have  hitherto  en- 
joyed. But  in  order  to  secure  the  abilicy  skillfully,  to  detect 
and  to  treat  even  the  more  unimportant  affections,  requires  a 
course  of  reading  and  attendance  upon  '^clinics,"  which  the 
busy  practitioner  is  rarely  able  to  enjoy;  and  therefore  many 
a  parent  is  assured  that  an  offensive  otorrhcea,  resulting  from 
scarlet  fever,  measles,  diphtheria  or  a  cold,  will  salely  sub- 
side as  the  child  grows  older;  or  that  its  "weakness  of  sight," 
will  improve  with  age;  while  the  former  may  be  paving  the 
way  of  deafness,  or  possibly  to  cerebral  abscess,  and  the  latter 
to  a  progressive  short  sigiit,  (myopia)  that  may  permanently 
and  seriously  impair  the  integrity  of  the  eye.     Examples  of 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         179 

this  kind  are  so  frequent  as  to  call  forth  warning^,  and  in  the 
most  fraternal  spirit,  it  may  be  urged  that  philanthropy  alone 
should  be  enough  to  guide  us,  one  and  all,  not  to  jeopardise 
the  sight  or  hearing  of  any  patient,  however  high  or  lowly,  by 
a  hasty  prescription,  by  neglect,  or  by  careless  or  ignorant 
advice.  It  is  here  that  unpleasant  collisions  sometimes  arise; 
the  specialist  can  not  in  truth,  always  assure  the  patient  or 
family,  that  all  has  been  done  that  was  advisable;  or  by  dis- 
regarding all  awkward  questions,  carry  the  impression  that 
all  necessary  measures  have  been  adopted,  when  the  nature 
of  the  case  is  such  as  to  demand  an  entirely  different  line  of 
treatment,  however  great  his  desire  may  be  to  shield  the 
family  physician.  The  remedy  for  all  this  is  apparent:  either 
the  physician  must  become  better  qualitied  to  manage  such 
cases,  or  the  advice  of  one  who  devotes  his  entire  attention 
to  maladies  of  this  kind  must  be  earlier  secured.  The  serio- 
humorous  reflection  may  here  be  suggested,  that  in  these 
latter  days  when  we  have  specialists  for  diseases  of  the 
throat,  of  the  chest,  of  the  skin,  of  diseases  peculiar  to  w^omen 
and  children,  for  surgery,  catarrh,  hemorrhoids,  etc.,  etc.. 
what  is  left  for  the  general  practitioner,  except  the  mumps, 
measles,  and  bilous  colic,  as  they  perchance  attack  men,  who 
have  long  since  arrived  at  years  of  discretion?  It  is  not  to  be 
urged  that  the  practice  of  medicine  should  be  so  arbitrarily 
divided,  as  to  introduce  departments  not  justified  by  the 
nature  of  the  diseases,  or  the  anatomical  relation  of  the  parts 
particularly  affected.  But  it  is  apparent  from  the  anatomy, 
function  and  line  of  operative  and  medical  treatment  re- 
quired, that  the  art  of  medicine  is  appropriately  divided  into 
what  is  known  as  general  medicine,  surgery  and  afiections 
of  the  eye  and  ear.  If  practical  experience  has  shown  the 
wisdom  of  making  surgery  a  distinct  department,  because  of 
the  special  preparation  necessary;  the  manual  dexterity  re- 
quired, and  the  serious  consequence  to  be  apprehended  to  the 
limbs  and  various  organs  of  the  body;  it  is  plain  that  the  fol- 
lowing reasons  are  quite  sufficient  to  justify  the  profession  in 
establishing  ophthalmic  and  aural  medicine,  as  an  equally 
separate  department. 


180  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

1.  A  larger  proportion  of  the  diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear, 
terminate  disastrously  to  the  function  of  the  parts  affected, 
than  in  general  medicine,  or  in  the  diseases  and  injuries  of 
surgery. 

2.  The  diagnosis  of  diseases  of  the  eye  especially,  cannot 
be  correctly  made  without  special  training  and  clinical  ex- 
perience, given  under  the  direct  instruction  of  an  expert. 

Under  this  head,  permit  me  to  ask  what  physician  who  has 
had  only  the  information  to  be  gained  from  the  number,  and 
variety  of  eye  di<;eases  occurring  in  his  own  practice,  can 
make  a  correct  diagnosis,  for  instance,  of  glaucoma,  choroi- 
ditis, cyclitis,  retinitis,  optic  neuritis,  or  optic  nerve  atrophy; 
or  even  of  the  more  easily  distinguished  affections,  such  as 
the  different  varieties  of  ulcerations  of  the  cornea,  iritis,  con- 
junctivitis, and  trachoma — any  one  of  which  may,  and  fre- 
quently does  produce  irreparable  blindness.  I  desire  to  be 
correctly  understood  here.  I  do  not  mean  to  insinuate  that 
general  practitioners  or  surgeons  can  not'^read  up,*'  so  as  to 
diagnose  these  diseases  with  a  tolerable  degree  of  skill,  but  I 
do  mean  to  say  that,  as  a  rule,  they  do  not  inform  themselves 
sufficiently  w  11  to  do  so.  I  do  mean  to  say  further,  that  the 
propriety  of  requiring  physicians  to  become  more  conversant 
with  this  clab'S  of  diseases,  can  not  be  over  estimated,  if  for  no 
other  or  higher  motive,  than  that  of  preserving  their  own 
reputation.  When  the  dangers  of  any  given  case  are  not 
folly  realized,  it  can  not  be  expected  that  the  line  of  treatment 
instituted,  will  be  in  keeping  with  the  best  interests  of  the 
patient. 

3.  It  is  a  familiar  fact  to  oculists,  that  the  great  majority  of 
the  affections  of  the  choroid,  optic  nerve,  retina,  ciliary  body 
iris  and  cornea,  without  appropriate  treatment,  will  prove 
destructive  to  sight;  indeed  some  of  them  seem  uniformly  to 
baffle  the  efforts  even  of  the  most  skillful;  that  these  cases 
generally  come  first  under  the  observation  of  the  family 
physician;  and  hence  the  profound  obligations  resting  upon 
the  profession,  to  give  these  diseases  the  benefit  of  the  best 
talent  and  closest  study. 

Practical  hints,  appropriate  to   supplement  these  remarks, 
may  best  be  found  in  a  few  typical  cases  taken  from  actual 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         181 

practice,  which  will  serve  to  show  the  error  of  looking  with 
indifference  upon  cases,  the  gravity  of  which  is  not  fully 
appreciated. 

Case  I.  A  little  girl,  aet  nine,  about  two  years  after  com- 
mencing to  attend  school,  began  to  complain  of  pain  in  her 
eyes,  and  gradually  held  the  book  closer  and  closer  to  her 
face.  Two  prominent  physicians  were  at  diflerent  times 
consulted  regarding  her  case,  and  both  pronounced  it  a  little 
'^weakness  of  sight,"  which  the  child  would  outgrow,  and  no 
advice  whatever  given.  At  present  the  patient's  vision  in 
either  eye  is  only  one-tenth  for  distance,  while  she  reads 
newspaper  print  very  imperfectly,  and  only  when  the  page 
is  closely  approximated  to  the  eyes.  In  other  words,  the 
child  has  progressive  short  sight,  (myopia)  with  dimness  of 
vision,  (amblyopia)  and  is  in  danger  of  losing  her  sight 
altogether. 

Case  II.  A  lad  was  treated  for  more  than  a  year  by  the 
family  physician  for  granulated  lids  (trachoma).  The  case 
progressed  until  ulceration  of  the  cornea  destroyed  the  sight 
of  one  eye,  and  greatly  and  permanently  unpaired  the  sight 
oF  the  other. 

Case  III.  A  middle  aged  gentleman  had  an  attack  of 
iritis,  which  was  diagnosed  as  conjunctivitis,  and  treated  ac- 
cordingly for  about  three  weeks,  at  which  time  the  pupillary 
margin  of  the  iris  had  become  firmly  adherent  to  the  capsule 
of  the  lens,  and  the  contracted  pupils  were  filled  with  an  exu- 
dation of  lymph.  The  most  restoration  of  sight  that  could  be 
eBected,  was  simply  to  enable  him  to  get  about  a  room  with- 
out stumbling  against  the  furniture. 

Case  IV.  A  lady  was  affected  with  catarrh  of  the  middle 
ear,  and  applied  to  a  physician  for  a  relief  of  the  noises  in  the 
ears,  and  the  slight  impairment  of  hearing.  He  assured  her 
that  the  case  was  not  at  all  likely  to  prove  serious,  and  treated 
her  more  or  less  for  two  years,  at  which  time  tlie  hearing 
was  reduced  below  the  power  to  hear  conversation,  except  in 
a  very  loud  tone,  while  adhesions  had  formed  to  such  an  ex- 
tent, that  very  little  improvement  can  now  be  secured  even 
by  long  continued  and  skillful  treatment. 


\ 


182  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Case  V.  A  child  had  an  attack  of  scarlet  fever  which  af- 
fected the  ears,  and  a  suppurative  discharge  occurred.  The 
attending  physician  convinced  the  parents  that  the  drum- 
heads were  not  implicated — that  the  discharge  was  from  the 
**outer  ear"  entirely,  and  that  the  case  would  soon  recover 
without  impairment  of  hearing.  An  examination  showed 
that  both  drum  beads  were  ulcerated  away,  scarcely  a  rim  of 
them  being  left,  while  the  suppurative  discharge  continued 
profuse,  and  the  hearing  so  reduced  as  to  enable  the  patient 
to  hear  only  when  spoken  to  in  a  veiy  loud  tone  of  voice. 

Cases  like   the  above,  by  no  means  the  most  serious  that 
could  be  cited,  occur  so  frequently  in  the  experience  of  ocu- 
lists and  aurists,  that  attention  is  called  to  this  class  of  diseases, 
that  you  as  conservators  to  some  extent  of  the  public  happi- 
ness and  usefulness,  may  fully  appreciate  the  nature  of  these 
affections,  and  the  influence  they  exert  by  a  bad  termination 
upon  the  welfare,  not  only  of  the  individual,  but  of  the  house- 
•   hold  and  of  the  community.  I  hold  th<it  physicians,  more  than 
members  of  any  other  of  the  learned  professions,  are  possessed 
of  philanthropic  impulses,  and  this  plea  for  greater  cultivation 
in  ophthalmic  and  aural  medicine,  may  safely  be  put   on  the 
ground  of  philanthropy  alone.     But,  assume,  if  you    choose, 
that  the   profession  is   actuated  by  the  most  selfish  motives, 
such  as  the  preservation   of  the  reputation  of  the  school,  or 
for  pecuniary  gain;  still   the  instincts  of  common  humanity 
dictate,  that  for  want  of  proper  skill  or  early   consultation 
wiih  an  expert,  no  person  should  hold  a  physician  excusable 
for  placing  in  jeopardy  the  important  functions  of  sight  and 
hearing.     The  cases  I  have  cited  are  all  the  more  significant, 
because  they  represent  those  most  frequently  met  with,  and 
when    properly   managed    in    the    early  stages,  are   almost 
always  entirely  curable. 

In  conclusion,  I  repeat  what  has  bet- n  intimated,  that  this 
argument  is  not  a  plea  for  specialists,  but  an  exhortation  to 
general  practitioners  to  become  more  thoroughly  conversant 
with  a  class  of  diseases,  which  have  so  largely  to  do  with  the 
happiness  and  usefulness  of  each  and  every  community. 


Sai:gi(9* 


The  Ssmarch  Bandage.     S.  R.  Beckwith,  M.  D.,  Cincinnati. 

Dr.  Esmarch,  a  few  years  since,  announced  to  the  medical 
profession  that  if  a  rubber  bandage  be  applied  to  a  limb  for  a 
few  moments  before  an  amputation,  that  the  operation  can  be 
performed  with  but  little  loss  of  blood,  provided  the  arterial 
flow  is  arrested  by  the  usual  plan  of.  compression. 

The  bandage  must  be  applied  with  the  rubber  on  the  stretch, 
so  that  its  contraction  would  force  a  return  of  venous  blood 
into  the  body,  and  prevent  an  influx  of  arterial  blood  into  the 
limb  through  anastomosing  arteries,  not  influenced  by  com- 
pression on  the  main  arterial  trunk. 

An  amputation  of  the  leg,  for  example,  could  be  performed 
when  the  bandage  was  used,  with  so  little  loss  of  blood  that 
it  has  been  called  a  dry  operation. 

Almost  every  surgeon  readily  fell  into  the  hahit  of  using 
the  bandage  without  stopping  for  a  moment  to  consider  its 
expediency.  During  an  amputation  of  the  thigh  of  a  pletheric 
person  the  loss  of  blood  is  so  profuse  as  to  somewhat  inter- 
fere with  the  operative  process,  the  table  is  covered  with 
blood  and  the  operating  room  resembles  a  slaughter-house. 
By  the  Esmarch  method  all  is  changed,  the  scene  of  blood  is 
not  there,  vessels  of  water,  into  which  the  sponges  are  dipped 
until  the  clear  fluid  resembles  living  blood  are  not  seen.  The 
able,  bedding  and  even  the  floor  are  not  covered  with  pools 
and  clots  of  blood.  An  operating  room  in  a  private  house 
does  not,  by  this  comparatively  new  method,  shock  the  senses 
of  the  lookers  on,  and  the  bloody  horror  of  an  amputation 
vanishes. 

No  wonder  that  surgeons  should  readily  adopt  this  new 
dispensation  when  so  delightful  a  change  is  produced;  and 
again  the  flrst  and  cardinal  principles  that  have  been  taugh 
for  centuries,  to  save  as  much  blood  as  possible  in  ampu  ta 


184  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tions,  is  here  carried  out  more  satisfactorily  than  can  be  done 
by  any  other  known  means.  These  and  similar  reasons  have 
led  the  surgical  profession  to  adopt  the  Esmarch  bandage 
without  faithfully  considering  the  injurious  effects  its  appli- 
cation may  have  upon  a  patient. 

By  a  moment's  reflection  it  will  appear  evident  that  in  thosp 
cases  where  an  amputation  is  performed  upon  a  person  pos" 
sessing  the  normal  amount  of  blood  to  carry  6n  the  healthy 
functions  of  the  entire  body,  a  marked  disturbance  will  be 
produced  when  as  large  a  proportion  of  the  body  as  the  leg 
is  removed,  and  still  nearly  the  same  amount  of  blood  re- 
mains coursing  through  vessels  that  before  were  filled  to  the 
maximum  of  health,  and  are  now  distended  in  proportion  to 
the  loss  of  substance  previously  receiving  blood. 

How  is  it  in  pregnancy  and  parturition?  During  the  period 
of  gestation  the  female  has  to  maintain  and  support  the  devel- 
opment and  growth  of  another  being,  and  although' nature 
enlarges  her  person  in  all  its  parts  so  that  she  can  furnish  the 
necessary  excess  of  blood  required,  and  not  be  disturbed  to 
the  same  extent  when  this  demand  is  suddenly  arrested  as  it 
would  otherwise  have  been  if  she  had  not  increased  in  de- 
velopment, yet  she  is  in  danger,  after  her  parturition,  of  active 
inflammation  if  no  blood  is  lost  at  her  labor. 

Physicians  would  not  accept  a  contrivance  that  would  pre- 
vent escape  of  blood  at  this  time,  even  if  it  would  make  the 
lying-in  chamber  free  from  blood  soiling  and  the  patient 
from  resting  in  a  pool  of  her  own  blood. 

Much  the  same  result  follows  an  amputation  where  the 
Esmarch  bandage  is  used,  in  a  person  who  has  been  injured 
to  an  extent  requiring  an  amputation  of  a  limb  and  no  loss  of 
blood  occurred  from  the  wound.  My  attention  was  first 
called  to  the  harm  arising  from  the  use  of  the  bandage  in  an 
amputation  I  performed  of  the  upper  third  of  the  thigh  of  a 
man  whose  leg  was  crushed  while  he  was  raising  a  heavy 
stone  with  a  derrick.  The  derrick  broke,  kuQcking  him 
down  and  the  stone  fell  upon  his  leg,  crushing  and  grinding 
the  parts  so  as  to  demand  removal,  although  the  skin  was  not 
broken.     After  the   amputation  I  noticed   an    unusual   tur- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,  185 

gesence  in  the  wound,  the  stump  was  swollen  before  the 
dressing  was  finished;  and,  without  taking  your'time  in  the 
recitation  of  details  from  which  I  formed  an  opinion,  I  am 
satisfied  that  the  excessive  capillary  congestion,  inflammation 
and  suppuration  were  produced  by  too  much  blood  remaining 
in  the  body  after  the  amputation. 

In  my  early  experience  it  was  thought  advisable  to  allow  a 
stump  to  bleed  if  there  had  been  but  little  loss  of  blood  dur- 
ing the  operation,  and  I  am  still  of  the  opinion  that  in  similar 
cases  to  the  one  I  Lave  described  the  plan  is  a  good  one. 

The  Esmarch  bandage  is  useful,  and  I  believq  should  be 
applied  previous  to  an  amputation  for  an  injury  where  there 
has  been  considerable  loss  of  blood,  or  in  cases  of  ulceration, 
necrosis  or  in  any  condition  where  the  patient  is  weak,  and 
the  saving  of  every  pos*«ible  drop  of  blood  is  a  necessity;  but 
should  not  be  applied  when  an  amputation  is  performed  for 
a  wound  without  loss  of  blood,  or  in  cases  of  osteo-sarcoma, 
fibroid  or  cartillaginous  tumors,  or  in  any  instance  where  the 
patient  posseses  an  average  amount  of  blood  to  supply  the 
wants  of  the  whole  body. 

The  bandage  can  be  applied  with  benefit  in  a  great  number 
of  instances.  In  anuerisms  it  is  the  most  convenient  form 
of  making  compression.  I  once  arrested  a  troublesome  hem- 
orrhage in  a  lacerated  wound  of  the  arm  by  applying  the 
bandage  and  allowing  it  to  remain  for  a  few  hours.  In  this 
patient  there  was  constant  oozing  of  blood,  as  is  often  the 
case,  although  no  bleeding  vessels  could  be  found  requiring 
torsion. 

Some  of  the  surgeons  of  this  society  may  remember  of 
remaining  with  a  patient  during  a  day  and  night  and  com- 
pressing a  wound  to  arrest  hemorrhage  produced  by  my  fool- 
hardiness  in  removing  a  tumor. 

Such  compression  can  often  better  be  made  by  the  band- 
age (which  never  tires)  than  with  the  hand.  I  have  found 
great  advantage  in  the  first  stage  of  the  operation  of  the  re- 
moval of  the  tumors  by  first  dispersing  the  blood  by  com- 
pression produced  by  the  bandage.  The  dissection  is  com- 
paratively dry.  In  all  these  and  similar  instances  its  use  will 
be  obvious  without  further  enumeration. 


186  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

The  object  of  this  paper  is  accomplished  in  callins^  atten 
tion  to  the  harm  produced  by  applying^  the  bandage  in  such 
cases  as  are  benefited  by  a  loss  of  a  beneficial  amount  of 
blood. 


-»•♦- 


Ulcers.     N.  Schneider,  M.  D.,  Cleveland; 

I  have  chosen  this  subject  for  discussion  because  it  is 
one  of  great  importance  to  the  physician,  and  is  so  apt  to 
be  considered  lightly,  especially  by  the  young  practitioner. 
The  frequency  of  this  diseased  condition  requires  the  sur- 
geon to  be  well  prepared  with  all  the  resources  of  our  science, 
from  which  he  may  choose  the  most  efficient  remedy. 

In  order  that  we  may  treat  any  disease  scientifically  we 
must  understand  its  causes,  symptoms,  course,  etc.  Neither 
can  we  be  ignorant  of  the  various  pathological  changes  which 
attend  it. 

By  ulceration  is  meant  the  superficial  solution  of  the  con- 
tinuity of  soft  tissue.  "This  process  never  takes  place  in  the 
substance  of  tissue,  but  is  essentially  a  condition  of  the  surface." 
It  depends  upon  an  abnormal  condition  of  the  blood,  or  of 
its  circulation  and  consequent  defective  condition  of  the  parts. 

The  classification  of  ulcers  seems  to  be  necessary,  as  there 
is  a  distinguishing  variety,  each  variety  depending  upon  some 
special  cachexia,  or  a  specific  irritant,  Tbe  classification,  as 
regards  the  different  varieties,  and  the  order  in  which  they 
will  be  considered,  is:  i.  The  Healthy;  2.  The  Weak;  3 
The  Indolent;  4.  The  Irritable;  5.  The  Cachectic. 

I.  The  Healthy  or  simple  ulcer  is  known  by  the  secretion 
being  thick,  creamy,  inodorous,  and  having  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  healthy  pus.  Its  surfaces  are  studded  with  numer- 
ous granulations,  conical  in  shape,  vascular  and  sensitive. 
They  are  bathed  with  a  laudable  pus,  whicli  protects  them 
from  injury  from  extraneous  matter,  and  which  should  never 


^         Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  187 

be  wholly  removed.  The  sore  may  be  covered  lightly  with 
a  soft  piece  of  linen  or  oakum,  simply  to  protect  it,  but  never 
sufficient  to  retain  the  overflow  of  pus,  as  this,  when  kept 
in  contact  with  granulating,  the  surface  will  so  change  it,  by 
increasing  the  heat  of  the  part,  that  it  becomes  an  irritant  and 
will  convert  the  simple,  healthy  sore  into  a  weak  ulcer. 

2.  The  Weak  Ulcer. — When  from  any  cause  cicatriza- 
tion has  been  retarded  and  the  healthy  nutrition  interfered 
with,  the  ulcer  presents  a  different  aspect.  The  granulations 
are  large  and  less  numerous,  pale  and  sometimes  of  a  yellow 
hue,  less  vascular,  bulbous,  with  loss  of  sensibility,  and  when, 
from  injury,  bleeding  occurs  it  is  venous  in  character.  The 
discharge  is  thin,  the  serum  predominating.  The  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  sore  is  unhealthy,  the  granulations  are  pale, 
flabby  and  elevated  above  the  surrounding  integuments. 
The  tissue  around  the  sore  is  the  seat  of  passive  congestion, 
and  frequently  of  serous  effusion;  while  often  its  free  margins 
are  covered  with  exuberant  granulations,  which  not  unfre- 
quently  lose  their  granular  character,  the  margins  pre^^enting 
a  rounded,  smooth  appearance.  Everything,  in  short,  de- 
pends upon  ati  asthenic  condition,  which  may  be  the  result  of 
local  circumstances,  such  as  a  foreign  substance  in  contact 
with  the  sore,  or  on  account  of  the  great  distance  of  the  part 
from  the  center  of  circulation,  upon  atmospheric  conditions 
induced  by  crowded  wards,  etc.,  or  it  may  be  an  indication 
of  an  enfeebled  system. 

Large  healthy  ulcers  are  liable  to  become  unhealthy  as  a 
result  of  protracted  cicatrization.  The  treatment  should  be 
prompt  to  prevent  the  decline  from  the^  healthy  to  the  weak, 
and  should  be  both  local  and  constitutional.  Of  the  flrst  im- 
portance is  the  removal  of  any  local  cause,  such  as  regulating 
the  position,  which  may  prevent  a  normal  circulation,  remov- 
ing foreign  substances,  which  would  act  as  an  irritant,  or  in- 
terfere with  the  proper  drainage.  If  the  granulations  are 
feeble  use  slight  stimulants  in  Carbolic  acid,  Nitrate  of  sti- 
ver. Sulphate  of  copper  or  zinc.  Calendula,  etc.,  or  perhaps  a 
simple  compress  is  all  that  is  necessary.  Proper  bandaging 
is  frequently  very  useful  in  preventing  venous  engorgement, 
which  attends  local  debility. 


188  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance,  ^ 

The  constitutional  condition  should  be  carefully  ascertained, 
eliciting  the  symptoms  closely  and  seeking  the  indicated 
remedy.  I  have  found  Silicea  to  work  wonders  in  many 
cases,  especially  when  the  ulcer  is  in  the  state  of  transition 
from  the  healthy  to  the  weak.  There  are  many  remedies  in- 
dicated by  the  different  appearances  the  ulcer  may  present. 
The  application  of  the  remedy  in  accordance  with  the  law 
of  similars  will  always  be  followed  by  gratifying  results.  In 
those  of  decided  asthenic  type  more  active  local  treatment 
must  be  initiated  by  removing  the  exuberant  granulation  by 
the  application  o^  Nitric  acid^  Acid  nitrate  of  mercury  or  the 
Nitrate  qf  silver y  applying  the  agent  selected  until  the  granu- 
lations are  converted  to  a  normal  condition,  and  the  ulcer 
presents  a  healthy  appearance.  The  parts  should  then  be 
dressed  with  the  Carboliztd  oil^  and  compressed  with  a  roller 
bandage. 

3.  The  Indolent  Ulcer. — The  situation  of  the  indolent 
ulcer  is  generally  upon  the  lower  half  of  the  leg;  its  shape  is 
oval,  the  base  broad  and  flat,  the  color  dusky  or  tawny,  and 
the  surface  smooth.  It  sometimes  has  a  few  minute  granu- 
lations, which  are  compact  and  adherent  to  the  fascia  be- 
neath; the  discharge  is  seropurulent,  with  an  offensive  odor; 
the  margins  are  elevated  above  the  sore,  are  abrupt  or  shelv- 
ing, dense  white  and  generally  callous.  The  surrounding 
integument  is  swollen,  condensed  and  discolored;  due  to  re- 
parative congestion.  Both  the  sore  and  the  margins  are 
comparatively  insensible. 

So  long  as  the  ulcer  remains  indolent  the  patient  suffers 
very  little  pain,  but  continues  his  accustomed  vocation.  If 
accidently  inflamed,  either  by  a  blow  or  by  exposure  to  wet 
or  cold,  he  can  work  no  longer;  even  the  erect  position  is  un- 
endurable, and  he  now  seeks  relief.  The  surrounding  skin  is 
now  swollen;  even  the  margins  of  the  sore  are  reddened  and 
soft,  the  discharge  is  thin  and  bloody,  and  the  parts  being  low 
in  vitality,  are  overpowered  by  the  intensity  of  the  inflam- 
mation, and  a  slough  occurs,  the  entire  sore  then  assumes  an 
inflammatory  character. 

Indolent  ulcers  are  frequently  caused  by  or  attended  with 
varicose  veins;  th6  coats  of  the  vessel  are  very  much  thick- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,  189 

ened,  the  circulation  greatly  impaired,  and  consequently  the 
vitality  low.  The  treatment  of  an  indolent  ulcer  should 
be  conducted  with  much  care.  It  is  generally  amenahle 
to  treatment,  no  matter  what  may  have  been  its  cause. 
If  the  patient's  health  has  been  impaired  by  insufficient 
or  unwholesome  diet,  exposure  to  cold  and  damp  atmos- 
phere, illy  ventilated  sleeping  apartments,  or  habits  of 
filth,  the  conditions  of  life  must  be  changed.  The  patient 
must  be  placed  in  a  situation  whereby  the  parts  may  receive 
proper  nourishment;  in  fact,  this  is  all  that  is  often  necessary 
to  obtain  a  cure.  All  constitutional  treatment  should  be  di- 
rected toward  the  restoration  of  a  perfect  assimulation. 
Rest  and  position  are  the  most  useful  adjuvants  and  will  fre- 
quently be  all  that  may  be  required. 

If  the  ulce^,  when  presented  for  treatment,  is  in  a  state  of 
inflammation  the  patient  should  be  placed  in  bed,  the  limb 
enveloped  with  cloths  saturated  with  cold  water,  retained 
with  a  roller  bandage,  changing  the  dressing  frequently  until 
the  inflammatory  symptoms  subside. 

The  calloused  edges  will  be  softened,  and  you  will  now 
see  the  granulations  starting;  but  they  are  retarded  because 
the  hard  border  of  the  sore  has  not  disappeared,  the  absorp- 
tion is  not  completed,  or  the  slough,  if  it  has  occurred^  has 
not  been  sufficiently  extensive.  The  hard  borders  and  base 
can  be  disposed  of  by  scraping  oflT  the  calloused  tissue;  the 
granulations  will  then  spring  up  and  condensing  form  cicatri- 
cial tissue. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  convert  this  ulcer  into  a  wound  with 
loss  of  substance  by  completely  dissecting  out  the  indolent 
margins  and  base,  but  this  would  be  useless  unless  the  gen- 
eral system  be  improved,  so  that  a  healthy  nutrition  can  occur 
in  the  part  diseased. 

4.  The  Irritable  Ulcer  is  superflcial,  very  rarely  ex- 
tending deeper  than  the  true  skin.  Its  surfaces  are  void  of 
granulations,  generally  of  a  dark  red  color,  or  covered 
irregularly  with  a  film  of  grayish  fibrin.  The  outline  is  irre- 
gular, the  edges  serrated,  everted,  red  and  angry,  frequently 
studded  with  red  points  which  seem  like  small  arterial  tufts. 


190  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

The  surrounding  tissues  are  in  a  state  of  passive  congestion; 
the  discharge  is  sanious,  acrid  and  thin,  containing  the  re- 
sulting dehris;  the  pain  is  constant,  and  is  frequently  unbeara- 
ble, in  fact  the  surface  is  so  exceedingly  sensitive  that  even 
the  most  emoUent  dressings  will  produce  intense  burning 
pain.  A  train  of  constitutional  symptoms  precede  or  attend 
this  variety  of  ulcer,  general  irritability,  great  restlessness, 
loss  of  sleep,  anorexia  and  disordered  secreti:)n,.are  the  usual 
accompaniments. 

The  constitutional  symptoms  should  be  combated  with  the 
indicated  remedy.  Ars.  a/6.,  Ars,  iod.,  Hepar  suL,  Mer,  cor,, 
Aaaf.,  Acid  nit.  and  Silicea  are  remedies  which  have  proved 
efficacious  in  the  treatment.  Opium  is  frequently  useful,  not 
from  its  specific  relation,  but  on  account  of  its  sedative  action; 
the  dose  should  be  that  sufficient  to  produce  its  physiological 
effect.  The  irritability  is  frequently  continued,  and  the  indi- 
cated remedy  fails  to  act  because  of  the  exhaustion  attending 
the  loss  of  sleep  and  the  want  of  rest.  My  rule  is  never  to 
allow  a  patient  to  pass  sleepless  nights,  and  if  rest  can  not  be 
obtained  by  the  administration  of  the  homoeopathic  remedy, 
I  give  Opium  or.  some  of  its  preparations,  or  if  that  is  not 
tolerated,  the  Hydrate  of  chloral. 

By  the  use  of  anodynes  the  extreme  restlessness  in  a  few 
days  disappears,  and  the  indicated  remedy  can  be  given  with 
marked  success. 

This  may  be  considered  by  some  as  passing  the  boundary, 
or  even  abandoning,  the  law  of  Similia. 

1  use  anodynes  for  the  purpose  of  giving  rest  and  quiet  to 
the  nervous  system,  as  I  would  to  apply  a  splint  to  a  fractural 
bone  or  ruptured  muscle,  so  that  nature  may  exert  her  con- 
servative power  and  repair  the  destroyed  tissue. 

The  constitutional  treatment,  however  carefuU}'  conducted, 
often  fails,  necessitating  a  combination  with  local  measures. 

The  patient  should  observe  the  reclining  posture-  with  the 
limb  elevated,  dressed  with  cold  or  warm  water,  as  may  be 
the  more  agreeable,  and  highly  bandaged. 

The  most  efficient  remedy  to  arrest  the  spreading  of  the 
ulcer,  relieving  the  extreme  sensitiveness  and  constant  pain, 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  191 

18  the  acid  Nitrate  of  Mer.^  the  strength  in  proportion  to  the 
character  of  the  ulcer.  One  application  is  frequently  suffi- 
cient to  change  the  character  of  the  sore,  for  a  time,  at  least, 
converting  it  into  a  simple  ulcer.  The  constitutional  treat- 
ment should  be  perseveringl}*  followed. 

5.  The  Cachectic  Ulcer.  Under  this  heading  are  found 
the  scrofulous  and  the  syphilitic  sores,  depending  upon 
either  an  acquired  or  hereditary  tendency. 

The  scrofulous  sore  is  attended  by  disorder  of  the  organic 
functions,  especially  that  of  assimilation  and  the  various  af- 
fections of  the  lymphatic  system.  It  seldom  occurs  singly,  but 
in  clusters,  at  first  distinct,  but  Becoming,  after  a  time,  con- 
fluent. They  occur  more  frequently  about  the  neck,  back, 
shoulders,  buttocks,  and  the  aiticulations.  They  are  attended 
with  little  pain,  as  the  grade  of  vascular  excitement  is  only 
slightly  above  that  of  nutrition.  Infiltration  with  attending 
swelling,  occurs  with  suppuration,  breaking  down  of  tissue, 
and  the  discharge  of  thin  pus,  containing  tubercular  matter, 
and  disintegrated  cellular  tissue. 

The  treatment  is  constitutional  and  hygienic.  Pure  air  es- 
pecially in  the  sleeping  apartments,  and  such  food  as  can  be 
easily  assimilated,  are  of  the  first  importance.  The  remedies 
that  are  indicated,  may  be  found  among  8ul.^  Cal.  car.,  Hepar, 
8ul.,  lodiumy  Sihcea,  Mer,  tod,.  Kali,  tod,,  CaL  iod,,  Ter,  iod,, 
or  Vistus  canadensis.  The  local  treatment  consists  in  keep- 
ing the  sore  well  cleansed,  and  stimulating  it  with  Cistus  can., 
or  Carbolic  acid. 

'  The  syphilitic  ulcer  is  specific,  and  deperids  upon  blood 
contamination,  which  is  manifested  by  a  peculiar  sore,  gen- 
erally easily  recognised.  The  primary  sore  will  not  now  be 
considered,  only  those  which  occur  in  the  advanced  stages 
of  the  malady.  These  are  ;)lways  intensified  by  a  debilitated 
condition  of  the  system,  from  mercurialization  or  intemper- 
ance. They  may  result  from  the  eruption  peculiar  to  the 
secondary  stage,  or  from  circumscribed  infiltration  of  the 
tissues;  (giimmata)  those  of  the  first  variety  being  superficial 
symptoms  of  great  importance,  is  that  in  this  variety  of  ulcers, 
cicatrization  occurs  from  the  concave,  while  the  destruction 


192  Cincnnati  Medical  Advance, 

is  from  the  convex  border,  attacking  only  the  skin,  while 
those  of  the  second,  extend  into  the  subcutaneous  tissue. 
They  are  circulir,  cresentic — shaped  like  a  horseshoe,  or 
annular,  ring  like,  with  a  center  of  healthy  or  cicatricial 
tissue.  The  edges  of  the  syphilitic  sore,  are  well  defined, 
the  bases  flat,  dark  crimson,  and  covered  sometimes 
with  small  granules.  The  discharge  is  thick  and  heavy, 
and  very  often  forms  crusts,  which  cover  the  sore.  They  are 
not  attended  by  any  grave  constitutional  symptoms,  other 
than  those  which  attend  syphilis.  The  diagnosis  may  be 
confirmed  by  the  existence  of  previous  marks  of  the  disease. 

The  treatment  should  be  influenced  by  the  history  oF  the 
case,  and  the  remedies  chosen  according  to  the  symptoms. 
Mercury^  in  some  of  its  preparations,  stands  prominent,  and 
no  doubt  is  specific,  if  it  has  not  been  administered  to  excess 
in  the  primary  stages.  I  prefer  the  Proto  iodide^  given  in 
what  Keys  calls,  in  bis  work  on  the  treatment  of  syphilis, 
"the  tonic  dose,"  which  carries  the  remedy  to  a  point,  which 
scarcely  reaches  its  physiological  action. 

Kali  hydri.y  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  remedies,  es- 
pecially when  the  ulcer  is  of  the  second  class,  or  when  the 
disease  has  been  influenced  by  excessive  doses  of  J/er.  Ars. 
iod.y  is  another  important  remedy,  when  the  character  of  the 
sore  is  irritable,  and  the  constitutional  symptoms  correspond. 

Berberis  aqu.,  is  said  to  be  an  efficient  remedy  for  the 
syphilitic  ulcer. 

The  local  treatment  consists  in  keeping  the  parts  clean, 
and  stimulating  with  the  acid  ^it.  mer..  Cup.  sul,^  or  Acid 
nit.y  suiting  the  strength  of  the  application  to  the  particular 
case,  and  dressing  with  Vaseline, 

In  conclusion  I  wish  to  notice  that  the  proper  adjustment 
of  bandages  and  adhesive  plaster,  as  tecommended  by 
various  writers,  in  the  treatment  of  weak  and  indolent  ulcers, 
is  of  great  benefit,  and  frequently  is  all  that  is  necessary,  es- 
pecially if  the  ulcer  depends  upon,  or  is  attended  by,  varicose 
veins.  The  Martin  elastic  bandage,  has  recently  gained  a 
reputation  in  the  treatment  of  ulcers.  I  have  used  it  with 
success,  but  can  accomplish  all   things  claimed  for  it,  with  a 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society,  193 

cloth  bandage.  I  have  been  obliged  to  dispense  with  it  in 
several  cases,  especially  during  the  summer  season,  for  the 
reason  that  it  irritates  the  parts,  even  when  the  limb  is  pro- 
tected with  a  cotton  bandage.  The  constant  tension  exer- 
cised by  the  rubber,  and  the  imperviousness  to  air,  so  confine 
the  parts,  that  the  limb  is  bathed  in  perspiration,  and  the  skin 
becomes  so  tender,  that  not  only  does  the  ulcer  inflame,  but 
new  ones  also  form.  These  objections  may  not  be  valid  in 
cold,  but  they  certainly  are  in  warm  weather. 


Dr.  Parmelee,  Toledo. — I  would  like  to  inquire  of  Dr. 
Schneider  whether  in  putting  up  ulcers  at  "rest,"  as  spoken 
of,  he  confined  his  patients  to  a  recumbent  position,  in  bed, 
for  instance. 

Dr.  Schneider — I  sometimes  do. 

Dr.  Parmalee — This  subject  of  ulcers  I  have  been  quite 
interested  in  of  late,  and  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind,  that 
their  proper  treatment  consists  partly  in  inducing  in  them  a 
state  wh:ch  Dr.  Hilton,  (in  his  "Rest  and  Puin"),  ha«  aptly 
denominated  "physiological  rest;"  but  to  do  this  I  am  not 
satisfied  that  recumbency  is  necessary. 

In  my  own  practice,  I  was  consulted  about  two  years  ago 
by  an  elderly  lady,  who  had  suffered  for  about  five  years  from 
a  varicose  ulcer  upon  her  limbs;  findin^r  no  permanent  relief 
from  any  procedure  which  difTerent  surgeons  had  instituted. 
The  ulcer  was  quite  large,  extendin^^  some  six  inches  in  one 
direction,  and  five  in  the  other.  I  cut  throu;^lr  the  hardened  ' 
edges  by  a  dozen  difTerent  incisions,  and  applied  what  is 
known  as  Dr.  Sayre's  "Basket-strapping,"  supporting  the 
limb  to  the  knee;  this  I  changed  at  intervals  as  demanded,, 
the  lady  going  about  her  ordinary  duties  as  usual.  In  less 
than  six  months  the  limb  was  entirely  well,  and  has  remained 
so  ever  since. 

I  would  prefer,  in  classifying  ulcers,  to  proceed  upon  a 
pathologiciil  basis,  rather  than  a  symptomic  one,  as  Dr.' 
Schneider  has  done  in  his  paper.  I  know  that  surgical 
authors  speak  of  simple,  irritative,  diathetic,  et  id.  ulcers; 
but  how  much  better  it  would  be  were  they  to  call  them 
Sept-5 


\ 


194  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

instead  by  the  conditions  supporting,  rather  than  the  moment* 
ary  state  in  which  they  find  thtm.  I  would  speak  of  ulcers 
as  varicose,  syphilitic,  eczematous,  traumatic  et  cet. 

To  recur  again  to  the  subject  of  the  Esmarch  Bandage. 
Dr.  Martin,  of  Boston,  has  a  soft  rubber  banduge,  bearing  his 
name,  intended  to  take  the  place  of  the  hard  Esmarch,  which 
in  my  hands  has  proven  very  uselul. 


lltlBCTllar  FaTOSIs.     M.  H.  Parmelee,  M.  D.,  Toledo. 

There  are  cases  happening  quite  frequently  in  general 
practice,  which  are  unfortunately,  so  slight  that  they  are  over- 
looked, or  if  attention  is  called  to  them,  the  good  old  family 
doctor,  oracularly  declares  that  "they  will  outgrow  it."  Alas 
for  the  little  ones!  for  children  are  the  persons  usually  affected ; 
they '  are  left  to  struggle  with  a  serious  affliction  unaided. 
After  awhile,  depending  somewhat  upon  the  watchfulness 
of  the  parents,  and  the  degree  of  gravity  of  the  case,  deform- 
iiies  result,  and  then  the  specialist  is  called  in,  and  large  sums 
are  expended  with  but  comparative  amelioration  of  the 
symptoms;  confidence  in  the  doctor  is  lost,  and  worse  than  all, 
the  boy  or  girl  goes  through  life  deprived  of  a  portion  of  his 
or  her  heritage.  A  paretic  muscle  is  a  relaxed  muscle.  You 
will  say  that  this  is  the  definition  of  a  paralyzed  muscle.  The 
scope  of  this  paper  will  not  permit  of  a  discussion  of  the  dif- 
ference, suffice  it  to  say,  that  while  all  paralyzed  muscles 
may  be  and  are  paretic,  there  are  cases  of  muscular  paresis, 
which  are  not  paralytic,  in  origin  or  course.  Cases  arising 
independently  of  any  trouble  in  the  nerve  centres,  confined 
to  a  single  muscle,  or  a  set  of  muscles;  playing  their  part 
without  regard  to  the  general  nutrition,  and  amenable  to 
to  certain  well  defined  principles  and  rules  of  treatmei\JU 
Such  cases  deserve  a  nomenclature,  as  well  as  proper  con- 
sideration. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         195 

Any  muscle  in  the  human  body  is  liable  to  paretic  seizures, 
and  we  frequently  see  such  in  the  throat  of  the  singer,  the 
biceps  of  the  gymnast,  the  quadriceps  of  the  sliding-seat  oars- 
man, from  over  exertion,  which  speedily  regain  their  pristine 
vigor  and  form  by  an  adequate  rest;  but  in  the  lower  limbs  of 
childhood  we  see  similar  seizures  often,  magnified  by  the 
constant  weight  thrown  upon  them  in  walking;  continually 
overpowered  by  antagonistic  muscles,  becoming  hideous 
deformities. 

In  my  experience  its  causes  have  been  various  and  con- 
flicting. One  case  could  only  be  traced  to  a  lingering  den 
tition,  another  to  a  sharp  attack  of  cholera  infantum;  another 
to  an  "ephemeral  fever;"  and  another  went  to  bed  as  usual, 
and  awoke  in  the  morning  with  one  of  its  lower  limbs  limp 
and  useless,  being  hardly  disturbed  in  any  other  direction;  at 
least,  he  ate  and  played,  and  seemed  greatly  to  lament,  and 
be  astonished  at  the  loss  of  power. 

M.  Duchenne,  (the  younger,)  considers  its  causes  to  be  ob- 
scure, but  has  put  upon  record  his  belief  in  its  non  heredity, 
and  also  upon  its  being  neither  dependent  in  any  degree  on 
privation  or  poverty. 

M.  Charcot,  regards  it  as  an  inflammatory  trouble,  caused 
by  exposure  to  damp  and  cold. 

Other  writers  have  observed  it  as  following  upon  measles, 
"gastric  fever,"  and  other  febrile  maladies. 

It  has  never  been  my  pleasure  to  carry  my  investigations 
of  the  morbid  anatomy  to  the  dissecting  room,  or  to  the  mi- 
croscope. Clinically,  the  fact  of  the  muscles  atrophy  and  loss 
of  contractility  is  only  too  apparent. 

Rindfleisch,  in  his  excellent  "Pathological  Anatomy,"  figures 
several  striated  muscular  fibres,  which  are  very  instructive 
and  will  repay  study.  Some  have  lost  their  transverse 
.striation  and  become  granular,  and  some  are  infiltrated 
with  fatty  globules. 

These  are  undoubtedly  the  conditions  that  are  found  in  all 
of  the  cases. 

CLINICAL  HISTORY. 

As  you  may  already  have  surmised,  no  definite  course  can 
be  laid  down  for  its  onset.    Each  of  my  own  cases  has  seemed 


196  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


\ 


a  law  unto  itself,  and,  apart  from  the  loss  of  power,  a  history 
would  be  but  a  compilation  of  the  symptoms,  objective  and 
subjective  of  the  whole  number.  I  have  therefore  thought  it 
better  to  introduce  some  individual  records  to  serve  as 
examples. 

Case  I.  Rollin  R ,   American,   five  years   of  age,  in 

August,  1875,  ^^^  ^  slight  fever,  accompanied  by  vomiting 
spells,  coated  tongue,  constipation,  and  all  the  other  evidences 
of  deranged  digestion,  which  continued  for  the  space  of  one 
week,  being  seen  daily  by  one  of  our  city  practitioners.  In 
about  two  weeks  from  the  period  of  his  convalescence,  his 
parents  began  to  notice  a  slight  hitch  in  his  gait  connected 
with  the  right  limb's  movements.  After  thinking  over  it  for 
a  month  or  so,  and  feeling  sure  that  it  increased,  they  called 
the  doctor's  attention  to  the  case.  They  were  told  that  the 
*'ankle  was  a  little  weak,"  and  ordered  to  put  on  the  child  a 
stiff  sided  shoe.  They  did  so,  and  the  boy  ran  about  as  usual 
for  three  naonths  or  more,  when  the  parents  became  again  ex- 
erxused  by  the  halt  in  the  gait,  and  the  evidently  diminished 
size  of  the  affected  limb,  they  again  applied  to  their  physician, 
who  laughingly  quieted  all  their  fears  by  assuring  them  that 
the  boy  ^'would  outgrow  it,  as  he  became  older;"  ordered  a 
new  stiff  shoe,  gave  the  little  fellow  some  medicine  internally; 
told  the  parents  to  "rub  the  ankle,"  and  said  "after  a  while  we 
will  use  some  electricity  if  the  case  shall  require  it."  Time 
ran  along  and  at  different  periods  they  consulted  their  Doctor, 
until  December  1876,  when  the  father  asked  me  to  see 
the.  boy.  I  found  him  running  about  the  house  dragging  the 
right  foot  somewhat,  with  a  decided  eversion,  and  wearing  a 
stiff  shoe  with  a  pair  of  iron  supports  to  the  knee,  with  a 
joint  opposite  the  ankle.  Upon  taking  this  off,  I  found  the 
foot  colder  than  the  other,  all  of  the  muse  es  weaker  than  in 
the  left  foot,  with  a  decided  decrease  in  their  calibre,  and  in 
tha  circumference  of  the  limb  measured  in  two  or  three 
places;  the  arch  of  the  foot  flat  upon  the  Boor;  a  hard  callus 
over  the  head  of  the  scaphoid  bone  from  pressure  upon  the 
&boe;  a  well  marked  depression  along  the  outer  side  of  the 
tibial  spine,  where  the  tibi.lis  anticusand  muscle  are  located, 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Rom,  Med,  Society,  197 

complete  inability  to  extend  the  big  toe,  or  invert  the  foot;  and 
sensation  was  but  little  impaired,  and  under  Chloroform^  the 
foot  could  be  carried  in  any  direction.  Therje  were  but  three 
muscles  that  would  not  respond  to  the  Faradic  current,  A.  D. 
These  were  the  extensor  proprius  pollicis;  the  branch  of  the 
brevisdigitorum  to  the  great  toe,  and  the  tibialis  anticus.  At 
that  time  I  did  not  possess  a  galvanic  current,  and  I  did  not  find 
out  until  later  cases,  and  the  pos^e-^sion  of  both  kinds  of 
electricity  had  taught  me  something  in  proo^nosis,  wh  ch  I 
now  know.  To  return  to  the  case.  It  was  evident  after 
studying  it  awhile,  that  I  had  not  to  do  with  a  case  of 
^'essentiar'  or  infantile  paralysis,  as  other  inuscles  supplied  by 
the  anterior  tibial  nerve,  (the  extensor  longns  digitorum,and 
peroneus  tertius)  were  not  involved,  except  in  the  general 
sense  of  the  whole  lower  limb. 

These  details  did  not  come  to  me  at  once,  I  assure  you,  but 
only  after  many  an  anxious  hour  of  thought  and  study.  The 
ca'^e  was  a  well  known  one,  and  I  was  at  a  critical  period  in 
my  medical  career.  Under  these  circumstances,  excuse  me  if  I 
speak  with  some  warmth  of  the  successfid  result  in  the  case 
under  consideration.  I  conceived  the  idea  that  these  weaker 
muscles  were  made  so  by  being  drawn  upon,  and  cont.nually 
being  "stretched"  by  the  body  weight,  and  other  muscles 
more  favorably  situated.  Acting  upon  this  hint,  I  constructed 
an  apparatus  as  simple  as  possible,  consisting  of  a  strong 
elastic  band,  which  passed  under  the  foot  from  the  outside 
around  the  insideand  arch  of  the  foot,  ra  sing  it  to  a  normal 
position,  and  contmued  the  band,  endeavoring  to  follow  the 
line  of  the  tiabialts  anticus,  to  a  secure  fastening  on  a  upright 
on  the  outside  of  the  limb.  With  this  in  place,  the  boy  felt 
immediately  more  secure  in  his  gait,  and  under  other  treat- 
ment he  progressed  finely,  and  to-day  his  infirmity  is  hardly 
disco  ver;ible. 

Case  II.  Dan.  L,  American,  began  to  walk  about  freely 
when  one  year  old.  At  sixteen  months,  he  passed  through  a 
hard  dentition,  and  at  twenty  monihs  of  age,  when  I  fir^t  s:iw 
him,  in  April,  1877,  he  was  walking  with  difficulty  up  )n  the 
inner  edges  of  both  feet,  a  condition  known  as  Taliped  Valgus. 


198  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

The  prompt  application  of  the  necessary  mechanical  applt* 
ance,  looking  at  the  case  in  its  proper  light,  served  to  check 
the  growing  deformity,  and  the  institution  of  the  correct  as- 
sociated treatment  soon  completely  cured  him. 

I  could  relate  other  cases,  but  time  enough  has  already 
passed,  and  I  must  speak  of  the 

TREATMENT. 

Naturally  it  divides  itself  into  the  local  and  general.  The 
local  treatment  again  may  be  divided  into  the  mechanical  and 
the  therapeutical.  Of  these,  the  first  is  the  most  important 
when  taking  charge  of  a  case.  The  problem  of  what  kind 
of  appliance,  will  be  necessary  to  the  indivirlual  case,  when 
reduced  to  the  application  of  two  general  principles,  will  be 
found  easy  of  solution. 

1.  To  be  effectual,  your  apparatus  must  serve  to  approxi- 
mate the  origin  and  insertion  of  any  paretic  muscle,  or  set  of 
mu<«cles,  to  induce  in  them  a  state  of  what  Dr.  Hilton  aptly 
terms  "physiological  rest." 

2.  E'astic  extension  must  he  applied  along  their  course,  to 
aid  in  restoring  them,  (the  relaxed  muscles)  in  the  event  of 
their  being  called  into  action,  to  their  state  of  rest. 

Bearing  these  in  mind,  it  will  be  easy  to  adapt  to  any  vari- 
ation of  the  disorder,  the  suitable  mechanism,  without 
which  all  other  means  will  fail  of  reaching  their  greatest 
benefit. 

It  is  a  favorite  practice,  among  many  physicians,  to  order 
ordinary  shoes  for  these  ca^es,  with  the  addition  of  a 
^'stifTener"  on  either  ?ide  of  the  ankle.  This  I  believe  to  be 
bad  practice,  and  ought  to  be  entirely  discarded,  fur  the  fol- 
lowing reasons: 

1.  Such  a  stiffened  shoe  could  only  prevent,  in  any  case, 
lateral  motion  at  the  ankle  joint;  now  the  latest  dissections 
have  shown  emphatically  that  there  is  no  lateral  motion 
there.     (Vide,  Say  re  and  others). 

2.  Such  a  shoe,  acting  as  a  stop-gap,  prevents  the  applica- 
tion of  more  scientific  and  enlightened  apparatus,  and 
beclouds  and  befogs  the  mind  of  the  practitioner  from  the 
true  pathological  condition. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society,  199 

3,  Such  a  shoe,  while  doing  no  good  to  the  rehixed  muscles, 
induces,  by  confinement,  a  weakened  state  in  those  which 
would  otherwise  be  healthy. 

Other  local  measures  of  a  therapeutical  nature  that  will 
prove  beneficial,  are,  whipping  the  muscles,  shampooing 
them  in  Alcohol^  rubbing  them  with  oils  or  fats,  and  electri- 
city properly  and  regularly  applied. 

In  the  commencement  of  a  case,  where  atrophy  is  found, 
no  form  of  Faradization  or  electro  magnetism  will  be  found 
of  benefit,  until  you  have  thoroughly  gotten  the  organizing 
eflect  of  the  galvanic  current.  Afterward  when  the  muscle 
shall  have  grown  under  its  influence,  you  will  find  that  any 
of  the  different  forms  of  batteries  or  machines,  will  aid  in 
awakening  contractions  and  healthy  movement. 

I  consider,  however,  the  great  factor  to  be  kept  in  mind, 
by  the  parents  and  physician  as  most  conducive  to  recovery, 
is  simply,  under  no  circumstances  to  allow  the  relaxed  muscles 
to  be  put  upon  the  stretch. 

Under  the  head  of  general  treatment  comes,  the  letting  the 
little  ones  have  air  and  sunlight,  food  and  clothing,  and  all 
such  favorable  means  as  are  known  to  aid  debility. 

Of  remedies,  we  of  the  new  faith,  are  particularly  rich.  I 
need  only  to  speak  of  Rhus  toxicodendron^  Nux  vomica^  Gel- 
semium,  Arnica,  Phosphorus,  China,  Anacardium,  Arsenicum, 
Plumbum,  Secale  and  Veratrum,  to  have  you  understand  fully 
their  proper  time  for  administration,  and  of  the  immense 
benefit  to  be  derived  from  them. 

Under  the  head  of  Prognosis,  some  important  questions 
are  to  be  decided,  which  let  us  consider  in  detail. 

In  the  first  place,  I  would  lay  it  down  as  a  rule,  and  find 
myself  supported  by  the  best  authorities: 

That  all  cases  in  the  lower  extremity,  if  let  alone  and 
unaided,  will  result  in  deformities,  such  as  some  one  of  the 
forms  of  Talipes.  Hence  the  absolute  necessity  of  competent 
treatment. 

I  have  been  compelled  to  resort  to  surgical  operations  sev- 
eral times,  to  relieve,  what  might  have  been,  if  attended  to  in 
time,  siiii^jle  cases  of  paresis,  but  had  bscjmi  bad  exainples 
of  simple  results. 


200  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

However,  it  is  not  now  my  intention  to  speak  of  the  sur- 
gical side  of  this  subject.  I  spoke  a  moment  ago  of  some 
knowledge  gained  by  the  use  of  two  kinds  of  batteries,  and 
it  was  simply  this: 

Paretic  muscles  that  will  not  respond  to  Faradization  or 
the  electro-magnetic  current,  will  qirite  frequently  contract 
under  the  influence  of  galvanism.  Such  muscles  can  be 
restored  by  care  and  attention.  An  important  fact  when 
you  are  forecasting  the  future. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  let  me  insistence  more  upon  the 
necessity  of  beginning  treatment  in  these  cases  early.  If  one 
little  one  may  thereby  be  saved  from  deformity,  I  shall  be 
more  than  repaid  for  calling  your  attention  to  it. 


Dr.  Owens  inquired  if  the  author  of  the  paper  wished  to 
convey  the  idea  that  there  could  be  such  a  state  as  muscular 
paresis  independent  of  nerve  paresis  or  sub-paralysis. 

Dr.  Parmalee  replied  that  that  was  what  he  meant.  A 
paresis  of  the  muscles  without  involving  the  nerves  of  the 
parts. 

Dr.  Owens — Then  I  must  dissent  from  the  conclusions  of 
the  paper,  for,  Mr.  President,  it  is  impossible  for  such  a  con- 
dition to  exist.  Paresis  means  loss  of  power,  a  relapsed  sub- 
paralytic  condition — a  partial  paralysis.  Now  all  function 
is  performed  under  the  influence  of  innervation,  supplied 
from  nerve  centers.  Any  interruption  to  the  function  of  a 
part  mu^t,  as  a  consequence,  result  from  interruption  in  the 
supply  or  in  its  transmission.  Every  sensation  is  dependent 
upon  the  presence  of  nerve  filament;  no  motion  can  take 
place  without  the  proper  influence  being  transmitted  from 
the  motor  center;  no  nutrition  of  a  part  can  take  place  with- 
out a  supply  of  protoplasm  in  connection  with  the  oiganic 
(sympathetic)  nervous  system;  none  of  the  functions  of  se- 
cretion, excretion  or  nutrition  can  be  performed  properly 
without  the  normal  condition  of  this  class  of  nerves.  If  the 
muscles  are  relaxed  it  shows  that  the  motor  filaments  are  in  a 
stale  of  paralysis,  though  the  nerves  of  sensation  and  nutri- 
tion may  be  intact — one  class  of  nerves  may  bj  paralyzed 
and  the  others  not. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,         20 1 

Dr.  Boy n ton  asked  Dr.  Owens  if  he  denied  the  irritability 
of  muscular  fiber. 

Dr.  Owens — Mv)st  certainly  I  do. 

Dr.  Boynton — How  then  will  he  account  for  the  contrac- 
tion of  the  muscles  of  the  heart  of  the  frog  several  hours 
after  its  removal  from  the  body? 

Dr.  Owens — 1  will  explain.  The  frog  is  a  cold-blooded 
animal,  and  all  cold-blooded  animals  are  supplied  with  a  very 
large  amount  of  muscular  protoplasm  (myosin) — much 
greater  in  proportion  than  warm-blooded  animals.  Cold- 
blooded animals  retain  this  irritability  much  longer  than 
warm-blooded  animals,  in  some  cases  as  long  as  fifteen  or 
twenly  days.  These  cold-blooded  animals  are  much  more 
simple  in  their  organization  than  warm-blooded.  The  more 
simple  the  organizations  are  the  more  highly  endowed  with 
organic  life.  No  doubt  all  are  familiar  with  the  remark  that 
the  snake,  though  its  head  be  severed  from  its  body,  will  not 
die  until  the  sun  goes  down.  It  would  be  difiicult  to  state 
any  relation  between  the  two  events.  It  is  really  owing  to 
the  presence  of  the  living  protoplasm.  The  motion  is  the 
vermicular  one  peculiar  to  all  involuntary  muscular  motion — 
to  all  parts  highly  endowed  with  the  nerves  of  organic  life 
or  protoplasm,  which  is  by  Schwann,  Fletcher,  Beale  and 
Huxley  declared  to  be  identical  (in  both  chemical  and  physi- 
cal properties)  with  the  nucleated  ganglionic  matter  of  the 
organic  (sympathetic)  nervous  system,  and  which  these  gen- 
tlemen have  also  maintained  to  be  the  only  true  living  matter, 
claiming  that  when  protoplasm  changes  to  cell,  death  begins. 
It  is  owing  to  the  presence  of  this  vitalized  protoplasm  that 
we  have  what  is  called  muscular  irritability.  Diffused,  as  it  is, 
throughout  all  soft  tissue  it  maintains  to  a  limited  extent  the 
functions  of  organic  life  for  an  indefinite  period  after  physi- 
cal life  has  ceased.  In  many  cases  the  beard,  hair  and  nails 
grow  after  the  body  has  been  placed  in  the  grave.  The  mus- 
cles of. the  man  or  animal  destroyed  by  electricity  have  not 
such  irritability,  from  the  fact  that  the  violence  of  the  shock 
destroyed  the  vitality  of  the  protoplasm  at  the  same  time, 
Matteuci,  in  his  lectures  at  Geneva,  demonstrated  that  the  so- 


202  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

called  muscular  irritability  in  the  frog's  \e%  could  be  instantly 
destroyed  by  a  powerful  primary  current.  Feeble  currents 
excited  muscular  contraction  up  to  a  certain  point,  when  ex- 
haustion supervened  and  finally  paralysis  and  organic  death. 
This  sO'Calied  muscular  irritability  exists  only  so  long  as  liv- 
ing protoplasm  is  present;  destroy  that  and  irritability  ceases. 
Now  as  this  protoplasm,  with  its  myosin  is  found  to  be  dif- 
fused throughout  the  entire  organism,whenever  soft  tissue  is 
found,  and  more  particularly  muscular  tissue,  and  as  this  pro- 
toplasm is  the  only  living  matter,  and  is  representative  of  the 
organic  nervous  system,  therefore,  whatever  irritability  is 
supposed  to  exist  in  the  mu<^cular  fibre,  does  so  exist  in  con- 
sequence of  this  representative  of  organic  life,  and  not  by 
virtue  of  any  inherent  irritability  of  muscular  fiber  itself. 

Dr.  Parmelee — I  am  very  glad  to  have  listened  to  so  able 
a  discussion  on  this  subject. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  bring  a  fire-brand  here;  but  I 
wished  to  differentiate  between  conditions  that  are  very  apt 
to  be  confounded.  Now  there  are  several  points  that  yet 
remain  to  be  cleared  up. 

In  the  first  place,  these  ganglionic  cells  spoken  of  by  Dr. 
Owens  as  ramifying  everywhere,  do  certainly  exist.  In  the 
spinal  column  they  are  aptly* termed  "trophic"  cells,  and  all 
authorities  are  agreed,  that  they  are  concerned  solely  with 
nutrition,  having  nothing  to  do  with  motion  or  sensation, 
consequently  they  can  not  be  concerned  in  paralysis. 

As  to  whether  muscles  have  an  irritability  outside  of  the 
sensory  motor  spheres,  Huller  announced  some  time  since, 
and  better  experimenters  have  confirmed  this  theory  of  the 
inherent  tendency  of  the  ultimate  muscular  fasciculus  to  con- 
tract; and  the  minute  anatomy  of  a  muscle  confirms  it  still 
more.  Each  muscular  fasciculus  is  surrounded  by  a  delicate 
membrane  called  the  sarcolemma;  into  this  membrane  the 
ultimate  nerve  fibres  entet  and  are  lost,  forming  a  circuit 
about  the  fasciculus,  but  nowhere  can  they  be  found  to  enter 
or  touch  it;  forming  precisely  a  similar  apparatus  to  the  Fara- 
dic  batteries,  and  inducing,  by  the  influence  of  the  motor 
centers,  a  contraction  in  the  fasciculus,  and  in  the  muscle. 


Proceedings  qf  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         203 

Now  with  such  anr  arrangement,  it  can  be  readily  under- 
stood that  loss  of  power  may  occur  in  two  diflerent  ways: 

I.  Through  the  motor  centers,  as  in  paralysis  proper,  and 

3.  From  the  fasciculi  by  losing  their  contractility,  which 
should  be  called  paresis,  so  that  we  may  distinguish  one  from 
the  other. 

With  these  few  thoughts  we  will  leave  this  subject  for  the 
present. 


Bonftl  CalculL     A  Case  by  H.  M.  Logee,  M.  D.,  Oxford, 

Miss  ,  of  scrofulous  constitution,  as   the  following 

history  will  show,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  had  facial  erysipelas* 
which  extended  to  the  che#t,  leaving  her  with  a  dry  cough* 
Socn  after  her  recovery  from  the  cough  she  had  a  latera 
curvature  of  the  spine,  followed  by  hip  joint  disease  (morbus 
coxarius)  with  openings  in  the  thigh  through  which  several 
spiculae  of  bone  were  discharged. 

She  first  menstruated  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and  there- 
after only  once  in  four  or  five  months,  for  the  several  suc- 
ceeding years.  Menses  were  often  accompanied  by  hsema- 
temesis.  In  July,  1874,  she  was  attacked  with  a  severe  dry* 
cough,  accompanied  with  pain  in  the  chest  and  dull  pain  and 
tenderness  in  the  right  iliac  region,  which  soon  demonstrated 
itself  to  be  a  spinal  abscess.  Pus 'was  freely  discharged  from 
the  vagina  in  the  September  following,  which  continued  for 
more  than  two  years,  with  constant  pain  high  up  the  back 
and  over  the  right  kidney.  She  had  had  urinary  difficulties 
at  various  times  for  several  years  before,  diagnosed  by  her 
physician  as  saccharine  diabetes.  After  being  cured  of  that 
she  often  had  retention  of  the  urine  for  two  days  at  a  time, 
and  since  September,  1874,  she  has  had  no  evacuation  of  the 
bladder  without  the  use  of  the  catheter,  I  suspected  calculi 
to  be  the  trouble,  and  several  times  sounded  the  bladder,  but 


204  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

found  none.     The  patient  was  seized  with  clonic  convulsions 

in  September,  1876,  which  have  continued  up  to  the  present 

time.     By  reason  of  the  convulsions  the  optic  nerve  became 

congested,  followed   by  amaurosis  and   total  atrophy  of  the 

optic   disc.      She  passed   the   first   calculus    in  July,    1878, 

and  has  daily  since  that  time  passed  into  the  urethra  pieces  of  \ 

the  disintegrated  calculi,  which  have  to  be  removed  with  a 

scoop.    I  have  not  kept  all  the  pieces,  but  have  here  over  two 

ounces. 

A  qualitative  analysis  shows  the  calculi  to.be  composed  of 

M(  Phosphate, 
a&fnesia    i  tt    ^ 
^  (  Urate. 

Carbonate  of  lime. 

Iron  oxide,  a  trace. 

Oxalate  of  lime. 

Phosphate  of  ammonia. 
This  case  is  reported  expressly  for  the  various  anomalies 
that  it  presents.     The  treatment  has  been  for  the  past  year 
mainly  Acids^  being  led  to  prescribe  them  on  account  of  the 
alkaline  urine. 


iimuoIoQ^. 


Insanity;  its  Medico- Social  Relations.  E.  R.  Eggleston,  M.  D., 
Mt.  Vernon, 

What  to  do  with  the  insane?  is  a  question  which  recurs 
periodically,  and  in  the  near  future  a  practical  answer  will 
involve  more  momentous  results  than  would  seem  to  appear 
to  the  casual  observer,  for  insanity  is  on  the  increase — alarm- 
ingly so — while  the  best  known  methods  of  treatment  which 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  205 

the  state  recognizes  are  proving  inadequate  to  mitigate  or 
cure — alarmingly  so!  The  inevitable  result  of  the  prepon- 
derance of  new  cases  over  cures  is  overcrowding  of  asylums, 
a  correspondingly  increased  negligence  of,  or  inability  to 
give,  proper  treatment,  and  consequently  a  fearfully  increas- 
ing list  of  the  incurable.  To  meet  this  calamitous  conse- 
quence of  the  present  system,  it  is  being  proposed,  and  the 
proposition  is  even  seriously  entertained,  that  the  more  iniqui- 
tous plan  be  adopted  of  the  establishment  of  institutions  for 
the  incurable  insane!  It  has  a  vastly  paternal  sound;  but,  un- 
derstanding as  we  do  the  stern  necessity  which  forces  the 
adoption  of  this  or  some  method  akin  to  it,  the  idea  of  a 
more  extended  protection  degenerates  into  a  miserable  com- 
mon-place make-shift.  It  means,  in  reality,  a  prison  which 
gives  no  hopeof  liberation  short  of  death;  the  abandonment 
of  all  curative  measures;  a  resistless,  hopeless,  helpless  pros- 
pect of  tyranical  restraint  and  punishment. 

The  statement  is  not  overwrought.  Appeal  to  your  mem- 
ories, and  say  how  often  during  the  last  decade  have  reports 
of  mal-treatment  at  asylums,  as  at  present  constituted,  filled 
the  columns  of  our  newspapers.  How  often  have  commit- 
tees of  investigation  "carefully  examined"  and  blanketed  the 
scandal?  What  of  the  "ducking-tub  exposure"  at  the  Cen- 
tral Asylum,  at  Columbus,  last  winter?  In  this  instance  the 
therapeutic  virtues  of  this  remedy  were  stou  \y  denied  by  one 
of  the  trustees,  whose  daughter,  by  a  strange  mischance,  was 
one  of  the  victims.  It  is  probable  that  the  tub  goes  into  en- 
forced retirement,  as  did  a  few  of  the  bungling  attendants,  to 
the  greaX  dismay  of  the  gentle  superintendent,  who  hoped, 
doubtless,  to  reap  a  rich  harvest  of  "clinical  results"  from  its 
employment.  But  here,  as  in  other  cases,  political  influence, 
the  monster  which  must  whet  its  insatiable  appetite  even 
upon  these  helpless  wards  of  the  state — as  well  as  upon  sol- 
diers' orphans — heaped  apology  upon  apology  for  the  out- 
rageous treatment,  and  it  was  winked  at — as  usual. 

It  is  evident  that  an  improvement  upon  the  present  system 
will  never  originate  in  the  humanitarian  instincts  or  progress 
sive  tendencies  of  the  modern  legislator,  for  the  current  of 


206  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

his  life  speeds  too  swiftly  upon  the  flux  of  the  first  law  of 
nature — self-preservation. 

To  whom,  then,  shall  we  look  for  assistance?  To  the 
medical  profession,  most  assuredly.  It  is  to  this  that  the 
abuses  of  the  past  are  to  be  charged,  seemingly  good  as  they 
may  have  been  then;  to  it  that  present  methods  and  condi- 
tions are  as  they  are — their  usefulness  outlived,  as  is  painfully 
evident;  and  from  it  must  arise  the  better  system  of  manage- 
ment, the  better  methods  of  treatment  for  the  insane,  which 
will  but  fulfill  one  of  the  humanitarian  demands  of  the  time. 

To  begin  at  the  fountain  head — the  colleges.  Why  is  it 
that  so  few  of  them  show  upon  the  faculty  roster  a  "Pro- 
fessor of  Diseases  of  the  Brain  and  Nervous  System!"  Let 
the  trusses  answer  whether  the  chair  is  unimportant;  whether 
its  value  to  students  would  not  be  at  least  equal  to  that  of 
medical  jurisprudence  or  hygiene;  whether  they  know  that 
these  diseases  present  the  knottiest  and  most  frequent  prob- 
lems to  physicians,  young  or  old,  and  their  alumni  are*next 
to  totally  unprepared  to  meet  them?  Is  it  better  in  these 
special  cases  the  patient  be  turned  over  to  the  tender  mercies 
oC  such  specialists  as  Gundry  or  Firestone? 

And  next,  to  you,  gentlemen,  I  put  the  question:  Why  do 
not  you,  feeling  so  keenly  the  fault  of  your  alma  mater,  apply 
the  remedy — master  the  subject  yourselves?  A  thousand 
excusatory  answers  suggest  themselves,  but  are  all  invalid,  as 
each  would  apply  with  equal  force  to  other  subjects  which 
you  have  mastered  almost  as  independentlyof  early  instruction. 
Why  your  unfiagging  diligence  should,  make  amends  for  the 
negligence  of  the  colleges,  appears  in  the  following:  I  hold 

that — 

1.  Physicians  are  responsible  for  the  increase  of  insanity. 

2.  They  are  responsible  for  the  necessity  which  drives 
such  unfortunates  within  the  walls  of  asylums. 

3.  They  are  responsible  for  the  public  opinion  which 
clamors  for  the  separation  of  such  patients  from  such  familiar 
surroundings  as  would,  in  many  cases,  conduce  greatly  to  a 
cure;  which  demands,  as  a  measure  of  public  safety,  the  in- 
carceration of  the  insane. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society,         207 

4.  In  short,  the}'  are  collectively  responsihle  for  the  whole 
monstrous  system  of  the  present  day« 

It  may  be  easier  to  substantiate  these  charges  than  appears 
at  a  glance.  For  instance,  if  our  appreciation  of  the  effects 
of  cli*>tant  nervous  irritation  upon  the  central  organ,  the  brain 
is  faulty,  and  if  through  this  fault,  aberration  of  mind  creeps 
on,  who  is  to  blame?  If  in  the  treatment  of  organic  diseases 
we  allow,  because  we  fail  to  see  the  tendency,  the  prepon- 
derance of  the  shock  to  fall  upon  the  nervous  system^  thence 
to  react  upon  the  brain,  there  to  destroy  the  equilibrium  of 
the  intellectual  forces,  who  is  to  blame?  If  we  fail  to  under- 
stand what  the  mind  is,  what  forces  determine  its  normal 
action,  how  forces  are  abnormally  accumulated  in  unaccus- 
tomed channels  and  insanity  result,  who  is  to  blame?  And 
now  when  the  statement  is  made  that  ninety  per  cent  of  ail 
cases  results  from  disease,  functional  or  organic,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  answer,  ourselves  are  to  blame! 

Thus  the  grounds  for  the  Hrst  charge  become  clear.  The 
second  has  a  like  basis,  but  in  addition  there  is  an  almost  abject 
confession  on  our  part  of  so  profound  an  ignorance  of  the 
disease,  that  the  services  of  often  unscrupulous  special  sts  are 
invoked  to  bridge  our  failures.  Thus  arises  the  necessity 
indicated. 

And  now,  if  I  express  my  belief  that  a  very  large  majority 
of  cases  are  curable,  and  that  the  cure  can  be  accomplished 
at  the  home  of  the  patient,  more  surely  and  speedily  than  at 
any  asylum,  public  or  private,  it  is  at  once  seen  that  insanity 
comes  within  the  province  of  the  humblest  practitioner,  and 
likewise,  if  it  is  true,  forcibly  brings  home  to  him  his  respon- 
sibility. Whose  eyes  should  be  keener  to  mark  its  beginnings 
whose  tongue  more  ready  to  warn  of  the  coming  danger, 
whose  bniin  better  furnished  to  supply  the  means  to  avert 
the  calamity,  whose  heart  more  open  to  the  confidence  of  the 
enfeebled  mind  than  the  family  physician?  How  is  the 
oversight  of  a  ''superintendent"  who,  in  these  days,  is  de- 
graded to  a  mere  office  hunter,  to  be  superior?  What  means 
of  diagnosis  or  treatment  are  at  the  command  of  a  **physi- 
cianin-charge"  that  are  not  at  our  disposal  also?     In  what 


208  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

respects  is  the  manaj>ement  of  these  unfortunates  by  "over- 
sjeers,"  "matrons,"  **keepers,"  etc.,  so  superior  to  that  which 
might  be  carried  out  by  fiithers,  mothers,  husbands  or  wives? 
And  yet  we  advise,  nay  urge,  that  tenderly  nurtured  women, 
who,  many  of  them,  are  keenly  sensitive  to  their  calamity 
shall  be  thrown  into  a  prison,  professedly  for  treatment,  where 
the  best  boasted  curative  means  are  enforced   restraint  and 
fear  of  punishment!     Who  dares  to  deny  his  responsibility? 
It  is,  then,  on  account  of  the  negligence  or  ignorance  of 
physicians  that  cases  are  allowed  to  progress  from  small  be- 
ginnings to  the  stage  of  confirmation,  when  the  fact  is  recog- 
nized that  the  person  is  certainly  crazy,  and  something  must 
be  done.     Here  it  is  that  our  responsibility  for  public  opinion 
is  most  manifest.     Instead  of  directing -the  current  of  senti- 
ment with  all  the  strength  of  a  large  and  humane  mind,  we 
too  readily  drift  with  the  vicious  stream  that  long  habit  has 
set  in  motion.     In  a  given  case  perhaps  friends  A  and  B  are 
consulted — perhaps  it  is  Dr.  C — really  it  makes  no  difference 
which,  lor  the  advice  is  precisely  the  same — "send  her  of!!" 
By  all   means,  send   her  off,  because,  weak  woman  as  she  is, 
there  are  monstrous  possibilities  for  danger  in  her.     Stout- 
hearted, protecting  men  propose  it;  trembling,  tearful,  sym- 
pathizing women  urge  it;  awe  stricken,  open-eyed  children 
echo  it;  the  doctor  gravely  bows  his  head  to  sanction  it — send 
her  off!     From  the  view  of  the  patient  there  is  nothing  to 
consider.     Her  wishes  are  but  trifles;  her  dreads   but  bug- 
bears; her  pleadings  but  empty  vaporing;  her  prayers  and 
tears  but  maniacal  rage.     Sensible  ot  her  misfortune,  deplor- 
ing it,  struggling  against  it,  no  strong  arm  is  extended  to 
sustain  her,  but  instead,  relations,  friends  and  doctor  conspire; 
she  is  victimized  by  ::  pleasure  trip  and  left  within  the  walls 
of  an  as3lum  to  rage  and  rave,  curse  God  and  man — as  well 
she  may!     Such   humane  methods  are  the  beginning  of  the 
process  of  cure;  months  and  years  of  fear,  deprivation  and 
mal  treatment  af  the  hands  of  brutal  keepers  is  a  continuation 
of  it;  and  finally,  a  cage  m  a  retreat  for  incurables  is  the  end 
of  it.     The  relations  having  performed  a  solemn  duty,  mourn 
as  lor   the  dead;  (be  friends  add  one  more  to  the  uncanny 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  209 

legends  of  the  neighborhood;  the  doctor  adds  a  plume  for 
having  treated  a  case  of  insanity — but  his  tell-tale  case-book, 
which  in  another  case  may  describe  with  labored  particularity 
a  diminutive  ulcer,  bears  opposite  this  unfortunate's  name 
the  comprehensive  description,  "crazy."  Barbarous,  is  the 
only  proper  designation  for  such  treatment,  ancj  among  bar- 
barians should  it  onlv  be  tolerated. 

Custom,  is  it?  True,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  as 
such  it  was  inaugurated,  as  far  as  physicians  were  concerned, 
by  reason  of  confessed  ignorance  of  the  subject,  which  is  no 
reason  for  its  continuance  to  all  eternity,  any  more  than  that 
in  these  enlightened  days  we  should  phlebotomize  or  actually 
cauterize,  because  the  ancients  did. 

A  change  must  come,  and  that  by  means  of  an  advanced 
professional  opinion,  which  will  be  the  natural  outgrowth  of 
higher  attainments.  Anatomists  will  not  be  allowed  to  so 
hastily  pass  over  the  chapters  on  the  nervous  system;  physi- 
ologists, who  now  can  measure  the  expenditure  of  active 
muscular  force  by  the  amount  of  potential  force  stored  in 
certain  ounces  and  grains  of  nutriment,  will  be  required  to 
account  with  as  much  exactness  for  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the 
nervous  forces;  the  gynaecologist  must  take  a  step  beyond  his 
favorite  "awgan,"  with  its  "agias,"  "algias,"  and  "itises;"  the 
obstetricist  must  explain  such  overwhelming  accumulations 
of  force  as  are  manifested  in  puerperal  convulsions  and  mania, 
and  the  perplexing  reflex  phenomena  of  the  whole  pregnant 
and  puerperal  state;  the  teacher  of  materia  medica  will  no 
longer  be  content  with  the  "especial  effect  upon  the  great 
nerve  centers,"  which  is  the  sum  of  present  knowledge  of 
not  a  few  powerful  agents;  and  the  therapeutist  must  use 
still  more  diligence  and  keenness  in  his  comparisons  between 
natural  and  drug  diseases,  thereby  extending  remedial  appli- 
cations. 

This  is  not  enthusiasm,  but  is  to  be  understood  as  an  em- 
phatic protest  against  the  folded  hands  and  closed  eyes  of  th 
profession  at  large.     There  are  exceptions,  however,  a   fe 
noble  spirits  who  are  giving  their  lives  to  these  question 
and  who  are  continually  shocking  our  monotony  by  startling 
Sept-5 


210  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

announcement.  Other  plodding  thinkers  stick  occasional 
pins  into  our  professional  "sleepy  hollows"  that  tingle  us  into 
a  spasmodic  realization  that  new  ideas  are  abroad,  presaging 
revolution.  What  open-mouthed  astonishment  will  prevail 
if  it  should  eventually  turn  out  that  in  the  nervous  system 
disease  has  its  origin,  and  that  upon  it  is  the  primary  effect 
of  all  curative  means!  Such  a  day  is  dawning.  To  the 
watchful  it  will  prove  glorious  as  if  emerging  from  twilight; 
upon  the  slothful  it  will  burst  as  dismayful  as  the  crack  of 
doom. 

Now  what  to  do.  Let  every  college  give  this  class  of  dis- 
eases the  prominence  which  it  deserves.  Let  every  physi- 
cian understand  the  subject,  never  forgetting  to  impress  upon 
his  students  the  paramount  importance  of  a  thorough  com- 
prehension of  the  normal  and  abnormal  conditions  of  the 
brain  and  nervous  system.  Let  the  world  understand  that 
the  service  of  specialists  are  unnecessary.  Then  the  insane 
will  be  cured;  then  asylums  will  cease  to  be  such  disgusting 
excrescences,  and  be  in  truth*  as  they  were  intended  to  be — 
harbors  of  refuge  for  the  incurable;  then  the  physician  will 
stand  in  the  very  fore  front  as  the  best  friend  of  his  neighbor 
and  the  state. 


Dr.  Jones  took  issue  with  the  paper  in  regard  to  the  better 
treatment  of  patients  at  home,  claiming  easier  management 
by  strangers,  and  better  results  by  the  methods  of  asylums, 
and  that  the  tendency  of  the  patient  to  violence  to  others  and 
to  himself  was  better  controlled  by  present  methods  than 
cou\l  be  by  any  having  such  grounds  as  are  set  forth  by  the 
paper.  The  charge  of  cruelty  at  asylums  is  greatly  misrepre- 
sented. Force  is  often  necessary  to  control  patients,  and  he 
felt  sure  it  was  not  used  excessively,  as  a  rule.  Even  if  such 
abuses  occurred,  the  cases  are  exceptional,  and  without  the 
authority  of  the  officers  in  charge. 

Dr.  Eggleston  explained  that  the  ground  taken  is  not  that 
less  care  is  desirable  in  the  management  of  the  insane.  If  a 
man  is  insane  he  can  not  be  treated  as  if  sane,  but  must  be 
managed  according  to  his  condition;  if  force  is  necessary  to 
control  him,  use  force.     The  point  is  that  asylums  offer  no 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  211 

system  of  management  superior  to  what  might  be  instituted 
at  the  home  of  the  patient,  where,  under  the  careful  supervi- 
sion of  a  capable  physician,  the  results  must  be  better.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  is  true  that  superintendents  do  sometimes 
know  of  brutal  practices,  an  instance  of  which  was  developed 
at  the  Central  last  winter,  as  the  reports  show  that  Prof. 
Gundry  instituted  the  ducking-tub,  and  that  Dr.  Firestone  fol- 
lowed  his  example.  Charges  against  asylums  must  hold 
good  in  general,  because  the  investigations  into  their  work- 
ings show  that  charges  of  mismanagement  have  been  made. 
Newburg,  he  thinks,  has  been  overhauled;  Longview  is  now 
under  investigation;  the  Central  got  it  last  winter,  when  the 
proceedings  were  within  closed  doors — as  much  as  star- 
chamber  affairs,  as  was  ever  a  congressional  inquiry. 

Dr.  Jones  stated  the  fjict  of  his  having  been  in  charge  of  a 
portion  of  the  asylum  at  Ulica,  N.  Y.,  and  related  incidents 
of  his  experience  there,  and  defended  his  first  position  in  op- 
position to  home  treatment.  As  an  instance  of  too  broad  a 
charge  of  mismanagement  against  asylums,  he  instanced  the 
asylum  at  Newburg,  the  superintendent  of  which  is  a  per- 
sonal friend,  and  he  felt  sure  that  if  that  institution  was  in- 
vestigated it  would  come  out  all  right.  He  further  thought 
that  if  the  author  of  the  paper  insisted  that  the  practices  re- 
ferred to  were  habitually  practiced  at  asylums,  and  that  with 
the  knowledge  of  the  officers  in  charge,  he  knew  nothing 
whatever  of  what  he  was  writing  about. 

Dr,  Eggleston  remarked  upon  the  little  consequence 
of  the  discussion,  which  had  taken  up  a  side  issue  used 
only  in  illustration.  The  central  idea  of  the  paper  is  not 
an  attack  upon  asylums,  or  their  management,  but  up- 
on physicians.  The  question  is  whether  Prof.  Jones,  or 
the  President,  or  any  one  of  us  can  diagnose  insanity  in  its 
incipiency,  prevent,  or  cure  it;  whether  we  understand  dis- 
eases which  lead  to  it;  whether  we  understand  anything 
about  it,  and  why  we  don't.  Having  been  under  the  in- 
struction of  Prof.  Jones,  I  charge  him  with  imperfect  teaching 
of  the  anatomy  of  the  nervous  system,  and  declare  that 
other  teachers  are  as  negligent  of  proper  instruction  upon 
diseases  which  involve  the  nervous  system. 


4 

A  few  Aphorisms  and  Practical  Bints  Appertaining  to  the 

Third  Stage  of  Labor.    J.  C.  Sanders,  M.  D.,  Cleveland 

Aphorism  i.  The  natural  forces  are  as  presumably  ade- 
quate to  the  unaided  accomplishment  of  delivery  of  the  pla- 
centa from  the  womb  in  the  ih  rd  stage,  as  they  are  to  the  un- 
aided accomplishment  of  either  the  preceding  stages. 

It  is  a  potent  fact  that  this  presumption  is  not  conceded  as 
a  truth  by  a  majority  of  practitioners  in  the  art  of  obstetrics, 
and  this  doubt  or  disbelief,  or  nonperception  or  obliviousness 
of  it  is  a  stumbling-block  to  many,  tripping  the  judgment  and 
leading  to  unnecessary  meddlesome   arts.     Why  is   it   not  a 
truth?     Is  not  labor  as  a  whole,  a  physiological  process  or 
act?  And  if  physiological  as  a  whole,  why  not  in  its  individual 
parts,  or  divisions,  or  stages?   This  class  of  practitioners  surely 
conceding  that  nature  is  presumably  adequate  to  the  unaided 
accomplishment  of  the  first  stage  of  labor,  though  it  occupy 
cycles  of  hours,  and  they  act  on  this  presumption,  and  pru- 
dently they  trust  the  natural  forces  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  second  stage,  their  art  in    the  great  majority  of  cases 
being  more   regimenial  than  obstetrical;  more  a   help  in  the 
way  of  comfort  than  a  help  as  a  dire  necessity;  and  they 
pride  themselves,  and  well  they  may,  and  someiimes  boast- 
fully on  their  immunity  from  bad  cases  and  those  requiring 
the  use  of  instruments,  but  as  to  the  unaided  accomplishment 
of  the  third  stage,  their  faith  falters  or  exudes,  and    they 
stumble,  and  in  their  distrust  do  unnecessary  and  sometimes 
egregious  things.     Their  practice  virtually  charges  the  womb 
with  bad  faith,  and  treats  it  as  if  in  rebellion  against  nature's 
kind  intent,  for  soon  as  the  child  is  separated  and  handed 
over  to  nurse  or  helper,  they  either  speedily  or  soon  grapple 
the  uterus  through  the  abdominal  front  and  squeeze  or  knead 
it  into  compelled  activity;  or  seize  the  cord  and  drag  its  con- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med.  Society,  213 

tents  away  or  plunge  the  hand  into  its  deh'cate  cavity,  and 
by  force  pluck  out  its  placental  mass. 

Is  it  not  time  for  the  truth  of  this  aphorism  to  be  duly  con- 
sidered, and  weighed  and  accepted  by  the  profession  at 
large,  and  its  practice  pertaining  thereto  become  more  ra- 
tional? 

Aphorism  2.  Rightly  entitled  to  this  presumption,  the 
parturient  woman  should  have  its  full  benefit. 

But  how  can  she  realize  its  full  benefit?  Clearly  only  by 
having  granted  to  her  the  opportunity,  by  staying  the  hard 
of  untimely  obstetric  interference. 

Aphorism  3.  This  presumptive  capability  demands  a 
reasonable  time  for  the  exercise  of  its  possibilities. 

What  shall  constitute  a  reasonable  time  in  this  matter  of 
waiting  on  the  natural  forces,  presumably  adequate  for  the 
accomplishment  of  this  stage  of  labor?  The  answer  to  this 
question  demands  the  most  careful  consideration  and  candid 
weighing  of  all  the  facts  having  any  relationship  to  it.  I 
feel  sure  that  such,  on  investigation,  will  enable  us  so  to 
approximate  a  correct  answer  as  to  lead  to  a  change  of  views 
and  practice  on  the  part  of  many. 

What  then  shall  be  regarded  as  a  "reasonable  time?" 
Shall  the  time  given  by  Play  fair,  and  endorsed  by  Richardson, 
in  his,  the  newest,  and  a  valuable  work  on  obstetricy,  be 
accepted  as  a  right  answer  to  this  important  question? 
Richardson  says  on  page  245,  quoting  from  Play  fair,  whom 
he  accepts  as  authority  on  this  matter:  "The  importance  of 
this  point  has  been  specially  dwelt  upon  by  McClintock, 
who  lays  down  the  rule  that  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  should 
be  allowed  to  elapse  after  the  birth  of  the  child  before  any 
attempt  to  remove  the  after  birth  is  made.  This,  I  believe,  is 
a  good  and  safe  practical  rule,  as  it  gives  ample  time  for  the 
complete  detachment  of  the  placentn,  and  the  co-agulation  of 
the  blood  in  the  uterine  sinuses." 

Here  is  the  rule,  and  is  endorsed  and  promulgated  by  a 
representative  teacher  of  obstetricy  in  one  of  our  colleges. 
It  is  virtually  sanctioned  by  representative  men  outside  of 
the    colleges.     For    example,     we    find    in    the    Cincinnati 


214  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Advance,  in  an  article  in  the  obstetric  department,  by  M. 
M  Eaton,  M,  D.,  of  Cincinnati,  O.,  tbe  following:  "A  word 
as  to  the  placenta.  I  never  wait  longer  than  to  notice  one  or 
two  after  pains  before  proceeding  to  deliver  it." 

It  is  now  pertinent  to  inquire,  does  this  rule  and  does  such 
a  practice  furnish  the  "reasonable  time"  to  which  we  aflirm 
nature  is   entitled   for  the  unaided   accomplishment  of  this 
stage.^     Let  us  examine  a  little  and  weigh  c.irjfully  the  facts 
as  they  really  are  or  appear  in  every  average  .case. 

1.  As  to  the  character  of  labor  in  this  stage. 

Studied  caiefuUy  it  is  found  to  be  a  retrograde  into  the 
general  character  and  type  of  the  first  stage,  simulating  it  in 
the  infrequency   and   irregularity  of    return  of   its  pains  as 
compared  with  the  second  stage,  and  in  their  non-parturient 
character  and  in  their  comparative  lightness  or  feebleness. 

2.  Whatever  the  general  or  standard  health  of  the  woman,  as 
she  enters  the  parturient  state  at  the  completion  of  the  second 
stage  and  delivery  of  her  child,  though  her  labor  be  in  no 
way  preternatural,  she  is  more  or  less  fatigued  in  all  her 
powers,  nervous,  muscular  and  uterine,  sometimes  extremely 
and  sometimes  to  a  degree  of  downright  exhaustion  of  one  or 
more  or  all  these  centers. 

3.  She  has  suffered  more  or  less  shock,  and  this  always, 
exceptional  cases  aside,  sometimes  grave  in  degree  and  some- 
times grave  in  duration. 

This  fatigue  and  this  shock  contribute  much  in  giving  to 
labor  in  this  stage  ils  distinctive  characters  just  mentioned 
namely,   infrequency,  irregularity  and  delicacy   of  its  pains. 

4.  After  their  resumption  several  pains  are  necessary  to 
effect  the  separation  of  the  placenta  and  accomj)lish  its  expul- 
sion. 

With  these  propositions,  almost  axiomatic,  granted,  I  ask  in 
all  candor,  can  the  idea  of  a  "reasonable  time"  be  at  all  or 
fully  satisfied  by  Play  fair's  and  Richirdson's  rule.?  Why,  in 
the  average  case  this  time  will  intervene  before  a  single  pain 
ensues.  It  is  but  the  average  duration  of  a  single  interval  in 
the  first  stage,  of  which  the  second  stage  is  but  a  copy  as 
long  as  it  lasts;  and  to  instruct  obstetric   art,  that  fifteen  to 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society.  215 

twenty  minutes  make  a  good  and  safe  rule  of  delay  in  this  stage 
before  proceeding  to  enforced  measures,  is  in  open  violation 
of  the  clear  and  indisputable  physiological  facts  first  enunci- 
ated, and  totally  ignores  aphorism  one.  I  don't  wonder  that 
Playfair  advises  a  drug  dose  of  Ergot  at  the  close  of  every 
labor  as  a  protection,  and  to  insure  a  closing  up  of  the  womb's 
cavity.  The  average  patient  treated  by  the  presumptions  of 
this  rule  would  need  something,  I  should  suppose,  to  expiate 
such  meddlesomeness,  for  a  practice  comformable  to  this 
rule  deserves  to  be  characterized  as  meddlesome;  notwith- 
standing the  high  authority  by  which  the  rule  is  enunciated 
and  supported.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  this  rule  does 
not  grant  to  nature  a  "reasonable  time"  for  the  full  exercise 
of  her  presumptive  capabilities  for  the  unaided  accomplish- 
ment of  this  stage,  and  if  the  rule  does  not  grant  a  "reasona- 
ble time,"  the  rule  is  unreasonable  and  faulty,  and  should  be 
rejected  as  in  obstetric  precept. 

But  we  revert  to  the  question,  what  shall  constitute  a  "rea- 
sonable time"?  It  is  clear  it  must  embrace  a  period  of  time 
long  enough  for  an  appreciable  recovery  from  the  general 
fatigue  incident  to  the  violent  struggle  of  the  stage  immedi- 
ately preceding — long  enough  to  rally  somewhat  from  the 
unevitable  shock  of  the  same  stage — long  enough  for  the 
uterus  to  gather  up  and  exercise  it  normal  forces  in  its  own 
mode  of  activity,  so  characteristic  of  this  stage,  making  every 
allowance  for  lengthened  intervals  of  pains  and  feebler  con- 
tractions, as  compared  with  the  stage  just  completed. 

Beyond  this  general  statement,  it  is  impossible  to  define  a 
"reasonable  time,"  for  the  very  evident  reason  that  as  there 
are  no  two  things  alike  in  nature,  so  there  are  no  two  women 
alike,  either  in  general,  or  in  uterine  or  ovarian  force,  or  in 
pelvic  capacity  or  fashion,  or  in  type,  intensity  or  duration  of 
labors.  What  measure  of  time  would  be  reasonable  in  one 
might  be  unreasonable  in  another. 

Safer  and  better  is  it  to  give  to  the  idea  of  reasonable  time 
the  entire  range  of  justifiable  delay.  There  is  a  limit  to  jus- 
tifiable delay  in  this  stage  as  there  is  in  either  of  the  preced- 
ing stages,  and  this  limit  must  vary  in  the  natuie   of  things 


216  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

in  different  women,  giving  to  each  case  a  longer  or  a  shorter 
time.  We  here  encounter  the  same  embarrassment  of  attempt- 
ing, and  the  impossibility  of  defining  this  hint  by  any  uni- 
form measure  of  time.  We  may,  however,  approximate  and 
sufficiently  indicate  its  range  by  the  general  statement,  that  it 
clearly  lies  between  the  two  extremes,  advocated  by  Playfair 
and  Richardson  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  utter  abandonment 
to  the  natural  forces,  on  the  other.  Its  minimum  should  be 
so  as  to  give  time  for  the  full  exercise  of  all  the  presumable 
forces,  and  in  the  mode  of  their  natural  expression,  as  well  as 
opportunity  for  the  dynamic  action  of  proper  therapeutics,  in 
case  there  is  evident  the  influence  of  any  morbid  force. 

Its  maximum  should  be  so  as  surely  to  anticipate  the  tonic 
closure  of  the  os  uteri.  To  protract  delay,  so  that  in  order 
to  deliver  the  placenta,  it  would  be  necessary  to  force  open 
the  OS  externum  or  os  internum,  one  or  both,  after  their  tonic 
closure,  would  be  not  only  unjustified  but  blamable,  but  no 
more  blamable  as  an  act  of  violence,  than  blamable  as  a^ 
neglect  of  opportunity  and  waste  of  time  and  patience.  Its 
maximum  should  as  surely  be  made  to  anticipate  the  tume- 
faction and  soreness  of  the  soft  parts,  which  result  from,  and 
soon  follow  the  delivery  of  the  child,  for  it  is  a  matter  of  ex- 
perience that  it  requires  but  a  few  hours  to  render  these  parts 
exquisitely  sensitive  to  the  slightest  touch  or  handling. 

Inasmuch  as  the  tonic  closure  of  the  os  uteri  takes  place 
in  from  two  to  six  hours  after  the  delivery  of  the  child,  and 
by  the  expiration  of  this  time,  the  soft  parts  become  markedly 
swollen  and  tender,  and  it  follows  that  we  have  here  about 
the  range  of  justifiable  delay.  We  may  safely  say,  therefore, 
that  with  fair  powers  and  no  specially  marked  degree  of 
fatigue  or  shock,  that  if  the  natural  forces,  supplemented  by 
a  proper  remedy  or  remedies,  have  not  by  this  minimum 
time  proved  adequate,  we  should  avail  ourselves  of  the  varied 
resources  of  obstetric  art. 

In  case,  however,  there  was  special  delicacy  of  general 
strength,  and  great  degree  of  fatigue  and  shock,  and  the 
uterine  forces  had  been  gravely  taxed,  we  vv^ould  hardly  be 
justified  in  interference  earlier,  than  about  the  maximum  of 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,  217 

this  time.  The  medium  cases  would  take  their  range  between 
these  two  data.  This  is  as  near  an  approach  to  a  rule  cov- 
ering the  justified  duration  of  this  stage  as  can  be  rationally 
stated. 

The  foregoing  aphorisms  and  remarks  are  all  predicated 
on  two  assumptions: 

1 .  That  the  placenta  is  in  utero  and  not  in  vagina,  for  in 
vagina  as  a  whole,  or  for  the  major  of  its  bulk,  and  a  proper 
examination  will  always  settle  this  matter,  no  delay  is  justi- 
fied, as  here  it  is  a  dangerous  presence,  and  always  should  be 
promptly  removed  by  gentle  and  painless  manipulation. 

2,  That  neither  hemorrhage  nor  convulsions  exist  or  occur 
for  in  either  case  art  conformed  with  proper  regimen  and 
therapeutics,  should  immediately  interpose  and  effect  the 
placenta's  delivery. 

Dr.  Schneider — I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  with  reference 
to  uterine  fibroids,  not  to  take  issue  with  anything  set  forth  in 
this  able  paper,  but  merely  to  extend  a  caution  as  to  accepting 
as  true,  much  that  is  claimed  in  reference  to  the  successful 
t:eatment  and  speedy  cure,  by  medication,  of  these  tumors. 

I  always  receive  with  suspicion  the  correctness  of  the 
diagnosis  in  these  cases — ^the  knowledge,  now  well  diffused, 
of  the  pathology  of  abdominal  and  pelvic  tumors,  renders 
their  speedy  disappearance  under  medication  a  questionable 
fact.  We  find  a  variety  of  conditions  existing  in  these  cavities, 
which  have  been  mistaken  for  fibroma,  such  as  uterine  en- 
gorgement, pelvic  congestion,  (chronic)  accumulation  of  fecal 
matter  in  the  bowels,  etc. 

I  have  in  mind  a  case,  which  came  under  my  care,  of  fecal 
impaction,  which  had  been  diagnosed  by  a  physician  of  con- 
siderable experience  in  this  department,  as  a  fibroid;  this  tumor 
was  cured  in  two  days,  by  the  administration  of  Castor  oil. 

Whenever  I  hear  of  fibroids  being  cured  in  a  comparatively 
short  time,  I  am  suspicious  that  a  mistake  has  been  made  in 
diagnosis. 

As  to  the  effects  of  Ergot  upon  fibroids,  I  believe  that  it  has 
no  specific  influence  over  that  pathological  condition,  but  if  it 
cures,   it  does  so  by  virture  of  its   action  upon  the  uterine 


218  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

muscular  fibre  exerting  mechanical   pressure,  for  its  efficacy, 
as  reported,  is  confined  to  the  intramural  variety. 

There  is  a  remedy,  {Cal.  iod,)  which,  I  believe  has  a 
specific  relation  to  this  condition.  My  attention  was  first  di- 
rected to  this  remedy  by  Prof.  Sanders  of  tliis  city.  I  have 
used  it  in  several  cases  with  some  success. 

An  enlarged  and  indurated  uterus  may  return  to  its  normal 
condition,  chronic  pelvic  engorgements  may  be  dissipated, 
but  a  true  uterine  fibroid,  I  have  yet  to  see  cured  by  any 
medication. 

Dr.  Owens  remarked  that  in  the  use  of  hypodermic  injec- 
tion into  uterine  fibroids  he  had  used  Squibb's  ergotine  dilute, 
one-half,  as  much  as  twenty  drops  at  once;  had  of  late  injected 
through  the  uterine  walls  in  case  of  intramural  fibroids,  and 
in  two  cases  of  sub-mucous  fibroid  he  had  injected  directly 
into  the  tumors,  through  the  dilated  os. 

His  theory  was  that  the  tumor  was  a  proliferation  of  tissue, 
and  that  the  indications  were  to  arrest  the  supply  of  nutri- 
ment, and  we  should  at  least  arrest  the  growth  of  the  tumor 
and  that,  therefore,  any  agent  that  would  arrest  or  modify 
the  supply  of  blood  to  these  morbid  growths  would  arrest  their 
development,  and  if  pushed  far  enough  might  destroy  them 
by  strangulating  the  vessels  of  supply  and  denutrition.  The 
provings  of  JErgot  show  that  it  has  a  most  decided  influence 
upon  the  vaso-motor  nerves,  and  in  controlling  peripheral 
capillary  circulation,  and  that  under  its  influence  gangrene  of 
remote  parts  has  taken  place.  As  a  vaso-motor  irritant  it  in- 
duces a  tetanic  contraction  of  the  muscular  coats  of  the  arte- 
ries, reducing  their  caliber,  and  consequently  their  ability  to 
supply  the  periphery  with  the  usual  quantity  of  blood.  This 
drug  finally  produces  a  complete  constriction  or  strangulation 
of  the  vessels,  and  the  consequence  is  the  dry  gangrene  of 
Ergot.  Acting  upon  this  view  of  the  efl^ects  oi  Ergot  he  had 
used  it  with  good  results  in  four  cases,  two  of  these  had  quite 
recovered  without  suppuration.  Another  very  large  fibroid 
had  been  arrested  in  its  growth  and  reduced  from  forty-six 
inches  measurement  below  the  umbilicus  to  thirtv-six  and  a 
half.  It  has  six  years  remained  stationary.  A  fourth  case  of 
sub-mucous  resulted  in  extensive  suppuration,  which  has  con- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,  219 

tinned  now  two  years.  The  general  health  of  the  body  is 
better  than  before  the  operation.  Injections  were  repeated 
from  three  to  six  weeks  apart. 


Dr.  E.  C.  Beckwith  read  a  paper  attempting  to  prove  that 
all,  or  nearly  all,  of  our  so-called  impiovements  in  gynaecol- 
ogy are  but  the  revamping  of  old  and  often  obsolete  ideas, 
and  that  many  of  our  new  instruments  were  used  thousands 
of  years  ago,  that  we  should  g^ive  credit  to  the  inventors  who 
lived  in  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome,  and  not  set  up  claims  to 
what  was  not  our  own  by  right  of  prior  discovery.  Hercu- 
laneum,  though  buried  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  has 
shown  by  actual  samples  that  the  physicians  used  the  specu- 
lum and  forceps.  Prof.  Fletcher,  after  spending  two  years 
among  the  ruins  of  Herculaneum,  returned  to  this  country 
and  delivered  a  lecture  before  the  Tyndal  Association,  in  the . 
winter  of  1878-79,  and  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  inven- 
tor of  the  speculum  first  visited  the  museum  at  Naples  and 
made  drawings  of  the  speculums  found  in  Herculaneum  be- 
fore he  became  the  inventor  of  that  wonderful  instrument. 

Long  lost  Troy  has  given  up  her  golden  treasures,  and 
workmanship  the  most  exquisite,  and  designs  the  most  intri- 
cate, are  now  known  to  have  been  in  use  before  "Homer's 
wooden  horse  stood  before  proud  Troy."  The  idea  that  all 
the  so-called  discoveries  in  gynaecology  are  real  discoveries  is 
simply  false.  Allopathy,  he  said,  was  making  discoveries 
daily  of  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  Orgaiion.  In  1878  a  leading 
allopathic  journal  flourished  a  long  line  of  these  wonderful 
discoveries,  one  of  which  was  that  Sulph,  of  zinc  of  about 
Hahnemnnn's  second  dec.  potency  was  really  a  specific  for 
gonorrhoea.  At  their  present  rate  of  discoveries  we  shall,  by 
1885,  not  have  a  single  fact  set  forth  by  the  founders  of  Ho- 
moDopathy  but  what  will  be  pure  Allopathy.  We  will  then 
all  be  regulars,  our  discoveries  having  one  by  one  been  swal- 
lowed by  Allopathy.  The  best  of  us  will  find  himself  with- 
out a  fact  to  stand  upon,  our  capacious  mother  having  de- 
voured all  of  Homoeopathy.  Let  us  die  easily,  for  die  we 
must,  unless  we  can  prevent  Allopathy  from  "discovering"  so 
rapidly. 


aiillaui  ^ti$m$. 


Sanitary  Duties  of  Physicians  to  Themselves.    By  D.  H 

Beckwith,  M.  D., 

Every  Doctor  in  Medicine  should  have  some  general 
knovvrledge  of  sanitary  laws.  He  is  expected  to  obtain  that 
information  while  a  student  in  his  preceptor's  office,  also  at 
the  medical  college,  where  he  receives  instruction  in  all  the 
branches  that  pertain  to  a  thorough  medical  education. 

Much  of  the  student's  reading  is  of  a  character  that  qualifies 
him  to  become  familiar  with  such  laws,  and  which  if  obeyed, 
would  lessen  sickness  and  death  as  well  as  prolong  life.  As 
soon  as  the  Doctor  in  Medicine  commences  business  for  him- 
self, he  comes  in  contact  with  varied  diseases  produced  by 
various  causes.  T3'phoid  fevers  proceeding  from  defective 
drainage  and  sewerage;  pulmonary  diseases^  developed  by 
poorly  ventilated  bedrooms;  head-ache  from  overheated  rootns, 
and  inhalation  of  poisonous  gases,  inflammation  of  the 
stomach,  from  poisoned  drinking  water  or  diseased  meiits; 
brain  diseases  brought  on  by  over  study;  aflTections  of  the 
heart  produced  by  tea,  coffee  or  tobacco;  pneumonia  from 
deficient  protection  over  the  chest;  dysentery  and  diarrhoea 
from  eating  unripe  fruits  and  want  of  proper  clothing;  dys- 
pepsia from  too  rapid  eating  and  partaking  of  indigestible 
food. 

A  doctor,  to  be  successful,  will  be  obliged  to  instruct  his 
patients  daily  on  some  sanitary  measure.  Yet  with  all  the 
knowledge  physicians  possess  of  sanitary  science,  very  few 
of  the  many  thousand  that  are  engaged  in  successful  practice, 
comply  with  sanitary  laws  they  know  to  be  correct.  I  speak 
from  observation  and  experience. 

For  the  past  few  years  sanitary  science  has  received  es- 
pecial attention;  public  lectures  have  been  delivered  in  man}' 
places;  books  have  been  written  on  the  subject;  sanitary 
ournals  published;  boards   of  health  have  been  appointed, 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  221 

and  are-  in  active  operation  in  every  section  of  the  country; 
doctors  are  spending  time  and  money  to  ascertain  the  cause 
of,  and  how  to  prevent  epidemics;  their  business,  their 
tlioughts,  make  them  pioneers  in  the  great  work  of  sanitary 
measures,  that  are  required  in  their  own  field  of  labor,  as  well 
as  other  localities.  While  they  dispense  to  others,  they 
should  not  forget  themselves,  it  is  an  old  saying  that,  "In 
serving  others,  they  are  consumed,  in  healing  others,  they 
are  destroyed."  I  will  admit  that  it  is  often  difficult  to 
comply  with  sanitary  rules,  that  you  direct  others  to  observe, 
but  every  doctor  should  bear  in  mind  that  good  health  is  his 
capital,  it  is  all  tlie  fortune  that  most  physicians  begin  with, 
and  if  they  can  observe  sanitary  rules,  so  as  to  retain  good 
health,  they  will  always  be  able  to  provide  for  their  families 
a  sufficient  competency. 

I  know  that  most  of  us  are  often  on  the  verge  of  mental 
bankruptcy;  overworked  in  body  and  mind,  having  under 
our  charge  very  sick  patients,  or  else  contending  against 
some  malignant  epidemic,  which  in  many  cases  will  not  yield 
to  medication,  and  bids  defiance  to  the  skill  of  the  medical 
profession. 

The  doctor  commencing  the  practice  x>f  his  medical  pro- 
fession has  much  to  contend  with.  He  devotes  more  hours 
to  his  patients  than  the  older  physician — he  becomes  a  nurse, 
as  well  as  physician,  and  watches  many  a  long  and  wearv 
night,  administering  to  the  comfort  and  ease  of  those  who  are 
under  his  charge;  he  is  irregular  in  sleeping,  eating  or  read- 
ing, he  bids  defiance  to  sanitary  laws — hence  the  greater  mor- 
tality among  doctors  in  the  first  ten  years  of  their  practice 
than  any  other  time,  save  when  the  old  age  is  coming  on. 
Many  physicians  continue  their  over  work  until  they  reach 
the  age  of  fifty  to  sixty  years,  when  their  good  health  forsakes 
them  and  they  become  invalid  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

Sanitary  laws  for  the  preservation  of  health  and  the  pro- 
longation of  life  are  not  of  recent  origin.  Hi^.ocra  es  se- 
lected healthy  sites  for  cities,  and  gave  to  his  patrons  special 
directions  how  and  where  to  build  their  homes;  he  counselled 
moderation;  free   use   of  puie   air;  well   ventilated  sleeping 


222  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

apartments;  bathing  and  friction  over  the  body.  He  en- 
deavored to  live  as  he  directed  others,  and  by  so  doing 
reached  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  nine  years.  Plut.irch, 
who  hved  to  happy  old  age,  confirmed  the  truth  of  his  pre- 
scription, "Keep  your  head  cool  and  your  feet  warm,  instead 
of  employing  medicine  for  every  indisposition,  rather  fast  a 
day,  and  while  you  attend  to  the  body,  never  neglect  the 
mmu. 

Celsus,  Sydenham,  and  Hufeland,  lived  to  old  age.  They 
wrote  on  hygiene,  and  other  subjects  to  prevent  disease  and 
prolong  life.  Among  other  medical  philosophers,  Pinnel 
reacheil  the  age  of  eighty -four,  Harvey,  eighty-one,  Galen, 
seventy  nine,  Cullen,  seventy-eight,  Jenner,  seventy-five.  I 
might  mention  many  others  that  were  sanitarians  and  reached 
the  age  of  four  secure  years.  All  the  oldest  and  best  surgeons 
and  physicians,  without  exception  in  olden  times,  were  en- 
thusiasts on  sanitary  measures.  While  they  advocated  sani- 
tary laws,  they  endeavored  to  comply  with  their  teachings. 
I  fear  it  is  not  so  at  the  present  day  wiih  physicians  and 
boards  of  health. 

If  physicians  would  think  and  consider  for  themselves,  in- 
stead of  devoting  all  their  thoughts  and  energies  to  the  wel- 
fare of  their  patients,  they  v*ould  change  their  mode  of  living. 
Among  the  principal  sanitary  measures  that  doctors  should 
adhere  to,  is,  first,  how  and  what  to  eat  and  drink;  second, 
when  and  how  mnch  to  sleep;  third,  how  to  work;  fourth, 
how  to  ride;  and  fifth,  how  to  live;  sixth,   married  or  single, 

HOW  AND  WHAT  TO  EAT  AND    DRINK. 

Meals  should  be  taken  at  regular  hours  as  possible,  break- 
fast at  seven,  dinner  at  one,  and  tea  at  six.  The  noon  meal 
should  be  the  more  substantial,  and  a  greater  variety  of  food 
can  with  propiietybe  taken  into  the  stomach.  The  evening 
meal  should  be  light,  a  cup  of  black  tea,  bread,  butter,  and 
fruit  of  some  kind  are  sufficient  variety.  In  selecting  beef, 
(in  my  opinion  the  healthiest  meat  we  can  use,)  and  which 
should  be  taken  at  noon,  it  should  be  of  the  best  quality.  In 
making  your  selection,  if  you  find  the  muscle^contains  streaks 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,- Society.  223 

of  fat,  the  animal  has  been  well  fed.  The  color  of  the  muscle 
must  not  be  pale,  as  it  would  show  that  the  animal  was  de- 
ficient in  vitality,  if  the  muscles  are  dark,  it  would  indicate  di- 
sease. The  fat  should  be  firm  to  the  touch,  and  -free  from 
bloody  points,  the  juices  from  the  meat  should  be  of  a  reddish 
tint,  the  muscular  fasciculi  should  note  coarse.  Eat  slowly, 
that  the  secretion  mix  with  the  food,  and  at  all  times  place 
the  kind  of  food  upon  your  table  that  will  digest  easily,  and 
sustain  the  waste  and  decay  tliPt  is  constantly  going  on  in  the 
body.  Food  should  be  well  masticated — those  who  take  time 
to  eat,  are  less  liable  to  disease,  and  their  lives  are  longer  than 
those  who  do  not  comply  with  this  rule.  Avoid  food  or 
drink  that  is  very  cold  or  hot.  \Jilk  is  an  excellent  article  of 
food,  and  digests  easily.  One  of  the  healtliiest  children  that 
I  ever  saw  at  twelve  years  of  age,  always  used  a  milk  diet. 
Lord  Bacon  mentions  a  man  who  reached  the  age  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty,  and  during  his  whole  life  used  no  other 
article  of  food  but  milk.  While  at  the  table  the  doctor  should 
not  converse  about  his  patients  or  anything  pertaining  to  his 
profession;  his  conversation  should  be  of  a  social  nature;  he 
should  endeavor  to  make  the  time  spent  at  his  meals  some  of 
the  pleasantest  moments  of  his  life. 

DRINK. 

The  extent  to  which  wells  and  springs  become  contaminated, 
in  many  country  towns  and  farms,  is  sometimes  alarming. 
Analysis  fails  to  detect  the  poison  of  sewer  ani  other  gases 
that  impregnates  drinking  water.  Phybicians  should  use  the 
utmost  sanitary  caution  about  their  premises,  and  those  who 
use  well  or  spring  water,  should  give  attention  to  drains 
vaults  and  cess-pools.  According  to  statements  published  by 
the  boards  of  health  in  London  and  Paris,  wells  can  be  pol- 
luted by  filth,  from  one  hundred,  to  six  hundred  feet,  so  that 
the  drinking  of  the  water  will  produce  disease.  Filtered 
water  is  preferable  for  drinking  purposes.  A  cheap  and  con- 
venient filter  can  be  made  out  of  a  Ltrge  flower  jar  or  a  com- 
mon pail,  liave  an  opening  in  the  bottom,  and  insert  loosely 
a  fine  sponge  in  the  bottom    of  the  pail,  put  two  quarts  pul- 


224  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

verized  charcoal,  cover  the  charcoal  with  three  or  four  quarts 
of  clean  lake  sand,  and  that  with  coarse  gravel.  This  filter 
will  remove  all  foreign  bodies  from  drinking  water,  is  easily 
refilled,  and  so  cheap  it  can  be  in  every  doctor's  family,  if  no 
better  one  is  to  be  had. 

Wine,  beer,  and  a\\  Alcoholic  drinks  should  be  avoided  by 
all  physicians  as  a  beverage,  except  in  old  age,  when  the 
tissues  of  the  body  commence  to  wasten — "then  if  the  wear 
and  tear  of  his  mind  and  body,  are  lessened  by  a  glass  or  two 
of  wine  at  his  dinner,  why  not  take  them." 

I 

HOW  TO  WORK. 

As  a  physician,  we  are  more  or  less  over  worked.  The 
student  while  at  college  is  crammed  with  five  or  six  lectures 
daily,  compelled  to  study  often  times  until  twelve  o'clock  at 
night,  to  review  the  lectures  he  has  heard,  in  a  badly  ventilated 
room,  during  the  day.  He  has  to  spend  a  certain  number  of 
hours  in  a  dissecting  room,  breathing  a  poisonous  atmosphere, 
and  then  we  wonder  that  so  few  medical  students  succeed  in 
their  profession. 

We  have  hard  work  before  us  as  practitioners,  we  have 
learning,  in  many  branches  to  acquire,  we  have  honors  to 
achieve,  and  perhaps  some  one  may  have  an  aspiration  for 
wealth;  none  of  these,  as  well  as  many  others,  such  as  editors 
of  medical  journals,  professors,  and  presidents  of  our  societies, 
can  be  obtained  honestly  without  hard  work.  He  or  she  who 
takes  an  honorable  position  in  the  profession,  must  labor. 
The  question  presents  itself  then,  how  shall  we  do  this,  and 
lessen  sickness  and  prolong  our  lives.  As  a  student,  he 
should  have  better  warmed  and  ventilated  rooms  to  attend 
lectures,  he  should  have  less  lectures  daily,  and  be  compelled 
t  J  study  medicine  for  four  years  before  he  could  receive  the 
honors  of  the  college.  Asa  physician,  he  should  systematize 
ail  his  work  as  much  as  possible,  by  adopting  a  systematic 
course  he  can  accomplish  much  more  work  than  he  could 
otherwise  do.  His  patients  should  be  visited,  most  of  them 
before  his  dinner,  after  his  meals  he  can  take  time  to  study 
and    reflect  over   the  cases  that   have  come   under   his    in- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society.  225 

spection  during  his  morning  visits.  I  was  six  years  in  my 
preceptor's  office,  he  having  a  large  medical  practice,  but  be 
so  systemized  his  business,  that  he  was  most  of  the  time  regu- 
lar at  his  meals,  taking  breakfast  at  seven,  dinner  at  one,  and 
tea  at  six.  Six  nights  out  of  the  seven  he  retired  at  ten  o'clock. 
He  was  regular  in  all  his  habits,  and  at  the  age  of  sixty-five, 
had  not  lost  a  single  day  by  sickness.  He  studied  sanitary 
laws  and  profited  by  them. 

HOW   TO   RIDE    AND   WALK. 

Every  practicing  physician  should  walk  from  two  to  four 
miles  daily,  weather  and  health  permitting;  walking  with  a 
firm  elastic  step,  bringing  into  action  the  muscles  of  the 
lower  limbs,  assuming  an  erect  position,  and  at  times  inflating 
the  lungs. 

Riding  on  horseback  is  good  exercise,  and  can  be  taken  a 
portion  of  the  time,  providing  a  safe  and  reliable  horse  is 
used.     Avoid  riding  directly  after  a  hearty  meal. 

Buggies  should  be  made  of  the  best  material.  The  wheels 
heavy  enough  to  prevent  a  trembling  motion  when  in  use. 
The  hub  of  such  size  that  it  will  hold  the  spokes  firmly — very 
few  buggies  have  a  felly  of  sufficient  depth.  There  should 
be  room  enough  in  front  so  that  the  legs  will  not  be  cramped. 
The  cushion  at  the  back  should  be  twoor  three  inches  higher 
than  those  in  common  use,  and  provided  with  light  springs. 
The  seat  should  be  wide  and  well  cushioned  with  the  best  of 
curled  hair.  The  buggy  springs  should  be  light  and  made  of 
the  very  best  of  steel,  a  rubber  cushion  in  the  axle  lessens  the 
jar  of  the  buggy  over  pavements. 

It  should  be  so  constructed  that  the  doctor  can  rest  and 
be  comfortable  while  riding.  For  the  past  thirty  years  I  have 
tried  every  variety  and  style  of  carriage,  am  satisfied  that 
for  a  doctor's  buggy  a  phaeton  is  the  most  desirable.  In  se- 
lecting a  horse  be  sure  that  he  does  not  step  too  high  or  too 
long,  does  not  stumble,  has  some  mettle  and  travels  without 
a  side  motion.  Two  horses  draw  a  buggy  easier  than  one, 
and  I  consider  that  fewer  accidents  are  liable  to  occur  in 
driving  a  double  team. 
Sept.7 


226  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

THE  doctor's  office 

Should  have  free  sunlight  and  be  a  pleasant,  light,  airy  loom, 
have  high  ceilings  and  be  kept  free  from  dust,  dampness  and 
other  impurities.  It  should  have  an  open  grate  as  a  ventila- 
tor, and  the  warmth  of  the  room  kept  at  a  temperature  of 
sixty-five  to  sixty-eight  degrees  Fahrenheit.  Sunlight  and 
wholesome  air  are  sanitarians  which  should  be  in  every  doc- 
tor's office.  About  his  home  he  should  have  the  most  thor- 
ough system  of  drainage  and  ventilation. 

SLEEPING   APARTMENTS 

Should  be  on  the  second  story,  well  lighted  and  well  ven- 
tilated,    A  southern  exposure  is  the  most  desirable. 

At  least  one-fourth  of  a  physician's  life  is  spent  in  his  bed- 
chamber. The  room  should  have  high  ceilings  and  should 
not  be  occupied  during  the  day;  the  windows  should  remain 
open  two  or  three  hours  every  morning,  and  the  bed-clothes 
thoroughly  aired.  The  room  should  be  quiet.  Six  to  eight 
hours  sleep  is  all  that  is  necessary. 

clothing. 

As  physicians  are  liable  to  be  in  looms  of  varied  temper- 
ature and  in  their  daily  rounds  exposed  to  currents  of  air  that 
are  often  damp  and  chilly,  they  should  dress  warmly.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  months  heavy  flannel  should  be  worn  next  the 
body,  in  the  spring  and  fall  flannels  of  medium  grade,  and 
during  the  summer  months  light  gauze  fabrics  of  cotton  and 
wool. 

HOW  TO  LIVE. 

After  a  doctor  reaches  the  age  of  forty-five  decline  com- 
mences, if  there  is  any  predisposition  to  hereditary  disease 
they  may  begin  to  develop.  If  he  is  attacked  with  acute  dis- 
ease his  system  has  less  power  of  resistance. 

The  changes  in  his  system  are  slow,  and  his  tendency  is  to 
congestions  rather  than  inflammation,  to  kidney  and  diseases 
of  the  bladder,  to  fatty  degenerations,  to  cardiac  diseases,  to 
gout,  insanity,  dropsies,  apoplexy  and  paralysis.  The  ten- 
dency to  the  above  diseases  increases  with  age.     If  a  physi- 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         227 

cian  is  located  in  a  moist  atmosphere  with  sudden  changes  of 
temperature  he  is  liable  to  bronchial  and  pulmonaiy  diseases; 
in  malarial  districts  intermittent  and  bilious  fevers;  where 
there  are  foul  air  and  animal  decomposition,  typhoid  fevers; 
cool  days  and  hot  nights,  diseases  of  the  bowels. 

The  doctor,  knowing  the  causes  that  induce  these  diseases 
should  so  shape  his  habits  as  to  keep  his  health  and  he  who 
attempts  so  to  live  will  be  well  rewarded. 

The  members  of  the  medical  profession,  according  to  sta- 
tistics live  to  about  an  average  age  of  fifty  years.  The  prac- 
titioners of  the  new  school  of  medicine  should  reach  a  greater 
age«  I  base  my  conclusions  on  the  mortality  of  patients  that 
are  under  homoeopathic  treatment  and  statistics  obtained 
from  homoeopathic  life  insurance  companies,  as  well  as  the 
death  rate  among  the  doctors  under  my  own  observation. 

The  average  height  of  physicians  in  the  state  of  Ohio  is 
about  five  feet  eight  inches,  their  weight  one  hundred  and 
forty-three  pounds.  In  Cleveland  and  Cincinnati  the  aver- 
age is  greater. 

To  reach  a  much  greater  age  than  is  estimated  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  it  will  be  necessary  to  obey  sanitary  laws,  to  include 
pleasure  with  business,  as  enjoyment  and  happiness  will 
lengthen  life,  while  sorrow  and  discontent  will  shorten 
it.  Change  of  air  and  scene  has  af  magic  effect  on  the 
over- worked  physician,  as  it  brings  into  action  a  different 
class  of  organs  and  allows  those  that  have  been  over-worked 
to  rest.  A  few  days,  weeks  or  months  spent  in  travel  will 
often  restore  health  and  educate  the  physician  more  than  so 
many  days  of  hard  study. 

Another  recreation  which  every  physician  should  take  is 
to  attend  medical  conventions;  it  makes  him  more  sociable 
and  amiable  at  home  and  abroad;  it  promotes  digestion  and 
cheerfulness;  it  will  make  a  better  citizen  and  a  better  doctor 
of  him;  it  will  furnish  him  the  kind  of  knowledge  he  can 
not  obtain  elsewhere.  The  doctors  who  reach  old  age  are 
men  of  free  thought  and  are  among  those  who  are  found  at 
state  «nd  medical  gatherings. 

Authors  and  lecturers  on  sanitary  science  recommend  that 
light  reading  should  occupy  thephysician's  leisure  hours  in 


228  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

the  evening,  a  short  time  before  he  retires.  A  journal  of  that 
character  is  published  in  one  of  our  southern  towns  in  Ohio; 
its  editorials  are  spicy  and  witty;  in  an  occasional  number 
there  is  an  attempt  at  poetry.  The  journal  is  published  on 
good  paper  and  has  clear  type — therefore,  every  doctor 
should  have  the  Medical  Advance  in  his  oflice  to  be  read 

■ 

in  the  evening. 

MARRIED    LIFE   OK    A    BACHELOR. 

Among  doctors  of  medicine  there  are  both  classes,  married 
and  single  are  found  as  prominent  practitioners — the  ques- 
tion under  consideration  is,  which  mode  of  living  is  best 
adapted  to  happiness  and  thereby  prolonged  life.  Insurance 
companies  have  taken  great  pains  to  ascertain  the  longevity 
of  all  classes  of  people,  all  kinds  of  trades  and  professions, 
of  married  men  and  bachelors.  They  prefer,  other  things 
being  equal,  to  insure  married  to  single,  believing  that  the 
former  have  a  greater  expectancy  than  the  latter. 

Nearly  all  physician^  and  surgeons  who  have  reached  old 
age  and  have  obtained  eminence  in  their  profession,  or  have 
become  authors  of  repute,  were  married  men.  Occasionally 
we  find  exceptions,  as  Plato,  who  lived  to  be  eighty-five 
years  of  age.  He  was  strictly  temperate  in  thinking,  writ- 
ing, reading,  exerci^^e,  and  eating  and  drinking.  He  was  a 
practical  philosopher  in  all  his  doings. 

Hufeland  says:  **A  bachelor  always  remains  a  mere  egotist; 
restless  and  uneasy;  unsteady,  a  prey  to  selfish  humors  and 
pjissions;  less  interested  for  mankind,  for  his  country  and  the 
state  than  lor  himself." 

Married  men  are  stimulated  to  industry  by  their  wives  and 
children;  they  unite  them  with  a  bond  to  society.  Men's 
hearts  are  warmed  by  parental  tenderness  and  love;  their 
social  qualities  are  developed,  and  sanitary  measures  pro- 
ductive of  health  are  better  studied.  In  married  life  the 
physician  finds  a  home  suited  to  his  physical  health, 
and  the  love  of  home  and  its  surroundings  excites  energy, 
industry  and  economy;  keeps  the  mind  and  body  contend  and 
happy,  and  thereby  promotes   longevity.     Lord  Bacon  says: 


rroeeedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  MedL  Society.  229 

"He  that  is  married  and  has  children  has  given  pledge  to  the 
state  that  he  is  a  true  citizen  and  a  real  patriot." 

IN   CONCLUSION. 

As  a  sanitary  rule  every  doctor  in  the  sick  room  and  at 
other  places  should  act  as  God  intended  he  should.   He  should 

» 

not  live  under  restrain*  and  deceit;  he  should  not  court  false 
characters;  it  will  produce  dyspepsia,  derange  circulation, 
induce  constipation,  headache  and  a  host  of  other  symptoms 
that  make  life  miserable  and  wretched.  No  doctor  can  wear 
tight  boots  and  an  iron  mask  and  feel  like  one  of  God's  happy 
creatures. 

I  have  said  that  cheerfulness,  love,  happiness,  the  proper 
clothing  to  be  worn,  manner  of  working,  eating,  riding, 
sleeping  and  living,  will  prevent  sickness  and  disease,  and 
make  life  long  and  happy.  Live  so  as  to  increase  your  vital- 
ity, develop  all  the  organs  of  the  body,  and  live  as  much  as 
"within  you  lies''  to  retard  the  waste.  Be  social,  polite,  cheer- 
ful, happy,  courteous  and  gentlemanly  to  other  physicians, 
and  if  perchance  you  are  unfortunate  enough  to  be  sick  take 
none  other  than  homosopatinc  medicine. 


Wells.  *E.  P.  Gay  lord,  M.  D. 

Gentlemen: — Since  the  time  when  the  first  pair  quenched 
their  thirst  at  the  rivers  that  flowed  through  the  garden  one 
of  the  first  enterprises  of  man  has  been  the  seeking  of  a 
copious  supply  of  water  for  potable  and  culinary  purposes. 
At  first,  imitating  the  inferior  animals,  he  sought  to  quench 
his  thirst  at  the  running  stream,  and  his  first  lesson  in  hy- 
draulics was  lifting  the  water  from  the  blrcam  by  the  art  of 
suction . 

The  heathen  deities  are  represented  as  practicing  this  and 
other   primeval    customs,   for   Ovid    describes  the   goddess 


230  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Latona,  while  journeying,  languishing  with  thirst,  arriving  at 

a  brook 

"And  kneeling  on  the  brink, 
Stooped  at  the  fresh  repast  prepared  to  drink." 

At  what  period  in  man's  history  recourse  was  first  had  to 
wells  as  a  source  of  water  supply  is  unknown,  as  well  as  the 
circumstances  which  led  him  to  seek  for  a  supply  of  the  great 
necessity  in  the  earth,  but  we  know  it  was  far  back  in  the 
antediluvian  period  for  we  read  in  Genesis,  twenty-first 
chapter  and  nineteenth  verse,  "And  God  opened  her  eyes 
and  she  saw  a  well  of  water."  And  again,  in  the  twenty- 
sixth  chapter  and  eighteenth  verse,  "And  Isaac  digged  again 
the  wells  which  they  had  digged  in  the  days  of  Abraham 
his  father,  for  the  Philistines  had  stopped  them  after  the 
death  of  Abraham,  and  he  called  their  names  after  the  names 
which  his  father  had  called  them."  At  first  they  were  prob- 
ably nothing  more  than  shallow  excavations,  dug  in  moist 
places,  and  their  depth  increased  to  contain  the  surface  water 
that  might  drain  into  them;  a  mode  of  obtaining  still 
practiced  by  barbarous  people. 

These  simple  cavities  would  naturally  increase  as  the  wants 
of  the  primitive  man  required,  and  as  his  limited  means 
would  allow,  until  his  knowledge  of  the  art  of  fashioning 
metals  permitted  of  his  penetrating  the  underlying  strata  of 
rock,  nnd  thus  reaching  sources  of  supply  hitherto  unknown. 

Many  of  the  oldest  wells  were  constructed  entirely  in  the 
rock.  Some  of  them  undoubtedly  existing  long  attterior  to 
any  history.  Wells  were  very  numerous  in  nearly  all  of  the 
ancient  divisions  of  Europe.  A  well  one  hundred  and  six- 
teen feet  deep,  found  near  the  gate  of  the  Pantheon  during 
the  disinterment  of  Pompeii  as  well  as  others  discovered  at 
Herculaneum  prove  their  existence  in  ancient  Italy. 

Says  an  ancient  proverb  of  the  Chinese,  **Dig  a  well  be- 
fore you  are  thirsty,"  and  that  they  regarded  it  is  shown  by 
the  number  of  old  artesian  wells  found  in  that  country. 

Wells  may  be  divided  into  deep  or  artesian  and  shallow  or 
surface  wells.  The  former  are  sunk  to  great  depths  by  bor- 
ing, and  the  water  is  forced  to  the  surface  by  gases,  or  if  the 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society,  231 

strata  rises  to  higher  levels   at  other  points    may  overflow 
from  hydrostatic  pressure. 

At  Grenelle,  near  Paris,  is  an  artesian  well  one  thousand, 
seven  hundred  and  eight  feet  deep,  and  the  water  rises  eighty 
feet  above  the  surface.  At  Rochefort,  in  France,  is  the  deep- 
est well  in  Europe,  being  two  thousand,  six  hundred  and 
seventy-six  feet,  or  more  than  half  a  mile. 

Some  of  the  deepest  wells  have  been  put  down  in  our 
own  country.  At  Charleston,  S.  C,  there  is  a  well  one 
thousand,  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep.  One  at  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  has  a  depth  of  two  thousand,  and  eighty-six 
feet.  One  at  Columbus,  in  this  state,  was  bored  to  a  depth 
of  two  thousand,  five  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet,  but  no 
good  water  obtained.  But  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  is  located  the 
deepest  well  in  the  world,  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  being 
three  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  eighty  one  feet,  or  two- 
thirds  of  a  mile. 

Surface  or  shallow  wells  are  simply  deposits  of  rain  or 
snow  water  which,  percolating  through  porous  earth  beds  of 
gravel  or  rock,  perforated  with  seams,  has  found  a  lower 
level,  being  stored  in  subterranean  resevoirs  of  greater  or 
lesser  depths,  and  to  be  sought  only  by  artificial  means.  The 
waters  of  such  wells,  excavated  in  gravelly  or  loamy  soils  in 
towns  are  invariably  contaminated  by  organic  matter,  ammo- 
nia, nitrates  and  chlorides,  and  when  situated  near  cemeteries, 
stables,  cesspools  or  privies  are  rendered  totally  unfit  for  do- 
mestic use,  from  the  worst  kind  of  soluble  matter,  but  are 
usually  much  liked  for  drinking,  as  they  are  clear,  sparkling 
and  cool,  the  oxidation  of  the  filth  furnishing  an  excess  of 
carbonic  acid,  and  the  nitrates  giving  a  cool  taste  to  the 
palate. 

When  we  consider  how  largely  water  etiters  into  the  com- 
position of  the  human  organism,  an  average  man  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  containing  one  hundred  and  six- 
teen pounds  of  water,  we  are  led  to  believe  that  the  purity 
of  the  water  we  drink  should  be  of  the  greatest  moment. 
It  is  probable  that  the  ancients  thought  or  knew  little  of  the 
purity  of  water,  so  that  it  was  cool,  clear  and  palatable,  as  it  is 


232  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

less  than  one  hundred  years  since  the  composition  of  water 
became  known.  Until  1783  water  was  considered  as  an  ele- 
ment. Hydrogen  was  known  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
oxygen  was  discovered  in  1774  by  Scheele  and  Priestly,  but  it 
was  not  until  1778  that  Lavoisier  discovered  it  to  be  com- 
posed of  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  or  in  other  words,  a  com- 
pound and  not  an  element.  It  was  only  in  the  year  1775  that 
the  same  chemist  discovered  that  the  atmosphere  was  com- 
posed of  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  and  his  experiments  were  the 
first  where  the  chemical  balance  was  used,  when  quantities 
as  well  as  qualities  were  investigated,  thus  constituting  the 
initial  point  of  our  present  system  of  chemical  investigation. 
But  in  the  two  past  decades  much  attention  has  been  given 
to  sanitary  science  throughout  the  world,  and  the  minds  of 
physicians  and  scientists  turned  to  a  solution  of  the  problem, 
How  shall  we  prevent  disease?  as  well  as  how  shall  we 
cure  it.*^ 

The  question  of  the  results  following  the  use  of  unwholt- 
some  water,  especially  water  loaded  with  organic  impurities, 
has  received  great  attention,  and  since  any  amount  of  evi- 
dence has  accumulated,  showing  beyond  a  doubt  that  many 
of  the  zymotic  diseases  have  their  origin,  or  at  least  their 
transmission  in  or  through  the  water  we  drink,  it  becomes  of 
the  greatest  moment  that  we  investigate  the  sources  of  the 
contamination;  the  distances  through  which  the  impurities 
may  be  transmitted,  and  the  chances  of  success,  as  well  as  the 
means  to  be  employed  to  render  such  waters  once  more  pure 
and  wholesome,  and  also  to  investigate  to  what  extent  the 
ordinary  wells  of  our  cities  and  villages,  as  well  as  the  farm- 
houses of  this  country  are  contaminated,  and  rendered  unfit 
for  domestic  use. 

In  the  year  1877,  when  in  the  city  of  Rochester,  it  was 
found  that  over  forty  persons  were  sick  from  the  use  of  the 
water  of  one  well,  which  upon  examination  was  found  con- 
taminated, an  investigation  was  made  of  all  wells  upon 
premises  where  cases  of  typhoid  fever  were  reported,  and  it 
was  ascertained  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  wells  in  the 
city  were  situated  within  an  average  distance  of  thirty  feet  of 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med.  Society^  233 

cess-pools  or  privy  vaults,  while  a  great  many  were  within 
ten  feet  of  such  receptacles.  Prof.  Sattimore  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Rochester,  made  an  examination  of  the  water  of  all 
suspected  wells,  and  although  the  waters  in  a  majority  of  in- 
stances were  clear,  sparkling,  and  free  from  odor,  he  found 
them  without  exception,  charge^  with  organic  matter  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  and  he  doubted  the  existence  of  a  well 
of  pure  water  in  the  city.  In  his  report  he  directs  especial 
attention  to  the  amount  of  Chloride  of  sodium  in  the  water. 
No  single  indication  is  of  so  great  sanitary  importance  in 
judging  of  the  purity  or  impurity,  and  consequently  of  the 
safety  or  danger  of  any  water.  We  may  expect  to  find  salt 
in  small  quantities  present  in  all  ordinary  well  water.  Rivers 
may  receive  large  quantities  from  manufacturing  establish- 
ments upon  their  banks,  which  would  not  be  the  case  in 
wells,  hence  when  we  find  the  amount  of  salt  in  well  water 
rises  above  a  few  grains  per  gallon,  it  becomes  certain  that  it 
comes  from  some  other  source  than  the  soil.  What  is  that 
source?  A  moment's  reflection  will  convince  any  one  that 
nearly  all  the  salt  used  for  domestic  purposes  escapes  by  the 
way  of  two  channels,  the  water  closet,  and  the  house  drain. 

If  sewage  finds  its  way  through  porous  soil,  or  through 
crevices  in  the  rock,  it  inevitably  brings  its  salt  with  it. 
Hence  when  ever  well  water  contains  more  than  a  few 
grains  per  gallon,  the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  contam- 
ination from  such  sources  has  taken  place. 

The  royal  commission  on  water  supply  in  Great  Britain, 
in  their  report  in  1869,  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  no  more 
than  five  grains  in  the  gallon  was  admissible  with  safety. 
Out  of  five  hundred  and  sixty-nine  waters  analyzed  by  them, 
less  than  ten  per  cent  contained  so  much  as  this,  and  it  is  no 
doubt  true  in  this  country  that  ordinary  well  waters  con- 
taining more  than  three  grains  should  be  discarded  on  sus- 
picion. Yet  in  the  forty  wells  examined  at  Rochester,  only 
one  had  less  than  that  amount,  while  some  showed  over  fifty 
grains,  with  an  average  of  nearly  seventeen  grains.  From 
one  of  the  most  highly  polluted  of  these  wells,  soda-water  had 
been  dispensed  all  summer  by  an  unsuspecting  dealer  to  an 
equally  unsuspecting  public. 


234  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

But  a  more  surprising  thing  still  was  developed  by  these 
investigations.  Water  taken  from  the  mouths  of  nine  of  the 
sewers  of  the  city,  showed  an  average  of  less  than  five  grains 
of  salt  to  the  gallon,  or  nearly  three  and  a  half  times  less  than 
the  average  of  the  forty  wells. 

The  only  explanation  of  these  facts,  seems  to  be  that  the 
wells  received  their  contamination  directly  from  the  privies 
and  house  drains,  the  principle  sources  of  undiluted  sewage. 
The  report  continues,  "many  wells  are  excavated  in  beds  of 
sand  and  gravel,  and  do  not  reach  the  rock,  they  therefore 
drain  all  the  neighboring  higher  ground,  and  become  re- 
ceptacles of  soluble  matter  upon  or  in  the  soil  for  considerable 
distances. 

If  a  sewer  passes  near,  its  contents  find  their  way  into  the 
well  until  it  is  filled  up  to  the  same  level.  Numerous  wells 
in  the  citv  fluctuate  as  the  sewer  in  the  street,  ebbs  or  flows. 
Even  in  the  beds  of  compact  and  impervious  clay,  many 
underground  streams  and  veins  of  water  are  found,  which 
may  pass  under  a  privy  before  they  are  tapped  for  domestic 
use.  Instances  have  not  been  infrequent  in  the  city  where 
the  digging  of  a  new  sewer,  or  the  deepening  of  an  old  one, 
has  drained  dry  the  wells  of  whole  neighborhoods  much  to 
the  public  indignation.  Why  such  a  thing  could  occur,  was 
a  question  unasked,  or  if  asked,  was  not  followed  to  its  logical 
conclusion.  In  such  cases  the  usual  remedy  has  generally 
proven  eflicacious,  to  retaliate  .by  deepening  the  wells  and 
draining  the  sewers. 

I  think  it  is  now  admitted  by  engineers,  that  a  well  will 
drain  the  soil  for  a  circle,  the  diameter  of  which  will  equal 
twice  the  depth  of  the  well.  In  view  of  such  facts,  we  are 
not  surprised  to  find  even  the  deeper  veins  and  water  courses 
affected,  and  the  well  prove  a  valuable  assistant  in  the  work 
of  draining  the  privy  vault.  In  1877,  the  citizens  of  Peru, 
Ind.,  in  discussing  the  subject  of  a  source  of  water  supply  for 
their  city,  sent  to  Prof.  Chandler,  of  New  York  city,  samples 
of  water  from  the  generally  considered  best  well  in  the  city, 
and  unfiltered  water  from  the  Wabash  River. 

The  well  water  was  found  to  contain  nearly  forty-two 
grains  of  solid  matter,  while  the  river  water  held  less  than 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,         235 

sixteen  grains  per  gallon,  and  the  water  from  the  well  con- 
tained over  five  grains  of  salt  per  gallon,  while  the  water 
from  the  river  showed  ^^  of  a  grain.  This  is  a  good  ex- 
ample of  the  commonly  received  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
relative  purity  of  wells  and  river  waters. 

The  ammoniated  waters  of  gas  works  have  been  found  in 
wells  seven  hundred  feet  distant — the  contents  of  privy 
vaults  may  penetrate  the  earth  and  contaminate  wells  at  a 
distance  of  one  hundred,  two  hundred,  or  even  three  hun- 
dred feet  in  certain  soils.  In  this  way  the  germs  of  cholera 
and  typhoid  fever  find  their  way  directly  into  wells,  when- 
ever an  important  case  furnishes  the  contagion,  and  they 
find  in  the  water  of  such  wells,  rich  in  organic  matter, 
ammonia,  etc.,  a  fluid  particularly  suited  for  the  propagation 
of  those  germs. 

If  now  it  is  admittedthat  typhoid  fever,  and  other  zymotic  ^ 
diseases  are  propagated  by  specific  contagion  through  the  de- 
jections of  patients,  and  it  is  proven  by  ocular  demonstrations, 
as  well  as  chemical  analysis,  that  these  dejections  become 
mingled  with  the  water  of  the  well.  Is  it  strange  that  one 
case  of  disease,  may  become  the  means  of  exciting  an  epi- 
demic, when  large  numbers  of  persons  procure  their  drinking 
water  from  the  same  well.  Many  facts  of  which  the  epi- 
demic at  Sausen,  in  1872,  is  an  example,  show  that  water 
polluted  with  excrementitious  matter,  may  filter  through  a 
considerable  thickness  of  earth,  without  losing  its  infectious 
qualities,  especially  if  the  soil  be  loose  gravel  or  gravely  loam. 

We  have  seen  already  how  easy,  and  how  common  it  is 
for  wells  to  become  contaminated  by  water  from  the  sur- 
rounding earth,  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  in  not  infrequent' 
instances,  the  pollution  occurs  from  direct  overflow  of  privies 
situated  on  higher  ground  after  heavy  rains,  or  the  rapid 
melting  of  winter's  snow.  And  in  the  majority  of  instances 
no  precaution  whatever  is  taken  to  prevent  their  contents 
from  sinking  into  the  earth,  and  the  owner  finds  a  special 
degree  of  satisfaction  if  the  ground  prove  to  be  alluvial,  as  he 
has  the  assurance  of  little  trouble  in  the  future  in  removing 
the  contents,  as  the  fluids  will  all  escape  into  the  soil,  and 
eventually  find  their  way  into  the  well. 


236  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

To  the  unprejudiced  mind  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
frequent  occurrence  of  typhoid  fever  from  drinking  water. 

There  are  a  Very  large  number  of  indisputable  facts  re- 
corded in  medical  literature,  any  one  of  which  alone  would 
be  sufficient  to  maintain  this  hypothesis,  and  I  think  it  is  not 
going  too  far  if  we  assert  that  the  infection  from  drinking 
water  can  be  more  clearly  proven  than  the  infection  from  the 
air. 

Some  examples  of  this  kind  have  been  collected  from  vari- 
our  sources,  and  after  being  condensed  as  much  as  possible, 
are  here  presented. 

In  the  year  1865,  a  nurse  who  was  employed  at  the  lunatic 
asylum  near  Solothurn,  and  who  had  recently  come  from  a 
district  infected  by  typhoid  fever,  was  taken  sick  with  the 
fever  at  the  middle  of  July,  and  died  August  8th.  The  ^ 
clothes  of  this  patient  were  washed  in  the  washhouse  of  the 
asylum,  and  many  of  the  soiled  articles  were  soaked  in  a 
stream  which  ran  through  the  courtyard  of  the  asylum,  and 
which  received  the  sewage  of  the  same.  The  waters  of  this 
brook  afterward  found  their  way  into  the  aqueduct  which 
supplied  the  barracks  and  part  of  the  city  of  Solothurn. 
After  the  middle  of  August,  the  entire  locality  supplied  with 
water  from  this  aqueduct,  was  afflicted  with  an  epidemic  of 
typhoid  fever;  nearly  all  the  dwellings  supplied  by  water 
from  this  aqueduct  had  cases,  while  houses  situated  near  and 
even  between  them,  but  with  different  water  supply,  had  no 
cases. 

Again  we  find  that  in  1872,  an  epidemic  broke  out  in 
Sausen,  a  small  village  of  eight  hundred  inhabitants,  in  which 
there  had  not  been  an  epidemic  in  sixty  years,  of  which  one 
hundred  and  thirty,  or  seventeen  per  cent,  were  taken  sick. 
Nearly  one  hundred  of  these  cases  v/ere  seized  during  the 
first  three  weeks.  The  disease  only  appeared  in  the  houses 
supplied  with  water  from  a  running  stream.  It  was  found 
that  in  a  house  situated  some  distance  away,  there  had  been 
four  cases  of  typhoid,  and  that  the  privy  of  this  house  dis- 
charged its  contents  into  a  small  stream,  which  had  a  subter- 
raneous communication  with  the  stream  which  supplied  the 
village. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.         237 

In  the  year  1867,  in  a  small  hamlet  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty,  inhabitants,   which  had    escaped    the  severe  epidemic 
which  had  swept  the  neighboring  city  of  Basle  during  the 
two  years  preceding,  was  afflicted  with  an  epidemic  after  the 
disease  had  disappeared  in  the  city,  in  which  thirty-six  persons 
were  attacked  in  twenty-two  days,  and  it  was  shown  that  the 
well  from  which  they  all  procured  their  drinking  water  was 
fed  from  a  canal,  into  which  the  privy  emptied.     After  the 
well  was  closed  no  more  cases  appeared.     In  the  barracks  at 
Zurich,  1865,  fifty-five  cases  occurred  in  the  infantry  school, 
while  the  members  of  the  artillery  school,  and  the  police  sta- 
tioned in  the  same  barracks  were  exempt.     The  cause  was 
found  in  a  well  situated  in  the  exercise  ground  of  the  infantry 
school,  and  from  which  they  often  drank,  but  which  was  not 
used  by  the  other  school  or  the  police.     Chemical  analysis 
showed  the  water  saturated  with  organic  matter,  from  a  de- 
posit of  filth  and  refuse  from  the  city,  situated  just  outside  the 
exercise  grounds. 

Some  years  since,  at  Lake  George,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  an  imported  case  of  typhoid  fever  was  the  starting 
point  from  which  sprung  an  epidemic  of  some  three  hundred 
cases.  An  investigation  showed  that  the  dejections  of  this 
first  case  had  been  thrown  upon  the  ground,  and  that  the 
water  supply  of  thei  hotel  was  from  a  well  situated  some 
little  distance  lower  than  the  ground  upon  which  the  hotel 
was  built. 

But  one  of  the  most  interesting  as  well  as  conclusive  ex- 
amples I  have  seen,  is  related  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly 
for  February  of  this  year,  by  Dr.  Eli  Van  DeWarker,  of  Syra- 
cuse :  When,  in  a  small  group  of  isolated  cottages,  an  epidemic 
occurred  in  which  seventeen  cases  were  developed  in  seven 
dwellings,  all  of  which  used  water  from  one  well,  while  seven 
other  dwellings  similarly  situated,  drawing  their  supply  of 
drinking  and  culinary  water  from  other  wells  remained 
exempt,  although  the  inmates  mingled  freely  with  the  others 
and  performed  the  duties  of  nursing  the  afflicted;  and  he 
was  able  to  prove,  by  ocular  demonstration,  that  this  one 
well  was  contaminated  by  the  overflow,  after  a  hard  storm, 


238  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

of  the  privy,  in  which  was  deposited  the  dejections  from  a 
most  severe  case  of  typhoid  fever,  contracted  like  so  many 
other  unfortunate  cases,  at  the  Centennial  Exposition  at 
Philadelphia. 

Cholera,  says  Seiturt,  finds  in  drinking  water  a  frequent 
and  most  potent  medium  of  dissemination  as  it  may  be  im- 
pregnated with  germs  from  the  water  of  the  soil,  or  by  filtra- 
tion from  privies  or  sewers  which  may  there  flourish  on 
further  development. 

In  1854  a  fearful  epidemic  in  London  was  traced  directly 
to  an  infected  well  in  Broad  street,  and  the  epidemic  ceased 
on  the  very  day  the  well  was  closed. 

Simon  found  that  in  houses  in  the  same  city,  supplied  with 
river  water  drawn  from  the  stream  after  it  had  received  the 
contents  of  several  sewers,  and  which  showed  forty-six  grains 
of  solid  constituents  to  the  gallon;  the  number  of  inhabitants 
who  died  of  cholera  was  thirteen  to  the  thousand,  while  in 
other  houses  in  exactly  the  same  circumstances,  save  that 
th^y  were  supplied  with  water  containing  only  thirteen 
grains  of  solids  to  the  gallon,  the  proportion  of  deaths  was 
three  and  seven -tenths  per  thousand. 

Examples  of  the  direct  causation  of  epidemics  by  impure 
drinking  and  culinary  water,  are  so  numerous  as  to  exhaust 
your  patience  in  the  recital,  but  some  comparisons  may 
prove  instructive.  A  district  in  London,  that  in  185']  was 
only  half  supplied  with  water  from  a  lake  had  a  mortality  of 
eighty- seven  to  ten  thousand,  while  in  1S66,  all  the  supply  . 
being  drawn  from  the  lake,  the  percentage  of  loss  was  only 
eight  in  ten  thousand. 

The  city  of  Manchester  suffered  terribly  with  cholera  in 
1833  and  1849  when  the  water  was  impure^  vvhile  the  epi- 
demics of  1854  and  1866,  after  the  water  supply  was  drawn 
from  the  interior  of  Derbyshire,  presented  only  sporadic 
cases. 

The  epidemic  in  London  in  1866,  was  only  severe  in  the 
east  end  suffered  with  extremely  impure,  nay  filthy  water, 
the  mortality  reaching  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  eleven  to 
ten  thousand,  while  in  the  parts  supplied  with  pure  water, 
the  death-rate  was  from  two  to  twelve  to  the  same  number. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med.  Society.  239 

In  Breslau,  Greatzer  relates  an  instance  where  a  badly 
constructed  privy  vault  to  a  new  well-arranged  house,  over- 
flowed and  contaminated  the  well  and  twelve  persons  had 
the  cholera,  eleven  of  whom  died,  as  well  as  a  number  of 
other  persons  who  procured  their  drinking  water  at  this  well. 
From  these  facts  it  is  seen  that  wells  aid  in  disseminating 
two  of  the  most  fatal  diseases  that  aflHict  the  human  race;  the 
typhoid  fever,  and  the  deadly  cholera. 

During  the  ten  years  from  1856  to  1866,  there  were  twenty- 
one  thousand  deaths  from  cholera  in  England  and  Wales, 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  deaths  from  typhoid 
fever. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  at  least  three-fourths 
of  these  deaths  might  have  been  prevented,  had  proper  at- 
tention been  paid  to  the  purity  of  the  water  supply  through- 
out the  country. 

This  poisoning  by  polluted  water  is  now  so  entirely  es- 
tablished, that  cities  and  communities  must  be  aroused  to  the 
vital  importance  of  securing  a  pure,  and  unfailing  supply  of 
this  indispensable  beverage. 

Shakespeare  describes  blood  poisoning  as  graphically  as  if  he 
were  discoursing  upon  the  eflfects  of  bad  water,  when  he  says: 

"Whose  effects 
Hold  such  an  enmity  with  the  blood  of  man, 
That  quick  as  quicksilver,  it  courses  through 
The  natural  gates  and  alleys  of  the  body, 
And  with  a  sudden  vigor  it  doth  possess, 
And  curd  like  eager  droppings  into  milk, 
The  thin  and  wholesome  blood." 

The  Royal  Commission  in  their  report  before  cited  says: 
"The  question  now  naturally  arises,  can  we  not  by  careful 
analysis  of  water  discover  what  quantity  of  organic  matter 
it  contains?  What  is  the  nature  and  character  of  such  mat- 
ter? and  how  far  they  are  deleterious  or  otherwise?  We  have 
endeavored  to  arrive  at  a  solution  of  this  question,  hut  un- 
fortunately without  much  success.  The  organic  matter  is 
present  only  in  very  small  quantities,  and  in  shape  and  con- 
ditions  which  are  very  difficult  to  identify  and  to  reduce  to 


240  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

actual  measure.  The  treatment  of  them  is  still  a  problem  in 
clinical  science  only  now  beginning  to  be  effectually  studied." 
Since  that  time,  however  hopeless,  these  difficulties  have 
been  surmounted.  Prof.  Humber  says:  "although  it  is  ad- 
mitted that  the  presence  of  the  nitrates  and  nitiites  does  not 
prove  thdt  there  is  anything  in  themselves  injurious  to  health, 
yet  they  reveal  the  fact  that  these  waters  have  been  previ- 
ously contaminated  by  sewage,  and  that  this  sewage  will 
find  its  way  through  considerable  thickness  of  strata,  such  as 
sand,  gravel,  or  even  chalk,  and  there  is  no  guarantee  that 
other  portions  of  that  sewage  may  not  have  escaped  the  puri- 
fying process  of  oxydization  and  filtration,  and  may  not  be 
present  in  that  water  in  quantities  too  minute  to  be  capable  of 
detection  by  chemical  analysis.  The  noxious  part  of 
sewage  is  that  which  is  held  in  mechanical  suspension,  and 
these  globules  are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  chemist,  and  to  a 
great  extent  of  the  microscopist.  No  process  of  filtration 
that  has  yet  been  devised,  will  remove  choleraic  dejections 
from  water,  and  it  is  generally  believed  that  the  noxious 
matter  of  sewage  exists  there  in  the  form  of  minute  germs, 
which  are  probably  much  smaller  than  the  blood  globules." 
Many  of  the  gentlemen  present,  probably  noticed  in  the 
New  York  Medical  Record^  in  February^  a  test  for  the  purity 
of  well  water,  directing  to  put  the  water  in  a  clear  glass 
bottle  with  a  little  cane  sugar,  and  place  in  a  warm  room,  in 
the  light.  If  the  least  turbidity  appeared  within  a  week,  reject 
it.  If  it  remained  clear,  it  was  sufficiently  pure  to  be  whole- 
some. The  following  experiments,  related  by  Mr.  Charles 
Hirsjh  in  the  journal  of  the  chemical  Society  of  London,  vol. 
XXIII,  will  show  how  subtile  the  poison  is,  and  the  minute- 
ness of  the  germs:  "Water  was  procured  from  various 
sewers,  nnd  after  standing  for  a  few  days  to  settle,  was  de- 
canted, after  which  six  drops  were  mixed  with  ten  thousand 
drops,  or  a  little  over  twenty  ounces  of  clear  water,  to  six 
ounces  of  this  mixture,  ten  grains  of  pure  suc>ar  was  added, 
a  like  quantity  of  sugar  being  added  to  the  same  amount  of 
water  without  the  sewage.  All  of  these  samples  were  placed 
in    stoppered   bottles   in  a  window,  where   plenty  of  light 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,  241 

could  reach  them.  The  water  and  the  sugar  remained  clear. 
The  water  with  the  sewage  did  the  same.  The  water,  sugar 
and  sewage  became  turbid  in  times  varying  from  twenty - 
four  to  sixty  hours,  and  exhibited  under  the  microscope 
small  spherical  cells,  with  in  most  cases  a  bright  nucleus,  and 
branched  strings,  and  ultimately  the  odor  of  Butyric  acid  was 
always  perceptible.  One  drop  of  urine  in  twenty  ounces  of 
water,  a  mixture  which  may  be  kept  for  weeks  without 
showing  any  signs  of  turbidity,  produced  with  the  sugar  in 
twenty-fours  hours  cells,  and  in  forty-eight  hours  branched 
strings.  Urea,  Albumen,  JSTitrates,  and  various  things  have  been 
tried,  and  though  some  have  produced  growths  of  some  sort, 
none  have  resembled  these  unmistakable  cells  and  strings. 
Filtering  the  water  through  the  finest  Swedish  paper  does 
not  remove  them,  for  upon  the  addition  of  sugar,  they  grow 
as  fast  as  ever.  Boiling  in  no  way  destroys  their  vitality. 
Filtering  through  a  good  bed  of  animal  charcoal  seems 
effectual  in  removing  them,  and  if  the  charcoal  is  well  aired 
from  time  to  time,  it  retains  its  power  for  several  months, 
but  if  the  water  is  passed  continuously  through  it  without 
this  precaution,  it  soon  loses  it,  and  the  water  is  as  bad  as  the 
unfiltered. 

It  now  becomes  a  matter  of  interest  to  find  what  means 
are  at  hand  for  a  simple  examination  of  suspected  waters,  for 
it  is  not  practicable  to  enter  into  a  chemical  investigation  in 
a  majority  of  instances. 

The  addition  of  a  small  portion  of  a  standard  solution  of 
Permanganate  of  potassa,  to  a  quantity  of  suspected  water,  is 
a  common  test  for  organic  impurities,  and  the  amount  of  the 
salt  which  the  water  will  bleach,  is  a  rough  approximate 
test  of  its  impurity. 

In  water  which  is  not  supposed  to  be  polluted  with  vege,- 
table  matter,  the  use  of  a  standard  solution  of  Nitrate  of  silver 
would  show  the  presence  of  Chloride  of  Sodium,  and  give 
some  idea  of  the  relative  amount  of  salt  it  contained.  If 
some  of  this  solution  be  dropped  into  water  containing  Chlo- 
rine  or  salt,  a  white  precipitate  of  Chloride  of  silver  will  be 
formed  until  all  the  Chlorine  in  the  water  has  been  used  up; 
Sept-8 


242  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

but  some  difficulty  will  be  experienced  in  determining  the 
exact  point  at  which  the  precipitate  ceases  to  form;  this 
difficulty  can  readily  be  overcome  by  using  an  indicator  con- 
s'sting  of  a  little  Chromate  of  potassa. 

The  principle  upon  which  this  acts,  is  that  silver  combines 
with  Ohlorine,  in  preference  to  Chromic  acid,  and  that  as 
long  as  any  Chlorine  exists,  the  red  Chromate  of  silver  which 
forms  when  the  solution  is  dropped  in,  will  nat  remain  per- 
manent, but  will  do  so  the  instant  the  Chlorine  is  exhausted. 

The  sugar  test  of  Hirsh  is  perhaps  the  best,  if  we  have  the 
time  to  await  the  growth  of  the  ceils. 

For  the  careful  and  scientific  analysis  of  water,  the  Ammonia 
process  of  Wanklin  and  Chapman  is  all  that  can  be  desired) 
hut  the  reagents  are  too  delicate,  and  the  manipulations  too 
Hne  for  the  use  of  the  ordinary  practitioner,  and  are  only 
adapted  to  the  laboratory  of  the  professional  chemist. 

It  now  remains  for  us  to  consider  what  means  are  available 
for  the  purification  of  poluced  water. 

The  addition  of  Permanganate  of  potash  as  mentioned  for 
the  testing  of  water,  also  serves  to  purify  it  by  the  oxidiza- 
tion of  the  organic  matter,  and  Prof.  Chandler  advises  travel* 
ers  to  carry  a  quantity  of  this  salt  with  them,  as  the  dissolving 
of  a  small  crystal  in  a  glass  of  water,  instantly  destroys  the 
oflensive  matter.  The  next  is  the  process  of  precipitation. 
This  in  hard  waters,  or  those  holding  Carbonate  qf  lime  in 
solution,  by  excess  of  Carbonic  acid,  may  readily  be  effected 
by  Clark's  process  of  softening,  which  consists  in  the  ad- 
dition of  lime,  until  the  excess  of  Carbonic  acid  is  neutralized, 
and  the  lime  is  precipitated,  carrying  with  it  a  greater  por- 
tion of  the  organic  matter,  and  removing  also  the  coloring 
matter,  if  any  be  present.  This  process  is  not  only  adapted 
to  quire  considerable  water-works,  but  may  be  carried  on  in 
private. houses.  The  quantity  of  lime  required  can  be  ascer- 
tained by  the  solution  oi  Kitrate  of  silver. 

To  a  given  quantity  of  water,  add  lime  water,  until  the 
sample  gives  a  brown  precipitate  with  the  silver  solution,  in- 
stead of  the  white  or  yellowish  one  previously  formed,  when 
add  sufficient  of  the  water  to  destroy  the  brown  color,  and 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn.  Med,  Society.  243 

calculate  the  proportion  of  lime  to  the  water.  The  use  of 
Alum  or  Persalt  of  iron^  performs  the  same  duty;  the  insolu- 
ble precipitate  removing  the  organic  matter. 

But  the  most  feasible  plan,  and  the  one  which  can  be 
brought  into  more  general  use,  is  the  simple  boiling  of  all 
suspected  water  or  waters  of  known  impurity,  and  after 
cooling,  filtering  through  a  Kedzie*s  filter,  or  better  still  the 
new  upward  filtration  device  of  Stevens,  or  if  procurable  a 
silicated  carbon  filter. 


Dr.  M.  B,  Lukens,  Cleveland,  made  the  following  remarks: 
All  infectious  diseases  spring  from  a  specific  virus,  and  this 
virus  is  a  germ  or  seed  which,  under  favorable  conditions,  is 
capable  of  growing  and  reproducing  itself.  The  fact  that 
there  are  isolated  cases  of  disease,  or  that  it  is  more  malig- 
nant in  one  locality  than  in  another,  is  no  evidence  that  it 
originated  in  that  particular  locality,  but  that  the  disease  ma- 
terial came  from  a  parent  stock,  whether  far  or  near.  Dis- 
eases are  not  spontaneously  generated  any  more  than  are 
plants  or  animals,  but  the  germs  being  light  may  be  wafted 
by  the  wind  for  miles.  Neither  the  heat  of  summer  nor  the 
cold  of  winter  can  destroy  them.  Only  a  very  small  propor- 
tion of  them  ever  find  lodgment  in  soil  suitable  for  their  pro- 
pagation. Very  many  lodge  in  dry  safe  places,  and  months  and 
even  years  afterwards  may  be  dislodged  by  the  winds  or 
other  causes  and  sent  on  their  course.  Thus  are  many  "first 
cases"  produced  whose  origin  seems  to  puzzle  so  many. 
They  are  like  the  thistle  seed  which  after  ripening  may  be 
carried  long  distances  by  the  breeze  and  infect  fields  and  gar- 
dens which  have  been  clear  of  the  pest  for  years.  If  you 
should  see  a  solitary  thistle  coming  up  in  your  garden,  or 
even  many  thistles,  you  would  not  conclude,  because  you  had 
not  seen  one  ripening  near  by  last  year,  that  these  thistles 
originated  from  some  unknown  local  cause,  as  impure  water, 
open  cesspools  and  vitiated  air  of  various  kinds;  but  you 
would  very  naturall}'  and  correctly  conclude  that  there  was 
an  old  mother  thistle  somewhere,  and  that  one  or  more  of 
her  offsprings  concluded  to  set  up  business  in  your  garden, 


244  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

because  the  thistle  germ  found  there  suitable  soil  in  which  to 
grow  and  multiply.  In  the  absence  of  this  it  would  never 
germinate.     It  would  remain  neutral. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  germ  of  infectious  diseases.  They 
emanate  from  old  ripening  cases  by  the  millions  through  the 
mouth,  skin  and  excrementitious  fluids.  They  lodge  upon  all 
surrounding  objects,  and  wherever  they  find  nourishment 
there  they  take  root  and  grow.  The  fact  that  diseases  prevail 
with  great  malignancy  in  some  localities,  while  others  are 
exempt,  is  due,  no  doubt  to  many  reasons,  some  of  which  we 
understand  and  others  we  do  not  understand.  The  direc- 
tion of  the  wind  doubtless  has  something  to  do  with  it. 
The  current  of  wind  laden  with  disease  may  find  in  its  track 
the  well-ventilated  and  the  well-drained  home,  or  it  may 
find  the  opposite,  and  in  neither  place  will  the  disease  germ 
propagate;  or  it  may  propagate  in  both  places,  or  in  one  and 
not  in  the  other.  The  attack  will  depend  upon  the  condition 
of  the  victim,  whether  he  contains  in  his  system  a  suscepti- 
bility or  nourishment  sufficient  for  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  sown  germ. 

Experience  teaches  us  that  few  individuals  possess  this 
germ  food,  which  is  evidenced  by  the  small  per  cent  of  the 
whole  population  who  become  sick.  We  are  all  more  or  less 
exposed.  We  eat,  drink  and  breathe  the  disease  germ  con- 
tinually and  with  impunity.  If  we  are  physiologically  healthy 
these  germs  have  no  bad  efTect  upon  us.  After  we  have 
weakened  our  constitutions  by  bad  habits,  ignorantly  or 
otherwise,  we  may  be  susceptible  to  disease.  Anything  that 
weakens  the  system  lessens  the  power  to  resist  invasion. 
The  most  that  concerns  us  is  to  keep  up  the  standard  of  re- 
sistance. Impure  food,  air  and  water  must  be  strictly  avoided, 
for  they  do  their  part  in  reducing  this  standard. 

Carbonic  acidgas^  Sulphhuretted  hydrogen,  and  other  noxious 
gases,  adulterated,  indigestible  and  unnourishing  food,  impure 
water,  especially  that  containing  fermented  organic  matter, 
are  certainly  illy  adapted  to  nourish  the  body  and  fortify  it 
against  the  attack  of  enemies,  and  therefore  ought  to  be 
shunned. 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society.         245 

Dr.  Owens  remarked  that,  to  a  large  part  of  the  paper  first 
read  by  Dr.  Gaylord,  he  would  beg  leave  to  dissent;  that 
there  were  several  points  in  the  paper  which  he  thought 
ought  to  be  discussed,  but  that  he  would  only  call  attention 
to  one  of  them,  that  of  contamination  of  drinking  and  other 
water  supply  from  sewage,  as  a  cause  of  epidemics,  and  more 
particularly  cholera,  for  in  his  judgment  all  of  their  theories 
were  at  sea,  and  in  point  of  scientific  value  were  not  worth  a 
fig.  These  theorists  have  a  certain  amount  of  stock  in  trade,  and 
that  the  Broad  street  well  in  St.  James  Parish,  London,  in 
1854,  was  a  chief  staple,  and  perhaps  the  foundation  of  a 
well-spread  and  erroneous  assumption  as  to  that  particular 
outbreak.  ^ 

I  refer  you  to  the  report  of  this  celebrated  case  as  made  by 
Dr.  Snow,  to  the  Epidemiological  Society,  of  London: 
"In  the  parish  of  St.  James,  the  first  cases  of  cholera  occurred 
in  July,  1854,  near  its  close;  there  was  only  a  dropping  fire 
as  it  were,  which  kept  within  quite  moderate  limits  until 
the  last  days  of  August,  when  suddenly  the  disease  made  a 
most  violent  explosion  in  the  most  crowded  part  of  the 
parish.  Three  occurred  on  the  31st  day  of  August;  thirty- one 
fatal  cases  on  the  following  day;  one  hundred  and  thirty-one 
in  the  first  of  the  month,  and  on  September  second,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five;  on  the  third  of  September,  fifty-eight; 
and  the  fourth,  fifty-two;  on  the  fifth,  twenty-six;  on  the  sixth, 
twenty-eight;  on  the  seventh,  twenty-two;  and  on  the 
eighth,  fourteen  fatal  cases."  On  this  day  the  pump  handle 
was  removed  from  a  certain  suspected  well;  from  this  time 
the  disease  continued  to  subside  gradually,  until  the  last  of 
October,  when  it  ceased  altogether,  according  to  the  repdrt 
This  is  the  history  of  all  epidemics,  they  make  their  appear- 
ance, suddenly  make  their  most  violent  ravages,  and  then 
pass  on  eventually  subsiding  altogether,  lasting  usually  but 
a  few  weeks. 

The  attack  did  not  cease  at  once,  as  stated  in  the  paper  which 
is  taken  from  Lebert,  in  Ziemssen,  but  gradually  subsided 
in  seven  or  eight  weeks.  Subsequent  examination,  it  is  said, 
disclosed  this  fact,  that  the  well  from  which  the  people  from 


246  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

this  neighborhood  had  obtained  their  supply  of  water  for 
domestic  purposes,  had  been  contaminated  by  the  discharge 
of  a  house  drain,  and  cholera  excreta  into  this  well;  and 
hence  the  violence  of  this  outbreak.  Dr.  Snow  had  the 
pump  handle  removed  on  September  8th,  after  the  mortality 
had  been  reduced  from  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  to  four- 
teen, in  eight  days.  During  this  time  the  impurities  had 
probably  remained  the  same,  and  if  the  theory  advanced  be 
true,  would  have  been  greatly  intensified.  The  whole  claim 
and  pretense  is  unreasonable,  unwarranted  by  tVie  facts  un- 
scientific and  controverts  itself. 

When  cholera  made  its  first  appearance  on  this  Western 
Continent  in  April,  1831;  it  attacked  Montreal  first,  far  up 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  afterward  ravaged  Quebec  with  great 
violence*  In  the  former  place,  the  mortality  was  about  one 
in  eight  of  its  inhabitants,  while  Quebec  built  upon  hill,  and 
at  that  time  supplied  almost  entirely  by  rain  water  from  cis- 
terns, lost  one  to  every  seven  and  one-half  of  its  population, 
and  it  further  appears,  according  to  Dr.  Nelson's  report,  that 
the  higher  parts  of  this  city  occupied  by  the  wealthy  citizens, 
sufifered  as  much  as  those  in  the  lower  and  poorer  portions. 
The  report  further  states  that  almost  simultaneously  the 
native  villages  along  the  St.  Lawrence  were  attacked,  and 
several  of  them  completely  decimated. 

The  city  of  Mexico  lost  one  in  every  ten  of  its  inhabitants; 
Quito,  one  in  seventeen;  Bogota,  one  in  fifteen  of  the  inhab- 
itants, while  the  loss  in  New  Orleans  was  the  same  with  the 
yellow  fever,  and  most  unfavorable  surrounding  to  make  it  up. 

The  British  garrison  at  Jaragruth,  on  the  Ganges  one  thous- 
and feet  above  the  plain,  lost  one-fourth  of  its  number;  their 
only  water  supply  was  from  cisterns,  while  the  citizens  occu- 
pying the  plain  around  them  suficred  not  at  all. 

Ratoon,  built  among  the  rocks  and  supplied  from  the 
melting  snows  of  the  Himalaya,  eight  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea  lost  one  in  six,  and  the  same  is  true  of  Katmodenou, 
similarly  situated  ten  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level,  lost 
one-fiUh  of  its  inhabitants  from  cholera,  from  1819  to  1824, 
The  report  says  that  the  disease    was  only  staid  when  the 


Proceedings  of  the  Ohio  Horn,  Med,  Society,  247 

people  had  all  left.  Again,  cholera  travels  against  wind  and 
tide,  passing  in  this  country  from  east  to  west  and  from 
south  to  north. 

Dr.  Wilson — The  papers  just  read  by  the  gentlemen  are 
worthy  of  praise  as  fitly  and  ably  representing  the  depart- 
ment of  modern  sanitary  science.  But,  sir,  modern  sanitary 
science  is  much  of  it  a  humbug.  Starting  out  with  a  good 
idea  it  has  been  sadly  perverted;  it  has  been  unduly  magni- 
fied in  office.  If  we  could  believe  these  gentlemen,  God  nev- 
er made  anything  fit  for  man's  use.  The  air  of  heaven  is  la- 
dened  with  poisonous  gases,  and  but  little  of  it  seems  safe  for 
breathing.  Water  everywhere  is  polluted.  The  rivers  are 
contaminated  and  the  wells  are  full  of  death.  The  bread  and 
meat  which  we  eat  are  full  of  danger.  Even  the  milk,  as  I 
learned  at  Indianapolis  the  other  day,  isladened  with  destruc- 
tion. There  is  therefore  rtothing  left  for  a  man  to  do  but  to 
go  and  hang  himself.  Years  ago  men  and  women  ate  and 
drank  and  breathed*  and  lived  happily  to  a  good  ^Id  age. 
Now  these  gentlemen  would  have  us  employ  a  chemist,  a  mi- 
croscopist  and  a  sanitary  scientist  to  inspect  all  our  food  and 
keep  us  in  hot  water  generally.  Why,  sir,  these  gentlemen 
are  abettors  and  aiders  of  the  work  of  intemperance,  for 
when  men  cannot  drink  water  or  milk,  they  will  be  driven 
to  use  lager  beer  as  a  matter  of  consequence.  I  remember 
well  that  I  began  life  on  a  milk  diet.  Later  on  I  abandoned 
it,  but  perhaps  had  I  stuck  to  it,  I  might  have  been  by  this 
time  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  old.  The  gentleman 
from  Toledo  says:  he  does  not  know  where  wells  were  first 
invented.  I  can  tell  him.  It  was  in  the  garden  of  Eden. 
The  first  well  was  made  when  Adam  in  charge  of  Paradise, 
ran  the  thing  into  the  ground. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  mistaken  upon  this  question.  I  do  not 
oppose  sanitary  science.  But  much  that  goes  under  that 
name  is  nothing  but  unsubstantial  theory.  On  these  specious 
theories  men  are  trying  to  ride  into  notoriety  and  power. 
They  raise  false  issues.  They  teach  for  truth  what  they  have 
concocted  in  their  own  brains,  I  do  not  believe  with  my 
friend    Prof.    Sanders,   that  we  should    stand    shoulder   to 


248  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

shoulder  with  these  men  only  so  far  as  they  have  science,  and 
not  fancy  on  their  side.  Sanitary  science  is  to-day  leading 
in  the  wrong  direction.  They  would  have  us  believe  that 
filth  andjdisease  are  synonomous;  that  in  certain  gases  and 
putrefactive  substances,  we  have  the  true  embodiment  of  dis- 
ease. This  is  all  wrong.  My  friend  Dr.  Lukens  shows 
you  that  the  subjective  conditions  of  the  human  economy 
are  lost  sight  of,  and  altogether  too  much  stress  laid  upon  the 
external  conditions.  It  may  seem  like  heresy  to  dispute 
these  sanitar}'  gentlemen.  They  have  fashion  on  their  side, 
and  they  are  bound  to  make  political  capital  out  of  it.  State 
and  national  governments  are  their  tools,  and  they  would  not 
be  human  if  they  did  not  make  the  most  of  it  for  themselves. 
But  if  you  will  carefully  look  over  their  work,  you  will  see 
how  little  of  anything  like  fixed  principles  they  have  yet  dis- 
covered. They  group  a  few  facts  and  then  «tart  a  theory, 
but  contradictory  facts  are  sure  to  upset  them.  The  sanitary 
leaders  of  the  country  are  not  noted  for  their  modesty. 
Much  good  has  been  done  in  this  department,  but  I  emphati- 
cally protest  against  the  assumptions  of  power  and  wisdom 
made  by  these  gentlemen.  These  gentlemen  who  have  read 
these  papers  have  shown  ability  and  are  honest,  but  they  are 
not  investigating  for  themselves.  They  have  fallen  into  the 
popular  current  that  is  all. 


Fig.  3.    Srcliqn  fromakinof  fmglhreeiUji  under  mrKaic,ihowiD|t  icpuUion  of 
l'cJIe  and  complete  tmiUuK  up  ofKructun:  a,  derormed  nuclei  irilh  obscured  outlin*; 

inclicmllDtc  ■  solation  «  Hillenmg  of  prDtDpUim. 


T.  P.  WILSON,  M.  D.  G.H.IIAI.  Editor 

VoLCME  VII         Cincinnati,  0.,  October,  1879. 

NnMBBB  4. 

lor,  130  Braid  way.    All  lubscriptions  and  business  cominunicilion 
toMlDlCAl.AnvANCECO.,8«W.  8th  St.,  Cincinnati,  O.    Subsc 

.  T.  p.  Wilson,  edi- 
s  should  be  addreeud 

Materia  Medica. — It  ia  well  for  us  to  consider  a  few  fundamental 
facta.  The  glory  of  the  homceopatbic  school  is  its  Materia  Medica. 
Thie  department  it  haa,  Id  no  Beose  borrowed,  but  created.  And  the 
right  of  this  school  to  what  it  has  made,  has  never  yet  been  disputed 
or  shared  by  others.  If  you  rob  Homceopathy  of  its  Materia  Hedica, 
you  rob  it  of  all  that  gives  it  the  slightest  or  the  greatest  value. 

It  ie  impossible  for  any  one  to  succeed  as  a  homceopath  who  does 
not  understand  the  Alateria  Medica  of  our  school,  and  who  does  not 
know  how  to  apply  it.  He  may  be  learned  in  all  other  lore  and  fail 
for  want  of  this. 

The  crucial  question  is  not,  doeshe  understand  the  disease?  Bu), 

does  he  know  how  to  treat  it?  And  how  can  he  treat  it  right,  save  by 

the  right  application  of  his  remedies?    Yet  in  spite  of  all  this,  nothing 

js  more  common  than  the  decrying  of  the  fruits  of  this  department. 

Oct.  I 


250  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

It  ia  the  fashion  to  cast  doubts  and  imputations  upon  the  recorded 
pathogeneses  of  our  drugs.  In  the  mean  time  we  beg  to  ask  what  are 
our  medical  students  to  do?  If  they  diligently  study  the  Materia 
Medica  as  it  is,  they  are  learning  what  is  said  to  be  of  no  use  to  them; 
and  if  they  wait  until  the  Materia  Medica  is  corrected  or  made  what 
it  should  be,  they  will  never  touch  it.  We  have  already  too  many  in 
our  school  who  know  little  or  nothing  of  this  department.  Unfortu- 
nately they  shield  themselves  behind  the  statement  endorsed  by 
honorable  names,  that  the  Materia  Medica  is  not  reliable.  In  answer 
to  this  we  have  to  say,  any  fool  can  cry  mad  dog,  and  find  many  to 
echo  the  cry.  And  many  who  have  never  studied  the  Materia  Med- 
ica at  all,  are  prolific  in  objections  to  it.  Nothing  in  this  world  is 
perfect.  Errors  have  undoubtedly  crept  into  our  symptomatology 
but  who  can  point  out  those  errors?  Experience  has  shown  that 
those  errors  are  not  vital  or  fatal.  Our  Materia  Medica  is  an  agent 
of  great  value.  It  is  full  of  the  richest  gems.  We  have  conquered 
by  it  in  the  past,  and  by  it  we  can  enlarge  our  conquest  in  the 
future  if  we  master  it.  Until  we  study  it,  and  comprehend  it, 
it  is  idle  to  talk  of  improving  it.  We  can  find  nothing  better,  and 
without  it,  we  have  nothing.  We  say  to  medical  students,  let  no  one 
rob  you  of  your  rights,  or  mislead  you  as  to  duty.  The  homoeopathic 
Materia  Medicals  before  you ;  it  is  the  best  and  only  thing  of  its  kind. 
Study  it,  master  it,  and  it  will  do  you  royal  service  in  the  cure  of 
disease.  Without  exception,  the  men  who  understand  it  have  faith 
in  it.  They  know  its  strength  and  its  weakness.  And  in  their  hands, 
while  it  is  doing  good  work,  it  steadily  becomes  more  and  more  per- 
fect; but  however  near  perfection  it  may  be,  it  will  never  be  above 
the  captious  critisism  of  those  who  have  not  the  ability  toappreciate  it, 

A  Journalistic  Vampire. — The  Homoeopathic  News,  (St.  Louis), 
edited  by  C.  U.  Goodman,  M.  D.,  a  gentleman  whose  name  belies  his 
nature,  says  in  the  last  number:  ''Every  Journal  of  our  school  is  gone 
over  carefully,  read,  condensed,  and  ail  the  juice  squeezed  out  of  it, 
which  will  be  palatable  to  our  readers.*'  We  can  hardly  afford  to 
quarrel  with  the  palate  of  his  readers,  but  the  diet  on  which  they 
feed,  indicates  dyspepsia.  The  idea  that  all  our  goodness  is  com- 
prised in  what  he  extracts,  would,  in  an  unqualified  sense,  be  dread- 
lul,  but  as  limited  by  the  tastes  and  wants  of  his  subscribers,  we  can 
stand  it  if  they  can.  The  editor  further  says:  "In  the  News  you  can 
read  all  the  journals ;  then  you  can  be  alive  and  kick,  and  wont  have 
a  dozen  journals  to  pay  for."  Exactly!  we  take  the  News,  and  we 
propose  to  "kick.*'  The  News  will  continue  to  be  published  at  one 
dollar ;  the  other  journals  will  be  published  for  fun;  but  if  they 
should  stop,  where  would  the  News  be?  The  man  who  killed  the 
i;oose  which  laid  golden  eggs  is  himself  still  alive,  and  resides  in  St. 


Editorial  251 

Louis,  edits  a  journal  made  up  of  second-hand  material  over  a  month 
old,  and  he  facetiously  calls  it  the  ''News.''  This  kick  of  ours  comes 
from  a  recent  perusal  of  the  August  number,  and  we  are  in  no  wise 
responsible  for  it. 

Annual  Field  Day,  Essex  Co.,  Mass.,  Homeoepathic  Medical  Society, 
July  23rd.  This  Society  held  its  annual  picnic  at  Shawsheen  River 
Grove,  and  as  usual  they  had  "a  glorious  time."  Dr.  N.  R.  Morse, 
the  indefatigable  Secretary, arranged  and  engineered  the  programme. 
Dr.  Th9mpson,  of  Lowell,  the  President,  delivered  an  address.  Dr. 
Scott,  of  Lawrence,  the  President-elect,  followed  in  a  short  speedi, 
and  Dr.  A.  M.  Gushing,  of  Lynn,  read  ''the  poem,"  which  was  a  pro- 
duction not  wholly  founded  on  the  imagination.  Lunch  and  toast, 
with  witty  responses,  interspersed  with  music,  and  specimen  playing 
of  all  the  modern  games  except  euchre,  and  a  walking  match  closed 
the  festivities  of  the  day.  If  we  are  not  invited  next  time,  there  will 
be  trouble. 


Experiments  with  Arsenic.    By  j.  C.  Anderson,  M.  D., 

Mansfield,  O,     See  Frontispiece. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Miss  Emily  Nunn,  lecturess  on 
biology  in  the  Wellesley  College,  Boston,  U.  S.  A.,  who  has 
put  into  my  hands  her  experiments  upon  the  frog  (Rana 
tern poraria) with  Arsenic.  I  am  able  to  present  to  our  readers 
some  hints  regarding  the  structural  changes  that  this  drug 
produces  upon  the  epidermis,  as  well  as  its  deeper  physiolog- 
ical and  pathological   effects  upon  living  organic  structures. 

The  experiments  refer  more  particularly  to  the  desquama- 
tion which  this  drug  is  supposed  to  produce. 

"When  the  flakes  of  epidermis  come  away  some  hours 
after  the  administration  of  the  drug  are  examined,  it  is  found 
that  they  can  be  readily  split  up  into  two  strata;  into  a  trans- 
parent corneous  layer,  and  into  the  underlying  more  granular 
intermediate  layer.  The  peculiar  vacuolation  of  the  cell  sub- 
stance in   the   immediate   neighborhood   of  the  nucleus,  by 


252  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

which  the  nucleus  is  deformed,  or  at  times  almost  destroyed, 
was  frequently  very  conspicuous,  I  may  remark  that,  as  far 
as  I  could  ascertain,  the  changes  leading  to  the  ^^vacuolation" 
begin  in  the  nucleus  itself,  and  I  should  accordingly  be 
inclined  in  this  point  to  differ  from  other  writers,  and  to  re- 
gard the  phenomenon  as  a  degeneration  of  the  nucleus,  and 
not  as  a  change  in  the  cell  substance  affecting  the  nucleus  in 
the  secondary  manner. 

"There  was  no  diminution,  or  at  least  no  marked  diminution 
of  the  cohesion  between  the  various  cells  composing  the  two 
layers,  the  corneous  and  intermediate.  The  whole  corneous 
layer  separated  readily  from  the  underlying  intermediate  and 
the  desquamation  had  evidently  been  caused  by  a  separation 
of  the  intermediate  layer,  with  its  flattened  cells,  from  the 
malpighian,  with  its  more  or  less  cubical  or  polygonal  cells; 
but  the  constituent  ceMs,  both  of  the  corneous  layer  and  of 
the  intermediate  layer,  held  pretty  well  together.  So  much 
so,  that  I  was  quite  unprepared  for  the  changes  which  I  sub- 
sequently observed  in  the  malpighian  layer. 

"These  changes  I  studied,  by  means  of  vertical  sections, 
taken  from  diff'erent  parts  of  the  body,  at  different  intervals 
after  the  (hypodermic)  introduction  of  the  poison,  shows 
that  the  general  eflfect  of  the  drug  on  the  epidermis,  is  to 
cause  a  degeneration  and  partial  solution  of  the  protoplasm 
of  the  cells,  whereby,  ( i)  the  whole  epiderm  becomes  loosened 
from  the  subjacent  derm;  (2)  the  cells  of  the  malpighian 
layer  become  incoherent,  so  that  the  whole  layer  collapses, 
and  its  well  known  architectural  features  become  obscure; 
and  (3)  the  intermediate  layer  separates  from  the  malphighian 
layer  below,  and  at  times  from  the  corneous  layer  above. 
The  corneous  and  intermediate  layers  are  thus  desquamated, 
sometimes  separately,  sometimes,  and  perhaps  most  frequently, 
tosrether.  In  no  case,  even  in  those  of  most  extreme  or  most 
lengthened  poisoning,  have  I  ever  seen  the  malpighian  layer 
actually  cast  off*  during  lile;  it  always  remains  attached 
(though  loosely)  to  the  derm.  In  preparing  sections,  how- 
ever, it  frequently  becomes  detached. 

"The  action  of  the  Arsenic  is  first  indicated  by  the  appear- 
ance of  a  faint  narrow  band  (fig.  i,  a.)  along  the  bases  of  the 


Experiments  with  Arnica,  25B 

columnar  cells,  immediately  above  the  basement  membrane. 
This  is  apparently  due  to  a  softening  and  partial  solution  of 
the  corresponding  part  of  the  protoplasm  of  the  cells;  and  in 
many  of  the  sections,  holes  or  spaces  (fig.,  i,  b.)  (which 
appear  to  be  rather  rents  and  tears  than  vacuoles)  make 
their  appearance,  partially  separating  the  bases  of  the  cells 
from  the  underlying  derm, 

"Under  the  continued  influence^of  the  poison,  this  solution, 
softening  or  degeneration  of  the  protoplasm  of  the  columnar 
cells  advances,  and  the  spaces  increase  until,  (as  shown  in  fig. 
2.)  the  cells,  instead  of  being  attached  to  the  underlying 
derm  by  the  whole  surfaces  of  their  bases,  are  connected  only 
by  bridles  or  threads  of  protoplasm.     . 

"At  the  same  time,  a  somewhat  corresponding  softening  or 
solution  begins  to  affect  not  only  the  other  portions  of  the 
protoplasm  of  the  columnar  cells,  but  also  the  bodies  of  the 
rest  of  the  cells  of  the  malpighian  layer.  The  indications  of 
the  ridges  and  prickles  become  obscured,  and  the  cells  lose 
their  characteristic  arrangement.  I  do  not  think  I  can  better 
describe  the  general  result  than  by  saying,  that  the  cells  seem 
to  collapse  and  become  huddled  together.  (Fig.,  3).  The 
oval  form,  and  vertical  position  of  the  columnar  cells,  so 
characteristic  of  the  healthy  skin  disappear;  the  cells  of  the 
whole  malpighian  layer  become  irregular  in  outline,  and  form 
a  diminution  of  their  cell  substance;  their  nuclei  appear 
crowded  together.  Nor  is  the  change  confined  to  the  cell 
substance;  the  nuclei  also  are  affected.  They  lose  their 
characteristic  oval  (or  in  the  upper  cells  of  the  malpighian 
layer  spheroidal)  form  and  become  angular  and  smaller,  as  if 
they  had  shrunken.  (Fig.,  3,  a).  The  outlines  of  the  nuclei 
also  become  less  distinct,  as  if  both  nucleus  and  cell-body 
were  fused  in  a  common  degeneration.  In  this  way  the 
whole  malpighian  layer,  so  to  speak,  collapses,  losing  its 
natural  features,  and  separating  from  the  derm,  to  which 
however,  it  remained  attached,  partly  by  the  bridles  spoken 
of  above,  but  also  and  chiefly  by  the  prolongations  of  the 
epiderm  into  the  ducts  of  the  cutaneous  glands. 

"It  is  obvious  from  the  foregoing  account,  that  the  arsenic 
first  attacks  lowermost  or  innermost  portions  of  the  epiderm. 


254".  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

and  that  its  action  advances  from  the  derm  outwards.  This 
may  be  in  part  due  to  the  simple  fact  that  the  innermost  cells 
are  those  which  are  nearest  to  the  blood  vessels  carrying  the 
poison;  but  this  can  hardly  be  the  whole  reason,  since  diffu- 
sion must  be  very  rapid  tlirough  a  thin  membrane  of  such  a 
nature  as  the  epidermis. 

"It  seems  more  natural  to  attribute  the  phenomena  to  the 
fact  that  the  cells  of  the  malpighian  layer  next  to  the  derm, 
(the  columnar  layer)  are  composed  of  more  active,  more 
irritable  protoplasm  than  that  of  the  rest  of  the  derm,  the 
irritability  diminishing  in  the  series  of  cells  from  within  out- 
roads  in  proportion,  as  the  metamorphosis  of  the  protoplasm 
into  keratin  becomes  more  and  more  pronounced. 

"The  characteristic  vertical  arrangement  of  the  undermost 
cells,  I.  e.,  the  columnar  layer  of  the  epiderm,  is  a  phenome- 
non, for  which  it  is  very  difficult  to  account.  Erabryologi- 
cally  considered,  this  feature  seems  to  be  a  continuation  of  the 
condition  of  the  primary  epiblasf,  the  cells  of  which  are 
always  vertical;  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  purpose  is 
served  by  the  preservation  of  this  ancestral  feature.  It  is 
obvious,  however,  from  the  results  which  I  have  given,  that 
this  vertical  position  is  maintained  (for  whatever  reason)  by 
some  exertion  of  the  protoplasm  of  the  constituent  cells. 
Immediately,  that  the  Arsenic  damages  the  protoplasm,  the 
vertical  arrangement  is  lost;  indeed  this  is  the  most  obvious 
effect  of  the   ArseniCy  and  the  one  most  readily  recognized." 

These  experiments  are  of  double  interest  to  the  homoeo- 
pathic practitioner,  as  it  verifies  the  reality  of  our  provings 
which  were  made  many  years  ago;  as  well  as  to  illustrate  the 
true  pathological  changes  the  drug  is  capable  of  producing. 

If  we  note  the  destructive  action  which  it  exerts  specifi- 
cally upon  the  protoplasmic  structures,  we  may  see  plainly 
why  this  drug  is  regarded  with  so  much  favor  by  homcBO- 
paths  in  typhoid  and  other  degenerative  types  of  disease.  It 
was  often  remarked  by  my  preceptor,  (Dr.  F.  Stahl,  whose 
long  experience  and  accurate  observations,  give  his  utterances 
considerable  weight,)  that  Arsenic  would  go  farther  in  search 
of  the  ebbing  life  forces  than  any  other  drug. 


Materia  Medica.  255 

• 

Again  it  is  observable  how  these  experiments  coincide 
with  our  provings  in  desquamation  and  eruptive  symptoms 
recorded  in  our  materia  medica.  I  will  not  take  the  time  or 
space  to  record  them  here,  but  will  advise  the  reader  to  turn 
to  his  materia  medica,  and  note  the  striking  similarity. 

I  have  not  given  here  the  full  detail  of  Miss  Nunn's 
experiments,  but  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  importance  of  this 
line  of  investigation. 


afinia  A(&ica. 


The  Materia  Medica  Generally  and  Specifically  Considered. 

Read  before  the   Indiana  Institute  of  Homoeopathy, 
May  1st,  1879,  by  O.  P.  Baer,  M.  D. 

Fellows  of  the  Indiana  Institute  of  Hommopathy: — We 
have  come  together,  from  different  parts  of  our  great  com- 
monwealth, for  the  laudable  purpose  of  mutual  improvement, 
by  the  interchange  of  ideas,  facts  and  experiences.  Each 
brother  casting  into  the  common  medical  treasury  such  mites 
as  his  daily  experience  has  afforded  him.  To  perform  uses, 
is  the  great  desideratum  in  life;  more  to  be  desired  than  fine 
gold.  Uses  are  of  various  kinds  and  qualities,  as  are  the  dry 
goods  upon  the  merchants'  counter;  but  I  venture  the  asser- 
tion, that  there  are  precious  few  uses  tantamount  to  those 
daily  performed  by  the  earnest  physician  in  his  rounds  among 
the  sick.  His  pity,  his  sympathy,  his  inmost  anxiety  are  ex- 
cited, to  cure  his  suffering  and  dying  patients.  He  appeals 
to  the  only  tangible  source  of  aid — the  materia  medica.  He 
racks  his  brain  to  find  a  reliable,  unfailing  remedy.     But  alas! 


256  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

how  often  he  utterly  fails  to  get  that  needed  response.  Our 
materia  medica  is  not  commensurate  with  our  demands; 
and  we  keenly  feel  it.  The  ever  recurring  questions — Doc- 
tor, can  you  cure  me.^  Can't  you  find  some  remedy,  some- 
where, to  cure  me,  Doctor.'*  Is  there  no  cure  for  me,  Doctor? 
Must  I  thus  die  daily,  and  yet  live  on,  dragging  out  a  useless 
life,  as  intolerable  as  death  itself?  come  like  thunder  peals  to 
the  heart  and  understanding  of  the  philanthrophic  physician. 
Under  such  pathetic  appeals,  I  have  frequently  asked  myself. 
What  can  I  do?  What  shall  I  do?  Do  something  I  must,  but 
to  do  the  right  thing,  was  the  imperative  necessity;  and  I 
was  incompetent  for  the  task.  Have  you  not,  all  of  you,  or 
many  of  you  at  least,  been  in  the  same  predicament?  .  I  pre- 
sume so,  as  none  of  us  dare  arrogate  infallibility.  The  human 
family  always  have,  and  always  will,  suffer  and  live;  and 
suffer  and  die.  To  relieve  suffering  is  the  true  province  of 
the  physician.  To  be  enabled  to  accomplish  this  great  work, 
whether  in  whole  or  but  in  part,  it  is  justly  expected  of  him, 
that  he  should  have  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  every 
available  means  presented  before  him  by  his  Heavenly 
Father,  for  his  consideration,  in  the  four  kingdoms  of  nature 
— the  elemental,  the  mineral,  the  vegetable  and  the  animal 
kingdoms.  To  draw  largely  from  each,  and  all  of  these 
sources,  is  both  our  privilege  and  duty. 

The  elemental  kingdom  presents  us  with  many  active 
agents  for  our  investigation.  Electricity,  heat,  light,  magnet- 
ism, ozone,  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  carbon,  chlorine  and 
many  other  agents,  no  doubt  equally  potent.  The  mineral 
kingdom  has  been  largely  drawn  upon  for  ages,  and  its  field 
of  active  agents  is  rapidly  enlarging.  Besides  these  simple 
metals  themselves,  we  have  almost  a  countless  list  of  oxydes, 
hydrates,  nitrates,  carbonates,  muriates,  phosphates,  sul- 
phates, chlorates,  bromides,  iodides,  cyanides,  etc.,  etc.,  with 
all  their  hos's  of  combinations  too  numerous  to  recount. 
The  vegetable  kingdom!  What  a  field  for  research.  The 
whole  earth  teems  with  living,  active,  medicinal,  vegetable 
agencies.  Go  where  you  will,  north,  south,  east  or  west — 
the  earth  is  one  vast  garden  of  vegetable  life.     Two  hundred 


Materia  Medica.  257 

thousand  species  of  plants  have  already  been  catalogued  and 
described.  Truly  this  evidences  a  "Balm  for  every  ill,  to 
which  human  flesh  is  heir."  The  animal  kingdom  too,  adds 
greatly  to  our  wants — in  hygiene,  food  and  medicine.  Now 
taking  the  full  range  of  the  four  kingdoms  of  Nature  together, 
I  presume  we  have  at  least,  three  hundred  thousand,  com- 
paratively distinct  substances,  from  which  to  select  our  means 
of  cure.  Everything  in  Nature  has  its  province  of  usefulness; 
as  nothing  was,  or  is,  or  could  be,  created  in  vain.  Everything 
animate  and  inanimate  has  its  own  distinctive  particular 
identity.  This  being  true,  the  postulate — that  every  identity 
has  its  own  peculiar  manifestation;  as  well  internally,  struc- 
turally, as  externally,  for  indeed,  the  external  of  any  thing 
is  but  the  outward  showing  of  the  internal  potency,  life  or 
activity.  Man  is  the  embodiment  of  all  that  is  below  him,  in 
each  and  all  of  the  four  kingdoms  of  Nature.  His  diseased 
condition  is  but  the  expression  of  disordered  function;  per- 
verted order.  And,  as  every  thing  relating  to  him,  good, 
bad  or  indiflferent  has  its  representative,  somewhere  below 
him,  in  the  earth,  or  upon  it,  there  must  be  active,  curative 
agents,  sufliciently  potent  to  eradicate  all  abnormalities. 
**Every  evil  has  a  corresponding  good;"  so  every  pain  has 
its  balm.  Or  in  other  words,  for  every  pang  or  symptom  of 
disease  to  which  man  is  heir,  there  surely  is  a  remedy,  having 
within  itself  all  the  medicinal  or  toxic  characteristics  precisely 
corresponding  to  it. 

Symptoms  are  seldom  or  never  entirely  alone,  but  present 
themselves  in  groups,  with  one  or  more  guiding  or  ruling 
symptom  or  symptoms.  As  it  is,  in  the  presentation  of  the 
symptoms  of  disease;  so  it  is  in  the  manifestation  of  the  phy- 
siological or  toxical  effects  of  remedial  agents — the  one 
should  be  a  complete  picture  of  the  other.  The  one  should 
foreshadow  the  other  in  every  particular.  As  most  disorders 
have  ruling,  or  prominently  primal  symptoms,  so  have  medi- 
cinal agents,  their  alphas  and  omegas. 

Of  the  whole  three  hundred  thousand  physical  agencies 
given  us  for  weal  or  for  woe,  only  about  one  thousand  are 
moderately  well  understood.     Now,  if  with  these  few  reme- 


258  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

dies  in  comparison  with  the  whole,  we  can  do  so  much  good, 
what  will  be  the  result  when  all  are  as  well  known  as  these 
comparatively  few?  Then  will  the  glad  time  have  arrived, 
when  we  can  say  in  all  candor — We  have  found  the  balm  for 
every  ill  and  a  solace  for  every  woe. 

Of  all  the  branches  of  the  curative  art,  there  are  none, 
the  study  of  which  is  so  essentially  necessary,  as  the 
materia  medica.  With  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  its  parts, 
aided  by  a  retentive  memory,  executive  intellect,  and  reasona- 
ble perseverance,  the  analytical  physician  will  go  on  from 
conquering  to  conquest.  Virtually  he  is  monarch  of  all  he 
surveys.  Disease  vanishes  at  his  approach.  Whereas,  a 
physician  ignorant  of  the  workings  of  the  different  recupera- 
tive agents  described  in  our  materia  medica,  is,  as  an  infant, 
in  the  muscular  grasp  of  a  lion — utterly  helpless. 

There  are  two  systems  of  materia  medica,  founded  upon 
entirely  different  bases: 

One,  the  Allopathic,  founded  upon  experiments  made  upon 
the  sick,  with  approximately  toxical  doses.  The  other  the 
homoeopathic,  founded  upon  provings,  made  upon  the 
healthy,  with  small,  though  appreciable  doses.  The  one  there- 
fore, may  be  called  the  pathological  system,  and  the  other 
the  physiological  system.  The  one  is  a  system  of  materia 
medica  without  a  proper  systematized  symptomatology,  as 
diseased  bodily 'function  can  not,  and  never  will,  constantly, 
and  always,  make  the  same  response  to  medicinal  agents. 
It  is  therefore,  not  a  science,  but  a  medley.  The  other,  the 
rational  or  homoeopathic,  is  a  true  system  of  materia  medica, 
with  a  thoroughly  systematic  arrangement  of  all  its  symp- 
toms; as  the  symptoms  produced  upon  the  healthy  prover 
are  constant,  and  therefore  reliable.  A  constant  recurrence 
of  certain  conditions,  under  like  circumstances,  establishes 
them  as  truths,  and  truths  multiplied  constitute  science. 
This  then  is  the  only  true  system  of  materia  medica,  or  the 
only  scientific  basis  for  a  pure  and  reliable  symptomen  codex. 

As  proof  of  what  has  been  said,  the  most  reliable  part  of 
the  allopathic  materia  medica,  is  that  class  of  symptoms  es- 
tablished upon  the  healthy,  duriug  the  process  of  accidental 


Materia  Medica.  259 

or  voluntary  poisoning;  all  else  is  mere  guess  work  as  many 
of  tireir  best  men  concede.  Every  substance  taken  into  the 
stomach,  is  either  dietetical,  hygienical,  toxical  or  curative. 
And  none  of  these  conditions  should  be  lightly  passed  over 
by  the  physician,  as  they  all  concern  the  life  of  the  patient. 

While  all  things  relating  to  our  patient  greatly  concerns 
us,  the  more  immediate  work  for  us  to  do,  is  that  which  lies 
directly  before  us,  the  prompt  cure  of  our  patient.     How 
shall  we  accomplish  this?  is  the  all  absorbing  question.     My 
mode  is  simply  this:  I  get  all  the  symptoms  of  my  patient, 
past  and  present;  the  first  symptoms,  and  then  all  the  balance 
in  the  order  of  their  approach,  if  possible.     Note  the  promi- 
nent ones,  and  their  relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  primal 
functions  of  life.     Get  the  bearings  upon  each   organ,  and 
upon  the  system  generally;  then  examine  my  materia  medica 
for  the  best  similar  expression  of  the  symptoms  I  have  in 
hand.     Should  I  find  several  agents  with  apparent  resem- 
blances, I  remember  there  are  no  two  things  precisely  alike  in 
the  whole  universe;  and  that  every  thing  claims  its  own  ident- 
ity.   With  this  great  truth  before  me,  I  commence  eliminating 
as  do   mathematicians,  and  finally  I  soon    reach  the  single 
agent,  which   is  truly  the  only  foe  to  the  diseased  condition 
When  I  feel  certain  that  I  have  found  the  unmistakable  simili- 
mum — the  potency  will  not  be  so  important.  The  primal  requi- 
site in  the  practice  of  medicine  is  the  similimum.  This  haying 
been   gained,  the  cure  is  guaranteed;  provided  always,  that 
the  responsive  power  of  the  organism  is  not  utterly  broken 
down.     The  potency  is  a  secondary  consideration.     If  you 
have  the  proper  remedy,  the  potency  may  be  ever  so  high, 
and  yet  cure  the  patient  of  his  malady;  whereas,  if  your 
remedy  is  not  the  proper  one,  it  matters  not,  how  low  the 
potency  is,  it  will  utterly  fail.     My  favorite  potency  is  th  e 
thirtieth,  though  I  frequently  descend,  or  ascend,  to  suit  the 
emergency. 

Very  susceptible  temperaments  will  require  higher  poten- 
cies than  leuco-phlegmatic  ones.  Infants  particularly  do 
better  under  high — than  low  potencies. 

I  frequently  meet  with  physicians  who,  to  a  certain  extent 
become  routinists,  unknowingly,  by  simply  getting  into   the 


260  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

habit  of  prescribing  one  remedy  for  a  circumscribed  list  of 
symptoms,  not  deeming  it  competent  to  do  any  thing  more 
than  for  what  they  use  it.  We  are  all  prone  to  fall  into  this 
routinism,  unless  we  keep  constantly  before  us  the  whole 
sphere  of  action  of  each  remedy  of  our  great  and  good  mate- 
ria medica.  I  will  instance  a  few  cases,  as  under  the  second 
part  of  my  paper,  the  materia  medica  specifically  considered. 

Lachesis,  for  instance,  has  a  very  wide  range  upon  the 
mucous  tissues,  nervous  fibrilse  and  morbid  growths,  as  well 
as  upon  the  skin.  How  seldom  is  it  used  by  practicians 
thus  widely.  In  croup,  for  instance,  should  the  infant 
seem  better;  take  a  nap,  however  short  or  long,  and  wake 
up  in  aggravation,  every  way  worse,  spasmodically  suffocated, 
with  purplish  maculae  upon  the  surface,  there  is  no  remedy 
equal  to  Lachesia — it  is  the  sine  qua  non.  Again,  take  a  pa- 
tient, old  or  young,  with  a  feeling  of  utter  emptiness,  gone- 
ness, or  faintness  of  the  stomach,  about  eleven  o'clock,  day  or 
night,  or  any  time  four  or  five  hours  after  eating,  and  there  is 
no  remedy  equal  to  the  curative  effects  of  Lachesis,  Again, 
take  a  patient  troubled  with  constipation,  without  any  inclina- 
tion to  defecation  whatever.  Sliould  there  chance  to  be  an 
evacuation  at  any  time,  it  will  be  enormously  large  and  pain- 
ful, leaving  the  sphincters  almost  paralysed — slow  to  close — 
with  a  feeling  of  complete  inability  to  draw  up  the  partially 
prolapsed  anus,  and  you  have  a  beautiful  picture  of  Lachesia^ 
in  which  you  can  scarcely  fail  to  cure. 

Again,  take  almost  any  malarial  affection  where  the  pa- 
tient manifests  frequent  attacks  of  small  macula;  over  various 
parts  of  the  body,  or  extremities,  resembling  measles  in  shape 
and  general  appearance,  save  that  these  bear  a  faint,  purplish 
hue,  coming  and  going  as  the  aspect  of  the  disease  varies, 
and  you  have  another  fair  picture  of  Lachesia,  Again.  Last 
spring  I  was  called  to  see  a  farmer's  wife,  some  four  miles 
from  Richmond.  Three  allopathic  physicians  had  previously 
been  in  attendance,  each  considering  her  case  a  doubtful 
one.  I  examined  the  case  closely,  both  externall}',  per  rectum, 
and  per  vagina,  and  felt  sure  I  had  a  bad  case  of  saculated 
ovarian  disease.     She  was  fifty-two  years  of  age;  generally 


Materia  Medica.  261 

healthy,  and  worked  hard,  until  the  past  few  months,  when 
constant  malaise  and  occasional  suffocative  breathing  set  in. 
She  was  of  a  leuco-phlegmatic  temperament,  and  still  men- 
struating irregularly,  of  a  dark,  dirty  looking  and  ofTensive 
character.  Her  height  is  five  feet  six  inches;  and  her  weight 
in  health  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  German,  from 
Hanover.  Had  been  enlarging  for  about  five  months,  and 
when  I  first  saw  her,  she  looked  like  a  pregnant  women,  about 
ready  for  a  accouchment.  Abdomen  hard,  but  somewhat  sec- 
tional; as  some  parts  were  harder  than  others.  On  the  left  ova- 
rian region,  and  directly  under  the  navel,  extending  up  to  the 
stomach,  she  was  very  hard,  as  though  fibrous  in  character;  all 
other  sections  were  tense,  and  more  or  less  painful — she  suf- 
fered at  times  with  dyspnaBa,and  wheezing  almost  approaching 
sufibcation.  Tongue  red  and  glazed;  appetite  fickle;  great 
thirst;  no  perspiration,  and  urine  scanty,  high  colored;  con- 
taining ten  per  cent,  albumen,  with  haemeatin.  Constipation 
of  long  standing,  with  occasional  discharges,  resembling 
horse^s  dung  in  size;  giving  her  more  or  less  pain  and  weak- 
ness, from  which  she  would  not  recover  for  as  much  as  a 
half  day  or  more.  She  had  six  children  about  two  years 
apart,  and  always  recovered  quickly — and  went  from  quiet  to 
labor  again  without  a  murmur,  I  gave  this  patient  Lachesis 
30th  dilution,  with  but  little  hope  of  recovery;  and  after  about 
two  weeks  treatment,  the  friends  of  the  family  clamored  for 
council.  Dr.  John  Emmons,  homoeopathist,  was  called  in, 
who  pronounced  the  case  one  of  ovarian  tumor;  and  pro- 
posed the  knife  as  the  only  sure  remedy — proposed  nothing 
else — I  informed  the  family  of  the  Doctor's  decision.  They 
rejected  the  proposal  with  much  indignation,  and  requested 
me  to  go  on,  and  do  the  best  I  could  with  medicine.  Be- 
lieving Lachesis  to  be  the  similimum,  I  continued  it;  with  but 
little  change  in  any  respect,  save  the  steady  abdominal  en- 
largement. She  measured  forty-eight  and  a  half  inches 
around  her,  directly  over  the  umbilicus,  and  increased  about 
two  inches  per  week,  until  she  measured  sixty-three  and  one-, 
fourth  inches,  when  she  commenced  decreasing,  and  in  six 
months  from  the    commencement   of   treatment,    she    was 


262  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

nearly  her  natural  size,  and  at  writing  is  perfectly  free  from 
every  vestige  of  tho  tumor,  and  can  do  as  much  work  as 
usual.  She  took  no  other  medicine  than  Laohesis — which  she 
took  lirst,  last,  and  all  the  time,  I  feel  proud  of  this  cure, 
and  consider  it  one  of  the  most  signal  cures  that  I  ever  made. 
It  shows  the  wide  range  of  Laches  is  upon  the  various  tissues 
of  the  human  body.  Yet,  again,  I  cured  a  patient  some  years 
ago  of  a  long  standing,  spreading,  superficial,  shallow  ulcer 
with  LachesiSy  while  under  treatment  for  paresis  of  lefdower 
limb.  This  case  was  cured  permanently,  without  especially 
trying  to  do  it.  But  as  the  patient  took  nothing  else,  of 
course,  the  inference  would  be  that  Lachesis  did  the  unex* 
pectedly  handsome  work.  I  have  now  given  you  a  pretty 
fair  introduction  to  Lachesis^  and  hope  that  upon  a  more  in- 
timate acquaintance  with  it,  you  may  have  cause  to  rejoice  as 
I  have  done;  and  even  more  so,  if  possible. 

Aconite,  the  very  lancet  of  Homoeopathy,  is  used  by  many 
physicians,  simply  as  a  prompt  febrifuge,  nothing  more.  It 
is  like  a  great  and  noble  potentate,  dispensing  its  blessings  in 
all  directions.  When  you  have  exposed  yourself  to  draughts 
of  air,  or  otherwise  done  that  which  would  ordinarily  pro- 
duce a  cold  of  either  head,  throat  or  chest,  a  few  doses  of 
Aconite,  so  perfectly  controls  the  circulation,  that  you  go 
scott  free  from  cold — I  know  this  to  be  so,  from  direct  experi- 
ment on  self  and  family,  and  hundreds  of  others.  Almost 
any  disease  in  its  incipiency  is  amenable  to  the  influence  of 
Aconite.  I  had  a  case  of  strange  uncontrolable  fancies,  pre- 
dicted the  time  of  her  death,  would  become  very  desponding 
at  times,  and  then  again  be  quite  cheerful;  sometimes  unbear- 
ably cross,  morose  and  fault  finding;  fretful  about  mere  trifles, 
could  bear  neither  light  nor  noise.  Aconite  cured  these  con- 
tradictory symptoms  very  promptly,  without  the  least  evi- 
dence of  any  fever. 

In  the  fall  of  1869,  I  was  greatly  over-worked  profession- 
ally, came  home  one  noon  in  the  month  of  November,  per- 
fectly exhausted,  threw  myself  upon  the  sofa,  and  in  a  very 
few  moments  lost  all  ability  to  use  words;  tongue  tremulous, 
with   a   tired    feeling  of  weight  and  numbness  in  the  entire 


Materia  Medica.  263 

tongue,  memory  also  vanished,  so  much  so  that  when  my 
wife  mentioned  that  she  had  just  received  a  letter  from  her 
sister,  I  could  not  comprehend  her  name,  could  not  recollect 
any  thing  about  her,  though  I  knew  her  well  for  years — I 
felt  paralysis  making  rapidly  for  my  brain.  I  took  a  few 
doses  of  Aconite  in  rapid  succession,  and  in  two  hours  I  was 
as  well  as  ever. 

I  relieved  a  case  of  tasthma  a  short  time  ago,  where  the 
patient  was  a  thin,  delicate  lady,  who  having  taken  cold  from 
exposure  to  the  chilly,  damp  night  air  of  the  latter  part  of 
March,  was  taken  towards  morning  with  a  tightness  in  the 
lungs,  with  feeling  of  heat  and  fullness,  causing  suH'ocating 
attacks  almost  bordering  fainting;  general  system  relaxed  and 
bathed  in  profuse  perspiration,  with  quick,  loud,  laboured, 
wheezing,  whistling,  asthmatic  breathing,  with  a  few  doses 
of  Aconite  30th  very  promptly  indeed;  so  much  so,  that  the 
friends  thought  the  remedy  must  be  very  powerful.  This 
sudden  cure  made  such  an  impression  upon  one  of  the 
friends  present,  that  she  sent  the  very  next  day  for  a  vial  of 
it  to  send  to  a  distant  relative. 

Again,  about  a  year  ago,  I  had  a  patient  who  was  troubled 
with  icy  cold  feet  and  hands,  with  numbness  and  tingling  in  bis 
toes  and  tops  of  feet  Numbness  would  commence  in  the  feet 
and  work  upward  to  the  knees  and  thighs,  causing  partial  in- 
sensibility particularly  when  walking,  and  when  he  remained 
in  a  sitting  position  for  any  length  of  time,  and  then  attempted 
to  rise,  his  legs  were  almost  powerless  to  move — and  when 
he  did  move  they  felt  numb,  and  would  go  to  sleep;  and  draw 
up,  and  feel  stiff  and  sore.  This  case  had  no  fever,  no  thirst, 
but  a  general  malaise,  and  yet  Aconite  cured  him  in  less  than 
a  month  entirely.  Aconite  restores  the  circulation,  prevents 
local  congestions,  and  restores  the  serum  to  the  blood  again. 

It  surely  is  our  sheet  anchor  in  all  cases  of  spasm  of  the 
extreme  vessels.  In  congestion  of  the  milk  vessels  it  is  an 
admirable  agent.  Applied  locally  in  the  third  dilution, 
it  relieves  as  if  by  magic,  I  might  give  numerous  instances 
of  invaluable  offices  of  Aconite,  but  I  have  offered  enough  to 
show  its  great  value  in  other  than  ^mere  febrile  affections. 
It  is  a  regulator,  an  arbitrator  for  good. 


264  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Opium  is  another  remedy  much  overlooked  by  our  profes- 
sion. I  find  it  of  great  use  in  all  cases  of  infants — where 
vomiting  is  the  result  of  the  heat  of  summer — where  a  child 
vomits,  and  spreads  its  arms  and  legs,  as  wide  apart  as  pos- 
sible, then  lays  prostrate  and  listless.  It  often  acts  like  a 
charm  in  the  advanced  cases  of  cholera-infantum;  where  the 
child's  lower  jaw  drops  and  the  eyes  are  turned  upward.  I 
have  relieved  scores  of  infants  from  that  straining  vomiting, 
incident  to  the  mother's  second  pregnancy,  while  nursing; 
particularly,  where  the  mother  persists  in  nursing  the  child 
during  quickening.  Here  the  child  becomes  very  easily  dis- 
turbed, relaxed  and  emaciated.  The  milk  is  thrown  up,  hot, 
though  not  coagulated.  Whenever  an  infant  vomits,  and 
throws  itself  backward,  with  the  upper  and  lower  extremi- 
ties fully  extended  at  nearly  right  angles  to  the  body,  you 
have  a  case  for  Opium — or  Sulph,  morphia  in  the  third  tri- 
turation. ,It  may  be  that  the  Sulph.  morphia  raised  high  would 
do  better,  than  the  Opium  alone;  as  Sulphur  often  does  won- 
ders when  given  alone  as  .1  stomachic;  and  when  combined  in 
this  case  would,  a  priori  work  well  in  all  such  cases.  I  have 
tested  the  trituration  in  many  such  cases,  and  have  found  it 
even  more  eflicient  than  the  Opium  of  the  same  dilution;  I 
think  owing  to  the  intimate  presence  of  Sulphur, 

Again,  Opium  is  seldom  prescribed  for  spasms  of  wormy 
or  teething  children;  and  yet,  it  often  corresponds  beautifully 
to  their  worst  attacks.  During  the  thermometrical  changes 
preceding  the  settled  cold  weather  of  January  last,  many 
children  suffered  from  clonic  spasms,  owing  no  doubt,  to  the 
sensitive  state  of  their  systems  incident  to  teething,  worms, 
and  probably  deficient  clothing.  I  had  several  cases  calling 
unmistakably  for  Opium,  I  will  describe  one  case  as  a  pic- 
ture of  many.  I  was  called  about  midnight,  on  the  nineteenth 
of  December,  to  see  a  male  child  twenty  months  old,  who,  as 
far  as  parental  knowledge  extended,  was  quite  well  until  near 
midnight,  when  the  child  waked  up,  apparently  frightened, 
crying  and  screaming,  at  the  full  extent  of  its  lungs;  abso- 
lutely refusing  all  consolatory  measures;  and  finally  spasms 
broke  forth,  in  the  midst  of  extreme  tossing  and  restlessness. 


Materia  Medica.  265 

It  jerked  from  head  to  foot,  and  threw  its  head  back  as  far  as 
possible,  with  up  turned  eyes,  open  mouth  and  quivering 
chin;  legs  and  arms  spread.  This  spasm  was  over  when  I 
reached  the  bed  side.  The  child  went  from  spasm  to  sleep; 
or  rather,  the  spasm  terminated  in  sleep — a  heavy,  gutteral 
breathing,  with  an  occasional  deep,  prolonged  sigh;  tremu- 
lous limbs,  hard  abdomen  and  feeble,  quick  pulse,  were  the 
most  prominent  features  present.  After  an  half  hour  of  this 
tiresome  sleep,  the  child  roused,  screaming,  tossing  and 
trembling  of  head  and  limbs,  with  short,  sudden  jerks  of  the 
flexor  muscles,  and  lapsed  at  once  into  a  hard,  irregularly  de- 
veloped spasm;  with  all  the  characteristics  of  the  first.  I  at 
once  gave  Opium  30th  dilution,  every  ten  minutes.  The 
spasm  was  a  short  one,  sleep  natural,  and  the  babe  recovered 
without  any  more  spasms.  This  is  not  an  uncommon  phase 
of  spasms,  particularly  just  before  radical  weather  changes. 
I  might  report  numerous  other  Opium  cases,  equally  interest- 
ing, bnt  these  must  suffice. 

Zincum  is  another  one  of  the  old  remedies  very  much  neg- 
lected.  For  burning  of  the  stomach,  particularly  on  pressure 
when  empty,  or  when  the  burning  is  accompanied  by  dysp- 
noea, and  apparent  stricture  of  the  oesophagus.  Eructations, 
with  burning  pain  running  into  the  back,  in  line  of  the 
stomach  with  nausea  and  vomiting.  Sometimes  the  least 
bpoonful  of  food  will  be  forcibly  thrown  back  as  soon  as  it 
strikes  the  stomach.  The  patient  often  throws  up  nothing 
but  frothy  bitter  mucus.  Such  persons  imagine  they  have 
worms.  I  treated  a  case  of  this  kind  last  summer,  where  a 
lady  of  a  very  irritable  stomach,  with  constant  burning  nausea 
of  a  sweetish  rising,  with  the  sensation  of  worms  creeping  up 
the  oesophagus.  This  state  would  create  more  or  less  down- 
ward pressure  upon  the  bladder  rectum  and  uterus, 
compelling  her  to  sit  cross  legged,  and  trembling.  I  gave 
her  Zincum,  which  cured  her  promptly — and  what  was  most 
gratifying,  it  radically  cured  an  old,  and  hitherto,  persistant 
attack  of  leucorrhoea,  of  a  bloody  mucous,  and  corroding 
character. 

I  have  chosen  to  speak  of  these  few  Hahnemannian  rem- 
edies, through  an  earnest  desire  to  not  have  them  neglected 

Oct-2 


266  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

for  the  sake  of  the  new  ones  daily  coming  into  use.  While 
we  accept  the  new,  let  us  not  forget  the  old  tried  friends, 
which  have  served  us  so  often,  and  so  well. 

Another  point,  and  I  shall  have  done — provings  upon  the 
healthy,  voluntarily  undertaken,  for  the  good  of  the  system, 
by  taking  substantial,  though  not  toxical  doses,  is  not  all  the 
source  of  authoritative  and  reliable  knowledge  of  a  constant 
recurring  character.  Poisoning  unto  death  from  any  drug, 
gives  us  a  class  of  perfectly  reliable  symptoms.  Symptoms  as 
constant  in  their  recurrence  as  the  drug  is  in  its  external 
manifestation.  These  symptoms  make  such  deep  impres- 
sions upon  the  beholder,  that,  let  his  memory  be  ever  so 
fickle,  they  will  remain  iudellibly  fixed  upon  him,  and  when 
like  or  similar  symptoms  present  themselves  in  the  sick,  he 
at  once  recognizes  the  comparison,  and  readily  cures  his 
case. 

Some  nine  years  ago,  I  was  called  to  see  a  married  woman 
who  from  some  cause,  best  known  to  herself,  became  tired  of 
life,  and  took  a  large  dose  of  Corrosive  sublimate^  prepared 
for  killing  bed  bugs.  Her  symptoms  were  of  the  most  ag- 
gravating character;  vomiting,  and  wretching  to  vomit;  up- 
heaving of  the  chest;  drawing  up  of  the  legs  suddenly,  and 
then  distending  them  equally  as  sudden;  wringing  her  hands, 
biting  her  lips,  grinding  her  teeth,  slapping  her  hands  to- 
gether over  her  head,  then  grasping  her  bowels  and  scream- 
ing most  shockingly,  saying:  Dr.  I  am  literally  burning  up 
alive,  from  a  fire  within  me.  Her  countenance  was  the  very 
picture  of  dire  distress — she  vomited  blood  and  stringy 
mucus,  and  purged  the  same  every  few  moments.  Thus  ter- 
minated her  life,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  excruciating  suffer- 
ing. This  picture  has  served  me  handsomely  in  many  cases. 
I  might  give  other  cases,  such  as  poisoning  from  Laudanum^ 
Arsenic^  Podophyllum^  Phytolacca,  showing  unmistaka- 
bly the  wisdom  to  be  drawn  from  all  such  cases. 

How  little  v/e  know,  is  daily  manifest,  and  how  much  we 
have  yet  to  learn,  is  truly  incredible.  Notwithstanding  this 
honest  confession,  we  are  infinitely  in  advance  of  our 
deluded   brethren,    who   have  scanned   both   sea  and   land 


Materia  Medica.  267 

for  some  hidden  Balm  of  Gilead — some  universal  Panacea^ 
or  Elixir  vitce;  but  have  most  signally  failed,  after  wrhole 
centuries  of  arduous  labour,  and  much  vexation  of  spirit — and 
have  given  the  profession  a  confused  medly,  full  of  sheer  un- 
certainties as  a  system  of  materia  medica.  Their  only 
practical,  positive  knowledge,  being  that  derived  from  healthy 
persons,  who  have  voluntarily  taken  poisonous  drugs  with 
purpose  of  self-destruction.  All  things  else  are  but  doubt 
and  confusions  doubly  confused. 

More  true,  reliable  and  fixed  knowledge  hjas  been  given  to 
the  human  family,  during  the  last  fifty  years  by  the  indefati- 
gable Samuel  Hahnemann  and  his  followers,  than  ever  be- 
fore, during  man's  entire  life  upon  this  earth.  That  this  is 
true,  I  presume  no  sane  man  will  essay  to  contradict — then 
to  the  homoeopathic  profession  must  the  whole  world  look, 
for  a  true,  reliable  and  scientific  system  of  materia  medica. 
As  custodians  of  this  inestimable  enterprise,  may  our  zeal  be 
ever  commensurate  with  the  nobility  of  this  subject. 

DISCUSSION, 

Dr.  Wm.  L.  Breyfogle — I  have  been  very  much  interested 
in  Dr.  Baer's  paper.  Any  one  who  is  acquainted  with  Dr. 
Baer,  can  not  doubt  his  wonderful  cures,  but  it  has  occurred 
to  me  that  many  of  those  symptoms  are  not  always  reliable. 
I  was  particularly  impressed  with  the  case  reported  in  which 
Aconite  was  used  upon  himself.  He  speaks  of  having  been 
anxious,  fatigued  and  exhausted  on  coming  into  his  house  and 
lying  down.  Had  a  feeling  of  apprehension,  approaching 
paralysis,  inability  to  think,  and  loss  of  memory.  That  con- 
dition "was  relieved  by  Aconite  in  about  two  hours."  I  think 
many  cases  of  that  kind  would  relieve  themselves  by  simple 
re-action.  For  many  years  I  was  troubled  with  vertigo,  more 
or  less,  had  frequent  and  severe  attacks  of  it.  I  finally  dis- 
covered that  it  came  from  chewing  too  much  fine-cut  tobacco. 
I  became  satisfied  of  that  fact.  May  not  frequently  cases  of 
that  kind  reported  as  cured  by  a  certain  remedy,  be  really  not 
affected  by  the  remedy,  but  by  other  measures.^  The  doctor 
thought  the  action  of  Aconite  in  his  case  was  curative,  when 


268  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

the  re-action  of  the  natural  forces  of  the  system  alone,  deserved 
credit.  In  speaking  of  the  action  of  Zachesis  on  mucous  sur- 
faces, he  says  that  the  symptoo[i,  "worse  after  sleep,"  is  a 
characteristic  of  that  remedy.  He  says  Lachesis  is  the  remedy 
par  excellence  in  croup  when  the  symptom,  "worse  after 
sleep"  is  present.  We  all  know  the  value  of  the  key-note 
symptom  "worse  after  sleep,"  but  Lachesis  is  not  always  the 
remedy  for  it.  All  mucous  surfaces  are,  so  to  speak,  "worse 
after  sleep,"  and  I  can  not  call  to  mind  a  case  of  croup  that 
has  not  been  "worse  after  sleep."  In  cases  where  we  depend 
on  key-notes,  ought  we  not  to  look  after  other  characteristic 
indications,  particularly  where  so  much  depends  on  the 
action  of  a  remedy.? 

Dr.  O.  P.  Baer — Ought  not  the  gentleman  to  recollect  that 
the  Aco7iite  patient  is  always  extremely  restless  and  irritable, 
and  after  he  takes  a  little  Aconite  he  is  invariably  better? 
That  is  always  the  case  with  Aconite, 

Dr.  A.  C.  Cowperthwait — I  want  to  say  a  word  in  answer 
to  Dr.  Breyfogle.  It  seems  to  me  that  his  argument  is  old 
school  in  its  drift,  and  I  never  like  to  hear  that  taught. 
Apprehension  of  impending  danger,  great  loss  of  memory, 
etc.,  are  characteristics  oi  Aconite,  Our  allopathic  friends  tell 
us  to  let  such  patients  alone,  and  they  will  get  well  without 
medicine.  I  never  like  to  hear  homoeopathic  physicians 
talking  that  way.  In  this  paper  reference  is  made  to  a  feeling 
of  utter  emptiness,  goneness,  or  faintness  of  the  stomach 
about  II  a.  m.,  or  p.  m.,  or  any  time  four  or  five  hours  after 
eating  as  characteristic  of  Lachesis,  That  is  one  of  the  grand 
old  characteristics  oi  Sulphur,  If  that  was  one  of  the  char- 
acteristics, I  should  certainly  have  prescribed  Sulphur. 

Dr.  Wm.  L.  Breyfogle — I  do  not  want  to  be  understood  as 
objecting  to  "apprehension  of  approaching  death,  great  loss 
of  memory,  approaching  paralysis,  restlessness  and  irritabil- 
ity," as  symptoms  characteristic  of  Aconite,  What  I  object 
to  is,  that  we  take  as  characteristic  symptoms,  a  class  of 
symptoms  which  are  not  reliable.  We  too  often  do  it,  and  I 
think  it  is  one  ot  the  great  reasons  of  our  failure  in  pre- 
scribing for  cases.     Another  thing  to  be  taken  into  consider- 


Materia  Medica.  269 

ation  is  the  fact,  that  some  homoeopathic  physicians  are  so 
crowded  by  patients,  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  those  nice 
distinctions  in  every  case.  They  are  too  often  compelled  to 
select  too  quickly  the  remedy,  and  therefore  are  obliged  to 
use  the  **key-note  symptoms."  We  must  group  the  symp- 
toms upon  which  life  and  death  depend.  I  object  to  the 
characteristic,  "worse  after  sleep."  It  is  not  reliable  when 
isolated  from  other  important  symptoms. 

Dr.  O.  P.  Baer — That  symptom  is  set  down  in  the  books 
as  a  key-note  of  Lachesis,  and  I  have  known  but  few  cases 
when  that  particular  symptom  was  manifest.  Can  the  gentle- 
man name  any  other  remedy,  the  characteristics  of  which 
are  similar? 

Dr.  W.  L.  Breyfogle — "Worse  after  sleep,"  is  characteristic 
of  Sulphur.  The  patient  is  disturbed  early  in  the  morning  and 
gets  up.     In  cases  of  croup,  the  symptom  occurs. 

Dr.  O.  P.  Baer — ^The  materia  medica  does  not  speak  of 
that  symptom  under  Sulphur  in  case  of  croup. 

Dr.  W.  L.  Breyfogle — "Worse  after  sleep,"  is  not  men- 
tioned under  Sulphur  in  the  materia  medica,  but  the  fact 
exists  nevertheless.  Sulphur  is  "worse  after  sleep."  In  dis- 
eases which  involve  the  mucous  membranes,  it  necessarily 
follows  that  the  discharges  will  be  profuse,  and  that  patients 
will  be  "worse  after  sleep,"  Upon  simply  this  indication,  it  is 
not  safe  to  give  Lachesis  in  croup. 

Dr.  T,  P.  Wilson — Now,  this  "goneness  or  emptiness  of 
the  stomach,"  of  which  the  paper  speaks,  is  a  very  important 
symptom.  It  is  always  very  prominent  when  a  man  is 
hungry,  and  the  best  indicated  remedy  is  a  good  dinner  for 
him,  which  is  not  a  specifically  homoeopathic  remedy.  When 
I  hear  a  man  say  in  the  morning,  that  he  feels  particularly 
worse,  I  think  it  may  be  because  he  has  been  debauched  the 
previous  night.  It  is  not  certain  that  this  or  that  remedy  is 
especially  indicated.  The  system  may  be  working  off  the 
debauch.  It  may  be,  had  the  man  been  temperate,  that  he 
would  not  have  had  the  feeling  of  "goneness  in  the  stomach" 
about  II  a.  m.,  and  we  would  not  have  had  the  "key-note." 
I  like  the  paper  of  Dr.  Baer  very  much.     I  dislike  to  see  a 


270  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

result  of  the  action  of  a  remed}-  explained  on  other  grounds 
than  the  direct  effect  of  the  drug.  I  do  not  care  what  the 
symptom  is  or  how  it  is  produced,  if  it  indicates  the  drug 
clearly,  and  the  good  result  follows  its  administration,  it  is  all 
nonsense  to  say  it  is  a  coincidence,  that  it  might  have  oc- 
curred anyhow,  etc.  That  sort  of  teaching,  if  carried  out, 
would  leave  all  the  remedies  in  the  materia  medica  out. 
If  the  result  follows  satisfactorily,  all  right.  I  do  not  know 
why  any  physician  should  stand  up  and  question  it.  If  I  see 
a  particular  leading  symptom,  I  can  often  make  a  good 
selection  of  a  remedy,  but  it  is  only  by  close  discrimination 
that  we  can  always  make  the  proper  selection. 

Dr.  W,  J.  Hawkes — I  would  like  to  say  a  word  about  the 
paper.  I  think  it  strikes  just  at  the  point,  that  homoeopathic 
physicians  want  to  make.  They  must  differentiate  their  rem- 
dies.  If  thev  have  five  hundred  remedies,  and  two  of  these 
remedies  have  all  their  symptoms  in  common,  then  there  is 
one  remedy  redundant,  and  which  one  is  called  for  by  the 
individual  characteristic?  The  only  way  of  utilizing  all  the 
remedies  brought  within  our  knowledge,  is  to  find  the  char- 
acteristic symptoms  for  each  individual  remedy.  It  seems  to 
me,  that  is  perfectly  clear.  If  there  are  two  remedies  which 
have  precisely  the  same  symptoms  in  common,  then  there  is 
one  superfluous  in  the  materia  medica.  Throw  it  out.  If 
there  are  no  two  remedies  which  correspond  in  their  char- 
acteristics, we  must  make  use  of  both,  and  know  the  differ- 
ence. That  is  the  only  way  to  make  use  of  Homoeopathy.  Dr. 
Baer's  remarks  on  Lachesia  strike  right  home.  I  think  it  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  remedies  in  the  materia  medica 
In  croup  and  diphtheria,  where  you  find  that  symptom, 
"worse  after  sleep,''  it  will  help  you  out  as  it  has  helped  me 
out  so  often. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Taylor — The  point  Dr,  Breyfogle  makes,  is  a 
good  one.  The  fact  that  in  these  diseases  of  the  respiratory 
organs,  the  patient  is  always  "worse  after  sleep,"  is  patholog- 
ical and  physiological.  It  makes  no  difference  what  the 
"totality  of  the  symptoms"  indicate,  a  litt'e  study  will  make 
it  perfectly   clear   to   any  one.     In  these  diseases  when  the 


Materia  Medica.  271 

patient  wakes  up,  he  is  worse.  He  attempts  to  breathe,  but 
the  air  cells  of  the  lungs  have  been  occluded,  and  respiration 
is  difficult;  he  is  choked;  feels  exhausted,  and  for  a  time  is 
worse  from  the  force  of  physiological  and  pathological  pro- 
cesses. Now  would  not  that  fact  be  a  most  trivial  and  un- 
stable symptom,  upon  which  to  base  the  selection  of  a  rem- 
edy? I  know  what  I  am  saying,  because  I  had  a  woful  ex- 
perience in  that  particular,  but  a  short  time  ago.  In  the  case 
of  my  own  child,  Lachesis  failed  me.  It  was  a  slender  reed 
and  it  broke.  We  must  not  as  homceopathic  physicians, 
make  a  pretense  of  selecting  our  remedies  according  to 
isolated  and  important  symptoms.  It  is  that  one  thing  more 
than  any  other  that  has  brought  us  into  contempt  among 
scientific  men  everywhere.  In  a  gr«at  many  cases  of  croup 
or  diphtheria,  you  can  obtain  no  leading  symptoms.  I  have 
seen  cases  of  diphtheria  where  there  were  no  symptoms,  but 
excessive  fever  and  a  high  temperature.  Among  children  is 
where  our  most  reliable  work  ought  to  be  done.  We  can  not 
rely  upon  individual  symptoms,  because  we  can  not  get  them. 
I  have  found  a  remedy  which  has  helped  me  out  in  all  cases 
of  diphtheria,  since  I  commenced  its  use.  That  remedy  is 
Kali  Chlor.j  in  large  doses.  I  have  seen  the  most  desperate 
cases  of  croup  and  diphtheria  cured  by  it.  In  every  case 
where  desquamation  of  the  epithelial  structure  of  mucous 
membrane  has  taken  place.  Kali  Chtor,,  is  the  remedy. 

Dr,  W.  H.  Woodyatt — If  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  be  on 
both  sides  of  a  question,  I  feel  that  I  am  on  both  sides  of 
this  question.  The  point  Dr.  Baer  makes,  and  the  one  I 
would  emphasize,  is  the  value  of  key-notes  or  characteristics. 
Dr.  Breyfogle  is  afraid  that  the  value  of  studying  the  case  as 
a  whole,  will  be  overlooked,  and  Dr.  Hawkes,  fearing  that 
Dr.  Breyfogle  is  going  to  do  mischief,  talks  about  the  "total- 
ity of  the  symptoms." 

The  "key-note  system"  is  undoubtedly  a  good  one,  but  is 
liable  to  the  worst  kind  of  abuse.  I  presume  there  is  not  an 
intelligent  homceopathist  using  the  "key-note  system,"  who 
relies  upon  it  exclusively.  That  statement  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate that  I  have  never  read  the  writing  of  Dr.  Baer.    I  have 


272  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

read  his  writings  closely.     Medical  men  add  to  their  medical 
stock  of  knowledge,  little  by  little,  and  the  foundation  which 
shall   support   the   super-structure   is,   I  am  satisfied,  many 
times  overlooked,  or  quickly  and   poorly   laid,     I  would  not 
say   that   the   skeleton    of  the  pure  materia   medica   which 
must  bear  all  the  medical  discoveries  which  are  made  from 
time  to  time,  is  forgotten  by  the  doctor,  but  it  is  simply  kept 
in  the   back   ground,  while  the   "key-note'*  is  prominently 
brought  out  and  so  abused.     I  think  the  greatest  evil  of  the 
system  is  made  prominent  in  the  practice  of  young  doctors. 
They  are  not  thoroughly  educated — are  not  well  grounded  in 
all  those  points  contained  in  the  grand  "key-note  system." 
They  do  not  know  that  the   temperature  rises  and  falls  at  a 
certain  time  of  day.     They  do    not   recognize  that  important 
transitions  occur  during  certain  changes  in  the  moon,  or  the 
fact  that  the  most  decided  influences  are  powerful  agents  in 
aflfecting  diflferent  phases  of  disease.     He  who  uses  the  "key- 
note system,"    understandingly    recognizes    all    the    forces 
which  bear  upon  it.     Keeping  these  great  facts  in  mind.  Dr. 
Baer   learned  from    his    materia    medica  that  a  case  "worse 
after  sleep"  caeteris  paribus,  is  to  be  cured  by  Lachesis,  and 
gave  it.     A  youg  doctor  went  out  to  treat  a  severe  case  of 
miscarriage.     There  was   the  usual  hemorrhage,   which  was 
something  frightful!     The   young   man   had  given  remedies 
without  success,  and  went  to  bed  to  think  and  to  dream.     He 
was  startled  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  by  the  news  that 
the  patient  was  bleeJing  furiously!  He  went  to  the  bedside  of 
the  patient  and  gave^i^a;  Vomica,  because  worse  at  three  a.  m 
It  produced  the  necessary  contraction  she  got  well.   That 

is  an  instance  of  the  value  of  the  key-note  when  based  upon 
the  sub  stratum,  which  is  always  necessary  to  the  successful 
use  of  "key-notes."  Their  value  can  not  be  over  estimated.  I 
think  that  the  "key  notes"  or  "characteristics"  ought  not  to 
be  relied  upon  without  this  substratum. 

Dr.  W.  J.  Hawkes — I  think  the  teaching  of  the  young 
doctors  should  be  severely  criticised,  if  it  does  not  include 
instruction  in  all  those  little  matters,  such  as  the  various 
changes  in  the  weather,  and  the  moon.     The  key-note  sys- 


Materia  Medica,  273 

tern  in  its  broad  meaning,  takes  in  climatal,  physiological, 
pathological  and  all  other  symptoms,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly  affecting  a  given  case.  In  hemorrhage,  typhoid  fever 
diphtheria,  etc ,  you  must  sufficiently  study  all  the  conditions 
present,  or  wanting  in  your  patient,  and  from  the  facts 
observed,  make  up  the  "totality  of  the  symptoms."  That  is 
the  meaning  of  the  "totality  of  the  symptoms,"  according  to 
my  understanding. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Taylor — Dr.  Havvrkes  certainly  confounds  the 
"key-note"  and  the  "totalities."  He  talks  about  "key-notes," 
and  explains  them  in  the  way  of  "totalities,"  which  surely 
gets  lis  confused. 

Dr.  W.J.  Hawkes — A  gentleman  sees  a  spire  in  the  dis- 
tance. He  takes  it  for  granted  that  a  church  is  there.  The 
spire  is  a  valuable  indication  that  a  church  is  there.  That  is  a 
"key-note,"  and  he  goes  further  and  finds  the  organ  and 
other  indications  of  a  church — in  other  words,  he  takes  the 
"totality"  of  the  indications.  Now,  in  the  selection  of  a  rem* 
edy  in  a  certain  disease,  some  of  the  symptoms  stand  out 
prominently  and  at  once  suggest  the  remedy.  On  further  in- 
vestigation, we  find  unmistakable  evidence  that  the  first  indi- 
cation was  correct. 

Dr.  Jno.  C.  Sanders — I  think  Mr.  President,  that  this  paper 
has  received  enough  compliments  on  the  part  of  this  institute. 
Passing  by  the  question  of  characteristics,  the  paper  furnishes 
two  other  points  that  have  a  special  significance,  and  which 
commend  the  paper  very  strongly  to  the  profession.  The 
first  of  these  is  not,  I  should  say,  the  "characteristic"  remedy, 
but  the  individualizing,  or  signalizing  rather  the  remedy  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  end  to  be  obtained.  The  paper 
furnishes  no  hotch-potch  of  remedies,  but  they  are  chosen 
with  reference  to  the  substratum  as  being  a  Support  for  the 
mastery  of  the  case,  and  the  results  are  to  me  very  interesting. 
The  other  point  is,  that  especially  in  the  selection  of  the 
remedy  or  rather  in  treating  the  case,  the  remedy  chosen  was 
held  on  to  without  change,  or  flying  quickly  from  one  rem- 
edy to  another.  Lachesis  was  indicated  and  was  continued, 
which  in  my  judgment,  furnishes  a  very  satisfactory  explana- 


274  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tion  of  the  almost  miraculous  cure  which  I  do  not  believe 
would  have  be^n  possible  without  doing  that.  We  are  all  too 
prone  to  change  our  remedy  if  we  fail  to  cure  with  the  rem- 
edy already  prescribed  within  a  day  or  a  week. 

Dr.  A.  McNeil,  of  New  Albany,  Indiana,  read  a  paper  on 
"Characteristics."  (See  North  American  Journal  of  HomoBO- 
pathy,  August,  i879). 

Dr.  Wm.  L.  Breyfogle — He  follows  some  "characteristics" 
which  we  objected  to  a  moment  ago. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Taylor — ^The  Doctor  has  a  very  confused  idea  of 
the  terms,  "characteristic"  and  "key-note."  As  a  "character- 
istic" symptom  he  gives  Silicea.  "In  negroes,  all  complaints 
arising  from  a  psoric  diathesis." 

Dr.  T.  P.  Wilson — Nothing  seems  so  utterly  foolish  to  a 
man  as  those  things  about  which  he  knows  nothing.  He 
counts  a  thing  of  little  value  which  he  can  make  no  use  of. 
That  is  precisely  the  estimate  that  is  put  upon  our  Materia 
Medica  by  those  who  use  it  unsuccessfully.  If  the  doctor 
does  not  understand  the  symptomatology,  he  can  not  be  ex- 
pected to  use  it  skillfully.  He  must  have  some  other  means, 
and  generally  the  other  means  are  used,  because  the  man  has 
not  the  brains  to  comprehend  the  symptomatology  of  the 
Materia  Medica,  or  he  has  not  got  the  energy  of  a  student 
to  do  it.  There  are  no  two  driigs  with  a  like  symptomatology. 
Fifty  drugs  may  have  symptoms  in  common — but  those 
symptoms  do  not  designate  a  particular  drug,  but  a  class  ol 
drugs. 

Dr.  J.  T.  Boyd — I  have  not  taken  any  part  in  the  discus- 
sion because  I  think  there  is  truth  on  all  sides.  I  was  looking 
out  of  the  window  and  saw  the  different  forms  of  foliage. 
The  idea  struck  me  that  here  are  leaves  of  certain  trees. 
There  is  the  beech  and  there  is  the  cherry.  The  leaves  are  very 
similar.  I  examine  them  and  find  there  is  enough  difference 
to  distinguish  them.  That  is  my  idea  of  the  way  to  study 
remedies.  There  are  always  some  peculiarities  that  if  prop- 
erly studied,  will  stand  out  plainly.  And  show  that  a  certain 
symptom  is  "characteristic"  of  a  certain  remedy,  and  in  that 
way  remedies  become  as  familiar  to  us  as  the  faces  we  meet« 


Materia  Medica.  275 

Dr.  W.  H.  Taylor — The  paper  attacks|  what  1  consider  the 
strong  hold  of  homoeopathy.  I  think  homoeopathy  is  the 
doctrine  of  "specifics."  (A  voice:  You  are  mistaken.)  If  I  am 
mistaken,  there  are  a  great  many  physicians  who  are  mis- 
taken, I  think  the  doctrine  of  "specifics"  is  homoeopathic 
doctrine. 

Dr.  W.J.  Hawkes — Specific  for  what? 

Answer — For  conditions. 

Dr.  Wm.  Eggert — With  all  respect  for  Dr,  Taylor  and  his 
learning,  I  must  say  that  he  comes  to  us  from  the  Eclectic 
School.  He  advocates  doctrines  that  belong  to  the  Eclectics, 
but  not  to  the  homceopathist.  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  think 
he  knows  how  to  handle  the  subject.  I  am  satisfied  that  he 
would  give  large  enough  doses  in  diphtheria  to  ruin  any 
child — if  not  kill  it — it  is  not  Homoeopathy  to  give  such 
large  doses. 

Dr.  J.  T.  Boyd — I  think  there  is  a  misunderstanding  in  re- 
gard to  the  word  "specific."  Some  view  it  from  one  stand- 
point and  some  from  another.  Our  idea  of  a  specific  is  ex- 
actly what  the  Materia  Medica  teaches.  Not  that  one 
single  remedy  is  going  to  cure  one  disease,  but  that  the  rem- 
edy has  a  peculiar  pathogenetic  effect  corresponding  to  that 
peculiar  symptom.     That  is  my  idea  of  a  "specific." 

Dr.  O.  P.  Baer — A  "key  note"  is  that  which  is  used  for  a 
disease  according  to  its  symptomatology  or  manifestations, 
and  we  use  the  medicines  which  the  symptoms  indicate — 
disease  is  nothing  more  than  a  class  of  symptoms  represent- 
ing certain  conditions,  and  corresponding  with  the  conditions 
arc  certain  remedies.  These  remedies  are  administered  accord- 
ing to  the  law  of  correspondence  or  similars,  and  not  accord- 
ing to  any  empirical  teaching.  As  that  of  "specifics."  There 
is  the  difference.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  "specific"  in 
medicine. 

The  effects  of  drugs  on  the  healthy  human  organism  have 
correspondences  to  certain  pathological  representations — the 
nearer  these  correspondences  coincide  with  these  represent- 
ations, the  more  closely  do  we  "totalize  the  symptoms." 

Dr.  A,  C.  Cowperthwait — There  are  hundreds  of  homoeo- 
pathic physicians,  so-called,  who   prescribe  certain  remedies 


276  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

for  certain  diseases  and  carry  a  "specific,"  as  it  is  called,  for 
every  disease.  Tiiey  prescribe,  not  by  symptoms,  but  by  the 
disease.  They  prescribe  the  "specific"  as  soon  as  they  know 
the  disease.  Now  we  all  know  that  practice  is  bad,  and  not 
Homoeopath3^  I  think  the  maxim  "no  matter  how  you  cure, 
so  you  do  cure,"  is  a  great  mistake.  This  institute  ought  not 
to  allow  such  a  report  to  go  on  record. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Taylor — I  rise  to  a  personal  explanation — 1  did 
not  say  that  Kali  Chlor,  would  cure  all  cases  of  diphtheria. 
I  do  say  that  the  drug  will  produce  a  similar  condition  lo 
diphtheria  on  the  healthy  human  organism,  and  I  do  say  that 
it  more  thoroughly  corresponds  to  the  disease  known  as 
diphtheria  than  any  other  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 

Dr.  T.  P.  Wilson — I  have  seen  two  cases  under  homcco- 
pathlc  treatment,  so-called,  treated  by  large  doses  of  Kali 
Chlor,  The  treatment  was  successful.  Both  patients  died  !  ! 
If  Dr.  Taylor  never  heard  of  the  death  of  any  patient  under 
the  administration  of  that  remedy,  he  can  now  record  two 
cases  lost.  A  physician  who  will  rise  in  this  institute  and 
say,  ".I  have  had  cases  of  diphtheria  in  which  I  could  sec  no 
symptoms,"  is  not  competent  to  administer  a  drug  homoeo* 
pathically  to  a  case  of  diphtheria;  yet  Dr.  Taylor  claims  to 
have  cured  his  cases  by  the  administration  o^  Kali  Chlor. 
without  having  any  symptoms  to  base  his  prescription  upon. 
The  absence  of  a  symptom  is  the  symptom  itself  sometimes. 
But  a  man,  who  in  a  case  of  diphtheria,  can  not  see  any 
diphtheria  about  it,  could  not,  I  suspect,  see  in  the  end  any 
eflfects  upon  the  constitution.  In  case  of  the  recovery  of  the 
child  that  was  treated  by  giving  2CX)  grains  per  diem  of  Kali 
Chlor.,  it  will  surely  bear  upon  the  child  the  lasting  eflTects  of 
the  drug — as  surely  as  Cain  bore  the  marks  of  the  wrath  of 
God  forever  upon  his  forehead. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Taylor — I  would  say  that  two  years  ago  I  treated 
twenty-seven  cases  of  malignant  diphtheria  with  large  doses 
of  Kali  Chlor,  and  those  twenty-seven  cases  are  alive  and 
well  to  day.  There  is  nothing  the  matter  with  them — abso- 
lutely in  good  robust  health.  I  never  saw  the  slightest  ill 
eftect  from  the  treatment. 


$tt$pal  €Iittk$ 


Clinical  Cases  of  Eye  and  Ear  Diseases.    Reported  from  Dr. 

Wilson's  Clinic,  130  Broadway  and  Corner  of  Seventh 
and  Mound  streets,  Cincinnati.  C.  H.  Guilbert,  M.  D., 
C.   M.  Lukens.   M.   D.,  Assistants. 

Case  I. — Strabismus. — This  was  a  case  known  as  squinting  of  the 
eyes.  The  patient,  a  child  of  Mr.  Geo.  0.  Wyatt,  of  Milroy,  Ind., 
is  only  two  years  old.  The  parents,  as  usual,  had  been  very  gener- 
ously advised  to  wait  until  the  child  had  grown  larger,  say  until  it 
was  six  or  eight  years  old.  But  the  father  having  addressed  us  upon 
the  subject,  and  asked  for  advice,  was  recommended  to  come  on  at 
once  and  have  the  operation  performed.  This  the  father  did.  There 
was  found  a  convergence  of  both  eyes,  so  great  that  neither  eye  could 
be  made  to  look  straight  forward.  The  child  was  very  much  disfig- 
ured by  it,  but  in  all  other  respects,  a  beautiful  and  promising  boy. 
August  19,  Dr.  Wilson  gave  the  patient  Chloro/omij  and  raising  both 
internal  recti  muscles,  rut  them  clear  of  their  attachment  to  the  eye 
ball,  and  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  both  eyes  swing  around  to 
their  proper  position.  The  following  day  the  father  brought  in  the 
child  to  show  us  how  perfect  the  result  was,  and  went  home  that 
afternoon.  In  this  case  it  was  evidently  necessary  to  operate  on 
both  eyes,  as  both  converged,  but  it  was  not  solely  on  that  account 
that  the  operation  was  so  made.  Even  when  one  eye  only  squints,  a 
double  operation — namely  both  eyes  operated  on — is  an  absolute 
necessity.  It  should  be  noted  that  by  operating  while  the  child  is 
yet  young,  we  are  pretty  sure  to  save  the  full  power  of  vision,  for  if 
the  eyes  are  neglected,  and  the  operation  postponed,  there  will  be 
serious  loss  of  sight,  which  no  after  operation  can  restore. 

Case  II. — Granular  Lids  and  Inflammation  of  the  Cornea  Com- 
pucATED  WITH  ASTIGMATISM.— Kev.  G.  W.  Heuning,  of  North  Topeka, 
Kansas,  aet  thirty-five.  Patient  is  a  man  full  six  feet  in  height  and 
weighing  nearly  two  hundred  pounds;  complexion  dark,  general 
health  good.  Has  performed  a  large  amount  of  literary  labor  for  the 
past  few  years.  In  1860,  was  attacked  with  inflammation  of  the  eyes 
—exact  character  not  known.  Result  was  granulated  lids.  For  this 
he  says  ne  was  very  badly  treated.  In  1803  and  1871,  had  severe 
attacks  of  inflammation,  being  at  no  time  free  from  the  disease,  which 
was  sometimes  worse  ia  one  eye  and  sometimes  worse  in  the  other. 
While  in  Calafornia,  wa?  treated  by  Dr.  C.  W.  Breyfogle.  with  excel- 


278  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

lent  results.  Afterward,  when  at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  Dr.  Frank 
Smyth  gave  him  substantial  reliel  for  nearly  a  year.  Arsenicum  and 
Pukatillaj  given  internally,  did  him  the  most  good.  "When  he  came 
to  Dr.  Wilson,  September  2,  he  had  severe  inflammation  of  the  right 
eye,  which  chiefly  affected  the  cornea  of  that  eye.  There  was  also 
drooping  of  the  right  upper  lid.  The  pain  and  photophobia  were 
only  moderate.  On  examination  the  palbebral  conjunctiva  were 
found  to  be  much  atrophied.  The  patient  insisted  that  his  vision 
was  good,  and  only  slightly  disturbed  by  the  dread  of  light  and  a 
mucous  discharge.  The  following  record  told  a  different  story: 
Vision  R  20-50  improved,  but  not  increased  by  +  48s.  L  20-64,  im- 
proved by  4-  48c  180°,  but  not  increased.  When  the  radiating  lines 
were  placed  before  his  eyes  he  expresses  his  great  surprise,  that  they 
did  not  look  to  tne  left  eye  as  they  did  to  the  right.  Here  however, 
was  the  probable  secret  to  much  if  not  all  of  his  troubles.  For  the 
near  point  therefore,  he  was  given  to  use  in  reading  and  writing,  a 
pair  of  glasses  with  a  concave  forty -eight  inch  spherical  glass  for  the 
right  eye,  and  a  concave  forty-eight  inch  cylindrical  with  the  axis 
horizontal  for  the  left  eye.  With  these  he  expressed  himself  much 
pleased,  for  he  could  see  to  read  with  almost  perfect  ease.  Sulphur  30 
was  given,  to  be  taken  three  times  a  day.  Of  the  final  result  we 
can  not  yet  speak.  But  we  can  look  with  assurance  for  a  perfect  cure 
in  the  course  of  a  few  months.  But  no  medicine  will  cure  such  a 
case  unless  the  refraction  is  first  corrected  by  suitably  adjusted 
glasses. 

Case  III. — Iritis  with  Entropiqn. — Mary  Dillon,  aet  twenty-two. 
This  patient  has  been  suffering  with  inflammation  of  the  iris  of  the  left 
eye  seven  weeks,  and  under  treatment  by  a  leading  general  prac- 
titioner, who,  however,  made  no  pretensions  to  a  knowledge  of  eye 
diseases.  The  case  was  one  of  iritis  simplex,  and  not  attended  with 
severe  pain.  The  pain,  however,  was  constant  with  irregular  aggra- 
vations, and  the  eye  ball  was  moderately  injected.  No  relief  had 
been  obtained.  The  pupil  was  contracted  and  evidently  had  not 
been  disturbed.  Upon  examination,  the  low^er  lid  of  the  suffering 
eye  was  found  inverted,  and  the  eye  lashes  were  pressing  against  the 
eye  ball.  This,  strange  to  say,  had  not  been  noticed  by  the  patient 
or  her  attending  physician,  at  least  nothing  has  been  said  about  it. 
Dr.  Wilson  immediately  applied  Atropa  sulpK,  and  gav^  BtU.  30  inter- 
nally a  dose  every  two  hours.  The  following  day  he  operated  upon 
the  eye  lid  by  ^taking  out  a  section  of  the  skin,  and  with  three 
stitches  brought  the  edge  of  the  lid  well  over,  so  that  the  lashes  were 
temporarily  everted.  The  parts  were  carefully  covered  with  a  strip 
of  Isinglass  plaster,  and  no  further  application  made.  The  local  use  of 
Atropa  and  Bell.  30  internally  continued.   In  two  days  the  stitches  were 


General  Clinics.  279 

taken  out,  and  the  plaster  alone  applied.  In  a  week,  dressings  were 
all  removed,  and  the  inverted  lid  and  iritis  pronounced  cured.  Care- 
ful observation  will  often  reveal  to  the  physician  complications, 
which  must  be  gotten  rid  of  before  a  cure  can  be  wrought. 

Case  IV — Catarrhal  Inflammation  op  the  Middle  Ears — Mrs. 
Julia  Baird,  aet  forty -two,  housekeeper,  has  been  suffering  from  a 
severe  cold  for  four  weeks.  Her  lungs,  throat  and  head  were  suffer- 
ing simultaneously.  For  the  last  two  weeks  she  has  had  a  constant 
roaring  in  the  ears  and  dullness  of  hearing.  Her  cough  is  severe, 
expectoration,  glairy  mucus,  and  she  has  a  headache  increased  by 
motion  and  coughing.  Urine  scanty  and  high  colored.  Upon  ex- 
amination, the  drumhead  of  both  ears  looked  dull  and  congested. 
Dr.  Wilson  began  treatment  by  inflating  the  ears  with  air,  and  this 
was  followed  by  immediate  improvement  in  the  hearing.  Bryonia  30, 
was  then  ordered  every  two  hours.  In  two  days  after  patient  re- 
turned much  improved,  and  the  middle  ears  were  again  inflated,  and 
Bryonia  30  continued.  After  the  third  treatment  she  was  discharged 
cured.  The  close  connection  between  the  ears  and  the  respiratory 
passages  are  well  known  to  the  anatomist,  but  in  practice  it  is  often 
forgotten  that  deafness  and  roaring  sounds  in  the  ears  are  often  in- 
duced by  throat  troubles.  And  even  when  the  throat  and  lungs  are 
relieved,  there  often  remains  a  trouble  with  the  ears  which  leads  im- 
perceptibly on  to  permanent  deafness  unless  properly  cured.  The 
present  state  of  our  art  enables  us  to  treat  the  middle  ear  with  ease 
and  success,  and  also  without  using  hurtful  appliances  or  causing 
pain  to  the  patient.  Still  if  all  that  is  related  of  the  tcrtures  which 
some  patients  suffer  at  the  hands  of  unskillful  per8ons,.it  would  excite 
our  surprise  and  pity.  Deafness  from  catarrhal  inflammation  of  the 
middle  ear  is  a  common  form  of  trouble,  and  while  as  a  rule  it  is 
quite  curable,  it  nevertheless  ruins  the  hearing  past  recovery  when 
neglected. 

Case  V. — Optic  Neuritis,  "With  Brain  Troubles.— Mrs.  Alexander, 
aet  forty.  Patient  of  Dr.  M.  M.  Eaton.  Dr.  Wilson  was  called  to  see 
the  patient  in  consultation,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  she  had  be- 
come blind.  Dr.  Eaton  reported  her  recovering  under  his  care  from 
the  Opium  habit,  to  which  she  had  long  been  a  slave.  Under  allo- 
pathic treatment,  she  had  been  induced  to  use  Morphine  on  account 
of  a  peculiar  trouble  with  her  brain  attended  with  severe  pain.  She 
has  also  a  tumor  growing  in  her  abdomen — left  hyprochondriac 
region— probably  scirrhus.  Of  this  however,  she  was  not  complain, 
ing  much.  Upon  examining  her  eyes,  they  were  found  to  all  ex- 
ternal appearances,  in  a  natural  condition.  Still,  as  she  could  not 
see,  it  was  desired  by  her  friends  that  the  cause  of  her  blindness 
should  be  made  clear.    An  ophthalmoscopic  examination  showed 


280  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

that  both  optic  nerves  were  in  a  highly  congested  and  swollen  con- 
dition. Extensive  exudations  from  the  over  distended  vessels,  had 
been  thrown  out  around  the  optic  nerve  entrance.  On  this  account 
all  sense  of  light  was  lost.  The  veins  of  the  disc  were  very  much 
swollen,  and  the  arteries  correspondingly  small.  She  had  no  pain  in 
her  eyes,  but  the  character  of  her  pain  in  the  head,  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  optic  discs,  showed  the  probability  of  an  intra-cranial 
trouble,  for  which  all  measures  of  relief  are  at  best  exceedingly 
doubtful.  The  value  of  the  ophthalmoscope  in  a  case  of  this  kind  is 
here  beautifully  illustrated.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  even  to  the 
wisest  physician,  all  would  have  been  conjecture  as  to  the  actual 
caus&ot  the  blindness.  !Now  all  is  made  clear  to  the  eye.  True,  in 
a  case  like  this,  we  can  not  promise  a  recovery,  but  it  greatly  relieves 
the  anxiety  of  friends  to  know  that  sight  is  not  lost  through  their 
ignorance  or  neglect.  To  know  the  trutli  is  to  be  wise,  and  wisdom 
will  not  hinder  us  even  when  it  can  not  aid  us. 


■♦  »■ 


That  Case  of  Qlancoma. 

Editor  of  Medical  Advance: — In  your  July  number, 
page  forty-two,  a  case  of  **Glaucoma'*  is  reported  as  greatly 
benefitted  by  Argentum  nit.,  200.  Reliable  remedies  for  this 
disease  are  so  scarce  and  so  little  understood,  that  he  who  can 
add  one  to  the  list,  or  cultivate  aught  that  will  make  clearer 
the  indications  for  those  already  pointed  out,  will  be  a  posi- 
tive benefactor  to  his  school  and  race. 

This  case  is  full  enough  in  its  record  to  excite  inquiry,  but 
too  meagre  to  satisfy  the  questionings  it  arouses.  Can  the 
Doctor  give  us  a  supplementary  report  ^which  will  show 
which  eye  was  first  invaded,  and  what  the  symptoms  of  the 
glaucoma  were.^ 

Enucleation  of  a  glaucomatous  eyo  is  not  usually  demanded, 
nor  is  the  opposite  eye  usually  aliected  by  sympathy  in  the 
sense  here  implied.  Which  eye  was  the  sympathetically 
aflfected  one?  What  was  the  objective  condition  of  the  left 
eye  at  the  time  that  its  vision  was  quantitative,  and  the  pain 
distracting  in  the  back  of  the  eye  and  up  into  the  brain? 


General  Clinic,  281 

What  amount  of  vision  was  there  in  the  right  eye  when  it 
was  painful,  and  the  ocular  conjunctiva  injected — was  it  the 
right  or  left  cornea  that  was  opaque?  What  was  the  tension 
of  the  globes  at  any  time?  If  these  questions  can  be  answered, 
and  if  the  meaning  can  be  made  more  complete  in  other 
ways,  the  value  of  the  report  will  be  so  greatly  enhanced  that 
we  are  moved  to  call  for  them. 

To  have'the  fullest  possible  evidence  first  of  the  presence 
of  the  disease,  and  then  of  its  entire  removal  will  create  a 
confidence  that  we  wish  very  much  to  have  in  Argentum  or 
other  remedies  for  this  grave  disease. 

Every  case  positively  cured  is  to  signal  a  victory — so  dis- 
tinctively a  triumph  over  the  surgical  means  now  relied  upon, 
that  every  particle  of  detail  is  desirable.  W.,  Chicago. 


Dear  Doctor: — To  all  believers  in  the  law  of  similars, 
your  case  of  glaucoma,  reported  in  Medical  Advance,  must 
be  of  interest,  and  in  that  spirit  only,  I  hope  you  will  look 
upon  the  liberty  I  take  in  asking  you  some  questions. 

The  first  question,  is  one  of  diagnosis.  What  evidence  can 
you  give  me  by  which  I  may  know  that  it  was  a  case  ot 
glaucoma,  and  not  something  else,  as  choroiditis  or  irido- 
choroiditis? 

What  was  the  tension  of  eye  then,  and  what  is  it  now,  or 
what  was  it  one  year  after  the  time  of  treatment? 

What  was  the  appearance  of  pupil  then?    Wliat  is  it  now? 

What  was  the  appearance  of  fundus  then,  and  what  is  it 
now? 

Do  you  know  what  Prof.  Angell's  opinion  was? 

His  advice  simply  throws  no  light  on  the  case,  as  he  might 
have  advised  enucleation  for  otuer  conditions. 

I  have  endeavored  to  give  only  such  questions  as  would 
permit  of  answers — and  which  when  answered,  would 
enable  me  to  classify  your  case.  There  are  many  unanswered 
questions  and  unsolved  problems  in  this  disease,  and  a  ray  of 
light  anywhere  should  be  utilized. 

Hoping  I  may  hear  from  you  soon,  I  am  fraternally  yours, 

D.  J.  McGuiRE,  Detroit, 
Oct-3 


282  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Mr.  Editor: — Dear  Sir: — As  to  the  proof  of  a  correct 
diagnosis  of  the  case  of  glaucoma,  reported  benefitted  by 
Argentum  nit  200  in  your  July  number  would  say,  that  the 
case  was  examined  by  Profs.  Angell  and  Talbot  and  Dr. 
Williams,  all  of  Boston,  and  so  pronounced,  Dr.  Talbot,  whom 
I  afterwards  personally  saw  in  relation  to  the  case,  said  there 
was  no  possibility  of  any  mistake.  Patient  and  husband,  who 
are  very  intelligent  people,  Mr.  Carpenter  being  a  distin- 
guished attorney,  said  to  me  on  their  return,  that  Prof.  Angell 
said  there  was  no  way  of  saving  the  right  eye  without 
enucleation  of  the  left,  which  at  that  time  was  under  very 
great  tension — staphylomatous.  Some  operation  at  least  was 
decided  a  necessity,  and  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  shadow  of  a 
doubt  about  the  case  being  glaucoma.  The  case  was  of  six 
and  I  think  eight  weeks  standing,  before  I  gave  the  A7*gentum 
nit. 

The  appearance  of  the  eye,  (the  left)  when  I  first  saw  it, 
was  that  of  tension  sufficient  to  create  slight  slaphyloma. 
Cornea  gray,  and  quite  opaque,  with  numerous  blood  vessels 
coming  from  the  inner  canthus,  especially  injected,  and  look- 
ing reddish,  or  yellowish  red.  Eye-lids  inclined  to  droop  and 
excruciating  pains  deep  in  the  ball  and  behind,  extending 
high  up  above  the  superciliary  arch. 

In  about  two  or  three  weeks,  the  right  eye  took  an  active 
sympathy,  conjunctiva  became  highly  injected,  cornea  was 
involved;  though  vision  in  that  eye  was  not  seriously  im- 
paired, except  as  to  being  sensitive  to  light.  The  tension 
was  such  however,  that  she  complained  of  nearly  the 
same  symptoms  as  were  associated  with  the  left  eye. 
I  remember  that  she  often  knitted  her  brows  and  spoke 
of  being  stabbed  in  the  eye- ball  or  deep  in  the  brain. 
At  this  time  I  sent  Mrs.  Carpenter  to  Boton.  She  received 
no  help  from  anything  she  got  there  as  medicine,  and  having 
refused  to  submit  to  enucleation,  for  the  present  at  least,  I 
gave  her  after  a  careful  study  of  symptoms,  Argentum  nit  200, 
I  did  not  say  that  my  patient  was  cured  in  the  sense  of 
having  perfect  vision  restored  in  the  left  eye — she  was  not — 
but   the    disease  was  arrested — the  right  eye   was  saved,  and 


General  Clinic,  283 

an  operation  of  any  kind  avoided.  Tension  in  both  eyes  sub- 
sided, and  the  left  to-day,  would  be  natural  only  for  opacity 
of  cornea,  and  yet  she  sees  some  with  left  eye.  I  am  positive 
about  the  relief  of  Argentuniy  as  she  was  unable  for  more 
than  a  year  to  do  entirely  without  it,  yet  it  would  control 
ewQry  menace  of  a  return  of  the  disease.  Was  never  more 
positive  of  the  effect  of  a  remedy — and  the  relief  came 
promptly  after  I  began  to  use  it.  Whether  Argentum  nit  will 
ever  help  another  case  like  this,  1  do  not  know.  I  report  the 
case  for  further  verification. 

Note  some  of  the  Argentum  nit.  symptoms.  Tearing  ex- 
tending from  the  forehead  into  the  left  eye.  The  eye  runs, 
looks  red  and  glistens.  Pressure  in  the  eyes,  as  if  too  full. 
Aching  pain  deep  in  the  eye.  He  saw  through  mist.  Aper- 
ture between  the  edges  of  the  lids,  became  narrower.  The 
cornea  is  covered  with  a  white,  opaque,  apparently  dense, 
but  not  deeply  penetrative  spot.  Clusters  of  red  vessels  ex- 
tending from  inner  canthus  to  cornea.         G.  N.  Brigham. 


♦■♦ 


Gastritis  (?)  Carbo  veg.  60. 

My  Dear  Advance^ — Have  just  returned  from  my  vaca 
tion  to  the  Pacific  coast  and  nolens  volens,  I  had  to  dabble 
in  medicine.  Among  other  cases  which  came  under  my  obser- 
vation, was  one  showing  clearly  that  Carbo  veg.,  in  a  dynam- 
ised condition  can  not  be  killed  iu  spite  of  all  microscopy 
and  chemistry  combined.     But  to  my  case. 

Mr.  L.  G ,  about  forty-seven  years  old,  of  nervous  tem- 
perament, and  like  all  Californians,  head  over  ear  in  busi- 
ness, complained  for  the  last  seven  years  of  dyspepsia,  what- 
ever that  may  be,  was  physicked  in  every  way  possible, 
dieted  in  different  manners,  sweated  in  the  turkish  bath,  but 
all  to  no  purpose.  He  feels  well  for  about  three  or  foru 
months,  then  an  attack  comes  on  lasting  several  weeks,  and 


286  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

produce  the  reverse  condition  through  antagonism  against 
the  effects  of  the  forces  brought  to  bear,  upon  it  from  without.* 
For  instance,  a  hand  which  has  been  held  long  enough  in  ice 
water  does  not  remain  cold;  nor  does  the  hand  only  show 
the  warmth  of  the  surrounding  atmosphere  when  taken  out 
of  the  ice  water,  which  would  be  the  effect  on  a  stone  (an 
inorganic  body);  neither  does  it  return  to  the  warmth  of  the 
body — by  no  means — for  the  colder  the  water  was,  and  the 
longer  the  hand  has  been  kept  in  it,  and  thereby  affected  the 
healthy  skin,  the  hotter  and  the  more  inflamed  will  it  become 
afterward. 

It  can  not  be  otherwise  than  thus,  that  a  symptom  which 
yields  to  a  remedy  which  acts  contrarily  on  the  diseases  does 
so  but  for  a  short  time;f  and  it  is  bound  to  yield  again,  very 
soon,  to  the  predominating  antagonism  of  the  living  organism, 
which  causes  a  contrary;  that  is,  a  contrary  condition  to  the 
one  which  the  palliative  has  created  deceptively  for  a  short 
time  only  (a  condition  corresponding  with  the  original  evil) 
— in  fact,  a  true  addition  to  the  returning  unextinguished 
original  disease,  the  original  disease  in  an  aggravated  form. 
The  disorder  is  always  and  surely  aggravated,  as  soon  as  the 
palliative  (the  contrary  and  enantiopathic  acting  remedy)  has 
exhausted  its  effects.^ 

*Thi8  is  a  law  of  nature  according  to  which  the  adminintrfttion  of  each 
medicine  causes,  at  first,  certain  dynamic  ch  anges  and  abnormal  symp- 
toms in  the  living  human  body  (primary  effects  of  medicine),  but  after- 
ward, by  means  of  a  peculiar  antagonism  (which  in  many  cases  might  be 
termed  an  effort  of  self-preservation),  it  causes  a  condition  entirely  the 
opposite  of  the  first  effect  (secondary  symptoms);  for  instance,  narcotic 
substances  produce  primarily  insensibility,  and  secondarily  painfulness. 

t  Just  as  a  scalded  hand  remains  cold  and  painless  not  much  longer  than 
while  it  is  held  in  cold  water ;  it  afterward  burns  and  pains  much  more. 

tXhus  the  pain  in  a  scalded  hand  subsides  suddenly,  but  only  for  a  few 
minutes,  by  applying  cold  water ;  but  afterward  the  inflammation  and 
pain  become  much  worse  than  before  (the  inflammation,  as  a  secondary 
eflect  of  the  cold  water,  is  an  addition  to  the  original  inflammation  caused 
by  the  scalding,  which  the  cold  water  is  unable  to  remove.)  The  painful 
fullness  in  the  abdomen  caused  by  omstipation  seems  to  disappear,  as  if 
by  magic,  after  the  administration  of  a  purgative ;  but  as  early  as  the 


MisceUaneous.  287 

In  chronic  diseases,  the  true  test-stone  of  the  genuine 
healing  art,  we  perceive  the  pernicious  effects  of  contrary 
acting  (palliative)  medicines  in  a  high  degree;  inasmuch  as  a 
repetition  necessary  to  cause  an  illusive  effect  (a  sudden 
passing  appearance  of  relief),  implies  a  larger  and  increas- 
ingly larger  dose,  frequently  endangering  the  life  of  the  sick, 
and  not  unfrequently  causing  death. 

There  remains,  therefore,  but  a  third  method  of  administer- 
ing medicines  as  a  sure  method  of  relief  and  cure,  and  this  is 
the  application  of  a  remedy  which  is  capable  of  causing  on 
the  healthy  organism  an  affection  fan  artificial  diseased  con- 
dition) which  is  similar,  very  similar,  to  the  present  case  of 
sickness. 

It  is  easy  to  prove,  as  has  been  seen  in  innumerable  cases, 
and  also  by  those  who  followed  my  teachings,  by  daily  ex- 
perience* as  well   as   by   reasoning,   that    this    method    of 

next  day,  this  painfal  fullness  and  tension  of  the  abdomen  returns  with  the 
constipation,  and  increases  the  following  days,  becoming  worse  than  it  was 
before.  The  stupor-like  sleep  after  Opium  causes  a  much  greater  sleep 
lessness  the  following  night.  It  becomes  evident  that  this  secondary  con. 
dition  constitutes  a  true  aggravation,  and  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  if  the 
palliative  is  to  be  repeated  (for  instance,  Opium  for  habitual  sleeplessness 
or  chronic  diarrhcea),  it  must  be  administered  in  increased  doses,  aa 
against  an  aggravated  disease,  if  even  then  it  can  be  forced  to  produce,  but 
for  a  short  time,  its  seeming  palliation. 

*We  will  mention  only  a  fe'?  every-day  experiences.  The  burning  pain 
which  boiling  water  causes  on  the  skin  is  cured  by  the  cook's  holding  the 
burned  hand  near  the  fire,  or  by  uninterruptedly  moistening  it  with  heated 
Alcohol  (or  Turpentine),  which  causes  a  still  more  intense  burning  sensation 
This  specific  treatment  has  been  followed  by  varnishers  and  similar 
artisans,  and  has  been  found  reliable.  The  burning  pain  caused  by  these 
strong  and  heated  spirits  remains  only  for  a  few  minutes,  while  the 
organism  is  homoeopathically  relieved  of  the  inflammation  caused  by  the 
burn.  The  destruction  of  the  skin  is  soon  repaired  by  the  formation  of  a 
thin  cuticle,  through  which  no  more  Alcohol  penetrates.  In  this  manner  a 
burn  is  cured  in  a  few  hours  by  the  remedy  causing  a  similar  burning 
pain  (by  highly  heated  Alcohol  or  heated  Oil  of  turpentine);  but  if  such  a 
burn  is  treated  by  cooling  palliatives  or  ointments,  a  malignant  ulceration 
follows,  which  is  apt  to  last  many  weeks,  and  even  months,  causing  much 
suffering.  Professional  dancers  know  from  long  experience  that  they  are 
momentarily  very  much  refreshed  by  drinking  very  cold  water,  and  by 


288  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

administering  medicine  constitutes  the  most  complete,  the 
best,  and  the  only  mode  of  cure. 

It  will,  therefore,  not  be  a  difficult  task  to  comprehend  by 
what  natural  laws  the  only  suitable  homoeopathic  healing  art 
is  and  must  be  governed. 

The  first  unmistakable  natural  law  is,  thatthe living  organ- 
ism is  comparatively  much  more  easily  affected  by  medicine 
than  by  natural  diseases.  Many  sick-making  causes  afiect 
us  every  day,  every  hour  of  the  day,  but  they  are  not  able  to 
disturb  the  equilibrium  of  our  condition;  the  healthy  are  not 
made  sick;  the  activity  of  our  life-preserving  principle  within 
us  generally  resists  the  most  of  them,  and  the  individual 
remains  well.  If  external  noxious  influences,  increased  to  a 
high  degree,  afTect  us,  and  if  we  expose  ourselves  to  them  too 
much,  then  we  sicken,  and  only  to  any  great  degree  if  our 
organism,  just  at  that  time,  shows  a  weak  side  (a  predispo- 
sition), which  makes  us  more  liable  to  be  affected  by  the 
present  (simple  or  complex)  cause  of  the  disease.  Did  the 
inimical,  partly    psychical,  partly  physical    forces  of  nature, 

taking  off  their  clothing  when  extremely  heated  by  dancing ;  but  they 
know  also  that  afterward  they  will  purely  have  to  sufler  from  severe,  often 
fatal  diseaseB.  Wisdom  has  taught  such  extremely  heated  persons,  with- 
out  allowing  themselves  to  go  into  the  cool  air  or  remove  their  clothing, 
to  take  a  drink  which  is  also  heating,  either  punch  or  hot  tea,  with  arrack 
or  hrandy ;  and  under  its  effects,  while  slowly  walking  up  and  down  the 
room,  they  are  very  soon  relieved  of  the  hot  fever  caused  by  dancing.  So 
even  the  old  and  experienced  mower  never  takes  any  other  drink  to  cool 
himself  from  the  excessive  thirst  of  labor  under  a  hot  sun  than  a  glass  of 
whisky;  in  an  hour's  time  he  is  relieved  from  thirst  and  heat,  and  feels 
well.  An  experienced  person  will  not  expose  a  frozen  limb  to  the  fire,  or 
to  a  hot  stove,  or  put  it  in  hot  water,  in  order  to  restore  it;  covering  it 
with  snow,  or  rubbing  it  with  ice  water,  is  the  well-known  homceopathic 
remedy  for  it.  The  disorders  cause<l  by  excessive  joy  (the  fantastic  mirth, 
the  trembling  restlessness,  the  excessive  motion,  the  palpitation  of  the 
heart,  the  sleeplessness)  are  soon  and  permanently  removed  by  coffee, 
which  causes  a  similar  ailment  in  those  not  used  to  take  it.  There  thus 
exist  many  daily  confirmations  of  the  great  truth,  that  men  are  relieved 
from  long-lasting  sufferings  by  other  short-lasting  evils,  by  a  process  of 
nature.  Nations  for  centuries  fallen  into  apathy  and  slavishness,  elevated 
their  spirits,  began  to  feel  the  dignity  of  men.  and  became  again  free  men, 
after  they  had  been  crushed  to  the  dust  by  the  western  tyrants. 


Miscellaneous,  289 

called  noxious  disease  inflneuces,  have  unlimited  power  to 
aflect  and  change  our  condition,  then  nobody  would  be  well. 
Inasmuch  as  they  are  found  everywhere,  everybody  would 
be  sick,  and  would  not  even  have  a  conception  what  health 
is.  But  as,  in  general,  diseases  are  only  the  exception  to  the 
condition  of  men,  and  as  it  is  necessary  that  a  combination 
of  so  many  and  various  circumstances  and  conditions — partly 
by  the  disease-causing  forces,  partly  by  the  condition  of  the 
individual  to  be  made  sick — must  exist  before  a  disease  rea'ly 
follows  the  effects  of  the  sick-making  forces,  it  becomes  evi- 
dent that  man  is  not  easily  affected  by  these  noxious  influ- 
ences, that  they  do  not  necessarily  make  him  sick,  and  that 
t^e  organism  can  only  be  affected  by  them  under  certain 
predisposing  influences. 


£iaa|  M^%it$i* 


Hearing,  and  How  to  Keep  It.  By  Chas.  H.  Burnett,  M.  D.    Lindsay  & 
Blakiston. 

This  is  one  of  the  "American  Health  Primers*'  Series,  and  a  very 
good  one  it  is  too,  but  it  strikes  lis  the  author  is  a  person  of  very 
marked  peculiarities.  Among  these  is  a  proneness  to  extravagant 
statement.  This  extravagance  amounts  in  numerous  instances  to 
absurdity.  We  quote  a  few  of  them.  Page  79.  "No  one  hesitates  to 
have  a  sore  and  running  eye  healed,  for  if  it  be  not  healed,  the  eye 
will  literally  run  out."  Page  82.  "Clothes  wrung  out  of  very  warm 
water  may  be  placed  around  the  painful  ear,  but  never  over  it;  if 
laid  over  it,  such  dressings  tend  to  produce  proud  flesh  in  the  ear." 
The  author  has  a  mania  against  oil  in  the  ear.  P.  84,  "If,  however, 
the  pain  abates  and  the  surgeon  is  not  called  in,  the  oil  is  forgotten 
and  allowed  to  remain  in  the  ear.  Here  it  soon  becomes  rancid,  and 
hence  a  fit  soil  for  the  growth  of  fungus  aspergillus.    The  latter,  as 


290  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

soon  as  it  begins  to  grow,  excites  in  the  ear  a  painful  and  serious  in- 
flammation." Page  85.  "If  a  poultice  of  any  kind  be  placed  over  an 
inflamed  ear  for  a  short  time,  even  a  few  hours,  irreparable  injury 
may  be  done  to  the  organ.  This  will  be  manifested  by  a  mass  of 
fjjanulations  (proud  flesh)  springing  up  in  the  canal,  the  breaking 
down  of  the  drum  head,  and  the  falling  out  of  the  little  bones  of  the 
ear."  Speaking  of  the  use  of  oils,  and  the  disagreeable  odor  they 
produce,  he  says:  Page  88.  "When  this  latter  condition  is  once  fully 
established,  the  ear  may  attract  "flies  which  will  enter  the  ear,  deposit 
eggs,  and  in  a  short  time  thereafter,  maggots  will  attack  the  more  del- 
icate parts  of  the  canal  of  the  ear  and  the  drum  head,  producing  the 
most  intense  agony."  Page  91.  "But  in  no  case  must  cotton  be  worn 
in  a  running  ear.*'  Page  100.  "When  the  protuberance  behind  the 
ear  becomes  tender  to  pressure  from  the  finger,  the  patient  should 
lose  no  time  in  consulting  a  surgeon,  and  the  latter  can  give  relief  to 
pain  and  ward  off  danger  by  making  a  hole  in  the  bone  behind  the 
ear  and  letting  out  the  pent  up  matter."  Page  107.  "It  is  a  most  sig- 
nificant fact,  that  numerous  cases  of  tumor  of  the  auditory  nerve 
have  been  directly  traceable  to  cooling  off  the  exhausted  body  after 
great  exposure  to  heat,  and  the  consequent  perspiration."  This  is  the 
perfection  of  etiology.  Page  115.  "A  tight  cap  will  do  the  ears  great 
harm,  by  pressing  the  auricles  against  the  head,  causing  not  only  in- 
creasing perspiration,  but  by  thus  binding  down  the  ears  to  the  per- 
spiring surface,  macerate  the  skin  of  the  ears,  and  set  up  a  disease  like 
''milk  crust,"  Page  115.  "A  good  soap  is  not  easily  obtained."  Page 
119.  "All  superfluous  ear  wdx  will  fall  from  the  ear  in  time,  if  left 
alone."    All  this  makes  the  book  very  entertaining  if  not  instructive. 


■♦»»■ 


The  Homceopathic  World,  London, 

Commences  a  new  life  under  a  new  editor,  J.  Compton  Burnett, 
M.  D.,  F.  R.,  G.  S.,  who  makes  his  debut  in  the  September  number. 
His  salutatory  is  sufficiently  explicit  to  show  what  his  metal  is,  and  the 
whole  number  glows  and  sparkles  under  the  inspiration  of  a  really 
live  man.  If  he  gives  us  an  aggressive  journal,  and  avoids  this  milk- 
sop business  of  currying  favor  with  the  old  school,  he  will  confer  a 
lasting  benefit  on  our  trans-atlantic  brethren,  and  be  always  welcome 
to  the  profession  in  the  West.    We  congratulate  the  "World." 


Book  Notices.  291 

Transactions  of  the  Hahnemann  Medical  Associations  of  Iowa,  Tenth  Annual 
Session. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  enterprising  secretary.  Dr.  E.  A.  Guilbert, 
for  a  copy  of  this  work.  We  find  it  full  of  meat,  and  as  interesting 
as  a  novel..  Guilbert  neyer  does  things  by  halves — neither  does  the 
Hahnemann  Medical  Association  of  Iowa.  Send  the  Doctor  a  quarter 
and  get  your  money  and  big  interest. 


■♦»♦■ 


The  Homoeopathic  Journal  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and 
Children.  Henry  Minton,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Editor.  A.  L.  Chatter- 
ton  &  Co.,  Publishers,  New  York.    $4.00  per  year. 

The  first  number  of  this  new  journalistic  venture,  gives  promise  of 
excellent  results.  We  believe  there  is  need  of  such  a  publication, 
and  the  profession  should  give  it  substantial  support. 


#  I » 


List  of  Medicines  Mentioned  in  Homoeopathic  Literature.  By  H.  M.  Smith, 
M.  D.,  New  York.    Smith's  Homoeopathic  Pharmacy. 

This  includes  botanical  order  of  the  plants,  and  the  synonyms  of 
all  the  drugs.  This  makes  a  most  valuable  book  of  reference.  The 
idea  of  furnishing  the  profession  such  a  work  was  a  happy  conception, 
and  is  well  carried  out. 


Posological  Tables,  Including  all  the  Officinal,  and  the  Most  Frequently 
Employed  Unofficinal  Preparations.  By  Ghas.  Rice.  Wm. 
Wood  &  Co.,  New  York. 

This  little  work  is  of  great  value  to  those  who  give  medicine  in 
large  doses.  True,  it  points  out  but  a  small  part  of  the  real  danger, 
but  that  little  is  worth  something.    Price  |1.00. 


292  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance* 

Repertory  to  the  More  Characteristic  Symptoms  of  the  Materia  Medica 
ArraDged.by  Constantine  Lippe,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

We  hftve  specimen  pages  only.  The  entire  work  will  make  a  vol- 
ume of  about  four  hundred  pages,  at  $4.50  and  upwards.  Bedell  & 
Bros.,  New  York. 


^  ■ » 


An  Address,  by  R.  Ludlam,  M.    D.    Delivered  before  the   Illinois 
Homoeopathic  Association,  at  Freeport,  May  21st,  1879. 

It  would  be  hard  to  say  what  it  was  all  about,  and  harder  still  to 
say,  what  it  was  not  about.  It  is  particularly  Ludlamian,  and  in  his 
way  of  telling  it,  must  have  been  extremely  interesting.  If  you  can 
imagine  how  he  would  say  it,  it  will  pay  you  to  read  it,  otherwise  it 
— well,  it  will  pay  anyhow. 


#  ■ » 


The  Principles  of  Light  and  Color,  Including  among  other  things,  the 
Harmonic  Laws  of  the  Universe,  the  Ether io- Atomic  Philoso- 
phy of  Force,  Chromo  Chemistry,  Chromo  Therapeutics,  and 
the  General  Philosophy  of  the  Fine  Forces,  Together  with 
Numerous  Discoveries  and  Practical  Applications,  Illustrated 
by  Two  Hundred  and  Four  Exquisite  Photo-Engravings,  Be- 
sides Four  Superb  Colored  Plates  Printed  on  Seven  Plates  each. 
By  Edwin  D.  Babbitt.  Babbitt  &  Co.,  141  Eighth  Street,  New 
York. 

To  all  intents  and  purposes,  this  is  a  remarkable  book.  Its  scope  is 
clearly  set  forth  in  its  title,  but  it  has  to  be  read  in  order  to  be 
appreciated.  However,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  understood  if  it 
be  read.  It  seems  to  us  the  author  is  a  transcendentalist,  and  that 
while  he  makes  free  use  of  science,  he  comes  at  it  always  from  the 
upper  regions.  He  in  fact  descends  to  ph]^sical  demonstrationa 
rather  than  ascends.  The  beauty  of  the  work  adds  much  to  its 
attractiveness.  We  do  not  feel  competent  to  pass  upon  the  merits  of 
the  work,  considered  as  a  whole.  To  medical  men,  the  most  im- 
portant fact  is,  the  author  develops  a  system  of  chromopathy  or  color 
cure  for  diseases.  His  predecessors,  General  Pleasanton  and  Dr. 
Pancoast,  with  their  red,  blue  and  white  lights,  laid  an  imperfect 
ground  work,  which  the  author  has  carefully  relaid  and  erected  a 
beautiful  system  ;  but  how  far  it  is  true,  we  can  not  yet  judge.  Many 


Book  Notices,  293 

of  our  readers  will,  no  doubt,  enjoy  a  study  of  this  book,  but  to  others 
it  will  be  anything  but  •  reasonable  or  practical.  We  cordially  com- 
mend its  perusal. 


Photographic  Illustrations  of  Skin  Diseases.  By  Geo.  Henry  Fox,  A.  M., 
M.  D.,  Complete  in  Twelve  Parts,  with  Forty-Eight  Colored 
Plates  Taken  From  Life. 

We  have  parts  I  and  II,  and  can  but  express  our  surprise  and  ad- 
miration at  the  beauty  and  excellence  of  the  work.  The  following 
diseases  are  represented  in  the  plates  before  us;  comedo,  acne  vul- 
garis, lepra  tuberosa,  elephantiasis,  keliod,  rosacea,  psoriasis  num- 
mulata,  ichthyosis  simplex.  Most  unqualified  praise  is  due  both 
author  and  publisher  for  this  promised  substantial  addition  to  our 
scanty  literature  on  skin  diseases.  Published  by  E.  B.  Treat,  No.  805 
Broadway,  New  York.    Price  $2.00  each  part. 


miim\  %Mt. 


Died.— Dr.  A.  O.  Longstreet,  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  of  malignant 
diphtheria,  August  27.  The  following  resolutions  were  passed  at  a 
meeting  of  the  profession  of  that  city. 

TTAerecw,  we  learn  with  deep  sorrow  of  the  sudden  decease  of  our 
fellow  laborer,  Dr.  A.  O.  Longstreet,  of  this  city,  therefore 

Resolved,  That  while  we  bow  with  submission  to  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence, we  deeply  regret  the  dispensation  which  has  so  suddenly  re- 
moved our  friend  and  brother  practitioner. 

Besolvedf  That  we  gladly  testify  that  by  his  gentle  demeanor,  his 
skill,  faithfulness,  and  untiring  industry  and  thorough  qualifications 
as  a  physician,  he  had  endeared  himself  tc»  a  large  circle  of  personal 
friends,  and  had  secured  the  confidence  of  the  community  in  which 
he  lived. 


294  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Beadved,  That  by  his  death  the  medical  profession  in  this  vicinity 
has  lost  an  able  and  eminent  representative,  the  town  a  distinguished 
citizen,  and  his  family  a  loving  father  and  a  genial  companion. 

Beaolvedy  That  we  join  with  the  entire  community  in  sympathy  for 
the  bereaved  family. 

Besdvedf  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  the  family  of 
our  deceased  brother,  the  press  of  the  city  and  the  Cincinnati  Medi- 
cal Advance.  Geo.  D.  Grant,  Sec'y. 

The  Educational  Society  for  introducing  the  Metric  System.  The 
American  Metric  Bureau,  has  just  had  published  a  new  edition  of  the 
standard  work  on  this  subject  by  its  President,  F.  A.  P.  Barnard, 
President  of  Columbia  College,  N.  Y.,  which  has  hitherto  been  pub- 
lished in  New  York,  at  $3.00  per  copy. 

This  new  edition  contains  three  times  the  matter,  and  has  been 
made  the  most  complete  work  in  the  language. 

Its  index  of  two  thousand  references,  make  it  really  a  Cyclopcedia 
of  the  Metric  System. 

The  society  wish  to  scatter  it  widely  through  the  country,  to  give 
iuU  and  accurate  information  about  the  Metric  System  of  weights 
and  measures,  of  which  so  much  has  been  ignorantly  written.  They 
offer  it  at  $1.50,  or  one-fifth  the  rate  charged  by  the  New  York 
publishers  for  the  original  edition.  If  not  found  at  the  book  stores  it 
can  be  had  of  the  society,  by  mail  $1.70.    The  address  is 

Secretary  Metric  Bureau,  32  Hawley  St.,  Boston. 

The  IIomceopathic  Relief  Association  of  New  Orleans,  La.,  have 
issued  a  neat  pamphlet,  giving  in  a  condensed  and  practical  way  the 
best  methods  for  the  laity  to  treat  yellow  fever.  Their  course  is  to 
be  commended  as  a  very  effective  method,  introducing  Homoeopathy 
and  making  the  community  familiar  with  the  superiority  of  homoeo- 
pathic treatment  It  may  be  had  gratis  of  Angell's  Pharmacy,  New 
Orleans,  La, 

Special  Attention  is  directed  to  the  advertisement  of  Mess.  Dun- 
can Bros.  This  enterprising  firm  have  added  an  old  established 
pharmacy  to  their  business*.  We  believe  they  offer  inducements  in 
regard  to  prices,  etc.    Send  for  their  announcement. 

Our  Fkiends  in  New  Jersey  have  succeeded  in  placing  one  of  the 
public  institutions  under  their  chai:ge.  Dr.  S.  H.  Quint  has  been  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  the  Camden  County  Insane  Asylum, 
located  at  Blackwoodtown,  N.  J. 

A  Little  Son  of  Dr,  G,  W.  Sherbino,of  Waynesburg,  Pa.,  accidently 
shot  himself  recently,  the  ball  entering  the  chest  The  little  fellow  is 
in  a  fair  way  to  recover, 

Mabried.— September  10,  Simiiia,  daughter  of  Dr.  C.  A.  Jaeger,  of 
Elgin,  111.,  to  Mr.  Dwight  C.  Wilcox. 


JSdtr's  Tabe.  295 

PcLTE  B0Y8 — ^Dr.  J.  £.  Stndebaker  locates  in  Wooster,  Ohio. 
Dr.  S.  W.  Cohen  has  located  at  Waco,  Texas.  He  reports  prospects 
good. 

Dr.  May  Howklls  has  removed  her  office  to  437  W.  Eight  Street. 

Dr.  M.  M.  Eaton  has  removed  his  office  to  120  W.  7th  Street 


Wants,  Locations,  Practices  for  Sale,  Etc. 


Under  this  head  we  will  be  glad  to  insert,  gratis,  notices,  chang^e  oi  location, 
practices  for  sale,  exchanges  ofTered  or  any  miscellaneous  want  pertai nine-  to  the  pro- 
fession, not  of  a  purely  advertisine  or  personal  nature.  We  will  be  specially  obliged 
to  physiciins  giving  the  names  of  gocnl  locations. 


Lbavbnwobth,  Kan.,  Aug.  23,  '79. 

Medical  Advance  Co.: — ^Bill  heads  were  daiy  received,  also  first 
number  of  Medical  Advance,  and  I  think  that  I  have  already  re- 
ceived an  equivalent  for  my  investment  As  regards  the  correct  list 
of  physicians  promised  you  from  this  state  it  is  not  yet  completed, 
but  will  be  in  a  week  or  two. 

There  are  scores  of  towns  in  Kansas  where  hom<£opathic  physicians 
could  do  well.  The  most  desirable  that  occur  to  me  at  the  present 
writing  are  Cawker  City  and  Kirwin,  on  the  line  of  the  Central 
Branch  R.  R.  Council  Grove,  on  the  Junction  City  Branch  of  the  M. 
K.  &  T.  R.  R.  Paola,  on  the  K.  C.  Ft.  Scott  h  Gulf  R.  R.  and  Flor- 
ence,  Peabody,  Great  Bend,  Kinsley,  and  Dodge  City  on  the  A.  T.  h. 
St.  Fe  R.  R. 

Kirwin  has  a  non-graduate  homoeopathic  practitioner,  but  would 
retire  from  practice  in  favor  of  a  reliable  man  as  he  informs  me,  and 
attend  to  his  regular  profession,  that  of  preaching.  Paola  is  quite  a 
large  town,  and  why  a  homoiopathic  physician  has  never  located  there 
I  can  not  understand.  Other  towns  of  less  size  support  one  and  even 
two.  It  may  be  that  it  is  too  near  the  Missouri  border,  and  Homceo- 
pathy  is  utterly  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  avera^^e  Missourian. 

Truly  yours,  J.  J.  Eoia 

Lawrbxceburqh,  Ind.,  September  18,  1879. 

Medical  Advan'ce: — I  desire  to  report  the  following  locations: 

Brookville,  Ind.,  (Franklin  Co.,)  county  seat;  population  twenty -two 
hundred;  three  old  school  physicians  but  no  homoeopath.  Good 
country.    Refer  to  Wm.  U.  Green,  Esq.,  editor  Brookville  American. 


296  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Rising  Sun,  twelve  miles  below  here  on  the  river.  Homoeopathy 
pretty  well  introduced,  and  good  man  can  make  it  win. 

Versailles,  county  seat  of  Ripley  Co.,  Ind.  Population  three 
thousand.    No  homoeopath.    Refer  to  J.  C.  Pate,  County  clerk. 

These  are  all  good  locations  for  men  possessing  energy  and  grit. 
Fill  them  up.  Yours  truly,  0.  C.  Evans,  M.  D. 

New  Orleans,  La.,  September  5, 1879. 
Dear  Sir  : — ^There  is  an  opening  in  this  city  for  a  good  German 
homoeopathic  physician.  Population  estimated  at  two  hundred 
thousand,  of  which  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  thousand  are  Germans. 
There  are  altogether  ten  practicing  homoeopathic  physicians  here, 
none  of  whom  speak  German.  An  energetic  person,  speaking  also 
English  and  French,  would  soon  be  able  to  establish  a  paying  prac- 
tice. Respectfully  yours,        Boerickb  &  Tafel. 

Medical  Advance: — I  would  recommend  New  Paris,  population 
one  thousand.  No  other  homoeopathist  nearer  than  six  miles;  quite 
a  number  of  disciples  here.  Cedar  Springs,  health,  resort  one  mile 
from  town.  Seventy-five  boarders  every  summer  beside  a  number 
of  boarders  in  town ;  will  give  way  to  a  good  homieopathist  for  a 
nominal  fee.    Cause  for  leaving,  ill-health. 

Very  respectfully  and  fraternally  yours,        M.  M.  Hampton. 

Medical  Advance: — I  will  sell  my  property  and  throw  in  my 
practice  to  some  energetic  physician.  My  age,  (sixty  years)  is  cause 
for  my  retiring.  Town  has  three  thousand  population.  Am  only 
homoeopath  nearer  than  Quincy,  111.    Terms  reasonable  and  easy. 

D.  V.  Van  Syckle,  M.  D.,  Canton,  Mo. 

Medical  Advance: — Do  you  know  of  some  good  man  that  could 
take  my  practice,  as  I  leave  for  Europe  and  may  never  return  to  this 
field?  Have  been  here  years  and  have  a  good  practice,  will  make 
favorable  terms  to  the  right  man. 

A.  McNeil,  M.  D.,  New  Albany,  Ind 

Medical  Advance: — My  health  being  poor,  I  offer  my  practice  for 
sale.  Charleston  will  be  the  capital  of  West  Virginia.  Has  a  popula- 
tion of  sixty-five  hundred,  sociable  and  intelligent  society,  and  a 
desirable  growing  Homoeopathic  pr?  ctice. 

Yours  truly,       W.  Henry,  M.  D.,  Charleston,  W.  Va. 

Dr.  S.  W.  Cohen,  of  Waco,  Texas,  reports  favorably  on  the  follow- 
ing Texas  towns  for  locations,  Dallas,  eighteen  thousand,  Palestine, 
Gainsville,  Waxahachie,  Belton,  etc. 

Practice  AVanted. — In  a  country  town  where  there  is  no  other 
homa*opathic  physician.  Will  pay  cash.  Address  M.  D.,  care  Ad- 
vance. 


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r  Congestion 
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Anatoml  Inflammation   -l  Suppuration 

Anaemia  j  Ulceration 

ine-^  Softening  [Gangrene 

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Physioloj^ns  of  Disease — Similia  Similibus  Curantur 


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iology 


(Medical  Theurgy). 


Patholog 


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lies 

\  Obstetrics 


(Microscopy). 


(Medical  Jurisprudence). 


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mptomatology   I    •jPosology 


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HEALTH  &  DISEASE 


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T.  P.  WILSON.  M.  D.  GiNiHAL  EBrroi. 

VOLUHB  VII.  ClNCIKNATI,  0.,  NOVEMBER,  1879.  NUHBEB  5. 

All  communicatiDna  for  publlcmlon  should  be  addniBed  to  Dh.  T.  P,  Wilson,  edi- 
tor.lSO  Broadway.  All  >ub><^ripllc>nt  snd business  mmmuiilcBtioni  ihould  be  addresied 
to  Medical  AovANCH  Co.,  SO  W.  »th  St.,  Cmcinnali,  O.   Subscription  (J.OU  per yenr. 

Tll9  Organon  of  Uedicine,  An  Introductory.  By  T.  p.  Wilson, 
M.  D.,  Cincinnati,  O.     (See  Schematic  View.) 

A  true  ovganon  of  medicine  must  of  necessity  be  encyclo- 
pedic*. It  must  contain  subjects  comprehende'.l  by  the  term 
medicine.  A  system  which  omits  any  of  the  fundamental 
departments  is,  at  best  a  fragmentary  and  imperfect  presen- 
tation of  the  subject. 

The  need  of  the  present  age  is  that  true  organon.  It  could 
not,  however,  be  constructed  in  the  earlier  history  of  medi- 
cine because  those  departments  of  knowledge,  now  so  well 
recognized  were,  at  the  best,  undeveloped  and  incohate.  We 
could  not  systematically  arrange  what  we  did  not  have  or 
having,  we  did  not  understand.     But  the  present  century  has 

The  word  eDCTclopedin  implies  the  unity  ■nd  circularity  of  knowledge 
— that  it  baa  one  common,  central  principle  which  ia  at  once  constitntive 
and  regulative. — Han. 

Nov- 1 


298  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

added  an  almost  untold  amount  of  wealth  to  our  possessions. 
The  accumulation  of  material  in  the  shape  of  facts  and  prin- 
ciples has  now  reached  a  point  of  positive  oppressiveness 
unless  we  can  put  it  into  proper  shape. 

For  lack  of  this,  the  mind  of  the  student  wanders,  often  be- 
wilderingly,  amid  the  net  work  of  subjects  as  might  a  travel- 
er through  a  tractless  forest.  And  also  for  the  lack  of  this 
some  of  the  most  valuable  discoveries  that  have  been  made 
are  unknown  even  to  those  who  search  for  knowlelge;  and 
not  infrequently  those  who  find  these  precious  truths,  reject 
them  because  they  fail  to  trace  out  the  relation  which  these 
truths  bear  to  the  subject  as  a  whole. 

I  do  not  forget  that  Samuel  Hahnemann's  greatest  work  is 
called  an  organon  of  the  art  of  healing.  I  have  no  desire  to 
detract  from  the  high  estimate  in  which  it  it  is  held  in  the 
mind  of  every  intelligent  student.  As  a  system  representing 
"the  arc  of  healing,"  it  stands  and  even  will  stand  unexcelled. 
But  Hahnemann's  work  is  not  an  Organon  of  Medicine.  It 
makes  no  pretension  of  being  such  an  instrument.  That  he 
could  have  written  such  a  book  no  fair  minded  person  can 
deny.  Doubtless  he  was  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  time 
for  a  comprehensive  and  systematic  arrangement  was  to  be  the 
work  of  the  future. 

His  great  therapeutic  discovery  naturally  stood  isolated 
from  the  great  body  of  medicine.  That  it  was  true  he  spent 
a  long  and  valuable  life  in  demonstrating.  He  left  to  the^u- 
ture  the  task  of  showing  its  intimate  and  indissoluble  relations 
to  all  the  other  subjects  embraced  in  the  circle  of  medicine. 
He,  with  prophetic  eye,  saw  that  in  the  course  of  time  it 
would  come  to  be  recognized  in  the  words  of  Hare  as  "the 
central  principle,  at  once  constitutive  ami  regulative";  thus 
completing  "the  unity  and  circularity  of  knowledge."  There 
is  no  true  knowledge  which  will  not  bear  the  test  of  science  and 
philosophy.  A  fact  discovered  and  a  principle  elucidated, 
justly  receive  no  credence  until  they  have  taken  their  rightful 
place  in  the  departments  to  which  they  severally  belong. 
When  science  and  philosophy  were  young  they  could  be 
grasped  in  their  entirety  by  most  minds  of  intelligence;    but 


The  Organon  of  Medicine.  299 

to-day  they  need   orderly  and   proper  arrangement,  or  they 
serve  only  to  confuse  the  intellect. 

We  have  need,  therefore,  not  only  to  make  our  system  com- 
prehensive, but  natural  as  well.  And  this  is  what  we  mean 
by  a  proper  arrangement. 

Medicine  alone  as  part  of  the  great  circle  of  natural  sciences 
has,  within  the  last  few  years,  increased  its  complexity  to  an 
astonishing  degree.  The  student  at  the  commencement  of 
his  studies,  is  lost  in  amazement  at  the  entangled  mass  of  ma- 
terial that  lies  before  him.  That  which  he  should  know  and 
comprehend  at  the  outset,  he  is  left  to  discover  for  himself, 
if  indeed  he  ever  does  discover  it,  viz:  the  relations  which 
these  subjects  bear  to  each  other  as  parts  of  a  common  sys- 
tem. 

Nature  is  strictly  orderly  in  her  process  of  development 
She  proceeds  always  from  the  simple  to  the  complex.  And 
it  is  the  province  of  the  human  mind  to  not  only  discover  the 
facts  but  to  understand  the  order  of  their  occurrence. 

The  law  of  Similia,  as  applied  to  therapeutics,  may  be  said 
to  have  a  history  coeval  with  medicine.  As  an  occasional 
fact  in  medical  practice  it  received  very  wide  acceptance. 

It  was  the  labor  of  Samuel  Hahnemann  to  demonstrate  its 
universality.  But  even  his  lucid  demonstrations  fail  in  many 
instances  to  carry  with  them  that  conviction  which  they  de- 
mand. But  when  once  we  have  joined  it  to  the  great  body 
of  facts  to  which  it  properly  belongs  it  will  then  be  denied 
only  by  ignorance  and  bigotry. 

Still  it  must  be  confessed  that  until  it  can  be  seen  that 
science  and  philosophy  give  their  unqualified  endorsement 
it  is  useless  to  insist  upon  its  acceptance.  And  now  it  seems 
to  me  that  we  have  arrived  at  that  point  in  our  history  when 
the  attempt  to  show  this  relation  may  successfully  be  made. 

Any  one  may  have  faith  in  the  law  of  cure  to  which  we 
have  referred  without  fully  understanding  it,  except  as  it  may 
be  applied  in  practice.  An  intelligent  understanding  of  that 
law  can  be  obtained  only  by  a  careful  study  of  all  the  funda- 
mental facts  and  principles  upon  which  it  rests.  We  must 
go  back  to  that  point  where  nature  herself  begins  to  lay  her 


300  Cincinnati  Medical  A  dvance. 

broad  and  stable  foundations.  And  if  we  do  that  we  will  find 
the  succession  of  links  unbroken  until  we  reach  the  crowning 
fact  in  this  wonderful  system,  the  object  of  which  is  to  cure 
disease.     And  this  it  can  do  only  by  the  law  of  Similia^ 

Upon  this  statement  thus  broadly  made  medical  men  hold 
very  diverse  opinions.  This  fact  is  easily  accounted  for  when 
we  consider  how  differently  men  are  informed  upon  subjects 
that  are  collateral  to  it. 

By  general  consent  we  assume  that  drugs  properly  admin- 
istered to  the  sick,  do  cure  diseases.  Now  comes  the  ques- 
tion, How?  There  are  thousands  who  would  be  glad  to  have 
us  answer  this  question,  if  we  could  do  it  satisfactorily.  But 
this  is  impossible  without  an  undestanding  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  preliminary  facts. 

If  we  content  ourselves  by  formulating  the  law  of  cure  in 
the  well  known  phrase  Similia  similibus  curantur,  we  find 
many  minds  wholly  incapable  of  comprehending  it.  And 
what  is  more  they  not  only  doubt  it,  but  they  deny  it.  But 
since  they  act  up  to  the  knowledge  they  possess  we  can  not 
hold  them  under  very  severe  judgment. 

If  we  commence  to  teach  astronomy  by  formulating  Kep- 
ler's laws,  we  find  but  a  limited  comprehension  of  them  in  the 
minds  of  men  because  they  have  not  the  knowledge  which 
should  precede  acceptance  of  them.  Before  we  can  learn 
science  we  must  understand  and  apply  the  science  of  learn- 
ing. We  have  too  long  tried  to  carry  on  our  instruction  by 
an  inversion  of  the  natural  order  of  human  thought.  In  more 
ways  than  one  we  have  violated  the  dictates  of  nature  in  seek- 
ing for  truth  and  in  trying  to  make  it  known  when  found. 

Medicine  is  not  simply  an  art.  It  is  a  science.  We  make 
no  apology  for  this  statement.  We  say  this,  however,  that  it 
is  a  science  to  those  only  who  can  comprehend  it.  And  be- 
ing a  science  it  is  susceptible  of  an  orderly  and  logical  ar- 
rangement of  'its  multitudinous  facts.  In  other  words  an 
organon  of  medicine  is  possible;  and  being  so,  it  becomes 
very  desirable. 

A  schematic  view  is,  herewith,  presented  which  is  designed 
to  show  with  some  readiness  not  only  all   the  principal  sub- 


Theory  and  Practice.  301 

jects  which  belong  properly  to  medicine,  but  also  the  order 
in  which  they  occur  and  the  proper  relations  they  hold  to  one 
another. 

Science  is  not  a  circle.  It  is  rather  a  broad  road,  the  be- 
ginning of  which  we  must  find  if  we  can.  And  having 
found  it  we  must  pursue  it  step  by  step  until  we  reach  the 
limit  of  our  own  possibilities  in  traveling  over  it. 

Certain  pseudo- scientists  have  attempted  to  frighten  the 
world  by  an  outcry  against  "dogmas";  as  though  truth  in  any 
sense  were  absolute  and  science  never  dogmatic. 

To  assert  the  existence  of  the  law  of  cure  is  to  be  dog- 
matic in  the  most  acceptable  sense  of  the  word.  In  that 
respect  the  department  of  therapeutics  is  not  singular. 
Every  department  of  medicine  is  possessed  of  just  such  fund- 
amental principles,  and  these  same  objectors  to  our  law  of  cure 
do  not  hesitate  to  forumlate  a  multitude  of  dogmas  upon 
other  subjects. 

When  we  have  properly  traversed  the  ground,  over  which 
medical  science  lays  its  jurisdiction,  we  expect  to  be  able  to 
write  in  fair  letters  on  the  front  of  the  temple  of  ^sculapius 

SiMILIA    SiMILIBUS    CuRANTUR. 

It  will  be  reserved  for  future  time  and  possibly  for  other 
hands  than  ours  to  complete  this  pleasing  task.  Upon  this 
frame  work  must,  ere  1  jng,  be  built  by  patient  hands,  guided 
by  an  intelligent  mind,  the  true  Organon  of  Medicine. 


uterine  Pibroids.     By  H.  F.  Biggar,  M.  D.,  Cleveland,  O. 

A  fibrous  tumor  may  be  defined,  "as  a  growth  composed 
of  fibrous  tissue,  identical  in  structure  with  that  of  the  uterine 
wall,  but  disconnected  with  it,  being  in  general  surrounded 
by  a  capsule  of  dense  fibro-cellular  tissue  which  is  peculiarly 


302  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

dry  and  loose,  so  that  when  one  cuts  on  the  tumor  it  ahiiost 
of  itself  escapes  from  its  cavity," 

These  tumors  may  be  named  according  to  their  position  and 
separated  into  three  divisions,  the  first  of  which  is  called  the 
sub-peritoneal  or  extra-uterine  tumor,  and  springs  from  the 
peritoneal  surface,  extending  into  the  abdominal  cavity;  the 
second  sub-mucous,  which  has  its  roots  beneath  the  mucous 
surface,  the  tumor  projecting  into  the  uterine  canal;  and  third 
the  intra-mural  tumor,  which  grows  entangled  in  the  walls 
of  the  uterus. 

This  last-named  forms  the  largest  and  most  important 
division;  the  two  kinds  of  fibroid  tumor  which  are  of  less 
consequence  are  not  so  frequently  met  with. 

The  fibroid  designated  as  sub-peritoneal,  which,  taking  root 
in  the  walls  of  the  uterus,  projects  into  the  abdominal  cavity 
and  sometimes  reaches  immense  size,  is  a  condition  without 
the  pale  of  surgery.  When  this  tumor  grows  heavy  and  sinks 
down  into  the  pelvis  causing  intense  pain  by  pressure  upon 
the  pelvic  organs,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  raise  it  from 
its  resting-place  to  a  point  above  the  brim  of  the  pelvis.  This 
is  done  to  palliate  the  suff'erings  of  the  patient  and  the  oper- 
ation must  be  carefully  considered,  lest  by  long  lying  in  one 
position  the  tumor  may  form  adhesions. 

The  second  division  which  includes  those  tumors  called 
sub-mucous,  is  a  class  much  more  satisfactorily  dealt  with. 
This  tumor  has  its  roots  beneath  the  mucous  surface  and  grows 
into  the  uterine  canal;  its  external  appearance  and  that  of 
uterine  polypus  is  the  same  and  the  difl!'erence  can  not  be 
demonstrated  during  life.  The  real  difference  being,  that  the 
tumor  has  its  own  nucleus  and  enveloping  capsule,  although 
the  material  of  which  it  is  formed  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
uterus.  The  polypus  is  in  all  respects  identical  with  the  uter- 
ine walls,  being  merely  a  continuation  of  the  fibres  composing 
it.  This  tumor  is  treated  as  is  the  uterine  polypus,  the  mode 
of  procedure  for  extermination  being  the  same. 

We  now  come  to  the  third  division:  for  the  cure  of  the 
true  intra-mural  fibrous  tumor  many  methods  have  been 
practiced,  and   since    no  two    cases  can  be  exactly  alike,  the 


Theory  and  Practice,  303 

surgeon  depends  upon  the  disclosures  of  the  case  in  point  as 
to  his  manner  of  operation.  The  position,  the  size,  the 
weight  and  shape  of  the  tumor  assisting  in  his  decision,  as 
does  also,  the  aj^e,  the  ]  hysique  and  the  temperament  of  the 
patient.  Nature,  always  the  surgeon's  strongest  aid,  is  some- 
times in  these  cases  allowed  to  act  the  principal,  and  the 
surgeon  accepts  the  position  of  aid.  Where  the  climacteric 
period  is  closely  approaching,  it  is  not  necessary,  unless  urgent 
symptoms  present  themselves,  to  interfere  with  the  knife; 
since,  when  the  active  functions  of  the  uterus  are  ended,  it 
not  unfrequently  occurs  that  the  growth  of  the  tumor  is  ended 
at  the  same  time.  Then  while  the  fibroid  is  of  slow  growth, 
there  are  fortunate  chances  which  may  happen  by  which 
surgical  interference,  which  is  always  attended  with  danger, 
may  be  altogether  dispensed  with;  the  character  of  the  tumor 
may  be  entirely  changed,  it  may  change  its  position,  nature 
may  expel  it,  and  it  may  altogether  stop  growing  and  die. 
The  effect  of  medicine  in  these  cases  is  trifling;  but  since  the 
existence  of  an  intra-mural  tumor  will  give  rise  to  hemorrhage, 
and  great  pain  at  the  menstrual  period,  a  certain  amount  of 
treatment  is  necessary,  and  some  remedies  have  been  success- 
fully used  as  palliatives,  as,  an  injection  of  the  remedy  into 
the  uterus,  through  a  previously  dilated  cervix. 

For  surgical  interference  the  following  methods  may  be 
adopted: 

1.  Since  the  tumor  has  a  nucleus  and  a  capsule  of  its  own' 
one  way  of  effecting  a  cure,  is  to  make  an  incision  into  the 
capsule  and  remove  the  contents. 

2.  Again  by  means  of  suitable  instruments,  the  tumor  is 
seized  and  forcibly  taken  frcvn  its  place. 

3.  By  incision  of  the  cervix  uteri,  the  fibres  of  the  body  of 
the  uterus  contract  upon  the  tumor  and'prevent  hemorrhage 
by  compressing  the  vessels. 

4.  By  incisions  of  the  tumor  itself,  it  is  sometimes  de- 
stroyed since  its  vitality  is  killed  by  the  knife  dividing  the  cap- 
sule; the  vitality  of  fibrous  growth  being  of  comparatively 
low  degree. 

5.  By  sloughing. 


304  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Besides  the  methods  of  removal  just  enumerated,  there  is 
one  other  which  is  advocated  by  Dr.  T.  Gaillard  Thomas  as 
superior  to  all  in  his  estimation  for  the  successful  removal 
of  interstitial  and  sub-mucous  tumors.  The  methods  named* 
here,  have  each  serious  objections  and  deficiencies. 

The  instrument  offered  by  Dr.  Thomas  for  bis  method  is  a 
"spoon-saw  or  serrated  scoop"  which  is  a  steel  spoon  with  a 
strong  handle  twelve  or  thirteen  inches  long;  the  spoon  or 
saw  has  a  serrated  edge,  the  teeth  being  rather  blunt,  and 
perpendicular  in  position;  the  spoon  itself  is  slightly  convex 
on  its  outer  surface  and  in  a  similar  degree  concave  as  to  the 
inner  surface. 

The  most  dependent  or  most  easily  reached  point  of  the 
tumor  is  seized  with  vulsellum  forceps  and  the  instrument  in 
question  being  applied,  it,  with  a  slow,  regular  movement* 
cuts  its  way  laterally  and  upwards,  while  the  uterus  is  pro- 
tected by  the  convex  outer  surface,  and  the  tumor  is  closely 
embraced  by  the  the  inner  concave  surface  of  the  serrated 
spoon.  The  advantages  claimed  for  the  operation  as  thus 
performed  are  many:  i.  The  hemorrhage  is  lessened  by  the 
use  of  the  saw.  2.  The  highest  point  of  the  tumor  is  as 
readily  reached  as  the  lowest,  since  the  freed  portion  descends 
out  of  the  way,  giving  the  instrument  free  access  to  the  still 
adherent  portion.  3.  The  outer  portion  of  the  instrument 
can  not  injure  the  surrounding  tissues  of  the  uterus,  and  the 
concave  or  inner  side  of  the  bowl  of  the  spoon  can  closely 
follow  the  contour  of  the  tumor  in  most  cases.  4.  The  saw 
action  is  more  rapid  and  certain.  5.  And  last,  the  severing^ 
can  be  so  exact  and  so  close  with  this  instrument  that  no 
pedicle  need  be  left  to  decompose. 

Many  cases  are  cited  in  proof  of  the  value  of  this  mode  of 
operation.  It  must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  that  in  conjunction 
with  the  saw,  strong  traction  upon  the  tumor  must  necessarily 
be  used.  It  is  claimed  that  in  any  case  where  the  vulsellum 
forceps,  can  be  firmly  fixed  in  a  fibrous  tumor,  which  is  small 
enough  to  allow  delivery  by  the  vagina,  its  successful  detach- 
ment and  removal  can  always  be  accomplished  by  this 
method. 


Theory  and  Practice,  305 

Abandoning  the  knife  many  tumors  are  cured  by  means  of 
first,  Electrolysis,  second,  Ergot^  and  third  by  Chloride  of 
Calcium, 

When  Electrolysis  is  resorted  to,  a  proper  battery  and 
Electrodes  are  absolutely  necessary  for  success.  The  tumor 
is  punctured  hy  the  electrodes  penetrating  the  abdominal 
walls;  the  current  is  then  passed  through  for  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes;  by  this  means  we  obtain  softening  and  absorption. 

In  the  administration  of  Ergot  we  are  greatly  indebted  to 
Dr.  Hildebrandt,  whose  formula  is 

5:  Watery  extract  of  Ergot,  3  parts, 

Glycerine,  7      " 

Water,  distilled,  7      "  M. 

He  injects  under  the  skin  in  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen 
twenty  drops;  the  patient  must  then  rest  for  twenty  four 
hours.  Sometimes  the  Glycerine  will  induce  abscesses;  if  so, 
omit  the  Glycerine.  Dr.  Hildebrandi's  theory  is  that  the 
Ergot  contracts  the  nutritive  vessels  of  the  tumor,  and  the 
compression  exercised  in  all  directions  by  the  contraction  of 
the  uterine  walls,  the  nutrition  of  the  tumor  is  cut  off  or  im- 
peded, and  fatty  degeneration  and  absorption  will  ensue. 

The'givingof  jFr^o^  in  the  second  or  third  decimal  dilution 
has  been  found  very  satisfactory. 

As  to  the  Chloride  of  calcium,  in  the  use  of  this  drug  I  am 
indebted  to  Dr.  J.  C.  Sanders  for  the  suggestion  and  since  its 
use  have  found  benefit  result  from  the  third  trituration. 

The  restriction  of  diet  I  have  found  highly  essential.  The 
following  list  of  articles  as  recommended  by  an  eminent  phy- 
sician is  sufficiently  rigid  and  worthy  of  regard. 

STRICT   DIET. 

Eat  animal  food,  beef  steak,  porter-house  steak,  sirloin 
steak,  roast  beef,  corned  beef,  cold  pressed  corned  beef» 
smoked  and  dried  beef,  beef  tongues,  tripe,  oxtail  soup  with" 
out  potatoes,  veal,  calves  feet  and  head,  sausages  properly 
made,  ham,  mutton,  lamb  tongues,  venison,  turkey,  game» 
chickens,  geese,  pigeons,  squabs,  milk,  butter,  eggs,  cream* 
cheese. 


^^6  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Vegetables,  without  or  with  little  starch,cabbage,  tomatoes , 
celery,  onions,  spinach,  lettuce,  cucumbers,clandelions,  parsley, 
cowslips,  radishes,  horse-radish,  cranberries,  turnips,  rhubarb, 
squash,  carrots,  pickles,  sour  fruits,  apples,  pears,  melons, 
nuts,  Irish  moss.  Fish,  salt  and  fresh,  salmon,  cod,  haddock, 
eels,  perch,  oysters,  scallops,  shrimps,  halibut,  trout,  sword- 
fish,  cusk,  lobsters  and  clams. 

MIXED  DIET. 

Sauce  as  the  strict  diet,  adding  the  following:  wheat  whole? 
wheat  cracked,  wheat  steamed,  wheat  crushed,  wheat  meal 
baked  like  oat-meal. 

Whole  wheat,  attrition  flour,  Arlington  wheat  meal,  Can's 
graham  flour,  wheat  bread,  biscuits,  cakes,  crackers,  dough- 
nuts, pies,  puddings.  Groat's  oat-meal,hulled  oats,  cracked  oats, 
rye,  ry^  meal,  barley  meal,  Indian  meal,  hulled  corn  hoe  cake, 
Indian  pudding,  hasty  pudding  and  milk,  buckwheat;  beans, 
stewed,  baked,  steamed  or  boiled,  peas,  baked,  steamed,  stewed 
or  boiled.  Avoid  starches  and  sugars,  common  white  flour 
in  all  and  every  form,  viz:  bread,  biscuits,  cakes,  all  kinds, 
crackers,  waffles,  doughnuts,  puddings,  gruel,  rice  etc.,  pota- 
toes, in  any  shape  or  variety,  sweet  potatoes,  arrow  root,  sa- 
go, tapioca,   candy. 

A  REPORT  OF  EI.EVEN  CASES  OF  UTERINE  FIBROIDS  CURED; 
SOME  DEMANDING  SURGICAL  AID  AND  OTHERS  DISAP- 
PEARING FROM  THE  USE  OF  ELECTROLYSIS  AND  ERGOT. 

Case   L     Mrs. ,    age   forty-three;  American,  and  the 

mother  of  four  children;  has  suffered  from  metrorrhagia  for 
three  years.  On  examination  I  found  in  the  vaginal  and  cer- 
vical canal  a  fibrous  polypus  as  large  as  an  orange,  with  a 
pedicle  attached  to  the  anterior  surface  of  the  uterus.  The 
patient  having  been  anassthetized,  the  ecraseur  was  applied 
well  up  within  the  cervical  canal  and  the  growth  removed. 
The  recovery  was  complete. 

Case  II.     Mrs, ,  an  American,  age  fifty,  and  mother  of 

six  children.  The  lady  was  very  frail  from  excessive  loss  of 
blood  during  the  two  years  preceding  the  time  of  her  con- 
sulting me.     On   examination  I   found  protruding  from  and 


Theory  and  Practice,  307 

filling  the  cervical  canal,a  tumor  in  size  that  of  a  large  cocoanut. 
Under  an  anaesthetic  the  ecraseur  was  applied  around  the 
mass,  but  owing  to  the  adhesions  within  the  cervical  canal,  it 
could  not  be  closed  around  the  pedicle,  and  only  a  third  of 
the  tunjor  was  thus  removed.  The  hemorrhage  during  the 
operation  was  very  severe,  but  was  checked  by  the  direct  ap- 
plication Qi persulphate,  of  iron.  The  occasional  use  of  this 
drug  caused  sloughing  and  with  it  the  disappearance  of  the 
tumor.     Perfect  health  was  restored. 

Case  III.  Mrs. a  German  woman,  childless  and  thirly- 

six  years  of  age.  Before  the  appearance  of  the  tumor  she 
was  a  stout,  robust  woman,  but  suffered  much  pain  since  she 
noticed  the  enlargement.  At  my  first  examination  the  uterus 
and  tumor  were  as  large  as  is  the  uterus  of  a  woman  six 
months  advanced  in  pregnancy.  The  growth  which  was  in- 
tra-mural  in  character  disappeared  gradually  under  a  carefully 
administered  treatment,  extending  over  a  period  of  three 
years.  As  the  symptoms  demanded  I  resorted  to  the  galvanic 
blittery  and  electrodes,  besides  giving  internally  Hydrastis  can- 
adensis 3  and  Arsenicum  alba  3.  This  woman  presented 
herself  for  examination  before  the  class  in  January  last,  at 
which  time  not  a  vestige  of  the  growth  could  be  found. 

Case  IV.  An  American  lady,  married,  but  childless, 
thirty-one  years  of  age,  came  to  me  from  Iowa  for  advice. 
She  was  anemic  from  metrorrhagia  and  had  suffered  with 
dysmenorrhoea  from  the  first  appearance  of  the  menses.  On 
examination  I  found  the  uterus  the  size  of  a  large  cocoanut, 
having  a  length  of  cavity  of  four  and  a  half  inches.  The 
pelvic  organs  were  very  much  congested  and  very  tender 
upon  pressure  over  the  abdominal  walls,  which  latter  condi- 
tion was  evidently  a  result  of  the  journey.  Ergotine  supposi- 
tories of  half  a  grain  each  were  prescribed,  to  be  used  every 
second  or  third  night;  electricity  was  directly  applied  to  the 
uterus  and  a  proper  diet  was  enforced.  Within  a  few 
months  the  hemorrhages  were  controlled  and  the  size  of  the 
tumor  began  to  decrease.  At  the  expiration  of  eighteen 
months  the  length  of  the  uterine  cavity  was  three  inches  and 
the  size  of  the  uterus  correspondingly  lessened.     The  lady'g 


308  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

general  condition   was   one  of  improvement,  although   the 
dvsmenorrhcea  was  still  some  source  of  trouble. 

Case  V.   Mrs.  T.- a  lady  from  Georgia,  the  mother  of 

two  children  and  thirty- two  years  of  age.     She  had  one  mis" 

carriac^e  at  four  months  which  occurred  previous  to   the  birth 

of  her  last  child.     She  was  suffering   from    dysmenorrhcea 

and  menorrhagia:  the  uterus    was  enlarged   and  extended  to 

the  line  of  the  umbilicus.     The  character  of  the   tumor  was 

intramural;  diet  was   rigidly  enforced.     Glycerole  of  tannic 

acid   with  pledgets  of  cotton  were  daily  used  for  two  months. 

Hectal  suppositories  of  JErgotinCy  a  half  grain  each,  were  used 

every  other  night.    After  six  months  of  continued  treatment 

the  uterus  had  diminished  in  size  fully   one  half.     The  use  of 

Ergotine  was  continued  twice   a   week  until  the  end  of  the 

seventh   month,  when    the   lady    returned  to    her   home,  at 

which  time  menses   appeared   without  pain  and  free   from 

hemorrhage.     A  few   months  ago  I  heard  from  this  patient 

who  writes  that  the  uterus,  though  larger  than  natural  gives 

no  symptons  of  disease. 

Case  VI.     Miss age   twenty-eight,   is   an    American, 

blonde,  menstruation  has  always  been  very  painful,  keeping 
her  in  bed  three  days  at  each  period.     Examination  revealed 
a  tumor  in  the  right  wall  of  the  uterus  as  large  as  a  common 
orange.     The  patient    was  anaesthetized   and   electrodes  in- 
serted.   This    was  repeated  three  times  within  the  next  five 
weeks.     The  growth  disappeared  entirely  within  two  months- 
Case    VII.     A  German  lady   of  twenty-four,  unmarried* 
suffered  from   dysmenorrhoea.     On    investigation  I  found  a 
growth  in  the  cavity  of  the  uterus.     I  gave  Ergot  2,  a  powder 
of  three  grains  every  four  hours;  this  acting  upon  the  uterus 
assisted  in  expelling  the  fibrous  growth.     This  tumor  was  as 
large  as  a  small  orange  and  very  dense  in  structure;  when 
the  tumor  was  in  the  vaginal  canal  the  pedicle  was  severed 
with  a  p'lir  of  curved  scibsors.     The  subsequent  menses  were 
free  from  pain. 

Case  VIII.    Mrs. English,  the  mother  of  five  children 

and  fifty  years  of  age.     At  the  birth  of  her  fourth  child  the 
after-birth  w.is  adhered,  which  caused  a  delay  in  her  recovery. 


Theory  and  Practice,  309 

For  the  last  four  years  she  has  suffered  much  pain  in  the  uterus 
and  had  frequent  attacks  of  uterine  hemorrhage.  On  exam- 
ination I  found  the  uterus  very  much  enlarged  and  a  growth 
sessile  in  formation  within  the  uterine  cavity.  By  dilatation 
of  the  cervical  canal,  the  capsule  was  severed  for  four  inches 
and  excessive  hemorrhage  followed;  it  was  controlled  by 
direct  application  of  persulphate  of  iron.  Frequent  applica- 
tions were  made  of  this  drug  which  caused  sloughing  of  tb« 
tumor  and  within  eight  months  the  organ  had  returned  to  its 
normal  size. 

Case  IX.  Miss ,an  American,  a  blonde  and  thirty-seven 

years  of  age,  for  sixteen  years  she  has.  suffered  with  dysmen- 
orrhoea  and  menorrhagia.  The  left  wall  of  the  uterus  con- 
tained a  tumor  as  large  as  a  common  orange.  JSrgotine  svppos- 
itories  each  containing  a  half  grain  of  the  remedy  were  used 
every  other  night.  This  treatment  being  continued  for  nine 
months  a  perceptible  diminution  of  the  tumor  followed.  From 
exposure  to  cold  during  the  menstrual  period,  pelvic-cellulitis 
and  metritis  resulted;  an  abscess  formed,  which  I  opened  in 
the  left  wall  of  the  cervix.  The  lady  slowly  recovered  from 
this  long  and  severe  illness,  and  with  convalescence  a  com- 
plete subsidence  of  the  growth,  which  evidently  disappeared 
from  disintegration. 

Case  X.  Mrs. ,  an  American  lady  forty-four  years  of  age- 
she  was  a  blonde,  very  frail  and  the  mother  of  four  children. 
The  pelvic  organs  were  sensitive  to  the  touch  and  pressure 
upon  them  induced  pain.  The  uterus  and  its  contents  were 
as  large  as  a  pregnancy  of  six  months  would  normally  be.  I 
used  pledgets  of  cotton  well  saturated  with  Qlyeerole  of  tan- 
nic acid  and  Ergotine  suppositories  of  one  half  grain  each  to  be 
used  every  night.  I  insisted  that  the  patient  pursue  a  rigid 
diet,  and  in  one  month  the  diminution  of  the  tumor  was  one- 
third  of  its  original  size.  The  hemorrhages  were  controlled 
and  at  the  end  of  seven  months,  my  persisting  in  treatment 
was  rewarded  by  the  entire  disappearance  of  the  tumor. 

Case  XI.     A  young  lady,  Miss ,  but  twenty-two  years 

of  age,  a  blonde  suffered  intensely  from  dysmenorrhcea  and 
menorrhagia.     On    examining    I   found  within    the   uterine 


310 


Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


cavity,  a  hard  tumor  about  the  size  of  a  small  orange,  which 
was  sessile  in  fomation;  the  cervix  having  been  properly 
dilated,  the  ecraseur  was  with  difficulty  introduced  and  secured 
it  around  the  base  which  allowed  the  removal  of  the  tumor. 
The  patient  made  a  rapid  and  satisfactory  recovery. 


%|||altttuliigll  atti  ®loIis§g^ 


Ophthalmic  and  Aural  Examinations  During  the  Proving  of 

Bomodios.  Action  of  the  American  Homoeopathic 
Ophthalmological  and  Otological  Society  on  the 
Subject. 


Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  July,  1879. 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  31  ateria  Mtdica^  Phar- 
macy and  Provings,  in  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeo- 
pathy.— Jabez  P.  Dake,  M.  D.,  Nashville  Tenn:  At  the  third 
annual  session  of  the  American  Ophthahnological  and  Oto- 
logical Society,  held  at  Fort  William  Henry  Hotel,  Lake 
George,  June  24th  and  25th  1879,  the  following  motion  pre- 
vailed: 

That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  by  the  president 
of  the  Ophthalmological  and  Otological  Society,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conferring  with  the  chairman  of  the  bureau  of  materia 
medica,  pharmacy  and  provings,  in  the  American  Institute 
of  HomcEopathy,  with  the  view  of  perfecting  the  ophthal- 
mic and  aural  examinations  during  the  proving  of  remedies. 

In  fulfilling  the  spirit  of  this  motion  the  committee  would 
suggest  to  the  bureau  the  advisability,  should  it  meet  your 
approval,  of  having  careful  examinations  of  the  eye  and  ear 
made  by  specialists,  before,  during,  and  after,  the  action  of 


Ophthalmology  and  Otology  311 

the  drug;  the  former,  to  determine  the  condition  of  the  visual 
function,  of  the  fundus,  of  the  accommodation,  of  the  refraction, 
and  of  the  extrensic  muscles;  and  the  latter,  to  show  the  state 
of  the  external  auditory  canal  and  membrana  tympani,  with 
a  careful  record  of  the  hearing  powei. 

F.  Park  Lewis,  M.  D.,  Buffalo, 
H.  C.  Houghton,  M.  D.,  N.  Y., 
W.  H.  WooDYATT,  M.  D.,  Chicago, 

Committee. 
Inasmuch  as  there  will  be  no  meeting  of  our  bureau  before 
next  June,  and  in  view  of  the  importance  of  the  suggestions 
made,  in  the  above  communication.  I  deem  it  my  duty,  in 
this  manner,  to  bring  the  subject,  at  once,  before  the  profes- 
sion. 

I  am  sure  I  represent  correctly  the  mind  of  each  member 
of  the  bureau,  when  I  say  that,  the  appeal  will  not  prove  an 
idle  one,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  and  that  we  will  take 
such  action  in  the  premises,  when  we  meet,  as  the  importance 
of  the  suggestions  and  the  high  standing  of  the  society, 
whence  they  emanate,  seem  to  demand. 

For  myself,  I  need  hardly  say  that,  this  action  of  the 
Ophthalmological  and  Otological  Society,  meets  a  very 
ready  and  hearty  response. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Institute,  in  Chicago 
twenty-two  years  ago,  in  presenting  the  defects  of  the  cur- 
rent method  of  drug  proving  and  a  plan  for  improvement,  I 
laid  down  a  proposition,  the  soundness  of  which  is  demon- 
strated from  year  to  year,  viz:  "The  range  of  pathogenetic 
observation  should  he  equal  to  that  of  morbific." 

And,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Institute,  in  Cleveland,  in  the 
year  1873,  reporting  upon  the  same  subject,  I  said:  "Our 
knowledge  of  druj;  symptoms  must  be  co-extensive  with  our 
knowledge  of  the  symptoms  of  disease. 

The  symptoms  of  disease  are  studied  in  the  expressions  of 
pain  and  discomfort,  gathered  from  our  patients,  and  in 
whatever  we  may  observe  in  their  manners,  general  appear- 
ance and  morbid  products,  through  the  exerciseof  our  senses, 
aided  by  all  the  tests  of  modern  science. 


312  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

And,  exactly  in  the  same  manner,  and  to  the  same  extent, 
must  we  study  the  effects  or  symptoms  of  each  drug  admitted 
into  our  materia  medica," 

And,  in  the  discussions,  which  followed  the  reading  of  my 
report,  I  said.  "By  whatever  signs  disease  has  manifested 
tself  to  us,  in  abnormal  sensations,  or  abnormal  appearances, 
by  the  same  must  every  drug  reveal  itself  to  our  understand- 
ings. 

As  we  study  disease,  so  must  we  study  drug  influence,  not 
alone  in  its  subjective,  nor  yet  alone  in  its  objective  symptoms, 
but  in  all,  in  every  direction  and  to  all  extents. 

"If,  in  disease,  we  observe  the  state  of  the  pulse,  the  appear- 
ance of  the  tongue,  and  the  expression  of  the  face,  we  must 
do  likewise  when  we  examine  an  organism  that  is  under  drug 
influence. 

"If  we  apply  the  stethoscope,  and  thermometer  and  spec- 
ulum, and  employ  the  microscope,  laryngoscope,  and  chemical 
re-agents,  in  the  one  case,  we  cannot,  as  intelligent  and  con- 
scientious provers,  neglect  them  in  the  other, 

"Whatever  modes  and  whatever  means  we  require,  in  ar- 
riving at  a  proper  knowledge  of  disease,  are  required,  just  as 
much,  in  arriving  at  a  knowledge  of  drug  influence." 

I  simply  refer  to  such  utterances  to  show  how  ready  I  am 
to  second  the  eflforts  of  the  Ophthalmological  and  Otological 
Society,  and,  also,  what  has  already  been  done  to  arouse  the 
profession  to  a  sense  of  what  is  lacking,  and  of  what  may 
and  should  be  supplied,  in  our  materia  medica. 

In  the  August  issue  of  the  Hahnemannian  Monthly.  I  an; 
pleased  to  see  an  able  article,  from  the  pen  of  James  A. 
Campbell,  M.  D.,  of  St.  Louis,  entitled — "Hints  to  Provers 
Regarding  the  Eye  and  Ear." 

In  order  lo  carry  out  the  suggestions  made  in  this  article, 
as  well  as  in  the  communication  from  the  Ophthalmological 
and  Otological  Society,  drug  provers  must  be  situated  where 
specialists  or  experts,  may  be  had,  to  employ  instruments,  in 
the  examination  of  the  eye  and  ear. 

The  best  opportunities  afibrded,  for  this  work,  are  in  the 
classes  at  our  colleges,  especially  where  both  male  and  female 
students  congregate  for  several  months  in  the  year. 


General  Clinics.  313 

It  would  not  be  a  difficult  matter  for  the  professors  of  ma- 
teria medica,  in  the  several  schools,  to  agree  upon  a  number 
of  drugs,  known  to  have  a  decided  influence  upon  the  eye  or 
ear,  which,  with  the  aid  of  the  lecturers  upon  diseases  of  the 
eye  and  ear,  they  could  subject  to  a  thorough  proving  in  the 
course  of  one  term. 

But,  allow  me  to  say,  in  conclusion  that,  those  who  essay 
to  treat  aftections  of  the  eye  and  ear,  are  not  alone  in  finding 
the  materia  medica  deficient,  when  they  search  for  the  simil- 
imum. 

Whenever  one  of  our  school,  steps  forward,  with  a  satis- 
factory experimental  department,  for  the  proving  of  drugs,  in 
a  systematic  and  thorough  manner,  so  as  to  meet  the  reason- 
able wants  of  all  who  desire  to  follow  the  homoeopathic  law, 
in  medical  practice,  it  will  find  help  coming  from  many  quar- 
ters, and  will  accomplish  a  work,  in  value  and  permanency, 
for  enough  beyond  any  other  work  it  can  ever  do. 

J.  P.  Dake. 


Eitmml  Mitdti. 


Clinical  Cases  of  Bye  and  Bar  Diseases.    Reported  from  Dr. 

Wilson's  Clinic,  130  Broadway  and  Corner  of  Seventh 
and  Mound  streets,  Cincinnati.  C.  H.  Guilbert,  M.  D., 
C.  M.  Lukens,  M.  D.,  Assistants. 

Case  VI.— Strabismus  from  Hypbrmetropia.— Louisa  Karper,  act 
twelve,  school  girl.  The  mother  of  this  girl  brings  us  this  child  for  exam- 
ination because  her  eyes  are  giving  out  st  school.  She  can  not  study 
without  pain  in  her  eye  balls  and  forehead,  and  besides  this  »he  can  not  dis- 
tinguish examples  on  the  black  board.  She  is  therefore  getting  constantly 
at  her  lessons  besides  su£fering  considerable  pain.    In  all  other 

Nov-2 


314  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

respects  the  patient  seem  in  good  health.  The  eyes  on  superficial  examin- 
ation looked  quite  normal.  We  had  therefore,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to 
turn  our  attention  to  the  condition  of  refraction  as  the  probable  cause  of  her 
trouble.  Placing  before  her  the  test  types  we  find  the  vision  for  distance 
is  very  deficient  in  both  eyes.  For  instance,  the  sight  of  the  right  eje  is 
less  than  1-6  the  normal  vision.  The  left  eye,  it  is  about  1-5.  Suddenly 
as  she  was  looking  with  both  eyes  her  vision  rose  to  20-30.  But  liere  we 
discovered  an  interesting  change  in  her  right  eye.  At  the  moment  she  was 
seeing  so  well  that  eye  turned  in  over  four  lines,  so  that  she  was  extremely 
cross  eyed.  A  moment  afterward  the  eye  turned  out  to  its  normal  position 
and  the  vision  fell  off  as  before.  We  readily  found  upon  trial  that  convex 
glasses  improved  her  sight.  A  +  36  glass  made  the  left  eye  20-20  or  normal, 
and  made  the  right  nearly  so.  But  for  the  near  point  she  required  an 
altogether  difierent  glass.  She  could  read  best  through  a  nine  inch  con- 
vex. These  made  the  vision  clear  and  easy.  Here  was  a  case  of  hypermetro- 
pia  or  congenital  far-sightedness.  For  this  we  have  no  remedy  but  glasses. 
But  it  was  observed  by  Dr.  Wilson  in  making  the  examination  that  the 
pupils  were  unusually  dilated.  This  was  not  found  to  be  due  to  Atropine 
or  any  drug  action,  and  was  therefore  most  likely  due  to  partial  paralysis 
of  the  iris  and  consequently  the  ciliary  muscle  was  probably  involved. 
We  say  then  we  had  here  a  paralysis  partial  of  the  accommodation.  In  a 
case  like  this  it  would  be  an  inexcusable  error  to  correct  the  refraction  as 
we  find  it  with  glasses.  Suppose  for  instance  we  had  put  on  36  for  distance 
and  sent  her  to  school  again  with  a  9  for  reading  etc.  There  would  have 
been  a  serious  injuries  done  the  eyes.  Still  as  we  find  the  right  eye  con- 
stantly turning  in  whenever  she  attempts  to  accommodate  we  must  apply 
glasses.  This  is  our  prescription :  Bdl30  three  doses  a  day.  Convex  36  for  all 
distance  to  be  worn  all  the  time.  This  patient  returns  in  a  month  and 
reports  improvement  in  all  particulars.  She  wears  her  glasses  with  special 
pleasure  and  is  enabled  to  accommodate  for  the  near  point  with  much 
greater  ease.  She  is  not  well  and  prescription  continued.  She  hashed  no 
crossing  of  the  eyes  since  the  first  visit. 

Case  VII. — Congenital  Cataract  of  Right  Eye,  with  Asthenopia 
OF  THE  Left  Eye. — Mrs.  Fenis,  aet  thirty-four,  patient  of  Prof.  Slos- 
son,  came  to  us  by  direction  of  her  physician  for  examination.  She 
was  complaining  of  weakness  of  sight ;  of  an  inability  to  see  for  any 
length  of  time  within  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  of  the  face.  When- 
ever she  attempted  to  read  or  sew,  her  eyes  simply  gave  out,  and 
this  induced  pain  in  her  eye  balls  and  forehead.  The  light  also, 
bright  sunlight  and  lamp  light  gave  her  some  trouble.  She  reported 
the  sight  of  the  right  eye  to  have  been  imperfect  ever  since  she  can 
remember.  Dr.  Wilson  began  the  examination  of  this  case  by  first 
looking  up  the  state  of  refraction  of  each  eye.  This  is  indispensable 
in  all  these  cases.    The  failure  of  many  physicians  to  relieve  patients 


General  Clinics.  3 !  5 

suffering  chiefly  from  "weak  sight,"  lies  in  this  fact,  that  they  do  not, 
because  they  can  not,  examine  into  the  state  of  refraction.  They  do 
not  know  whether  the  eye  is  short-sighted  or  the  reverse;  or  if  they 
do  know  it,  they  can  not  measure  up  the  degree  of  special  re- 
kaction.  Not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  they  send  such  patients  to 
some  jeweler  or  professed  optician,  and  from  one  or  the  other  of 
these  parties,  they  receive  glasses  selected  almost  at  random,  and 
totally  unsuited  to  their  wants.  By  this  means,  the  trouble  is  often 
increased  rather  than  decreased.  Or  it  may  be,  that,  not  suspecting' 
the  secret  of  the  trouble  to  be  lying  in  the  condition  of  refraction, 
the  physician  in  charge  continues  for  a  long  time  to  prescribe  for 
such  a  patient,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  without  relief.  Many  of 
these  cases  are  incorrectly  diagnosed  as  inflammation  of  the  optic 
nerve  and  amaurosis,  and  the  impressions  of  the  patient  are  rather 
strengthened,  that  he  will  eventually  lose  his  eye  sight.  One  can 
hardly  imagine  the  mental  suffering  of  a  patient  who  thinks  he  sees 
such  an  impending  fate  hanging  over  him.  And  to  such  an  one 
how  joyful  the  tidings  that  no  danger  is  threatened  to  the  sight,  but 
that  with  care  all  may  soon  be  well.  The  patient  before  us  suffered 
considerable  anxiety  of  mind,  chiefly  on  account  of  the  fact  that,  one 
eye  was  already  impaired,  and  the  other  was  now  failing  to  properly 
do  its  duty.  Her  physician  made  no  attempt ^to  treat  the  case,  but 
sent  her  at  once  to  us  for  relief,  when  it  was  made  known  to  him  that 
such  trouble  existed,    Examination  showed: 

Vision— Right  eye  blurred  lor  all  distances,  but  could  distinguish 
one  hundred  and  sixty  letter  at  twenty  feet,  making  the  sight  of  that 
eye  20-160.  Glasses  did  not  improve.  With  the  ophthalmascope  a  con- 
genital cataract  was  found  existing  in  that  eye.  Left  eye  vision=20-20. 
With  convex  forty-eight  glasses  sight  improved.  For  the  near  point 
vision  much  improved  by  a  foHy-eight  inch  lens.  When,  therefore 
she  was  provided  witti  a  pair  of  glasses  of  the  above  strength,  she 
expressed  herself  much  pleased  with  the  result,  and  found  that  she 
could  see  much  better  and  easier,  both  near  at  hand  and  at  a  dis- 
tance. For  the  pain  she  ha<l  in  and  around  her  eye  ball,  Natrum 
mur.  30  was  prescribed,  and  the  result  in  the  course  of  a  week  was 
all  that  could  be  desired.  There  are  thousands  of  persons  laboring 
under  just  such  difficulties,  and  they  suffer  on  year  after  year,  igno- 
rant of  the  fact  that,  with  proper  attention  they  might  have  strong 
and  useful  eyes. 

Cask  VIII.— Otalgia  with  Catarrh  of  the  Middle  Ear.— William 
Mack,  aet  eight.  Subject  for  years  to  ear  ache  by  spells.  Now  for 
the  last  week  or  two,  constant  pain  with  spells  of  aggravations.  For 
this  he  had  been  treated  without  relief.  Pain  in  the  ear  is  generally 
a  sign  of  inflammation  of  an  acute  character.    Purely  nervous  pain 


316  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

is  of  rare  occurrence.    Children   as  a  rule   who  have  pain  in  their 
ears,  have  also  a  condition  of  inflammation  present,  and  there  is  al- 
ways  with  this,  a  "degree  of  danger  not  to  be  ignored  or  treated  care- 
lessly.   Parents  should   be   made  fully  aware  of  this  danger.    Many 
children  are  made  hopelessly  deaf  through  the  bad  advice  of  neigh- 
bors and  friends,  who  never  fail  to  insist  that  the  ears  must  be  left 
alone,  and  the  child  will  get  well  of  itself.     How  can  that  be  called 
*'weir'  which  leaves  a  lasting  injury  to  the  hearing?    First,  however, 
in  a  case  like  this,  there  must  be  an  examination  of  the  parts,  so  that 
the  condition  of  the  ears  may   be  thoroughly   understood.     But  a 
physician  can  no  more  examine  the  ears  than  he  can  the  eye,  with- 
out he  has  the  proper  instruments.    A  doctor  who  pulls  the  lids 
apart  and  looks  at  the  eye,  can  not  give  you  an  honest  opinion  of  the 
condition  of  the  internal  parts  of  the  eye.    Neither  can  he  by  pulling 
the'external  ear  up  and  down,  and  forward  and  backward,  and  look- 
ing however  wisely  down  the  ear  passage — I  say  he  can  not  tell  you 
anything  worth  knowing  about   the  state  of  the  middle  ear.     Yet  a 
very  large  proportion  of  our  ear  cases,  are  cases  of  middle  ear  dis- 
eases.   Men   who  call   themselves  doctors,   often  tell  patients  that 
their  lungs  are  half  gone,  their   optic  nerves  inflamed,  and  their 
ear  drums  perforated,  without  the  slightest  occasion  for  forming  sucli 
distressing  and  alarming  opinions.    Such  conditions  sometimes  exist 
and  a  wise  and  experienced  physician  with   proper  instruments^  can 
discover  them.    But  medical  men  of  that  stamp  are  not  numerous. 
The  case  before  us,  was  found  upon  examination,  to  have  a  catarrhal 
afi'ection  of  both  ears,  but  in  addition  thereto,  a  neuralgic aflection. 
Cases  of  this  sort  are  numerous,  and  seldom  marked  by  pain.    The 
cause  of  the  pain  in  this  case  was  not  clearlv  revealed  to  inspection, 
but  this  was  of  less  moment  since  its  ready  relief  was  (luite  aHsured. 
The  drum  heads  of  both  ears  were  slightly  injected  and  thickened. 
The  eustachian  tubes  were  partially  closed.    The  hearing  was  re- 
duced to  less  than  one-half  its  usual  strength.     Prof.   Wilson  at  once 
inflated  the  ears  with  air.    This  almost  immediately  improved  the 
hearing.   The  boy  was  ordered  to  take  Merc.  cor.  30  every  three  hours, 
because  the  aggravations  of  pain  were  uniformly   at  night.     The 
mother  was  ordered,  and  shown  how  to  drop  hot  water  into  the  ears 
if  the  pain  returned.    One  week  after,  the  patient  came  back  and  re- 
ported  the  pain  had  not  troubled  him  for  several   days.     His  ears 
were  inflated  again,  and  the  same  medicines  continued.     After  some 
half  a  dozen  treatments  the  case  was  dismissed,  to  return  only  at  long 
intervals.     It  will  take  considerable  time  to  make  a  perfect  cure,  so 
far  as  the  loss  of  hearing  consequent  upon  the  cat4irrhal  affection  is 
concerned.    But  in  such  cases,  patients  are  made  to  keep   up  their 
treatment  at  home  for  several  months. 


General  Clinics.  317 

Case  IX. — Asthenopia   from  Hypbbmetropia,  and  Spasm  op  the 
Ciliary  Muscles. — Lizzie  Bowen,  aet  thirteen.    This  little  ^irl  is  at- 
tending school.    Her  eyes  have  given  out.    She  can  not  study  with- 
out great  pain,  and  for  some  time  past,  she  has  not  been  able  to  see 
examples  on  the  blackboard  at  ordinary  distance.    Her  family  phy- 
sician, a  most  excellent  general   practitioner,  in  the  kindness  of  his 
heart,  has  recommended   that  Lizzie  be  taken  out  of  school  for  a 
year,  so  that  her  eye  may  recover  by  rest.     He  has  found  on  trial 
that  medicines  do  not  cure  her.    He  says  perhaps,  her  general  health 
has  much  to  do  with  the  difficulty,  and  yet  the  patient  seems  in  all 
general  respects,  quite  well.    He  has  also  suggested  that  her  time  of 
life  may  have  something  to  do  with  it.    It  is  evident  that  he  has  not 
quite  unraveled  the  mystery  of  this  case.    He   ha«  looked  at  it,  and 
given  it  treatment  and  advice  altogether  wide  of  the  mark,  but  njuch 
better  in   some  respects  than   may  be  found  in  other  and  similar 
cases  in  the  hands  of  other  physicians;  for  in  these  latter  cases,  the 
unhappy  patients  are  given   Iron^  Quinine,  and  other  so-called  tonics, 
iHJsides  being  treated  by   electricity,  and  even  repeated   blistering. 
Failing  in  this,  they  are  sent  abroad  or  to  some  watering  place.  Large 
sums  of  money  and  much  precious  time  are  wasted,  and  worse  than 
all  those,  the  patient,  a  young  and   hopeful  scholar,  is  taken  out  of 
school,  and  thus  deprived  of  an  education.    Now,  scientific  investi- 
gations into  diseases  of  the  eye,  have  brought  us  wonderful  results. 
These  results  save  our  patient  much   suffering  and  loss.     Shall  we 
take  this  girl  out  of  school?    First,  let  us  examine  the  condition  of 
sight.    The  two  eyes  look  bright,  beautiful,  and   in  all  respects  out- 
wardly, perfectly  natural.    We  test  her  vision  with  letters,  and  find- 
Vision,  right  eye,  20-30.    The  left  eye,  the  pains.    By   this  we  mean 
that  letters  so  large  that  she  could  see   them   at  thirty  feet,  she  can 
see  only  at  twenty  feet  away.     You   say  she  is  near  sighted.     She 
seems  to  be  so.     A  pair  of  concave  glasses,  (sixty  inches,)  brings  her 
vision  up  to  the  normal  point.  With  these  she  can  see  perfectly  at  a 
distance.     But  with  these  glasses  on,  she  can  not  use  her  eye  to  look 
at  any  thing  as  near  as  twelve  or  eighteen   inches.    Taking  the 
glasses  otf,  she  is  still  unable  to  use  her  sight  for  a  near  point.    Then 
it  appears  she  is  not   near  sighted,  for  near  sighted  people  see  best 
near  at  hand.    This  apparent  contradiction,  formed  a  serious  problem 
to  our  predecessors,  and  could   not  be  understood  until  the  physi- 
ology of  the  eye  had  been  explained.    It  seems  easy  enough,  now 
that  we  know  how  the  crystaline  lens  is  affected  by  the  action  of  the 
ciliary  muscle.    This  question  we  can  not  now  discuss,  for  time  and 
space  are  not  at  our  command.    Let  it  answer  for  the   present  occa. 
sion,  that  for  this  little  girl  we  supplied  two  pairs  ot  glasses;  a  con- 
cave sixty  for  distance,  and  a  convex  sixty  for  reading,   etc.  With 


318  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

these,  she  kept  on  her  studies,  and  the  pain  in  her  eyes  and  fore- 
head, which  had  before  constantly  distressed  her,  were  soon  gone. 
She  was  ^iven  also  internally,  Physostigma  6,  and  under  its  continued 
use,  we  expect  the  spasm  of  the  ciliary  muscle  to  be  relieved;  after 
which,  she  will  lay  aside  her  concave  glasses,  and  continue  the  use 
of  her  convex  glasses  so  long  as  she  remains  in  school. 

Case  X. — Optic  Neuritis. — Otorrhoea  and  Chronic  Catarrh  of 
THE  Middle  Ear. — Mrs.  A.  M.  Richardson,  comes  to  us  from  Color- 
ado. It  is  seldom  we  find  so  many  unlike  conditions  of  disease  in 
one  patient.  Her  age  is  only  twenty-eight,  and  being  married,  she 
has  a  special  anxiety  of  mind,  in  that  she  fears  her  sight  and  hear- 
ing are  both  failing  her.  She  has  been  under  treatment.  She  comes 
to  us  by  advice  of  her  friend.  Her  right  eye  has  been  quite  deficient 
in  sight  for  years.  She  has  of  late  considerable  pain  in  the  ball,  and 
the  pupil  is  dilated  nearly  one-half  its  maximum.  It  is  not  sore  to 
pressure.  Our  ophthalmascope  reveals  a  congested  condition  of  the 
optic  nerve.  In  other  respects  the  eye  seems  natural.  Glasses  do 
not  improve  the  sight.  Our  advice  is  to  let  the  eye  alone,  and  pay 
out  no  more  money  to  quacks,  who  have  in  several  instances  prom- 
ised to  cure  her.  The  left  eye  in  all  respects  seems  normal.  Turning 
now  our  attention  to  the  right  ear,  we  find  it  is  discharging  a  fetid 
matter,  thin  and  dark.  The  hearing  is  less  than  one-half.  The  left 
ear  on  examination,  has  no  wax  in  the  outer  ear,  and  the  drum  head 
looks  blurred.  She  has  a  roaring  sound  in  that  ear  quite  frequently. 
The  hearing  on  that  side  is  also  somewhat  lessened.  The  question 
is,  can  we  do  anything  for  her?  Everbody  knows  how  easy  it  is  to 
perform  much  that  is  required  of  him.  The  conscientious  physician 
does  not  like  to  promise  anything  unless  he  knows  he  can  do  it. 
This  it  is  often  difficult  to  determine  until  a  fair  trial  has  been  made. 
In  this  case  little  was  promised  besides  an  earnest  effort.  To  begin 
with,  the  siglit  of  tlie  right  eye  was  hopelessly  impaired.  The  hear- 
ing of  the  right  ear  was  also  hopelessly  impaired,  the  drum  being 
perforated  and  much  wasted  by  suppuration.  But  with  one  good 
eye  and  ear,  she  would  be  a  thousand  fold  better  off  than  many  peo- 
ple ill  the  world.  The  ears  were  carefully  inflated  with  air,  pnd  the 
hearing  of  the  left  ear  came  up  to  the  normal  standard  at  once.  She 
was  given  to  take  internally,  Silieia  30,  four  doses  a  day.  In  two 
weeks  she  reported,  left  ear  having  very  little  trouble,  and  the  dis- 
charge from  the  right  ear  almost  wholly  gone.  The  treatment  wiis 
continued.  In  a  few  days  she  will  return  to  Colorado,  and  continu- 
ing the  treatment  we  may  confidently  expect  the  entire  recovery, 
excepting  as  to  the  hearing  in  the  right  ear  and  the  sight  in  the 
right  eye.    Her  left  eye  will  be  saved  from  damage. 


General  Clinics.  319 


Spontaneous  Bednction  of  a  Shonlder  Dislocated  nearly  Tliree 

Years.     By  H.  F.  Biggar,  M.  D.,  Cleveland  O. 

A  case  of  dislocation  of  the  shoulder  downward  which  was 
cured  in  Wellington,  Ohio,  is  so  peculiar  in  all  respects  as  to 
be  worthy  of  attention.  In  Iowa,  about  March  15th, 
1876,  Mrs.  Hanllin,  34  years  of  age  met  with  the  accident  of 
which  we  are  writing.  The  manner  of  the  accident  was 
this;  she  was  riding  in  a  carriage  when  the  horses  were 
obliged  to  cross  a  washed-out  sluice;  the  horses  jumped,  the 
jerk  threw  the  lady  in  such  a  way  that  her  left  arm  about 
midway  between  the  elbow  and  shoulder  came  with  so  great 
violence  against  the  corner  of  a  trunk  that  it  caused  her  to  lose 
consciousness.  When  she  revived,  her  arm  pained  severely 
and  although  in  a  half  hour  it  was  examined  by  a  surgeon* 
•  the  swelling  was  so  great  that  he  did  not  succeed  in  reducing 
the  dislocation.  By  the  use  of  bandages  and  chloroform  the 
pain  was  temporarily  relieved,  the  arm  remaining  swollen 
and  black  and  blue:  The  use  of  both  hot  and  cold  applica* 
tions  failed  to  reduce  the  arm  and  it  continued  painful  even 
to  move  a  finger.  About  two  weeks  after  tlie  accident  the 
lady  went  to  Faribault  for  relief,  and  there  the  treatment 
was  hot  applications  and  the  use  of  the  electric  battery,  con- 
tinued for  about  three  weeks  with  little  or  no  effect.  All  this 
time  the  arm  continued  helpless,  having  every  symptom  of 
dislocation  and  commenced  after  some  months  to  be  perce^:- 
tibly  smaller  than  the  other  arm  and  to  show  signs  of  incip- 
ient paralysis.  In  October,  187S,  Dr.  Rust  of  Wellington, 
Ohio,  commenced  treating  the  arm  with  electricity.  The 
patient  began  to  improve  at  once,  and  in  February,  1879,  ^^" 
turned  west  with  a  well  arm.  Her  arm  is  straight  and  just  as 
large  as  the  other  and  she  uses  it  all  the  time.  She  was  never 
conscious  of  any  great  change  in  her  arm  at  any  one  time, 
but  each  time  electricity  was  used  it  grew  stronger  and  felt 
better. 


320  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 


Sr.  Blakely's  Case* 

In  the  article  by  W.  H.  Blakely,  M.  D.,  read  before  the 
Indiana  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  and  which  appeared  in 
the  August  number  of  the  Advance,  the  Doctor  asks, 
"What  is  the  disease?" 

In  answering  I  will  not  enter  into  a  lengthy  discussion  of 
the  subject,  but  will  only  state  facts  necessary  to  prove  my 
conclusions. 

The  case  was  one  of  uncomplicated  syphilis,  and  was 
likely  contracted  when  the  patient  had  sexual  intercourse 
with  a  prostitute  on  July  4th.  The  time  elapsing  between 
this  and  the  development  of  the  phagedenic  ulcer  upon  the 
penis  precludes  the  idea  of  chancroid,  since  the  wife  had  no 
vaginal  or  uterine  disease,  contagion  of  any  kind  from  her, 
was  out  of  the  question.  The  initial  lesion  may  never  have, 
been  observed  by  him.  Unirritating  syphilitic  chancre  may 
occur  without  pain,  and  often  comes  and  goes  without  the 
patient  having  knowledge  of  its  existence.  The  eruption 
was  undoubtedly  syphiloderma  and  did  not  appear  out  of 
season. 

The  induration  of  the  penis  was  a  circumscribed  inflamma- 
tion of  the  corpora  cavernosa  of  syphilitic  origin.  This  rare 
malady  (seldom  spoken  of  in  text  books)  is  an  inflammation 
of  the  erectile  tissue  in  which  the  interstices  arc  filled  with 
fibrinous  exudations,  that  gives  it  a  bone-like  hardness,  and 
materially  obstructs  the  circulation  of  the  penis,  upon  this 
hardened  tissue  was  developed  a  secondary  syphilitic  pustule, 
which  terminated  in  a  phagedenic  ulcer  with  results  as 
stated. 

The  anatomical  structure  of  the  urethra  renders  it  less 
liable  to  slough  than  the  other  parts  of  the  penis,  therefore, 
it  would  naturally  retain  its  integrity  to  the  last. — W.  E.  G., 
Little  Rock,  Ark. 


General  Clinics  321 


A  Case  for  Consultation. 

Holman  Robbins,  farmer,  aet  forty-six.  About  a  year 
since  last  May,  after  eating  a  big  dinner,  became  prostrated 
and  head  felt  dizzy  as  though  he  were  drunk.  Has  had 
simihir  attacks  since,  after  overloading  his  stomach.  During 
these  attacks  his  hands  and  feet  are  always  cold. 

At  the  beginning  and  at  the  time,  he  suffered  a  continued 
pain  in  temples  and  vertex,  with  much  heat  in  top  of  head, 
some  throbbing,  flushed  face;  these  symptoms  are  always 
wor.se  after  eating  dinner,  and  continued  until  bed  time. 
Head  clear  and  free  from  pain  in  getting  up  in  the  morning. 
Says  he  thinks  he  has  had  dyspepsia  for  about  twenty  years. 
Now  has  sour  stomach,  belching,  burning  in  the  stomach, 
constipation;  dark,  dry  stools.  '*Has  also  piles,"  tongue 
coated  yellow  on  back  part,  with  red  ed-i^es,  bitter  taste  in 
the  mouth  in  the  morning;  some  tenderness  by  pressing  over 
the  region  of  the  stomach  and  liver;  pulse,  full,  strong  and 
eighty  beats  to  the  mmute. 

Says  he  feels  like  one  intoxicated  all  the  time,  can  not  get 
up  to  walk  without  falling  either  to  the  right,  left  or  forward; 
and  has  this  pain  in  the  head  all  the  time,  but  always  worse 
in  the  afternoon.  His  diet  consists  of  fresh  beef,  cracked 
wheat,  rice,  prunes,  etc.  He  is  very  cautious  about  his  eat- 
ing. Been  under  allopathic  treatment  since  the  beginning  of 
this  trouble,  until  the  last  four  weeks,  since  which  time  he 
has  taken  yux  vom,  3  and  30,  Bell.  4  and  30,  Carbo,  veg.  3, 
with  but  very  slight  improvement.  Should  any  brother  read 
this  and  at  the  same  time  have  a  remedy  suggested  to  his 
mind,  adapted  to  these  symptoms  he  would  greatly  oblige 
me  by  letting  it  be  known  either  through  the  Advance  or  to 
me  directly. — J.  C.  French,  M.  D.,  Greensburg,  Ind. 

Malignant  Diphtheria. — Dear  Sir:  We  had  four 
cases,  I  may  say,  in  our  own  family.  My  daughter,  Mrs.  A- 
Hall,  had  three  as  fine  little  girls  as  we  generally  find.  The 
oldest,  Mamie,  aet.  four  years,  took  the  above  disease.  Dr. 
Wm.    Ray  men    and   myself  gave  the    case    close  attention; 


322  C inoinniti  Medical  Advance. 

watched  symptoms  closely;  and  we  gave  the  usual  remedies 
that  were  indicated  in  the  case.  But  after  all  our  close  atten- 
tion, poor  child  had  to  give  up  her  spirit  to  God,  who  gave  it. 

PoorLydia,  her  little  sister,  was  next  taken  down,  aet.  two 
years.  This  child  I  had  removed  to  my  residence,  when  the 
oldest  was  fiist  taken  down.  But  alas,  poor  Lydia,  she  was 
taken  down  same  as  the  first,  and  she  died. 

By  this  time,  Mrs.  Hall  had  only  the  baby,  which  was 
nursing,  aet.  seven  months.  And  behold,  it  took  diphtheria 
as  well  as  a  boy  living  in  my  family.  I  concluded  this  would 
never  do.  So  I  changed  my  course  of  medicine  on  the  two 
latter  children. 

Gave  the  boy  BelL  fifteen  drops  in  glass  of  water,  altet  nated 
with  Cyanide  of  Merc.  3  and  also  the  baby,  with  the 
exception  of  giving  thebab}',  now  and  then,  a  dose  of  Hep,  8 
and  Spong.  They  both  did  well  on  the  above,  and  are  con- 
valescent, and  no  trace  of  the  disease  is  visible  on   them. — 

G,  M.  NiPPERT. 

Sciatica. — Mrs.  A.,  with  the  triple  f.  (fair,  fat  and  forty) 
suffers  for  the  last  three  weeks,  from  excruciating  pains  in 
her  left  knee.  She  has  shooting  pains  in  the  knee,  sometimes 
lacerating  pains,  running  from  the  hip  inwardly  down  to  the 
knee,  aggravated  by  the  least  attempt  to  move  the  leg;  walk- 
ing or  standing  on  it  is  impossible,  the  nights  are  sleepless, 
especially  in  bed,  where  the  feathers  over  and  under  her  (an 
abominable  German  fashion)  drive  her  nearly  mad,  and  she 
passes  therefore,  most  of  her  time  on  a  sofa.  Dr.  F.,  one  of 
our  well  known  German  physicians  of  the  old  school,  has 
treated  her  from  the  very  beginning  of  her  ailment,  with  in- 
ternal and  external  medication,  but  without  giving  her  any 
relief  whatever,  even  the  much  vaunted  Morphia  failed, 

June  iSth  I  was  called  in  to  see  her.  The  knee  was  not 
much  tumefied,  was  pale  and  without  more  than  normal 
heat.  Tongue  coated  white,  no  appetite  nor  any  thirst,  (she 
blames  the  constant  purgation  for  it),  lower  limbs  feel  heavy, 
not  much  pain  in  it,  as  long  as  she  keeps  it  quiet,  but  the 
least  motion  produces  it,  and  it  becomes  worse  at  every  re- 


f)ral    Clinics,  323 

* 

newed  attempt  to  walk;  shooting  in  the  knee  with  every  at- 
tempt to  walk;  sleeplessness;  chilliness,  etc. 

About  the  diagnosis  of  "rheumatic  sciatica"  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  for  it  was  given  by  an  allopathic  physician,  and 
will  be  therefore  accepted  as  true  b}'  the  defenders  of  the 
Milwaukee  test.  She  had  been  treated  for  three  weeks;  and 
German  women  of  the  "housewife"  type  know  very  little 
about  "nervousness"  or  hysteria.  Any  tyro  of  our  school 
w^ould  have  thought  in  such  a  case  of  Colocynthis\  and  Colo- 
cynthis  in  the  twohundreth  potency  she  received,  a  few  pel- 
lets in  half  a  tumbler  of  water,  dessertspoonful  every  two 
hours.  That  night  she  slept  like  a  trooper.  Next  day  placebo 
in  water,  patient  able  to  walk  about  the  room,  but  cautioned 
not  to  attempt  too  much,  another  good  night,  she  received 
more  placebo's,  my  attendance  ceased,  and  she  remains  well 
to  date. 

"Post  hoc  is  not  always  propter  hoc,"  and  we  acknowledge 
that  it  may  be  so  but  how  does  it  happen  that  three  weeks'  blis- 
tering, purging,  Salicylic  acid,  Oolchicum,  etc.,  some  genus 
failed  to  make  any  change,  and  that  the  woman  felt  well 
after  taking  that  Colocynth.  Miracles  will  never  cease,  for 
since  that,  June  2ist,  two  of  my  pupils  have  taken  Colocynth 
200,  as  a  proving,  not  a  symptom  worth  mentioning,  can  I 
get  from  either  he  or  she,  and  is  not  that  proof  enough,  that 
nature  did  the  work,  or  that  it  was  the  after  effect  of  former 
allopathic  dosing,  but  for  heaven's  sake,  as  long  as  the  prov- 
ing failed  to  establish  the  criterion,  let  us  not  believe  in  the 
moonshine  power  of  the  high  potency.  We  acknowledge 
also,  with  sorrow,  that  every  chemical  test  failed  to  reveal 
any  Colocynth  in  the  Sugar  pills,  nor  did  the  microscope 
penetrate  the  mistiness  of  such  dynamization.  What  do  we 
know?  Respectfully  submitted,  S.  L.,  New  York. 

A  Curious  Case, — As  I  was  riding  along  in  my  buggy 
yesterday,  on  my  way  to  visit  g  patient,  a  colored  man 
hailed  me  and  said,  "Doctor,  I  would  like  to  have  you  stop 
and  see  my  baby."  I  told  him  I  would  as  I  came  back,  and 
so  I  did.      I  found  a  woman    sitting  on    the  porch  at    the 


324  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

door,  with  a  babe  on  her  lap.  The  woman  was  an  intelli-. 
gent  and  healthy  looking  mulatto,  I  should  think,  about 
thirty  years  old.  I  asked  her  what  was  the  matter  with  the 
babe.  She  said,  "Nothing,  only  it  had  a  very  queer  leg." 
On  examination  I  found  that  the  left  leg  flexed  forward,  in- 
stead of  backward;  that  the  patella  is  on  the  posterior  side 
of  the  limb.  The  limb  will  flex  backward,  I  should  think, 
about  eight  or  ten  degrees.  The  child  Vas  six  days  old  when 
I  saw  it.  If  you  have  any  questions  to  ask  concerning  this 
case  I  shall  be  happy  to  give  all  the  information  I  can,  or  if 
you,  or  any  one  else  connected  with  our  profession,  should 
be  passing  through  here  and  desire  to  stop  ofi'  and  see  the 
case,  I  shall  be  happy  to  be  placed  at  your  service. — W.  A. 
Warner,  Morrow,  O. 

Cases  of  Metrorrhagia  Following  Abortion. — 
Case  I. — Miss  S.,  aet.  nineteen,  had  abortion  performed  April 
1st;  on  April  24th  I  was  called  in  haste.  The  patient  was  a 
blonde,  and  hysterical.  To  get  a  better  view  of  her  face,  I 
sat  on  the  bed,  when  she  complained  of  the  jar.  The  hem- 
orrhage  bright  red,  clotty,  profuse,  warm,  coming  in  gushes, 
feet  cold;  sensation  as  though  she  was  coming  to  pieces;  lies 
on  left  side,  with  leg  drawn  up;  great  bearing  down  in  lower 
hypogastrium;  feels  very  weak  and  shaky;  hectic  flush  on 
cheeks;  sick  headache,  frontal,  tight  feeling.  Gave  one  dose 
of  BelL  cinm.  on  the  tongue;  in  ten  minutes  she  saiJ  there 
was  not  as  much  flow,  and  in  half  an  hour  hardly  any  show; 
left  Sac.  lac,  in  water.  April  25th  Sac.  lac.j  in  water.  Dis- 
charged patient. 

Case  II. — Miss  F.,  aet.  twenty-two,  brown  hair  and  eyes; 
leuco-phlcgmatic.  Had  abortion  performed  about  ten  days 
ago,  and  has  flowed  ever  since,  I  was  called  to-day.  May 
ist.  Flow,  light  color;  warm;  colicky  pains  in  left  groin; 
must  bend  double  or  draw  left  leg  up;  better  on  painful  side 
with  limb  drawn  up;  tongue  white;  warm  after  5  p.  m.,  till 
morning;  warm  nights.  Colocynth  cc,  in  water,  every  two 
hours. 

2nd.  No  better;  worse  after  sleep;  pains  runs  to  thighs. 
Lachesis  cm.  on  tongue;  Sac.  lac,  in  water. 


General  Clinics.  325 

3d.  No  improvement.  Heavy  ache  and  burning  in  left 
ovary.  Can  not  lie  on  left  side;  sharp,  cutting  pains  from 
left  ovary  to  back;  n  )t  refreshed  by  sleep;  hungry  about  12 
p.  m.,  no  appetite  any  other  time;  feet  cold,  sweaty;  throbbing 
in  left  ovary;  steady  ache  in  back;  both  lying  on  arm.  Lyco. 
cc,  in  water  every  two  hours. 

4th.     Better;  continue  medicine. 

5th.  Much  better;  Lyco,  cm.,  on  tongue,  and  Sac.  lac,  in 
wat(  r, 

6th.  Getting  along  nicely;  left  word  to  be  called  when 
needed. 

The  i8th  she  called  at  office  and  paid  bill. — S.  H.  J.,  681 
Tremont  St.,  Boston. 

Retained  Placenta. — Let  me  supplement  Dr.  Bowen's 
article  on  "Retained  Placenta,"  by  my  experience.  1  have 
had  the  placenta  retained  thirty,  sixty  and  ninety  days,  and 
in  one  instance,  after  the  expulsion  of  the  foetus,  six  months. 
I  prefer  not  to  have  them  retained;  but  if  they  are  don't 
worry.  With  my  late  experience  Bell.,  Aeon,  and  fpecac, 
are  potent  to  control  Puis.,  in  my  hands,  even  in  the  two 
hundredth,  will  excite  uterine  contraction,  and  generally 
cause  hemorrhage  in  these  cases.  In  only  one  thing  do  I 
differ  with  Dr.  Bo  wen,  no  brandy  or  Strychine,  or  indeed, 
hot  baths  for  me  in  such  cases.  Arsenicum'^  to  30,  is  in- 
finitely to  be  preferred.  Such  is  the  experience  of  yours 
truly,  E.  G.  Cook,  Chicago. 

^THusA  Cyn. — A  drawn  condition  beginning  at  the  ala 
nasi,  and  extending  to  the  angle  of  the  mouth  gave  the 
face  an  expression  of  great  anxiety  and  pain.  Intoler- 
ance of  milk.  The  children  throw  up  their  milk  almost 
as  soon  as  swailowed,  curdled  or  not  curdled,  in  from 
ten  to  fifteen  minutes,  by  a  sudden  and  violent  vomit- 
ing, then  weakness  makes  them  drowsy;  coldness  ot  the 
bowels  with  colic.  This  yellow  or  grceniah  stool  with 
tenesmus. 

Note. — If  this  represents  verified  symptoms  of  this  drag, 
it  should  be  carefully  studied  and  more  frequently  used  in 
the  treatment  of  the  summer  complaint  of  children. — Ed. 


iu$llmum. 


HalmOlIiaan.  The  Genius  of  the  Homoeopathic  Healing 
Alt.  Prelacc  to  the  Second  Volume  of  S.  Hahne- 
mann's Materia  Medica  Pura,  1833.  Translated  by 
Dr.  Ad.  Lippe,  Philadelphia,  1878.     Part  IH. 

Qiute  different  are  the  relations  of  the  artificial  dynamic 
forces,  which  we  call  medicines.  Every  true  medicine  af- 
fects every  living  organic  body  under  all  circumstances,  at 
all  times,  and  causes  on  it  characteristic  symptoms  (clearly 
enough  perceivable  through  the  senses,  provided  the  dose  is 
large  enough),  so  that  it  becomes  obvious  that  each  and 
every  living  human  organism  must  become  thoroughly  affected 
and  seemingly  infected  by  the  medicinal  disease;  this,  as  is  well 
known,  is  not  the  case  vvith  natural  diseases.* 

All  experience  proves  unmistakably  that  the  human  organ- 
ism is  much  more  predisposed  and  susceptible  to  medicinal 
forces  than  to  diseased  noxiousness  and  infectious    miasms; 

or,  to  express  it  differently,  that  the  medicinal  forces  possess 
an  absolute,  but  the^dibcased  affections  a  merely  limited,  power 

to  change  the  conditions  of  the  human  organism. 

This  makes  it  aheady  obvious  that  a  possibility  exists  of 
curing  diseases  by  medicines,  (that  is  to  say,  that  the 
diseased  condition  of  the  sickened  organism  can  be  obliter- 
ated by  means  of  the  most  suitable  alterations  through  med- 
icines). But  it  becomes  necessary  also  to  comply  with  a 
second  natural  law,  if  the  cure  is  to  be  made  a  reality;  that 
is,  a  stronger  dynamic  affections  overcome  the  weaker  one 
in  the  livmg  organism  permanently,  if  the  first  is  similar  in 
kind  to  the  latter;  because  the  dynamic  change  of  the  condi- 
tion to  be  expected  trom  the  medicine  must  not,  as  I   believe 

•Even  the  plague-like  diseases   do  not  necessarily   ijifcct  every   person; 
uud  other  diaeaHcs  leave  many  mure  persons   unafi'ected,  even  it*  they  ex- 
pose themself  to  the  changes  of  the  weather,  the  seasons   of  the  year,   and 
any  other  pernicious  hifluences. 


Miscellaneous.  *       327 

I  have  proved,  be  either  differentially  deviating  from  or 
allopathic  to  the  diseased  condition;  otherwise  a  much  greater 
disturbance  would  follow,  as  is  the  case  under  the  com- 
mon practice;  neither  must  it  be  opposite,  so  that  only  a 
palliative,  fallacious  improvement,  which  is  invariably  fol- 
lowed by  an  aggravation  of  the  original  disease,  may  be 
produced.  But  the  medicine  must  possess  the  tendency  to 
cause  a  condition  similar  to  the  disease  (to  cause  similar 
symptoms  on  the  healthy  person),  and  observations  must 
have  shown  this  tendency,  and  then  only  can  it  become  a 
permanently  curative  medicine. 

Whereas  the  dynamic  affections  of  the  organism  (either  by 
medicines  or  diseases)  can  be  discerned  only  by  means  of 
expressions  of  changed  sensations  and  changed  functions;  and 
whereas,  also,  the  similarity  of  their  dynamic  affections  re- 
ciprocally can  be  ascertained  only  through  a  similarity  of 
symptoms;  and  as  the  organism  (much  more  easily  affected 
by  medicines  than  by  diseases)  is  more  submissive  to  drug 
action;  that  is  to  say,  is  more  easily  affected  and  ciianged  by 
it,  than  from  a  similar  affection  of  diseases;  it  follows  that, 
without  a  possibility  of  contradiction,  the  organism  must 
necessarily  be  relieved  from  the  diseased  affections  if  a 
medicine  is  applied  which,  also  entirely  different  in  its 
nature  from  the  disease,*  approaches  it  as  near  as  possible 
in  its  similarity  of  symptoms,  that  is,  is  homaeopathic  to  it; 
because  the  organism,  as  a  complete  living  unit,  is  not  capa- 
ble of  absorbing  two  similar  dynamic  affections  at  the  same 
time  without  compelling  the  weaker  to  succumb  to  the 
stronger  one;  and  as  the  organism  is  more  apt  to  be  aflected  by 
the  stronger  force  (medicinal  affections),  then  there  will  be  a 
necessity  created  to  part  with  the  weaker  one  (diseased  affec- 
tion), and  by  that  process  the  organism  is  healed  of  it. 

^Without  this  natural  difference  between  diseased  affections  and  the 
medicinal  affections,  no  cure  could  be  affected.  If  both  were  not  only 
similar,  but  alno  of  the  same  nature,  therefore  identical,  there  would  be 
no  effect  produced  (probably  only  an  aggravation  of  the  evil).  In  the 
same  manner,  it  would  be  vain  to  expect  to  cure  a  chancre  by  moistening 
it  with  the  poison  of  another  chancre. 


328         •  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

It  is  illusive  for  any  one  to  think  that  the  living  organism 
under  the  administration  of  a' dose  of  homoeopathic  medicine, 
for  the  cure  of  its  disease,  thereby  becomes  burdened  with 
an  addition  to  its  ills;  just  as  if  a  plate  of  lead  already  pressed 
by  an  iron  weight  were  the  stronger  pressed  by  the  adding 
of  a  stone  to  it;  or  a  piece  of  copper  heated  by  friction,  by 
pouring  hot  water  on  it,  must  become  still  more  heated  ! 
Nothing  of  the  kind;  not  passive,  not  according  to  physical 
laws  of'inorganic  nature,  is  our  living  organism  governed. 
It  reacts  with  its  life  antogonism,  so  that  it,  as  a  unit,  as  a 
livinty  whole,  submissively  permits  the  diseased  condition  to 
be  extinguished,  if  a  similarly  strong  force  prevades  the 
organism  by  means  of  a  homceopathic  remedy. 

Our  living  human  organism  is  spiritually  reacting.  It  ex- 
cludes by  a  spontaneous  force  a  less  powerful  afTection,  as 
soon  as  the  stronger  force  of  a  homoeopathic  remedy  produces 
es  a  different  but  very  similar  affection.  In  other  words,  on 
account  of  the  oneness  of  its  life  it  can  not  suffer,  at  the  same 
time,  from  two  similar  general  disturbances,  but  is  compelled 
to  part  with  the  previous  dynamic  affection  (disease)  as 
soon  as  it  is  acted  upon  by  a  second  dynamic  force  (medi- 
cine), which  is  more  apt  to  affect  it;  provided  that  medicine 
possesses  the  capabihty  of  affecting  the  organism  (symp- 
toms) in  a  very  similar  manner  to  the  first  affection  Some- 
thing similar  occurs  in  the  human  mind.* 

*For  instance,  a  grieved  girl  lamenting  the  death  of  a  playmate,  be- 
comes solaced  through  the  strong  effect  of  being  introduced  to  a  family 
where  she  finds  half-naked  children  who  have  just  lost  their  father,  their 
only  support.  She  becomes  more  reconciled  to  her  comparatively  smaller 
loss;  she  is  cured  of  her  grief  for  her  playmate,  because  the  oneness  of  the 
mind  can  at  the  same  time  be  affected  only  by  single  similar  emotion, 
and  that  emotion  mnst  be  subdued  if  another  similar  emotion  takes  pos- 
session of  her  mind  which  effects  her  more  strongly,  and  in  that  manner 
becomes  a  homoeopathic  remedy,  extinguishing  the  former.  The  girl 
would  not  have  been  relieved  of  the  grief  she  felt  for  the  loss  of  her 
playmate,  if,  for  instance,  the  mother  had  scolded  her  (a  heterogene 
allopathic  force).  On  the  contrary,  she  would  have  been  much  sicker  in 
mind  by  the  addition  of  a  different  mortification;  and  again  would  the 
grieved  girl,  had  she  been  seemingly  cheered  for  a  few  hours  palliatitive- 
ly  by  a  jocund  festivity  (because  the  emotion  in  this  case  wan  an  opposite  , 


Miscellaneous.  329 

In  proportion  as  the  human  organism  is  more  easily  affected 
by  medicines  when  in  a  state  of  health  than  by  disease,  as 
I  have  demonstrated  above,  so  is  that  organism  when 
diseased,  without  comparison,  much  more  easily  affected  by 
homoeopathic  medicines  than  by  any  other  (for  instance, 
allopathic  or  enantiopahtic) — and  it  is  acted  upon  easily  and 
in  a  very  high  degree,  as  it  is  already  inclined  to  certain 
symptoms  by  the  disease,  hence  it  becomes  more  susceptible 
to  similar  symp'oms  by  the  homoeopathic  medicien — just  as 
our  own  similar  mental  suffering  causes  the  mind  to  become 
much  more  sensitive  to  similar  stories  of  woe.  Therefore 
it  becomes  obvious  that  only  the  smallest  doses  become  use- 
ful and  necessary  for  a  cure;  that  is  to  say,  for  the  changing 
of  the  sickened  organism  into  a  similar  medicinal  disease;" 
and  for  that  reason  it  is  unnessary  to  give  it  in  a  larger  dose, 
because  in  this  case  the  object  is  obtained  not  through  the 
quantity  but  through  potentiality  and  quality  (dynamic  con- 
formity, Homoeopathy)  ,  There  is  no  utility  in  a  larger  dose, 
but  therejs  harm  done;  the  larger  dose  on  the  one  side  does 
not  cause  the  dynamic  change  of  the  diseased  affection  with 
more  certainty  than  the  most  suitable  smaller  dose;  but  it 
causes  and  supplants,*on  the  other^side,  a  multiplied  medicinal 
disease,  which  is  always  an  evil,  although  it  passes  by  after 
a  certain  lapse  of  time. 

The  organism  becomes  strongly  affected,  and  becomes 
pervaded  by  the  force  of  a  medicinal  substance  which  is  ca- 
pacitated to  obliteredand  extinguish  the  totality  of  the  symp- 
toms of  the  disease,  through  its  endeavors  to  create  similar 
symptoms.  The  organism  becomes,  as  we  have  said,  liberated 
from   the  diseased  condition     at   the    very    time    that    it    is 

enantiopathic),  have  fallen  afterwards  into  deeper  sadness  when  she  was 
left  to  her  solitude,  and  then  would  have  cried  more  bitterly  than  before. 
What  we  here  see  in  the  psychological  condition,  we  find  also  in  the 
organic  life.  The  oneness  of  our  life  does  not  allow  itself  to  be  occupied 
and  possessed  of  two  general  similar  dynamic  afTections  at  the  same 
time;  because,  if  the  second  affection  prove  itself  to  be  the  stronger  one, 
the  first  will  become  obliterated,  just  as  soon  as  the  organism  becomes 
affected  by  the  second. 
Nov  3 


330  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

aifected    by  the    medicinal  power,  by  which    it  is   decidedly 
more  apt  to  be  impressed. 

The  medicinal  forces,  as  such,  even  in  larger  doses,  hold 
the  organism  only  for  a  few  days  under  their  influence;  and, 
therefore,  it  becomes  apparent  that  a  small  dose,  and  in  acute 
diseases  a  very  small  dose,  of  that  medicine  (such  as  it  has 
been  proven  constitutes  the  dose  for  a  homoeopathic  cure) 
can  eflect  the  organism  for  a  short  time  only  (and  in  acute 
diseases  the  smallest  dose  is  capable  of  affecting  the  organ- 
ism for  only  a  few  hours),  and  that  the  medicinal  affection 
which  now  occupies  the  place  of  the  disease  very  soon  and 
imperceptibly  passes  into  pure  health. 

It  appears  that  the  nature  of  the  human  organism  is  gov- 
erned solely  by  the  laws  we  have  here  presented  if  disease  is  to 
be  permanently  cured  by  medicines,  and  really  we/nay  say  that 
this  action  is  a  mathematical  certainty.  There  exists  no  case 
of  a  dymanic  disease  in  this  world  (with  the  exception  of 
the  death  agony,  and  we  may  so  class  it  here,  advanced  age 
and  the  destruction  of  indespensable  viscera  or  limbs)  which 
cannot  be  cured  quickly  and  permanently  by  a  medicine 
which  has  been  found  to  cause  in  its  positive  effects  symp- 
toms in  a  great  similarity  to  it. 

The  sick  person  can  by  no  other  possible  means  of  cure* 
be  more  easily,  more  quickly,  more  certainly,  in  a  more  re- 
liable and  permanent  manner,  liberated  from  disease,  and 
through  homoeopathic  medicines  in  small  doses. 

*Even  in  the  common  practice,  and  in  rare  cases,  the  strikingly  eflec- 
tiye  cures  are  the  results  of  a  hom(jeopathicall7  suitable  and  homoeopath- 
ically  acting  medicine  (accidentally  prescribed).  It  was  iuipossiole  for 
the  physician  to  choose  a  homoeopathic  remedy  for  the  cure  of  diseases 
as  the  positive  (the  positive  effects  observed  on  healthy  perHonn)  effectR 
of  medicines  were  never  thought  of,  and  therefore  they  remained  ignorant 
of  them;  and  even  those  medicines,  with  such  as  were  made  known  by 
my  writings,  were  not  considered  useful  for  curative  purposes.  Further- 
more, they  remained  ignorant  of  the  necessary  conditions  for  a  perma- 
nent cure,  and  of  the  effects  of  medicines  on  those  symptoms  of  disease 
which  were  sim  lar  to  them  (the  homoeopathic  law  of  cure). 


Jfiscellaneoits,  331 


The  Ten  Little  Bottles  of  Mil- wau-kee« 

Dear  Advance — As  the  mouth  piece,  the  bugle  horn  as 
it  were,  of  the  Crawfordsville  Academy  of  Homceo- 
PATHY,  I  find  that  the  time  has  come  for  me  to  sound 
the  clarion  blast  of  defiance  in  answer  to  the  jeering  challenge 
of  the  men  of  sense,  and  sense  only,  who  are  Sounding  the 
tom-tom  of  war  in  the  Indian  village  of  pedestrian  sugges- 
tions on  our  Wisconsin  frontier. 

When  I  first  saw  this  self-same]  challenge,  I  rubbed  my 
hands,  slapped  my  knees,  snapped  my  fingers,  and  went 
through  those  gyrations  which  indicate  the  very  essence  of 
delight.     You  know  how  I  love  a  fight. 

*'Here"  1  cried,  **will  be  a  glorious  war,  and  like  Xerxes, 
of  old,  I  shall  sit  upon  my  hoosier  hill  and  view  the  battle 
from  afar. 

How,  then,  did  my  disappointment  grow  into  chagrin,  and 
my  chargrin  into  veritable  wrath  when  1  heard,  here  and 
there,  over  the  broad  field,  some  faint-hearted  response  to 
the  challenge  followed  almost  immediately  by  re-considera- 
tion and  declination. 

I  have  listened  in  vain  for  bold  manly  defiance  from  some 
man  of  the  misty  "millionths."  I  am  myself  by  principle  and 
practice  a  "Low."  But  suddenly  I  remembered  that  I  was 
next  of  kin  to  the  highest  of  the  high.  Had  I  not  proven 
Lac  caninum  200th.  And  prepared  with  the  much  derided 
Swan's  water-meter,  too?  And  am  1  not  ready,  at  all  times 
to  swear  by  that  proving,  and  even  to  do  mental  and  phy- 
sical battle  lor  it,  if  need  there  be? 

"'S  death'  I  hissed  through  my  clenched  teeth.  "Have  at 
thee,  Milly-walkee-walkee,  and  Jove  defend  the  right. 

Thereupon  I  rushed  to  my  room  of  relics  and  seized  an 
ancient  claymore.  Then  I  buckled  on  my  war  belt  after 
"letting  it  out"  just  seventeen  inches.  So  much  have  I  in- 
creased since  the  days  of  the  American  conflict.  Thus  pano- 
plied I  raised  my  huge  claymore  above  my  head  and  brought 
it  down  flatwise  on  Betsy's  old  waFh-boiler.     Everybody  in 


332  Cincinnati  Medical  A  dvance, 

Crawfordsville  rushed  out  of  their  houses  to  see  where  the 
lightning  had  struck. 

Then  standing  on  tiptoe  to  increase  altitudinosity,  I  de- 
livered this  daring  defiance  to  the  walkee-walkee  men: 

"Now  by  the  maiden  step-mother  of  Moses  I  will  engage 
to  write  "Aconite"  on  the  right  one  of  the  ten  little  bottles 
of  Mil  wau-kee.  Provided  ye  of  that  aboriginal  hamlet  will 
respond  with  a  similar  test  of  the  "high's"  as  hereinafter  in- 
dicated. 

Sitting  authoritatively  as  the  Crawfordsville  Academy 
OF  HoMCEOPATHY.  I  propose  in  rebuttal  the  following  counter- 
test.  And  I  do  it  in  all  seriousness,  and  in  the  very  heart  of 
good  faith. 

The  Milwaukee  Academy  of  HomcEpathy  shall  select 
twenty  low  dilutionists,  ten  men  and  ten  women.  And  after 
putting  them  upon  their  oath  to  tell  the  whole  truth  and 
nothing  but  the  truth,  they  shall  ."dvise  the  Crawfordsville 
Academy  that  they  are  ready  for  business.  The  Crawfords- 
ville Academy  will  then  order  direct  from  Dr.  Samuel  Swan 
13  west  38th  street  New  York,  twenty  boxes  of  lozenges 
medicated  with  Lac  caninurn  200th  made  with  Swan's  water 
meter.  Each  box  will  be  given  by  the  learned  president  of 
of  the  Milwaukee  Academy,  directly  to  the  prover,  without 
an  extended  explanation  of  the  nature  of  the  drug.  On  the 
contrary  he  will  endeavor  to  lead  the  low  astray  by  telling 
him  that  it  is  hydrocyanic  acid.  If  nineteen  out  of  twenty 
don't  have  sore  throats,  and  if  at  least  eleven  out  of  the  twentv 
don't  die  of  diphtheria  I  shall  consider  the  test  not  worth  a 
"durn"  and  the  Crawfordsville  Academy  will  surrender  its 
charter  instanter  now  if  the  Milwaukee  Academy  shall  think 
that  the  Crawfordsville  Academy  are  only  joking,  all  they 
will  have  to  do  is  to  try  to  "blufF'  us.  We  mean  business. 
This  thing  of  "sassin"  the  "highs"  has  gone  on  long  enough, 
I'll  be  a  "high"  one  summer,  just  to  show  the  "lows"  who 
wintered  'em.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  indicate  to  the  Craw- 
fordsville Academy  that  you  have  twenty  "lows"  ready  to 
eat  one  hundred  of  Swan's  lozenges  of  lac  in  one  hundred 
consecutive  hours,  and  you  shall  get  the  aforesaid  material 
•'too  quick." 


Miscellaneous,  333 

The  modus  is  as  follows:  Take  one  lozenge  in  the  mouth 
allow  it  to  dissolve  in  the  buccal  juices  and  then  swallow. 
Repeat  every  hour  until  an  unusual  symptom  is  produced. 
Then  stop  and  note  results.  You  can  bet  your  substratatorial 
nickel  that  you'll  get 'em,  Crawfordsville  Academy  of  Homoe-, 
pathy. 

President  H.  W.  Taylor. 

Secretary  H.  W.  Taylor. 

All  the  other  fellows  H.  W.  Taylor. 


Eepudiation  a  Snare.    By  T.  F.  Pomeroy,  A,  M.,  M.  D. 

.  With  a  certain  class  of  homoeopathic  physicians  a  denial 
of  the  experiences  of  the  past,  and  an  attempted  destruction 
of  the  foundations  upon  which  our  system  of  therapeutics 
rests,  has  become  quite  popular,  while  the  repudiation  of  its 
fundamental  principles,  with  the  virtual  abandonment  of  its 
law  of  cure,  has  become  all  the  rage.  From  every  quarter  is 
this  work  of  vandalism  attempted.  From  the  college  ros- 
trum, from  medical  societies,  and  through  our  medical  jour- 
nals, as  well  as  from  individual  sources,  is  it  sought  to  over- 
throw the  accumulated  evidence  of  the  past  as  to  the  attain- 
ments of  HomoBopalhy  in  therapeutic  science.  From  these 
data  the  inference  is  legitimate  that  the  necessity  is  a  most 
imperative  one  to  require  so  great  a  sacrifice,  and  such  a  de- 
gree of  degradation.  The  necessity  must  be  an  urgent  one 
that  would  compel  the  abandonment  of  every  advanced 
position  gained,  in  this  long  continued  and  hand  to  hand 
contest  with  the  enemies  of  medical  progress,  and  this,  in  the 
face  of  victory,  and  the  rapidly  advancing  conquest  of  the 
enemies'  territory.  In  ordinary  warfare  it  is  customary  to 
turn  the  back  to  the  enemy  only  in  defeat,  and  to  haul  down 
the  colors  when  routed,  *'horse,  foot  and  dragoons."  What 
means  then  this  persistent  and  determined  purpose  of  sur- 


334  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

render  to  the  enemy,  this  unconditional  abandonment  of  our 
arjns  and  ammunition,  as  of  the  positions  that  we  have  so 
laboriously  grained,  and  so  successfully  held? 

It  means  just  this,  and  nothing  less,  that  our  self-appointed 
leaders,  and  the  army  of  inexperienced  and  ill-equipped 
recruits  that  follow  them,  are  not  made  of  the  same  stuff  as 
the  "old  ^uard,"  and  its  war  worn  veteran  commanders.  It 
means  that  there  are  "traitors  in  the  camp,"  and  cowards  on 
the  field;  that  there  are  Hull's  and  Arnold's  in  command. 
It  is  most  painfully  apparent  that  by  a  concerted  effort, 
Homoeopathy  is  sought  to  be  sold  out  to  Allopithy  and 
eclecticism;  that  its  fundamental  principles  are  to  be  aban- 
doned, its  law  of 'cure  repudiated,  its  examples  ignored  and 
denied,  its  method  of  practice  substituted  for  those  against 
which  it  has  so  long  and  so  valiantly  fought;  a  full,  an  abject, 
and  a  cowardly  surrender.  Let  not  the  true  friends  of 
HomoGopathy  be  deceived,  let  not  its  advocates  for  a  moment 
hesitate  to  recognise  the  situation,  nor  to  defiantly  take  up 
the  cowardly  challenge  that  its  false  friends,  and  would  be 
traitors,  have  proclaimed,  far  and  near.  A  well  directed  and 
effective  fire  has  discovered  their  true  positions,  the  method, 
and  the  weapons  of  their  warfare;  and  that  they  are  them- 
selves encamped  in  the  quagmires  of  science  with  "Jack 
o'lantern"  lights  only,  to  guide  their  steps,  and  conduct  their 
movements;  a  most  fitting  locality  and  most  appropriate 
surroundings  for  the  work  they  have  undci  taken. 

The  claim  that  these  wiseacres  have  set  up  is  this,  that 
ponderable,  tangible  and  visible  masses  of  matter,  stand  in  a 
closer  relation  to  the  vital  forces  than  do  those  other  most 
subtle  forces  in  nature  that  are  themselves  imponderable,  in- 
tangible and  invisible.  All  that  has  been  said  or  written  in 
advocacy  of  the  "Milwaukee  Test"  fiom  the  time  of  their  an- 
nouncement to  the  present  date  is  resolvable  into  this,  and 
nothing  new;  and  their  proposers  very  cunningly  decline  to 
make  these  tests  upon  their  own  dull  senses,  but  seek  those 
of  the  more  delicately  constituted  "high  dilutionists"  for  the 
experiment-  The  similimum  would  be  more  perfect, and  the 
test  more  complete  if  they  would  more  strictly  follow  the  re- 


Miscellaneous.  335 

quirements  of  the  proposition  that  I  have  above  formulated 
for  them.  The  3d  dilution  men  certainly  have  no  aptitude 
for  the  experiment,  the  practical  solution  of  the  question 
whether  a  blow  from  a  brick-bat  upon  the  bony  receptacle 
of  the  delicate  structure,  Ihat  is  the  supposed  medium  of  the 
mental  function  is  more  potent  to  bring  this  into  action,  than 
those  agencies  and  forces  that  stand  in  a  far  closer  relation  to 
it.  They  are  content  to  accept  and  abide  by  those  tests  that 
have  already  been  made,  and  a  thousand  times  confirmed,  in 
the  experience  and  under  the  observation  of  every  intelligent 
and  capable  homoeopathic  physician. 

Dynamization  or  no  dynamization,  potentization  or  no  po- 
tentization,  the  efficacy  of  highly  attenuated  drugs  is  a  verity, 
and  one  too,  that  even  these,  our  gross-minded  brethren  have 
to  admit,  and  they  do  admit  it,  although  with  the  same  breath 
they  ask  for  the  proof,  and  inaugurate  "tests"  that  bear  the 
stamp  of  failure  on  their  very  face.  Tests  that  have  for  their 
"key-note"  the  demand  that  the  efficacy  of  attenuated  drugs 
shall  be  determined  by  the  powers  of  the  microscope;  and 
the  assumption  (for  it  is  but  an  assumption)  that  inasmuch 
as  in  all  metallic  substances,  the  powers  of  that  instrument 
fail  at  about  the  fifth  decimal  attenuation,  therefore,  beyond 
that  point  there  is  no  medicinal  power,  because  there  is  no 
material  presence.  Their  verdict,  as  to  all  the  rest  of  our 
proved  drugs  is  as  yet  reserved;  meantime  we  hold  our 
breaths  in  awful  suspense,  while  we  await  the  further  devel- 
opment of  this  terrible  microscope,  made  terrible  by  the  un- 
skillful hands  that  thus  manipulate  it.  Well,  we  can  wait 
awhile  longer  under  the  suspended  inference  that  as  it  is  with 
the  metals  so  must  it  always  be  with  all  the  rest,  a  most  legi- 
timate corollary.  Meanwhile  let  us  look  about  us  a  little  and 
see  if,  indeed,  we  are  to  be  thus  circumvented  and  nonplussed 
by  the  discoveries  of  modern  science. 

While  the  microscope  may,  and  does  reveal  to  our  vision 
the  smallest  organized  beings  that  its  hiojhest  powers  can 
reach,  dia  oms,  and  animalculae,  and  of  the  latter  the  evidences 
of  their  vitality,  it  has  never  yet  revealed  the  subtle  forces  that 
govern  their  movements,   and  determine   their  existence  and 


336  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

development.  Nor  in  the  smallest  particles  of  unorganized 
matter  that  come  within  its  powers,  has  it  ever  yet  detected 
the  subtle  attracting  and  repelling  forces  that  ever  control 
their  relations  and  association.  Yet  no  one  wrill  presume  to 
doubt  the  fact  that  these  forces  do  exist,  and  are  unceasingly, 
resistlessly  exercising  their  powers,  and  asserting  their 
control  over  matter. 

Shall  we  conclude  that  because  we  ran  not  see,  the  minute 
particles  or  the  atoms  perhaps,  that  contribute  to  the  growth 
and  development  of  these  minutest  of  microscopic  objects, 
that  therefore  they  themselves  are  the  ultimate  of  the  sub- 
divisions of  organised  and  unorganised  matter?  Or  because 
we  may  not  discover  and  inspect  the  subtilist  of  the  forces  of 
nature  upon  which  their  existence  depend,  that  therefore 
there  are  no  such  forces?  Must  our  knowledge  be  necessar- 
ily limited  by  what  can  be  revealed  to  the  sense  of  vision 
alone,  with  the  aid  that  art  can  supply,  or  even  by  the  capabili- 
ties of  all  the  ^^^\e  senses"  combined?  Yet  this  is  what  is  de- 
manded in  relation  to  the  proofs  of  pathogenetic  action  and  of 
therapeutic  power  in  attenuated  drugs,  and  the  microscope 
has  already  with  some  become  the  final  test,  and  the 
grand  arbiter  as  to  the  divisibility  of  matter.  The  micro- 
scope, which  in  the  opinion  of  experts  in  its  use,  may  be 
made  the  "most  delusive  of  all  instruments,"  to  become  the 
ultimate  appeal  as  to  the  relations  existing  between  thera- 
peutic agents  and  vital  forces.  Pray  why  not  those  forces 
themselves,  whose  sensibilities  are  far  more  delicate  and  sus- 
ceptible from  the  fact  of  their  vitality,  than  any  instrument 
that  the  art  of  man  can  produce?  Who  can  tell  us  why  not; 
can  these  self-constituted  scientists?  Scientists  indeed!  I 
should  rather  say,  these  vandals,  who  are  engaged  in  the 
work  of  pulling  down  what  others  have  established,  both  in 
science  and  art.  Let  us  hear  no  more  of  science  from  such 
sources,  let  not  these  men  **prate"  their  gibberish  in  the 
temples  of  science,  or  in  the  academies  of  art,  nor  longer  dis- 
port their  ignorance  through  the  literature  of  our  school  of 
medicine,  already  have  their  positions  been  reported,  and 
their  claims  to  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  microscope  and  its 
uses  overthrown. 


Miscellaneous.  337 

Having  at  the  outset  in  this  paper  referred  to  the  urgency 
of  the  causes  that  must  have  inspired,  and  that  operate  to  the 
maintenance  of  this  most  extraordinary  repudiation  of  the 
homceopathic  faith  on  ti.e  part  of  those  who  advocate  it,  I, 
in  conclusion,  briefly  allude  to  a  few  of  them.  First  and 
foremost,  is  a  complete  ignorance  or  at  least  a  deficient  ac- 
quaintance with  the  principles  that  underlie  our  system  of 
therapeutics.  This  is  apparent  in  the  papers  that  have  been 
published  advocating  the  measures  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  the  legitimate  effect  of  imperfect,  if  not  vicious 
teaching  in  some  of  our  medical  colleges,  as  well  as  through 
the  greatly  deficient  elementary  education  of  for  too  large 
a  portion  of  those  who  are  matriculated  in  them. 

Second,  is  a  senseless  desire  on  the  part  of  the  many  who 
are  professedly  of  the  homoeopathic  faith,  for  recognition  and 
acceptance  by  the  members  of  the  domiiiant  school  of  medi- 
cine, Thi§  desire  leads  to  the  ready  adoption  of  their  stereo- 
typed views  and  methods  of  cure,  a  concession  through 
which  all  such  as  make  them,  hope  to  ingratiate  themselves 
with  that  school;  an  attitude  that  is  as  degrading  to  them- 
selves and  to  homcDopathy,  as  it  is  despicable  and  odious 
in  the  eyes  of  those  whom  they  thus  seek  to  conciliate. 
Eminent  examples  in  illustration  of  this  statement  might  be 
readily  cited,  but  that  might  be  both  invidious  and  painful. 

And  lastly,  on  this  occasion  or  another  of  the  causes  re- 
ferred  to,  I  will  mention  a  growing  sense  of  shame,  at  being 
classed  even  by  name  with  those  who  advocate  and  practice 
the  use  of  attenuated  drugs,  especially  v/hen  carried  to  the 
higher  degrees  of  attenuation,  and  the  single  remedy  as  a 
test  of  orthodoxy  to  the  Hahnemannian  faith.  We,  who 
thus  believe,  need  not  wonder  at  this;  for,  how  can  those 
who  are  so  utterly  ignorant  of  the  principles  of  the  homcBO- 
pathic  system  of  therapeutics  do  otherwise  than  fail  to  recog- 
nize the  legitimate  and  logical  sequences  of  their  application. 

A  knowledge  of  the  simple  rules  of  arithmetic  does  not 
qualify  for  the  solution  of  the  grave  problems  of  mathematical 
science  as  applied  to  astronomy,  any  more  than  do  the 
aquirements  of  a  daub  admit  of  the  productions  of  a  mother 


338  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

in  the  act  of  fainting.  So  is  it  with  all  the  sciences  and  arts; 
a  knowledge  of  their  principles  and  of  the  methods  of  their 
application  must  first.be  acquired  before  the  works  of  a  mas- 
ter's hand  can  be  produced,  or  even  understood  and  appreci- 
ated. 

We  have  only  to  wait,  and  to  trust  to  the  future;  as  surely 
as  in  the  past  there  will  be  those,  and  a  sufficiency  of  those, 
who  will  fLiithfully  illustrate  the  truths  of  medical  science  as 
taught  by  the  master,  and  among  them  we  shall  doubtless 
find  many  who  are  now  classed  with  those  who  both  ridicule 
and  aflfect  to  despise  those  who  thus  do. 


Allen's  Encyclopedia.     By  H.  C.  Allen,  M.  D.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Volume  X.  is  received;  the  greatest  book,  in  more  than  one 
sense,  on  materia  medica  yet  published  in  our  scliool.  The 
amount  of  hard  work  and  careful,  painstaking,  diligent  re- 
search which  the  author  has  expended  is  almost  incredible. 
And  yet  there  are  some  members  of  our  profession  who  are 
not  satisfied  with  it.  "/^  is  too  large  and  contains  too  many 
symptoms;  impossible  for  a  man  to  retain  them  all  in  his  mem- 
ory. This  is  the  objection  made  to  it  by  one  of  our  college 
professors,  whose  advice  had  been  sought  as  to  what  materia 
medica  to  purchase.  This  objection,  coming  from  a  homcEO- 
palhic  physician,  and  a  teacher  of  Homoeopathy  at  that,  is,  to 
say  the  least,  a  novel  one.  I  have  Worcester's  Dictionary, 
Anthon's,  Thomas'  and  Dunglison's  Lexicons;  Appleton's 
and  Brandt's  Encyclopedias,  and  I  wish  I  had  others,  but  it 
never  occurred  to  me  that  they  were  to  be  committed  to 
memory.  I  have  always  used  them  as  books  of  daily  refer- 
ence. The  professor  has  two  volumes  of  the  encyclopedia, 
but  there  were  so  many  symptoms  they  were  useless  to  him 
and  he  did  not  want  anv  more.  I  wondered  when  I  saw  this 
objection  made,  if  such  members  of  the  "Old  Guard  "  as  Her- 


MiscellaneoiL8.  339 

ing,  Blair,  Hempel,  Lippe,  Guernsey,  Bayard,  Dunham,  Jos- 
lin,  Wells,  Pomeroy,  Temple,  Williamson  and  a  host  of  oth- 
ers; these  men  of  iron  will  and  indomitable  adherence,  both 
in  principle  and  practice,  to  the  law  of  similars  as  enunciated 
by  Hahnemann — ever  found  too  many  symptoms  in  the 
materia  medica  when  a  severe  case  of  "life  or  death"  was 
suspended  in  the  balance.  Oh  I  how  they  longed  for  better 
provings  and  more  of  them.  It  is  not  many  years  ago  since 
that  veteran  "father,"  A.  O.  Blair,  then  leaching  materia 
medica  in  Cleveland  College,  said  to  the  writer,  '•!  wish  we 
had  a  good  proving  of  Gels.,  Bapt,,  Cim.,  Aesc,  Eup.,  Ilyd,^ 
Verat,  vir.,  as  they  are  evidently  giants.  Equal,  if  not 
superior,  to  many  we  now  possess."  And  now  that  we 
have  not  only  reliable  provings,  but  clinical  verification  of 
these  and  many  others;  filling  up  the  hitherto  wide  gaps  in 
our  materia  medica  pura,  as  left  us  by  Hahnemann,  with 
many  indigenous  remedies,  we  are  met  by  the  objection,  of 
"too  many  symptoms."  No!  the  true  homoeopath. can  never 
have  too  many  genuine  symptoms  in  the  materia  medica. 
'*To  the  Greek's  foolishness"  it  may  be,  and  to  the  pseudo 
homopopath  a  stumbling-block,  but  it  will  ever  remain  a  lamp 
and  guide  to  him  who  seeks  to  individualize  each  case;  and 
the  nearer  he  practices  Hahnemann's  Homoeopathy,  the  more 
will  he  value  the  Encyclopedia;  the  more  he  generalizes, 
alternates,  mixes,  and  the  nearer  he  follows  the  crude  theories 
and  cruder  practices  of  the  other  school,  the  less  use  will  he 
have  for  any  materia  medica  at  all. 

When  I  see  Ziemssen's  Encyclopedia  in  the  libraries  of  so 
many  of  our  homoeopathic  physicians,  and  they  have  not 
money  to  take  Allen's  Encyclopedia  in  the  same  way,  viz., 
by  volumes,  I  conclude  that  it  is  not  because  they  can  not 
find  the  money,  but  because  Miey  are  not  so  frank  as  the 
Professor  above  referred  to.  In  the  estimation  of  some 
of  our  M.  D.'s  it  would  appear  to  be  of  much  more  con- 
sequence to  spin  long  and  beautiful  theories  as  to  etiology, 
pathology,  diagnosis,  prognosis,  etc.,  etc.,  than  to  cure  their 
patients.  I  do  not  object  to  the  possession  of  Ziemssen  or  to 
a  most  thorough  knowledge  of  etiology,  pathology,  diagnosis, 
anatomy — both  descriptive,  histological,  pathological,  surgi- 


342  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Homoeopathic  Ophthalmological  and  Ototogi- 
cal  Society.  Third  Annual  Meeting,  Lake  George,  June  24  and  2o, 
1879.     112  pages. 

It  would  not  be  whollj  modest  for  us  to  speak  in  fitting  terms  of  this 
work.  It  is  Homething  to  be  proud  of  any  how.  We  hope  every  phy- 
sician who  pretends  to  have  a  library  up  with  the  times,  will  secure  a 
jopy.  Tlie  secretary,  F.  Park  Lewis,  M.  D.,  Bufililo,  will  furnish  them 
on  application,  at  $1.00  a  copy.  We  have  no  npace  at  this  time  to  speak 
of  their  contents,  but  commend  them  to  all  our  readers. 


Siebers  Art  of  Singing.    Translated  by  Dr.  F.  Seeger.  Wm.  A.  Pond  &  Co., 
New  York. 

W^e  have  examined  this  treatise  with  unusual  pleasure.  Dr.  Seeger? 
the  translator,  is  a  specialist  in  his  study  and  practice  of  the  throat  and 
lungs,  and  deals  not  merely  with  pathological  conditions,  but  studies 
closely  the  functions  of  all  those  parts  concerned  in  the  production  of  the 
voice.  To  make  singing  easy,  natural  and  pleasant,  does  not  always  re. 
quire  genius,  but  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  art  as  related  to  physiology. 
All  this  is  made  plain  in  the  work  before  us,  and  we  advise  all  who  wish 
to  perfect  themselves,  in  this  most  delightful  accomplishment  to  study 
this  book  with  care. 


Guiding  Symptoms*   Vol.  I.    By  C.  Ilering,  M.  D.    American  Homoeo- 
pathic Publishing  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

If  the  materia  medica  of  the  homceopathlc  school  never  amounts  to 
anything,  it  will  not  be  the  fault  of  its  friends.  What  a  pity  it  had  not 
more  .sincere  friends  among  those  who  profess  to  follow  it.  Follow  it  in- 
deed !  8o  they  do  with  Hticks  and  stones,  and  they  would  if  they  could, 
beat  the  very  life  out  of  it.  This  however,  they  can  never  do.  The 
homoL'oputhic  materia  medica  is  a  thing  sui  geneins.  No  body  wants  it, 
or  can  niuke  any  use  of  it,  but  the  true  and  intelligent  disciple  of  Samuel 
Ilahneniann.  But  those  who  do  want  it  and  who  love  it,  and  what  in 
more,  believe  in  it,  are  nobly  pushing  it  on  to  perfection.  We  have  in 
this  first  volume  of  Guiding  Symptoms,  a  work  begun,  that  when  finished  will 
simply  be  peerless.  There  will  be  perhaps  ten  or  more  volumes  in  beauti- 


Editors  Table.  ^43 

ful  tvpe  and  heavy  calendered  paper.  Altogether  it  will  he  such  a  con- 
dens^ation  of  the  materia  medica  as  the  practitioner  will  surely  want,  and 
the  veteran  Hering  only  can  make.    Price  five  dollars  per  volume. 


€&ilo5'$  ^M$. 


PuLTK  Medical  College. — We  are  sorry  to  mention  the  fact  that,  a 
large  number  of  parties  have  reported  to  us  that  they  have  been  repeat- 
edly assured  that  Pu lie  Medical  College  was  so  financial ly  embarrat^ed 
and  otherwise  so  disorganized,  that  it  could  not  possibly  last  long.  The 
persons  who  are  industriously  circulating  this  lie  are  well  known,  and 
they  can  be  tracked  by  their  foot  prints  all  over  the  country.  Perhaps 
they  think  the  story  is  true.  In  any  event  they  are  guilty  ot  gross  pro- 
fessional discourtesy,  and  deserve  to  be  branded  with  unmistakable  char- 
acters in  their  ioreheads — if  they  have  any.  Pulte  Medical  College  doe? 
not  owe  a  dollar,  not  even  current  indebtedness  oi  ex|)ensc»  for  the  present 
term.  The  present  policy  of  the  college  meets  with  the  hearty  a[»proba- 
tion  of  all  its  faculty.  It  has  a  larger  class  than  it  ever  had  before.  The 
lie  that  declares  its  downfall  is  nailed  to  the  counter. 

Married. — Dr,  E.  E.  Loy,  and  Miss  Nellie  Champlin,  in  St.  JohnV 
Episcopal  Church,  Cincinnati,  October,  2nd.  We  wis>h  them  a  life  of 
happiness,  but  not  one  without  a'loy.  ^ 

Died. — August  27,  Eddie,  only  child  of  Dr.  O.  8.  Kumiels,  of 
Indianapolis. 

Concerning  Colleges. — A  valued  friend  writes:  "As  long  as  our 
colleges  are  conducted  as  they  are,  the  number  of  pseudo  homa>opath?> 
must  continue  to  increase.  Why,  in  a  homceopaihic  college  in  this  state, 
the  students  of  the  past  three  years  have  not  heard  a  woixl  on  in^titutes 
and  notion  ly  no  reference  with  few  exceptions  to  the  Oryanony  but  were 
told  in  a  recent  public  lecture,  at  which  many  old  school  students  were 
present,  that  the  thirtieth  dilution  was  all  moonshine.  There  ui*e  dozens 
of  so  called  homueopaths  in  this  ^tate  who  have  no  work  on  materia  ukhI- 
ica,  do  not  take  a  homeopathic  journal,  nor  iieloiig  to  a  medical  society." 
And  he  goes  on  to  say  a  great  many  harder  things  which  are  so 
true,  and  the  parties  so  easy  to  recognize  without  being  named,  that  it 
amounts  to  direct  personal  charges,  and  we  forbear  to  print  it.  Certain  it 
is  however,  our  colleges  and  their  mode  of  teaching,  especially  the  matter 
taught,  needs  a  thorough  overhauling. 

Bureau  of  OBvStetrics. — American  Institute  Homoeopathy. — Geo.  K. 
Peck,  M.  D.,  of  Providence,  K.  I.,  member  of  the  bureau  wants  to  know: 
How  many  partial  or  complete  cases  of  placenta  previa  you    have  seen  ? 


344  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

In  how  man  J  of  them  mothers  or  children  have  died?  What  means  yoa 
employed?  etc.,  etc.,  and  especially  irhat  relation  conception  in  such  cases 
had  to  menstrnation  ?    Write  him  and  tell  him  all  about  it. 

Mabbeed. — Dr.  Geo.  N.  Seidlitz,  of  Keokuk,  Iowa,  and  Mifs  Lizzie 
D.  Rubicam,  October  7th,  1879. 

Prof.  J.  Edwards  Smith,  of  Cleveland,  has  removed  to  Centennial 
Block,  No.  323  Euclid  Avenue. 

Married. — Dr.  Flenry  W.  Hawley,  of  Scottsville,  X.  Y.,  and  Mi^Mar 
Martin,  of  Cincinnati,  September  18.  To  this  we  can  certify,  for  we  were 
there.    The  happy  pair  haa  our  best  wishes. 

Married. — Dr.  A.  E.  Gesler,  and  Miss  Vesta  C.  A.  Harris,  of  Saranac, 
Mich.,  September  10.    We  congratulate  the  doctor  and  his  fair  bride. 

Dr.  Samuel  Lilienthal,  and  Dr.  Wm.  Tod  ilEiiMrTU,of  New  York, 
on  July  7th,  were  elected  honorary  members  of  the  Societe  Medicale 
Ilom.  de  France. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Tayix)R,  of  Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  discourses  before  the 
Wabash  Valley  Medical  Association  November  6th. 

Free  Dispensary  for  women  and  children,  806  Linn  St.,  Cincinnati, 
first  quarterly  report.  Number  of  patients,  301 ;  number  of  prescrip- 
tions, l,00o.  Attending  physicians,  Ellen  M.  Kirk,  M.  D.,  Martha  May 
Howells,  M.  D.,  September  11,  1879. 

Dr.  Thomas  Wildes  is  now  located  at  35  West  31st  street,  New  York. 

Dr.  D.  a.  IIiller,  of  San   Francisco,  has  left  for  a  visit  to  Europe 
and  during  his  abse:ce  Dr.  F.  F.  deDerky,  17  Dupont  street,  San  Fran- 
cisco, will  tend  his  practice. 


Wants,  Locations,  Practices  for  Sale,  Etc, 


Untler  this  head  we  will  be  ^].id  to  insert,  eratis,  notices,  change  oi  location, 
practices  ft>r  s.ilc,  cxcliangcs  urtVn.ct  or  uny  miscelTantous  want  pertaining  to  the  pro- 
fession, not  of  a  purely  adveriisini?  or  personal  nature.  \Vc  will  be  specially  obliged 
to  physicims  giving  the  names  of  good  locations. 


A  good  location  in  a  city  of  four  thousand  inhabitants,  with  three  rail- 
roads, good  schools,  churchti*  and  country;  I  have  best  families  and  prac- 
tice ;  will  introduce  successor  and  leave  field  for  twenty-five  per  cent  of 
his  firfct  years'  practice.  HI  health  and  desire  for  steadier  climate  reason 
for  leaving.  J.  M.  Triplett,  Pana,  111. 


T.  P.  WILSON,  K.  D.  OinntAL  BnTtOB. 

VoLUKB  VII.        CiNCiMH&Ti,  O.,  Dbceubkb,  1879.         Ndxxeb  6. 

All  cDmrnunliaCIon*  for  publicUion  ilunlil  In  ■ddroKd  to  Dr.  T.  P.  Wilbok,  edi- 
tor* UO  BTomdwftj.  All  *al>*crlpliaai  uid  biulnfls  commDlcMfona  thoald  he  uddraoied 
to  HaoiCAL  Advahci  Co.,M  W.  Mh  SL,  Cindanatl,  O.  Snbacrlptiaa  OMv^J*"- 

Fahilibs  that  are  well  regulated  geaerallf  keep  their  private  afiUra 
to  themselves.  Bat  even  excellent  families  have  sometiines  foolish 
inmates  who  take  priije  in  proclaiming  their  privacies  on  the  bouae 
t4)pe  of  the  neighborhood.  The  paUr/amXat  who  spanka  his  children 
on  the  front  steps,  and  the  "big  brother"  who  entertaiOB  the  public 
withhisbossingsof  the  younger  children,  are  well  imitated  by  certain 
members  of  the  homceopathic  profeesion,  who  are  always  moathappy 
when  they  are  washing  theirdirty  linen  in  the  joomals.  The  editor 
takes  the  lead  and  the  correspondents  follow,  and  they  make  the  air 
hot,  and  the  water  mnddy,  and  every  thing  unpleasant,  hut  they  do 
not  advance  the  truth.  Moreover  they  make  themselves  and  all  with 
whom  they  are  connected  utterly  ridiculous.  Ordinary  intelligence 
and  mature  judgment  should  prevent  this  unseemly  exposure  of 
what  does  not  belong  to  the  public,  and  should  not  be  given  to  it 
Our  enemies  are  vigilantly  watching  as.  Thay  never  lo  a  good  op  . 
portunity  to  show  up  everything  that  is  discreditable  to  us,  and  these 
weak  ones  are  ever  more  giving  them  material  to  work  on.  No  one 
woald  like  to  belong  to  a  family,  in  which  the  slightest  pecadillos 
were  reported  to  the  town,  and  heaven  apare  us  from  such  a  bouae- 
hold,  when  the  gravest  faults  were  bruited  on  the  atreet  This  ia  all 
Dec- 1  345 


346  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

wrong  in  or  out  of  the  profession.  There  is  a  better  way  to  correct 
faults  and  save  one's  reputation.  When  mde  npbraidings  and  coarse 
personalities  take  the  place  of  ailment,  every  man  of  decency  will 
seek  to  hide  himseli  Bat  what  we  mean  just  now  to  protest  against 
is  the  impolitic  coarse  of  those  who,  thoogh  they  profess  to  be  the 
friends  of  Homoeopathy,  never  fail  to  make  it  look  little  and  mean  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world.  It  is  their  special  pleasure  to  magnify  the  faults  of 
their  friends  and  associates.  This  we  are  sure  is  the  fault  of  the  head 
and  not  of  the  heart  These  parties  mean  well,  but  they  lack  in  dis- 
cretion; and  it  is  to  be  hoi>ed  they  will  hereafter  exercise  more  sense 
and  less  misdirected  zeal. 

A  MxMBXB  of  the  Eclectic  persuasion  recently  imformed  his  be- 
nighted brethren  that  the  reason  they  have  ''continued  failures"  with 
varicose  ulcers  is  because  "they  do  not  have  confidence  enough  in 
Hill  and  Howe/'  and  hence  do  not "  give  their  treatment  a  fair  show- 
ing." Now  that  is  a  reason  as  is  a  reason.  Hill  is  dead  we  know,  and 
would  turn  with  disgust  in  his  coffin,  if  he  could  hear,  that  methods 
which  he  discarded  long  before  he  died  were  in  vogue  stiU  in  the 
rural  districts.  Howe  is  one  of  the  editors  of  the  journal  in  which 
this  statement  appeared,  and  no  doubt  quietly  laughs  up  his  sleeve 
when  he  thinks  how  successful  his  method  is  in  his  own  hands. 

Dr.  Pops.— This  gentleman,  it  will  be  remembered,  visited  America 
recently.  On  returning  home  he  informs  his  brethren  of  this  bril- 
liant fact,  to  wit:  ''Medical  literature  in  the  United  States  is  con- 
ducted on  a  very  extensive  scale,  just  as  everything  else  is  there. 
Two  or  three  if  the  American  homaopathie  joumaU  are  oj  reaUy  consider- 
able meriif  and  are  likely  to  be  of  higher  value  yet**  Two  of  the  three 
possibles  he  mentions,  but  the  third  one  he  does  not  deign  to  name. 
Of  course  we  know  which  journal  the  unnamed  one  is,  and  so  does 
every  other  editor  whose  journal  is  in  the  unmentioned  list  But 
what  unhappy  devils  must  those  fellows  be  who  are  editing  homoeo- 
pathic journals  destitute  of  ''considerable  merit"  We  commiserate 
them.  And  then  Pops  is  a  brother  editor  too.  He  knows  a  hawk 
from  a  hand  saw  when  he  sees  it  So  do  we.  The  homoeopathic 
press  of  this  county  extended  to  the  distinguished  gentleman  the 
most  generous  courtesies.  Their  pages  contain  the  fullest  account  of 
his  triumphal  march  through  America.  To  them  is  he  indebted  for 
having  his  words  and  acts  imperishably  recorded.  Bemember,  too, 
there  are  ten  of  these  journals.  They  are  capable  of  making  or 
marring  a  man's  reputation.  With  Dr.  Pops  they  dealt  generously, 
and  he  in  turn  has  shown  his  power  of  appreciation  by  damning 
two  of  them  with  faint  praise,  and  relegating  the  balance  to  a  state 
of  utter  forgetfulness.    Long  live  the  Pope. 


^I^org  mi  §9uiit$. 


Nocturnal  Enureds.      By  A.  McNeil,  M.  D.,  New  Albany. 

In  this  disease,  for  disease  it  is,  let  me  enter  a  plea  for 
kindness  to  the  afflicted.  Medicine,  not  punishment  is  re- 
quired, and  we  must  impress  this  on  the  minds  of  parents. 
The  hygienic  directions  usually  given  are  wrong.  The  child 
should  be  instructed  to  retain  the  urine  during  the  day  as 
long  as  it  does  not  inconvenience  him.  In  this  way  the 
morbid  hyper-irritability  of  the  bladder  to  the  presence  of 
urine  will  be  materially  lessened. 

Do  not  look  for  specifics.  God  did  not  make  the  world 
for  lazy  people.  He  told  the  Israelites  to  go  ih  and  possess 
the  land,  but  they  had  to  fight  for  it  first,  and  cultivate  it 
afterward.  When  He  loads  people's  tables  with  buttered 
toast  instead  of  requiring  all  the  weary  round  of  plowing, 
sowing,  reaping,  threshing,  grinding  and  baking,  then  I 
doubt  not  He  will  give  us  a  specific  for  bed  wetting,  and 
spare  the  lazy  the  iabor  of  searching  out  remedies  for  chills, 
and  give  them  sugar  pills  that  never  fail.  Till  He  prepares 
this  fool's  paradise,  we  will  have  to  study  and  individualize, 
and  even  fail  occasionally. 

To  illustrate  the  necessity  of  this  carefulness,  I  was,  in  my 
youthful  days,  treating  a  lady  for  ulcerated  breasts,  clearly 
scrofulous.  She  called  my  attention  to  her  first  born,  saying 
that  he  was  an  inveterate  bed  wetter,  and  that  nothing  had 
ever  helped  him.  I  took  the  case.  All  that  she  could  tell 
me  was,  that  he  wet  the  bed  at  least  once  every  night,  the 
rest  I  had  to  search  out  for  myself.  He  was  about  two  years 
old,  very  large  of  his  age,  very  fat,  precocious,  head  large, 
fontanelles  not  yet  closed;  sweat  at  night  on  the  head;  teeth 
already  black  and  decayed;  he  had  had  eruptions  like  nettle- 
rasb;  had  been  very  slow  in  dentition,  which  was  accompa- 


348  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

nied  by  obstinate  diarrhcea.  Gave  Oal.  carb.  200.  On  my 
next  visit  in  two  or  three  days  no  better.  Now,  my  low  di- 
lution brother,  I  hear  you  say,  "I  knew  it  that  moonshine 
couldn't  cure  him."  Well,  I  took  a  good  look  at  him,  and  I 
observed  what  in  my  ignorance  I  had  before  overlooked;  he 
was  dark,  hair  and  eyes  dark-brown,  skin  dark.  CaL  carb. 
would  not  cure  a  dark  child.  Gave  Silicia  same  potency. 
He  never  wet  the  bed  again. 

I  have  since  then  confirmed  the  fact  that  in  children  with 
open  frontanelles,  sweat  on  the  head  during  sleep,  difHcult 
dentition,  enlarged  gland,  etc.,  the  same  symptoms,  in  short, 
which  you  see  as  indications  of  Cal.  carb.  that  in  the  dark 
only  Silicia  can  cure. 

Bed  wetting  is  a  manifestation  of  a  diseased  organism,  and 
you  must  treat  the  child,  not  his  urinary  organs;  the  totality 
of  the  symptoms  as  required  by  Hahnemann,  and  when  you 
have  cured  his  enuresis  in  this  way,  you  have  cured  him  of 
all  his  other  complaints.  The  treatment  as  given  by  Guern- 
sey is  better  than  any  I  can  give. 


■♦  »■ 


Beport  of  a  Meeting  of  the  Austrian  Homoeopathic  Phys- 
icians held  at  Vienna,  December  6th,  1878.  Trans, 
lated  for  the  benefit  of  the  Milwaukee  Academy. 
By  S.  L. 

Dr.  Porges  reports  that  he  cured  a  cystovarium  with  Bry- 
onia  I.  All  former  treatment  was  fruitless,  thus,  e.  ^.,  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  abdomen  arose  after  massage  from  eighty- 
six  to  ninety-two  cm.,  though  by  puncture  thirteen  litres 
fluid  were  discharged;  the  fluid  soon  accumulated  again.  Apis 
steadily  given  for  two  months  failed  to  give  relief,  only  a 
little  perspiration  was  produced.      Patient  was  emaciated  to 


Theory  and  Practice.  349 

a  skeleton  and  passed  only  small  quantities  of  urine.  Bry- 
onia caused  copious  urination;  the  dimensions  of  the  abdo- 
men decreased,  whereby  her  golden  ear  rings  turned  black. 
She  took  Bryonia  i  for  four  weeks,  four  times  daily,  four 
drops;  now  she  takes  Stdph,  30  and  recuperates  wonderfully. 

Alb  asks  whether  medicinal  symptoms  did  not  arise  from 
such  strong  doses,  as  he  often  observed  it,  when  giving  the 
fifteenth  potency  instead  of  the  thirtieth.  Dr.  Porges  re- 
plied that  a  dry  cough,  without  expectoration  set  in,  which 
he  removed  with  Aconite. 

Dr.  Frochlich  saw  a  diminution  of  a  large  cystovarium 
under  the  use  of  Belladonna,  He  cures  with  Bryonia  many 
chronic  gastric  catarrhs,  with  pressure  and  pain  in  scrobiculus 
cordis,  anorexia,  etc.,  and  recommends  in  such  cases  high 
potencies,  even  two  hundredth,  at  first  twice  a  day  for  a  long 
time,  after  a  while  more  rarely.  In  relation  to  the  high  dilu- 
tions. Dr.  Wurstl,  sr.,  remarks  that  for  the  past  twenty-five 
years  he  pours  Alcohol  on  his  Lycopodium  so  that  he  could 
not  tell  any  more  what  potency  he  uses,  and  Dr.  Mareageller 
has  done  the  same  for  years  with  his  Sulphur  x. 

What  says  probability  or  probabilities  about  such  a  pro- 
cedure? How  does  it  work?  Or  are  such  European  physi- 
cians of  world-wide  reputation  unable  to  make  a  diagnosis 
pathologically  and  hypermacodynamicaUy  (not  pharmaco- 
physically),  or  are  their  cures  all  moonshine  and  mental  ho- 
cus pocus? 


♦  #■ 


That  Case  of  Qlanooma.    Prof.  Angell  Explains. 

In  the  case  of  glaucoma  cured  by  Arg.  mY.,  a  word  from 
me  would  seem  desirable.  I  remember  the  case  tolerably 
well.     It  was  brought  me  by  Prof.  Talbot  several  years  ago. 


350  Oincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

A  lady  of  thirty-five  years  or  ro  .was  presented,  suffering 
from  a  trouble  with  the  left  eye.  It  seemed  to  be  a  kerato- 
iritis,  of  some  time  standing.  There  was  interstitial  infiltra- 
tion of  the  cornea  nearly  covering  the  pupil — the  latter  ad- 
hered to  the  posterior  surface  of  the  cornea,  and  there  was 
evidence  of  the  iris  having  become  pretty  far  involved  in 
the  inflammatory  process  also.  On  further  examination  I 
found  slight  increase  of  tension  in  the  eye.  An  ophthalmos- 
copic examination  of  the  fundus  was  impossible,  of  course, 
I  feared  the  beginning  of  secondary  glaucoma.  The  opera- 
tion advised  by  me  was  for  glaucoma,  viz:  iridectomy,  in  the 
hope  not  only  of  removing  the  tension,  but  of  placing  a 
pupil  behind  a  still  transparent  part  of  the  cornea,  and  so 
still  aiding  vision,  and  in  the  still  further  hope,  that,  as  is  not 
at  all  uncommon  in  such  cases,  the  operation  might  help  to 
further  clear  up  the  opaque  cornea.  There  was  no  way 
whatever  of  making  the  eye  into  a  normal  one,  but  I  hoped 
to  make  it  more  or  less  a  serviceable  one. 

Neither  was  there  any  question  whatever  as  to  the  other 
eye.  It  was  not  diseased,  but  simply  showed  a  slightly  irri- 
tated conjunctiva.  There  was  no  question  of  removal  of  the 
left  eye  for  the  reason  that  there  were  no  signs  of  sympa- 
thetic irido-cyclitis  in  the  right.  Glaucomatous  inflammation 
of  one  eye  does  not,  as  a  rule,  threaten  sympathetic  disease 
of  the  other,  hence,  in  such  cases,  removal  of  the  diseased 
eye  is  not  advised. 

My  attention,  as  I  remember,  was  wholly  given  to  the  left 
eye,  the  right  being  simply  in  an  irritable  state  from  sympa- 
thy with  the  other. 

Dr.  Brigham,  no  doubt,  states  the  matter  of  diagnosis  and 
the  treatment  proposed  by  me  exactly  as  told  him;  but  as  I 
never  saw  him  at  all,  my  advice,  and  that  of  Drs.  Williams 
and  Talbot,  might  easily  have  got  a  little  mixed,  taken  at 
second  or  third  hand. 

One  word  in  regard  to  tension.  Dr.  Brigham  does  not  use 
this  word  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  used  by  oculists.  We 
use  it  to  describe  an  objective,  and  never  a  subjective  symp- 


Theory  and  Practice.  351 

torn.      There  may  be  the  subjective  feeling  of  tension  when 
no  increase  of  tension  is  present. 

In  conclusion  I  will  say  that  I  had  no  suspicion  of  any 
glaucomatous  inflammation  of  the  right  eye  at  the  time,  but 
as  I  saw  the  patient  only  on  that  one  occasion,  I  can  form 
no  opinion  as  to  the  subsequent  disease  in  that  eye. — H.  C. 
Angbll,  Boston,  Mass. 


♦^ 


Fbyohological  Treatment  of  SlBeaseS.  Read  before  the  Indi- 
ana Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  at  Indianapolis,  Ind., 
May  1st,  1879.  By  Geo.  M.  Ockford,  M,  D.,  Burling- 
ton, Vt. 

There  have  always  been  numerous  methods  of  curing  dis- 
ease. Each  particular  school  has  proclaimed  many  remark- 
able cures,  and  without  doubt  in  many  instances  these  cures 
have  been  effected.  But  the  question  naturally  occurs  as  to 
how  the  result  was  obtained.  Shall  we  claim  that  all  cures 
are  made  by  medicines  acting  according  to  the  law  of  SimUia 
Simibilus  Curanturf  This  is  certainly  quite  a  common  idea, 
but  do  the  facts  of  the  case  substantiate  the  claim?  Did  the 
"Thorapsonian"  with  his  "mess  of  herbs"  unwittingly  pres- 
cribe according  to  our  law?  Does  the  eclectic  and  allopath 
cure  only  by  the  law  of  similia?  Practitioners  of  these 
classes  did  and  still  do  cure  diseases,  and  in  many  of  their 
prescriptions  it  is  beyond  human  ken  to  see  even  a  trace  of 
the  law  of  similia. 

Magnetism,  electricity  and  the  numerous  host  of  irregular 
systems  of  treatment  all  have  their  champions  and  proclaim 
grand  results.  But  leaving  these,  let  us  turn  to  another  kind 
of  treatment.  A  standard  allopathic  author  has  written  a 
book  upon  "the  influence  of  mind  in  causing  diseases,  as  well 
as  its  effect  in  curing  them,  so  frequently  employed  success- 
fully  in  systems  of  quackery."      Let  us  look  at  the  title  of 


352  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

this  book,  and  see  if  there  is  not  one  point  that  should  stimu* 
late  investigation.  There  is,  for  it  states  plainly  that  this  style 
of  treatment  is  frequently  employed  successfully.  Of  its 
frequent  employment  v/e  all  know,  for  from  the  earliest  prac- 
tice of  medical  art,  the  influence  of  mind  over  mind  has  been 
an  important  factor,  ^sculapius  probably  cured  through 
the  effects  of  imagination.  The  popular  notion  was  that  all 
disease  was  caused  by  the  anger  of  the  gods.  Hence,  we 
find  that  the  physicians  were  priests  whose  duty  it  was  to 
appease  that  anger.  This  was  done  by  means  of  amulets  of 
precious  stones  or  certain  plants,  or  certain  charms  of 
words,  combined,  with  prayers,  mystical  rites  and  music.  It 
was  in  the  Grecian  temples  that  ^sculapius  gave  the  most 
ostensible  marks  of  his  power,  and  here  the  religious  cere- 
monies and  customs  were  almost  all  specially  directed  to- 
wards the  excitement  of  the  imagination.  Hope  was  excited 
in  the  minds  of  patients  by  the  preliminary  purifications. 
This  was  further  augmented  by  the  presence  of  mysterious 
symbols  near  the  idols,  until  their  strained  imagination  made 
the  emanations  from  the  mouths  of  the  gods  appear  infallible. 
After  this  preparation  the  patients  were  conducted  through 
the  mysterious  passages  of  the  temple,  accompained  by  priests 
who  related  wonderful  cures  of  similar  cases.  All  this  con- 
tributed towards  their  mental  exaltation,  and  it  can  readily 
be  perceived  that  a  deep  impression  was  produced,  and  that 
if  a  cure  followed,  the  patient's  imagination  contributed  largely 
towards  its  consummation.  Till  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  kings  of  England  had  periodical  touchings  for 
scrofula,  and  miraculous  cures  are  reported  as  following  the 
royal  touch.  WaB  there  any  particular  virtue  in  royal  hands? 
or  did  the  patient's  imagination  contribute  towards  recovery? 
In  the  ceremonies  attending  the  touching,  everything  was 
done  to  work  upon  the  imagination.  The  religious  ceremonies 
were  directed  to  induce  in  the  patient  a  firm  reliance  of  the 
power  of  deity  as  about  to  be  manifested  by  royal  hands,  and 
to  feel  that  a  cure  was  sure  to  follow. 

Now  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  advocating  the 
pratice  of  the  dark  ages,  but  it  is  the  duty  of  every  physician 


Theory  and  Praotioe.  353 

to  bring  to  his  aid  everything  that  will  tend  to  alUviate 
human  suffering,  and  the  influence  of  mind  over  mind  is  one 
of  the  most  important  we  can  investigate.  We  have  all  seen 
recoveries  that  could  not  be  accounted  for  by  any  medical 
treatment  In  these  cases,  did  nature  alone  perform  the  cure? 
Possibly  my  scientific  friend  will  answer  that  all  cures  are 
made  by  nature  and  natural  laws.  But  the  question  arises 
whether  the  professional  presence  of  the  doctor  did  not  con- 
tribute towards  recovery.  We  constantly  witness  the  ebb 
and  flow,  the  waxing  and  waning  of  sensations  that  can  only 
be  accounted  for  by  attention  to  mental  causes  acting  from 
within  or  without.  Some,  like  Lady  Macbeth,  are  troubled 
with  'Hhick,  incoming  fancies  that  keep  her  from  her  sleep," 
and  it  is  only  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  psychic  conditions 
exist,  and  that  pscychic  power  also  exists  to  act  upon  them, 
that  we  can  arrive  at  the  best  means  of  alleviating  this  class 
of  complaints.  Our  own  observation,  and  that  of  medical 
men  in  all  ages  attest  to  the  strange  power  of  the  soul  of 
man.  Let  us  not  therefore  ignore  facts  as  they  exist,  but 
rather  let  us  own  their  power,  and  endeaver  if  possible  to 
secure  their  benefits.  Patients  whose  systems  are  disturbed 
by  distressing  thoughts  are  benefitted  by  a  change  of  ideas, 
and  no  medical  remedy  can  take  the  place  of  better  thoughts. 
Do  not  let  us  be  content  with  the  efficacy  of  our  drugs  only, 
and  vauntingly  boast  their  power,  but  let  us  seek  to  add  to 
our  success  by  standing  inquiringly  before  the  wonder  work- 
ing power  of  the  pscyche,  and  ask  for,  and  seek  to  obtain 
more  light. 


Wliat  is  the  Bemedy  I    By  E  J.  Lee,  M.  D.  Philadelphia. 

Feeling  great  pity  for  my  professional  brethren,  suffer- 
ing as  they  are  from  the  irrepressible  (I  have  nearly  said 
irresponsible)   gentleman    of    Milwaukee,   and    having  an 


354  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

implicit  faith  in  our  materia  medica,  I .  have  sought  in  its 
pages,  long  and  anxiously,  for  a  remedy  suitable  to  his  pecu- 
lair  case.  I  do  not  like  to  acknowledge  the  inability  of  our 
medicines  to  cure  an}'  disease  (even  mental),  but  I  fear  we 
must  do  so  in  these  cases  for  nothing  short  of  scientific  allo- 
pathic medicine  will  suit  him. 

Hoping  that  some  one,  more  skillful,  may  succeed  where  I 
have  failed,  I  append  some  few  symptoms,  with  the  name  of 
the  appropriate  drug,  which  seemed  to  me  to  be  indicated. 

For  instance,  this  patient  imagines  himself  a  writer  of  ma- 
ture scholarship  and,  although  still  young  in  the  profession 
and  in  experience,  he  already  considers  himself  a  veteran 
thereby  decidedly  confusing  his  personal  identity  (Alumina); 
his  vivid  imagination  has  made  the  time  pass  too  quickly 
(Theridion). 

Trifles,  among  which  he  classes  potencies,  cause  him  to 
weep  and  to  lament  (Coffea);  nothing  seems  right  to  him 
(Colocynth);  nor  can  he  endure  the  least  contradiction  or 
receive  any  suggestions  in  relation  to  any  subject  (Helonias). 
Indeed  pride  and  over  estimation  of  his  ability  and  scorn  for 
others  (Platina)  seem  in  him  to  be  combined  with  excessive 
excitability  (^lodtum);  the  feeble  dull  mind  o(  Abrotanum  is 
present  as  is  also  the  difficult  comprehension  for  which  Spongia 
would  be  the  simillimum  if  be  did  not  have  those  hallucina- 
tions of  Stramonium  about  ghosts,  ghouls,  potencies,  etc., 
which  seem  to  terrify  him. 

Intellect  seems  often  to  predominate  over  will  {Valeriana) 
and  so  dispose  him  to  feel  that  foolish  pride  and  happiness, 
which  Sulphur  gives  us,  causing  him  to  think  himself  possess- 
ed of  beautiful  thoughts  and  even  making  his  rags — of 
rhetoric,  seem  beautiful  to  him.  If  he  did  not  think  them  so 
he  would  not  flaunt  them  so  continuously  in  our  faces,  with 
such  a  proud,  self-contented  look  (Ferrum), 

Judging  by  his  essays,  Hypericum  will  not  soon  be  indicated, 
for  it  is  the  similimum  only,  when  increase  of  intellectual 
power  is  present;  but  rather  would  Aconite  with  its  weak- 
ness of  memory,  or  Aethusa  with  its  inability  to  think,  or  even 


Theory  and  Practice.  356 

Hepar  characterized  as  it  is  by  great  weakness  of  memory 
with  irritability,  suit  the  case. 

The  patient  has  also  great  depression  of  spirits  (  TTstillago) 
from  a  melancholy  mood  which  dwells  on  philosophical 
speculations  {Sulphur)  inducing  from  this  overexertion  great 
mental  and  bodily  exhaustion  (Cupr,  met). 

All  scientific  labor  fatigues  him  (Graphites)y  save  perhaps 
such  easy  reading  as  the  works  of  Maxwell  and  Thompson 
afford  him. 

Taciturn,  wrapt  in  thought  (Ipecac)  he  feels  inclined  to 
quarrel,  to  contradict  (Huta)  and  to  express  great  indignation 
concerning  things  done  by  others,  grieving  over  the  conse- 
quences (Staphia),  So  great  is  his  vexation  that  at  times  he 
is  greatly  inclined  to  use  strong  language  and  violent  expres- 
sions— this  is  indeed  his  Palladium,  He  can  not  get  rid  of  the 
idea,  once  fixed  in  his  mind  (Stann.)  that  he  is  to  reform 
medicine.     An  hallucination. 

Silicia  has  compunctions  of  conscience  about  trifles,  he 
seems  to  have  none  or  he  would  cease  writing. 

He  is  troubled  with  fear  for  the  future  (Aconite)  of  med- 
icine; is  low  spirited  from  unmerited  insults  (Staphis);  to  be 
contradicted  excites  his  wrath  (AUrum);  can  not  appreciate 
high  potencies  from  inability  to  concentrated  mental  efforts 
(Ailanth).  His  articles  show  that  he  can  not  follow  an  idea, 
logically,  for  any  length  of  time  and  if  he  attempts  to  do  so  he 
is  attacked  by  a  painful  vacant  feeling  of  the  mind  (Gels,) 
(Vide,  *'The  Organon,"  vol.  ii,  p.  473.) 

Any  failure  to  convince  others  that  he  is  a  veritable  Solon 
would  soon  cause  him  to  experience  ailments  from  griefs, 
mortification,  bad  news,  or  suppressed  mental  suffering — 
symptoms  of  Ignatia  given  by  Hering;  or  even  those  of 
Guernsey — sadness  and  sighing,  with  an  empty  feeling  at  the 
pit  of  the  stomach. 

Lacheais  has  mania  from  over  study;  no  fear  of  that  kind 
of  maina  here,  but  rather  is  it  the  mania  of  Stramonium 
which  causes  the  patient  to  talk  incessantly. 

^atr,  mur.y  Cactus  g.  and  Hellebores  are  all  contra-indicated 
for  consolation  aggravates  him.    Lachesis^  2Jyc,j  Natr,  miir.. 


356  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Silicia,  etc,  he  will  not  take,  not  because  of  the  aversion  to  the 
medicine  which  Caladium  produces,  but  because  he  does  not 
believe  in  the  dynannization  theory  from  which  process  these 
drugs  derive  their  wonderful  powers.  He  is  incredulous  and 
will  not  believe  that  faith  is  here  unnecessary,  nor  does  he 
credit  the  testimony  of  our  veterinary  surgeons  who  claim  to 
have  cured  other  animals  with  these  same  potencies. 

Carbo  veg,,  also,  he  will  not  take  because  the  miscroscope 
reveals  no  medicinal  power  in  it,  and  then  the  "Verdict  of 
Science"  is  also  against  it.  But  may  we  not  use  the  crude 
Charcoal  as  a  disinfectant? 


» » 


M^i$tU  M$hk^. 


The  Merouries.     By  A.  C.  Cowperthwaite,  M.  D,,  Professor 
of  Materia  Medica,  Iowa  University. 

It  is  possibly  unnecessary  to  attempt  saying  more  than 
homceopathic  literature  has  already  said  concerning  this,  the 
most  important  of  all  metals,  the  Hydrargyrum  and  its  salts. 
I  say  important  from  a  therapeutic  standpoint.  Certainly  no 
drug  has  been  for  centuries  or  is  now,  of  more  universal  use, 
and  for  reasons  that  are  logical  and  consistent,  for  it  is  equally 
certain  that  in  the  pathogenesis  of  no  other  drug  do  we  ob- 
tain the  variety  and  intensity  of  action  displayed  by  Mercury^ 
affecting  as  it  does  in  a  marked  degree,  every  tissue  and  organ 
of  the  body,  and  affording  a  therapeutic  range  of  a  wide  and 
comprehensive  character.  This,  however,  was  not  known 
to  be  the  case  until  after  Hahnemann  had  not  only  methodi- 
cally and  systematically  arranged  the  then  known  curative 


Materia  Medica.  357 

properties  of  the  drug,  but  had  also,  with  his  characteristic 
energy,  instituted  a  series  of  provings  that  established  with- 
out question  its  extensive  and  remarkable  pathogenesis. 
True,  Mercury  had  for  centuries  beeu  used  for  the  cure  of  the 
diseases  for  which  Hahnemann  had  proclaimed  it  the  true 
curative  agent,  yet  these  cures  were  shrouded  in  the  darkness 
of  mystery  and  even  superstition,  and  the  drug  was  looked 
upon  as  an  omnipotent  and  dangerous  remedy,  a  true  agent 
of  the  gods  and  subject  to  their  decrees,  as  was  their  messen- 
ger Mercury,  from  whom  it  received  its  name.  It  thus  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  ancient  magicians  and  was  by  them 
turned  to  good  account. 

Even  as  late  as  the  fifteenth  century  it  was  considered  the 
most  daring  bravery  on  the  part  of  Barbarrossa,  a  famous 
pirate  of  Tunis  and  Algiers,  who,  having  contracted  syphilis, 
cured  himself  by  taking  internally  Quicksilver  ground  down 
with  flour  and  turpentine. 

Hahnemann  not  only  established  the  therapeutic  value  of 
Mercury,  but  at  the  same  time  he  rendered  it  harmless  through 
increasing  rather  than  decreasing  its  health  restoring  powers. 
Probably  in  no  other  drug  do  we  have  more  beautifully  illus- 
trated the  wisdom  of  Hahnemann's  theories  regarding  drug 
proving  and  potenttzation,  and  most  certainly  in  no  other 
drug  do  we  have  any  more  brilliant  testimony  to  the  truth 
and  eflScacy  of  the  universal  law  of  cure. 

Hahnemann's  provings  of  Mercury  were  made  principally 
with  a  preparation  of  his  own,  introduced  by  him  long  before 
the  law  of  Similia  dawned  upon  his  mind.  This  preparation 
is  the  black  precipitate  which  is  produced  by  the  action  of 
concentrated  Nitric  acid  on  Quicksilver \  after  having  added 
strong  Aqua  ammonia  and  distilled  water.  This  is  the  soluble 
Mercury  of  Hahnemann — the  Merc,  sol.  Hah.,  or  as  I  consider 
strictly  the  Ammonio  nitrate  of  mercury,  a  preparation  once 
quite  popular  with  the  old  school,  and  still  highly  esteemed 
and  much  used  by  them  in  £urope;  evidently  a  strikingly 
eflective  therapeutic  agent,  yet  from  a  chemical  standpoint 
as  Hughes  remarks:  "an  impure  oxide  of  doubtful  and  vary- 
ing composition,"  and  for  that  reason,  if  no  other,  not  as 


358  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

valuable  a  remedy  in  our  hands  as  the  Hydrargyrum,  or,  as 
we  term  it,  the  Jferc,  vivos.  However,  the  fact  that  most  of 
Hahnemann's  provings  were  made  with  the  soluble  Mercury 
and  that  the  pathogenesis  of  this  preparation  is  better  known 
than  that  of  any  other  Mercurial,  makes  it  still  the  favorite 
preparation  of  the  homoeopathic  school,  and  this  notwith- 
standing that  Hahnemann,  in  the  later  years  of  his  practice, 
to  a  great  extent  employed  the  original  metal. 

These  circumstances  together  with  the  similarity  of  action 
of  the  two  preparations,  have  led  the  homcBopathic  school 
into  what  I  consider  a  serious  error — that  of  considering  as 
identical  the  pathogenesis  of  the  two  preparations.  Hempel 
says:  *Hhe  provings  of  the  solubilisare  likewise  applicable  to 
Merc,  viv.,  and  this  statement  is  more  or  less  generally  con- 
firmed by  our  writers  on  materia  medica.  Yet  why,  is  beyond 
my  comprehension.  It  is  certainly  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  a  preparation  of  Quicksilver  containing  Citric  acid  and 
Ammonia,  is  precisely  identical  with  the  Quicksilver  itself,  yet 
nearly  all  our  modern  writers,  even  the  venerable  Hering, 
gives  us  the  symptoms  of  both  preparations  as  of  one  under 
the  head  of  Mercuries, 

If  as  a  school,  we  dealt  m  generalities  it  might  answer,  but 
we  claim  to  act  only  upon  positive  evidence,  and  to  deal  only 
with  established  facts.  As  well  might  we  therefore,  indis- 
criminately employ,  where  Hydrargyrum  was  indicated,  any 
Salt  qf  mercury  regardless  of  its  symptomatology,  and,  in- 
deed, I  fear  this  is  too  often  done  by  the  physio-pathological 
branch  of  our  school.  But  it  is  certainly  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  our  teachings,  and  can  not  be  persevered  in  by  him 
who  would  be,  as  certainly  all  should  be,  a  progressive  and 
scientific  physician.  True,  it  is  that  the  general  action  of  all 
the  Mercuries  are  greatly  alike,  yet  to  each  belongs  its  dis- 
tinguishing features.  Like  the  human  body,  the  general 
form  and  outlines  may  be  nearly  the  same,  yet  to  each  there 
is  an  individual  expression  possessed  by  no  other.  So  might 
we  find  great  similarity  existing  between  other  drugs  of  the 
materia  medica — between  the  Salts  of  potash — -between  Apis 
and  Rhus,,  yet  who  would  for  a  moment  think  of  indiscrimi- 


Materia  Medea.  359 

nately  employing  the  one  for  the  other.  Some  physicians 
have  only  to  hear  the  term  dysentery  expressed  by  the  pa- 
tient, and  they  at  once  prescribe  Merc,  cor.;  others  in  the  same 
instance  would  prescribe  the  Merc.  viv.y  or  sol.  So  also  some 
invariably  prescribe  Protoid  of  mere,  in  sore  throat,  while 
others  give  the  Biniod  when  perhaps  the  SimiliaowXy  existed 
under  the  one  not  selected,  or  possibly  under  neither;  the 
physician  apparently  forgetting  that  he  had  any  guide  for 
the  selection  of  his  remedy  outside  of  the  crude  generalities 
of  a  still  cruder  system  of  physio-pathological  therapeutics. 

Let  us  briefly  examine  some  of  the  main  points  of  diifer- 
ence  between  the  difl*erent  preparations  of  Merc,  First,  in 
the  emotional  faculties  we  find  the  ViviLa  alone  producing 
delirium  similar  to  delirium  tremens  as  characteristic,  but 
running  all  through  the  group  is  a  condition  of  anxiety  and 
restlessness,  which  becomes  most  prominent  in  the  8ol., 
where  it  also  gives  an  ill  humor  and  irritability.  This  con- 
tinues next  in  the  Cor.^  where  depression  is  more  marked,  and 
finally  anxiety  without  the  ill  humor  in  the  Protoide,  and  ill 
humor  without  the  anxiety  in  the  Biniod. 

In  the  intellectual  sphere  we  find  a  weakness  of  memory 
pervading  all  the  Mercuries.  It  is  most  characteristic  of  the 
VivuSy  where  the  memory  is  greatly  impaired  and  the  intellect 
extremely  weak,  the  condition  bordering  on  imbecility.  The 
Oor.  comes  next,  then  the  Sol,  and  finally  the  other  pre- 
parations. 

In  the  head,  confusion  and  vertigo  belong  to  all.  The 
Sol.,  has  more  headache  than  any  other  preparation,  the 
whole  external  head  being  painful  to  the  touch.  The  Biniode 
simulates  the  Sol.  most  closely,  both  having  as  characteristic 
the  "sensation  of  the  head,  being  bound  with  a  tight  cord." 
The  Cor.  comes  next  as  a  headache  remedy,  its  greatest 
characteristic  being  a  "drawing  in  periosteum  of  the  skull." 
In  my  opinion,  the  Merc.  viv.  of  the  preparations  mentioned 
comes  last  in  headaches.  Nearly  all  the  mercurial  headaches 
are  catarrhal  in  their  origin,  though  we  also  have  headaches 
from  rheumatism  and  syphilis.  In  the  eyes  we  find  a  marked 
tendency  to  catairhal  ophthalmias  in  all  the  Mercuries,  the 


360  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Vivus  being  most  important,  and  the  Sol,  next.  The  latter 
beginning  to  partake  more  of  the  scrofulous  as  well  as  the 
syphylitic.  For  both  the  latter  varieties  and  for  the  opthal- 
mia  neon.  Merc,  cor,  takes  the  lead.  The  Protoiode  is  of 
more  benefit  in  syphilitic,  the  Biniode  in  catarrhal  and  scrofu- 
lous varieties.  Coryza  occurs  in  all.  Merc,  sol,  being  the 
best  remedy  in  ordinary  nasal  catarrhs.  In  recent  cases 
with  fluent  coryza  and  great  rawness  and  smarting  the 
Cor,  is  of  most  value,  but  it  it  does  not  cover  the  wide  range 
of  catarrhs  that  the  Sol,  or  the  Viv,  do.  The  Biniode  is  of 
more  value  in  nasal  catarrhs  than  the  Protoid, 

For  carious  and  decayed  teeth,  and  tooth  ache  resulting 
therefrom,  Merc,  viv,  is  the  sovereign  remedy.  All  the  Mer- 
curies  have  spongy,  bleeding  gums.  The  characteristic 
tongue  is:  Merc,  viv,  black,  or  red,  and  swollen,  or  thick, 
white  coating.  Merc,  Cor,:  Tongue  greatly  swollen  and 
coated  thick  white,  or  else  dry  and  red.  Merc,  cyan,:  yellow 
streak  on  base.  Protoiode:  lip  and  edges  clean,  thick  dirty 
yellow  coating  on  base,  Merc,  sol,:  swollen,  soft  and  flabby, 
showing  impress  of  teeth  on  margin. 

All  the  Mercuries  act  strongly  upon  the  mucous  membrane 
of  the  throat.  The  Sol,  and  Viv,  are  prominent  in  simple 
ulceration,  or  in  tonsillitis,  but  of  no  value  whatever  in  true 
diphtheria,  and  of  little  use  in  follicular  ulceration.  The  Viv, 
has  more  swelling  of  the  external  glands,  and  the  fauces  have 
a  coppery  red  color,  while  in  the  Sol,  the  characteristic  is  a 
sticking  pain  in  fauces  when  swallowing.  The  Protoiode 
acts  more  on  the  follicular  glands,  giving  a  tough,  opaque 
secretion  in  the  fauces.  For  this  reason  the  Protoiod  is  the 
best  remedy  we  have  for  the  ordinary  diphtheritic  sore 
throats  (so-called)  so  prevalent  throughout  the  country  dur« 
ing  winter,  and,  as  a  general  rule,  it  stands  at  the  head  of  our 
remedies  for  true  diphtheria.  The  Biniode  partaking  more  of 
the  action  of  Iodine^  gives  more  swelling  of  the  glands  than 
the  Proto,^  and  when  this  condition  is  present  in  diphtheria 
it  is  preferable.  The  Cyan,  has  been  highly  extolled  in  true 
diphtheria,  though  probably  its  virtues  have  been  overesti- 
mated.    I   should  only   use   it  in  very   putrid  forms   with 


Materia  Medica,  361 

typhoid  tendency,  or  where  there  seemed  to  be  a  cyanitic 
condition,  weak  pulse  and  syncope.  The  Cor,  is  little  used 
in  diphtheria.  It  is,  however,  indicated  in  all  sore  throats 
when  there  is  great  burning,  dark  red  fauces;  phagedenic 
tendency. 

The  action  of  Merc,  on  the  stomach  is  not  prominent,  but 
upon  the  liver  and  intestinal  tract  do  we  get  its  most  import- 
ant and  characteristic  action.  All  the  Mercuries  give  hepatic 
congestion,  but  the  Cor,  seems  to  be  the  only  one,  which  in 
any  degree,  approaches  true  hepatitis,  while  the  Viv,  alone, 
reaches  chronic  atrophy  of  the  liver.  Both  the  Viv,  and  the 
8oL  are  among  our  best  remedies  in  chronic  enlargement 
and  induration.  The  Viv,  is  most  often  indicated  in  jaun- 
dice and  gall-stones.  The  SoL  and  the  Cor,  have  the  most 
decided  action  upon  the  intestinal  tract.  In  the  former  the 
characteristic  stool  is  of  green  or  bloody  mucus,  with  colic 
and  tenesmus  worse  after  stool,  and  often  accompanied  by 
numerous  hepatic  symptoms.  The  Cor.  seems  more  closely 
to  approach  a  dysentery  of  an  intense  inflammatory  charac- 
ter. The  stools  are  frequent,  scanty  and  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  mucus  and  blood.  The  tenesmus  is  exceed- 
ingly distressing  and  constant,  with  a  tormenting  urging  to 
stool,  and  instead  of  liver  symptoms  as  in  the  Sol,^  we  have 
urinary  difficulties — tenesmus  vesicas;  urine  scanty,  hot  and 
bloody.     The  Iodides  have  no  decided  action  in  this  sphere. 

In  diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  system  Merc,  cor,  takes 
the  lead,  being  of  great  value  in  all  inflammatory  conditions 
— nephritis,  cystitis,  etc.  The  urine  is  scanty,  hot  and  bloody, 
and  passed  with  much  pain.  It  also  gives  us  in  its  patho- 
genesis decidedly  albuminous  urine,  and  it  has  proved  its  ef- 
ficacy in  the  treatment  of  not  only  Bright's  disease,  but  post 
diphtheritic  and  post  scarlatinal  albuminuria.  The  Merc.  sol. 
comes  next  to  the  Cor,  in  the  treatment  of  urinary  troubles. 
Both  are  indicated  in  gonorrhoea,  though  the  Cor,  takes  the 
lead,  especially  when  the  urethral  inflammation  predominates 
and  is  intense,  with  great  burning  and  smarting  during 
urination.  The  Merc,  sol.  has  a  greenish,  painless  gonor- 
rhcea,  worse  at  night,  and  gonorrhoea  syphilitica.  Il  is,  how- 
Dec-3 


362  Ctncinvati  Medical  Advance. 

ever,  in  the  treatment  of  true  syphilis  that  Merc,  has  won  its 
greatest  laurels.  Since  the  days  of  Barbarrossa  it  has  been  in 
almost  constant  service,  evidently  doing  immense  harm  in 
many  instances,  owing  to  the  blundering  way  in  which  it 
was  used,  but,  on  the  whole,  doing  incalculable  service  and 
curing  millions  of  cases. 

Merc.  sol.  is  most  often  indicated  in  the  Hunterian  hard 
chancre.  The  Sol.  is  also  our  first  remedy  in  chancroids.  Its 
indications  are  a  red  chancre  on  prepuce;  or,  ulcers  with 
cheesy  la rdaceous  bottom  and  inverted  red  (sometimes  hard) 
edges.  In  chancres  assuming  a  phagadenic  appearance, 
Merc.  cor.  is  the  remedy.  For  syphilitic  erosions  the  red 
precipitate  or  Merc.  pec.  rub.  In  spoiled  cases  where  much 
Mercury  has  been  used,  and  where  there  are  sycotic  excre- 
scences, Cinnabar  or  the  Sulphuret  of  mercury  L<»  of  most 
value. 

Nearly  all  the  Mercuries  have  profuse  menstruation  as  well 
as  leucorrhcea,  the  Merc,  sol.,  or  vi'v.,  are  most  prominent. 
The  characteristic  leucorrhcea  is  always  worse  at  night,  itch- 
ing, burning,  smarting,  corroding  with  rawness. 

In  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs  Merc.  viv.  is  decidedly 
the  best  remedy.  In  my  own  practice  I  always  use  the  Viv., 
in  coughs,  influenza,  bronchitis,  pneumonia,  etc.,  and  the 
SoL  in  diseases  of  the  alimentary  tract,  that  is,  where  materia 
medica  does  not  indicate  the  diflTerence.  Merc.  cor.  must  not 
be  forgotten  in  the  treatment  of  bronchitis  when  its  charac- 
teristic burning  is  present  in  the  chest,  with  cutting  pains, 
tightness,  etc.  With  many  the  Cor.  is  the  routine  prescrip- 
tion for  colds  on  the  chest,  influenzas,  etc.  In  the  various 
neuroses  Merc,  viv,  is  most  often  indicated. 

The  range  of  action  of  the  Mercuries  in  skin  diseases  is  so 
great  that  I  can  not  notice  the  peculiar  difference  of  each 
preparation.  Merc.  sol.  is  of  most  importance,  then  Merc, 
viv.,  though  it  is  diflScult  to  separate  their  action  upon  the 
skin.  The  characteristic  ulcer  is  superficial,  flat,  readily 
bleeding,  lardaceons  base,  worse  from  heat  of  bed  and  hot 
and  cold  applications,  also  ulcers  with  elevated  turned  up 
edges.     Here  as  elsewhere  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  patho- 


Surgery.  363 

geneses  of  the  two  preparations  are  so  badly  mixed  that  it  is 
difficult  to  establish  the  separate  action  of  each. 

The  aggravations  of  all  the  Mercuries  are  quite  similar. 
All  are  worse  at  night  and  from  warmth  of  bed.  But  the 
limits  of  this  paper  will  not  allow  a  further  discussion  of  this 
important  subject. 


Siit^giirg. 


Ten  Surgical  Oases*  Read  before  tlie  Indiana  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy,  at  Indianapolis,  May  ist,  1879  By  C. 
S.  Fahnestock,  M.  D.,  La  Porte,  Ind. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  in  selecting  the  following  cases 
to  bring  the  merely  wonderful  forward  or  demonstrate  any 
especial  skill  of  the  operator.  Each  presents  points  of  inter- 
est to  every  physician  and  surgeon  who  has  not  learned 
them  by  experience.  To  avoid  repetition  they  will  be  reported 
without  comment,  and  their  practical  teachings  considered 
afterwaid. 

The  first  list  embraced  successful  operations  for  strangulated 
hernia  and  vesico-vaginal  fistula,  but  as  they  did  not  illustrate 
in  any  way  the  difference  between  what  we  are  taught  by 
study,  preceptors  and  professors,  and  what  we  learn  by  ex- 
perience, others  were  substituted. 

Case  L  Lancing  a  Felon. — A  lady  called  on  me  about 
three  p.  m.,  to  have  a  felon  lanced,  dreading  the  pain  and  fear* 
ing  the  results  of  an  anaesthetic.  Examining  the  finger  I 
left  the  office  remarking  that  on  m}'  return  I  should  operate 
at  once,  either  with  or  without  Chloroform^  as  she  should  de- 


364  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

termine.  At  the  appointed  time  she  decided  in  favor  of  Chloro- 
form.   It  was  administered  by  my  partner,   Dr.  A.  K.  Frain. 
There  had  hardlv  been  twenty  inhalations  when  she  had  a 
slight   convulsion,  pulse  became   weak  and  rapid,  the  face 
purple  and  respiration  ensued.     We  laid  her  on  the  floor, 
loosened  her  clothing,  drew  the  tongue  forward  and  began 
artificial  respiration.     In  ten  minutes  the  purple  color  had 
nearly  disappeared,  and  a  small  piece  of  ice  passed  into  the 
rectum  caused  a  deep  breath.     Thinking  that  if  the   felon 
were  now  lanced  it  would  hasten  off  the  effects  of  the  Chloro- 
form, I  took  her  right  hand  and  examined  the  fingers.   There 
was  no  bleaching  of  the  skin  to  designate  the  affected  mem-, 
ber    as  no  poultice  had  been  used.     Both  middle  and  ring 
fingers  were  swollen  and  red.     She  was  sensitive  to  pressure 
on  the  ring  finger  only.     It  was  therefore  opened  freely  to 
the  bone  and  the  hand  wrapped  in  a  towel.    At  ten  p.  m, 
she  was  moved  to  her  home.   When  visiting  her  in  the  morn- 
ing I  was  mortified  to  learn  that  the  wrong  finger  had  been 
cut    I  then  lanced  the  felon,  and  for  obvious  reasons  with- 
out an  anaesthetic. 

Case  II.  Uterine  Hemorrhage  after  Abortion. — 
In  April  1878,  I  visited  a  lady  at  Plymouth,  who  miscarried 
the  previous  December.  Since  then  has  constant  oozing  of 
blood  alternating  with  attacks  of  profuse  flooding.  Internal 
medication  and  topical  applications  had  been  used  by  various 
attendants.  Dr.  Viets  checked  the  hemorrhage  with  intra- 
uterine injections  of  Carbolic  acid.  I  saw  her  with  him  at 
ten  p  m  and  found  a  very  ansemic  little  lady,  with  abdomen 
tender  to' pressure,  pulse  one  hundred  and  twenty-one,  te.n- 
oerature  one  hundred  and  three  degrees;  vagina  hot  but  not 
dry  uterus  enlarged,  retroflexed  with  cervix  und.lated; 
anxious  and  apprehensive.  H.  aconite  ^x,  each  hour.  S.x 
a  m  pulse  one  hundred,  temperature  ninety-nine  degrees; 
tenderness  over  abdomen  gone;  shght  hemorrhage.  A 
sponge  tent  was  passed  into  the  cervix.  This  was  removed 
at  noon  and  a  larger  one  inserted.  Nine  p.  m.,  condition 
ffood  On  removing  the  tent  a  finger  readily  passed  into  the 
uterine  cavity  feeUng  several  polypoid  lumps  attached  to  the 


Surgery.  365 

anterior  wall  and  fundus.  A  tenaculum  was  hooked  into  the 
posterior  lip,  the  uterus  drawn  down  and  the  nodules  all  cut 
away  with  a  curette.  Dr.  Viets  examined  before  and  after 
the  operation,  confirming  the  diagnosis.  The  following 
morning  at  seven  a.  m.  pulse  was  ninety;  temperature  ninety- 
eight  degrees.  No  tenderness;  slight  discharge,  and  under 
Dr.  Viets'  skillful  care  she  made  a  rapid  recovery  without 
further  hemorrhage. 

Case  III.  Hemorrhagb  from  Urethra. — At  midnight, 
October  loth,  1879,  a  young  man  diligently  sowing  his  wild 
oats,  called  at  my  house  and  removed  two  towels  from  the 
privates,  both  saturated  with  blood,  as  were  his  outer  and 
under  garments.  Pressure,  cold  and  styptic  injections  failing 
to  control  the  hemorrhage,  I  attempted,  without  success,  to 
pass  a  number  seventeen  bougie.  The  bleeding  continumg 
he  fainted,  and  while  prone  on^the  floor  a  small  Jaques  cathe- 
ter was  passed  into  the  bladder.  Over  this  as  a  guide  a 
number  ten  English  instrument,. the  end  cut  oiT  smoothly, 
was  forced  through  the  lacerated  urethra,  and  over  thi%  in 
the  same  manner  a  number  eighteen,  checking  all  hemorrage. 
These  instruments  were  left  in  situ  thirty  hours.  Six  weeks 
later  a  traumatic  stricture  was  discovered  and  dilated  to  num- 
ber nineteen,  the  size  of  the  meatus.  The  patient  was  taught 
to  pass  and  furnished  a  Van  Buren  sound  with  instructions 
to  introduce  it  each  week.  A  kick  with  a  number  two 
ladies'  button  boot  caused  the  laceration. 

Case  IV.  Ovariotomy. — October  31st,  1878,  assisted  by 
Dr.  Viets,  of  Plymouth,  Drs.  Whiting  and  Ludwig,  of  La- 
Porte,  and  in  the  presence  of  Drs.  Heron  and  Crumbacker, 
of  Union  Mills,  and  Dr.  Nafe,  of  Wellsboro,  O,,  I  removed  by 
gastrotomy,  a  multilocular  ovarian  tumor  weighing  thirtv 
pounds,  from  Mrs.  Hannah  Decker,  who  was  visiting  her 
sister  at  Wellsboro.  Mrs.  D.  is  small  in  stature,  sixty-five 
years  of  age,  and  mother  of  seven  children.  In  June,  1876, 
first  noticed  the  tumor  size  of  a  cocoanut,  in  the  right  iliac 
fossa.  Later  she  had  frequent  attacks  of  severe  pain  in  and 
about  the  growth,  accompanied  with  fever.  As  the  tumor 
filled  the  abdomen,  the  kidneys  acted    irregularly,  causing 


366  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

oedema  of  the  lower  extremities,  which  would  pass  off  as  soon 
as  the  normal  quantity  of  urine  was  excreted.  For  three 
months  preceding  the  operation  could  eat  but  little  (though 
the  appetite  seemed  good)  as  there  was  no  room  and  a  few 
swallows  filled  her  up.  Emaciation  and  rapid  loss  of  strength 
now  ensued,  October  3d,  she  weighed  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  pounds. 

October  27th  a  careful  examination  disclosed  chronic  bron- 
chitis, some  hypertrophy  of  the  heart  with  murmur  during 
diastole  over  aortic  valves,  a  reducible  femoral  hernia  on  right 
side;  whole  abdomen  tender  on  pressure;  temperature  one 
hundred  and  one  degrees,  pulse  one  hundred  and  ten,  in- 
termitting occasionally;  tongue  slightly  coated;  bowels 
regular;  uterus  high,  anterior  to  tumor  admitting  sound  two 
and  three-fourth  inches.  Just  before  the  operation  the  fol- 
lowing measurements  were  made: 

From  navel  to  ensiform  cart  nine  and  a  half  inches.  Same 
to  pubes,  eleven  inches.  From  navel  to  right  anterior  supe- 
rior spine,  twelve  inches.  Same  to  left  anterior  superior 
spine,  ten  and  three-fourths  inches.  Circumference  thirty- 
seven  and  three-fourths  inches.  A  multilocular  ovarian  tu- 
mor partly  fluid,  partly  solid,  was  easily  diagnosed. 

Dr.  Viets  administered  the  Ether;  an  incision  beginning 
two  inches  below  the  umbilicus  and  terminating  an  inch 
above  the  pubes,  following  the  dark  line  over  the  centre  of 
the  linea  alba,  curved  like  an  italic/  was  carried  rapidly  down 
to  the  peritoneum.  There  being  no  hemorrhage,  the  perito- 
neum was  opened  on  a  director,  whose  point  was  carried  to 
and  fro  under  the  navel,  proving  positively  its  position  in 
the  abdominal  cavity.  A  number  twelve  sound  was  now 
swept  between  the  tumor  and  abdominal  parietes  detecting 
and  breaking  up  several  moderate  adhesions.  The  central, 
lower  and  upper  right  cyst  were  tapped,  leaving  one  large 
cyst  unharmed.  Introducing  the  hand  I  broke  up  all  the  ad- 
hesions on  the  posterior  surface  and  pelvic  brim.  The  re- 
maining cyst  was  now  tapped  and  the  omentum  found  ad- 
hering to  its  upper  surface  so  firmly  that  pealing  was  impos- 
sible.    It  was  therefore  ligated  "en  masse"  and  cut.     Several 


Surgery,  367 

• 

fibrinous  bands  connecting  the  tumor  with  various  parts  were 
broken,  and  four  containing  arteries  and  veins  were  ligated. 
Of  these  latter  one  sprung  from  a  loop  of  intestine,  another 
from  the  uterus.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  now  made 
to  turn  out  the  tumor,  and  being  satisfied  that  there  were  no 
untapped  cysts  or  unbroken  adhesions,  the  incision  was  ex- 
tended upward  even  with  and  to  the  left  of  the  navel.  Being 
still  too  small  it  was  carried  three  inches  above  the  navel 
and  the  mass  turned  out.  The  pedicle  moderately  long  and 
narrow,  was  clamped  as  a  safeguard  against  future  prolapsus 
of  the  womb,  which  had  caused  great  suffering  until  the 
growing  tumor  had  lifted  that  organ  from  the  pelvis.  A 
portion  of  the  cystic  fluid  having  found  its  way  into  the  peri- 
toneal cavity,  this  was  carefully  cleansed  with  warm  carbolic 
water,  a  few  blood  clots  removed,  the  ligatures  and  torn  ad- 
hesions examined  for  evidence  of  hemorrhage,  the  left  ovary 
inspected,  a  drainage  tube  passed  through  Douglas  cul  de  sac, 
sponges  counted,  etc.,  and  the  wound  closed  by  eleven  silver 
and  ten  silk  sutures,  the  former  deep  through  the  peritoneum, 
the  latter  through  the  skin  only.  Eight  ligatures,  all  silk,  cut 
close  to  the  knot,  were  left  in  the  peritoneal  cavity.  The 
sutures  were  strengthened  by  adhesive  strips  half  inch  wide 
and  extending  two-thirds  around  the  body.  A  compress  wet 
in  Calendula  water  \vi\d  on  the  wound,  and  a  firm  bandage 
over  all. 

The  patient  reacted  nicely.  No  vomiting  from  the  Ether^ 
and  in  two  and  a  half  hours  from  the  time  she  took  her  posi- 
tion at  the  table,  she  was  carefully  placed  in  bed,  and  began 
a  rapid  convalescence.  The  chart  shows  after  treatment  and 
the  condition  from  day  to  day.  (See  frontispiece.)  Dr.  Nafe 
passed  the  catheter  every  six  hours  for  the  first  four  days. 

Case  V.  A  Sprained  Wrist. — ^The  fore  part  of  Aug- 
ust, 1874,  H.  W.,  weighing  one  hundred  and  ninety  pounds, 
fell  from  a  hay  loft,  bending  the  hand  backward  and  sprain- 
ing the  right  wrist.  Morphine  was  given  to  subdue  pain; 
the  hand  and  wrist  were  strapped  with  moleskin  plaster, 
firmly  bandaged  and  immovably  fixed  in  splints.  This 
dressing   was   removed  on  the  second  day,  having  loosened 


368  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

by  the  subsidence  of  swelling,  and  a  second  one  immediately 
applied.  Rhus  3  was  given  internally.  On  the  fourth  day  it 
again  loosened  and  was  removed.  But  little  swelling  pres- 
ent. The  wrist  was  lightly  padded  and  put  up  in  a  plaster 
pans  bandage,  which  was  worn  ten  days,  when  all  pain  on 
motion  having  disappeared  further  dressings  were  dispensed 
with.  There  was  still  great  echymosis  and  weakness,  but 
these  all  passed  off  in  a  few  days,  leaving  the  wrist  as  good 
as  before  the  accident. 

Case  VI.  Aspirating  the  Intestines  as  a  Pallia- 
tive Measure. — June  2d,  1878,  I  prescribed  for  Mrs.  B., 
aet.  seventy- nine,  suffering  from  what  she  termed,  "one  of 
my  frequent  attacks  of  colic." 

June  3d.  Condition  worse;  the  vomiting  of  stercoraceous 
matter  led  to  a  careful  examination,  disclosing  an  old  irre- 
ducible femoral  hernia  on  the  right  side,  presenting  all  the 
signs  of  recent  strangulation.  Efforts  at  taxis  failing,  her 
grand  son,  Dr.  Cattron,  of  Valparaiso,  was  summoned. 
Drs.  Whiting,  Dakin  and  Bowers,  of  LaPorte,  also  saw  the 
case  with  me. 

June  4th.  Prolonged  and  careful  taxis  under  Chlorqform^ 
caused  a  partial  reduction,  with  gurgling.  The  vomiting 
ceased,  pulse  dropped  and  appetite  returned.  This  amelio- 
ration continued  a  few  hours,  when  the  original  symptoms 
returned. 

June  5th.  Injections  of  Be^  tea  and  Laudanum  to  quench 
thirst,  nourish  and  subdue  pain  were  administered  every  two 
hours.  In  the  evening,  other  means  failing,  preparations 
were  made  to  operate,  but  as  age  rendered  the  prognosis  un- 
usually grave,  the  family  decided  against  it. 

June  6th.  Tympanitis  so  great  that  patient  begs  to  be  cut 
open.  Assisted  by  Drs.  Bowers  and  Cattron,  I  passed  a 
medium  aspirator  needle  into  different  coils  of  the  intestine, 
which  could  be  distinctly  seen  through  the  attenuated  parie- 
tes,  and  withdrew  the  gaseous  and  liquid  contents.  Cessa- 
tion of  the  pain,  and  vomiting,  and  a  marked  lowering  of 
the  pulse  followed;  patient  very  comfortable  for  thirty-six 
hours,  when  the  distressing  symptoms  returned.     The  ope- 


Surgery.  569 

ration  \ras  repeated  a  second  and  third  time  with  the  same 
results.  Forty  hours  after  the  third  aspiration  she  died,  pass- 
ing quietly  away,  without  signs  of  peritonitis  or  other 
trouble  depending  upon  the  needle  wounds  in  the  intestine. 

Case  VII.  Compound  Comminuted  Fracture. — Sep- 
tember 1st,  1874,  a  little  boy,  twelve  years  old,  fell  from  a 
loaded  wagon,  a  hind  wheel  passing  diagonally  over  the  thigh. 
There  were  three  distinct  fractures  of  the  femur,  and  the 
sharp  end  of  the  upper  fragment  projected  through  the 
skin  on  the  anterior  surface  of  the  thigh.  He  was  placed 
on  a  firm  mattress;  the  protruding  bone  returned;  extension 
made  by  Buck's  method,  using  a  four  pound  weight;  the 
wound  was  covered  with  lint  saturated  with  boiled  carbo- 
lated  Linseed  oil:  a  small  bag  of  brand  was  laid  on  each  side 
of  the  leg  for  support.  The  extending  weight  was  increa^^ed 
to  six  pounds  on  the  second  day.  There  was  no  suppura- 
tion. No  other  dressing  was  made.  Union  was  complete 
and  firm  in  six  weeks,  when  the  extension  was  removed. 
He  went  on  crutches  until  the  ninth  week.  No  perceptible 
shortening. 

Case  VIII.  Elytrorraphy  for  Prolapsus  of  the 
Uterus  and  Rectum. — In  June,  1877,  I  operated  on  Mrs. 
G.  for  prolapsus  of  the  utetus,  bladder  and  rectum.  The 
Ether  was  first  administered  by  Dr.  Bowers,  of  LaPorte,  af- 
terward by  Dr.  A,  A.  Fahnstock,  of  Elkhart.  There  were 
three  other  assistants.  The  operation  was  necessarily  long 
and  tedious,  requiring  careful  and  accurate  dissecting.  When 
the  cystocele  had  been  denuded,  my  assistants,  except  the 
two  above  named,  began  to  hurry  me  and  aid  in  a  careless, 
hasty  manner.  Silk  sutures  were  passed  and  carefully  tied 
from  above  downward,  the  uterus  being  slowly  raised  as 
they  were  tightened.  The  surface  of  the  rectocele  was 
freshened  with  the  parts  in  situ;  the  mucous  membrane  was 
caught  up  with  toothed  forceps,  snipped  with  scissors, 
stitches  passed  and  tied  before  freshening  further.  The  ope- 
ration was  completed  in  two  hours  and  a  quarter.  The 
parts  were  held  firmly  in  position,  and  as  the  anesthesia 
passed  offa  small  quantity  of  urine,  that  accumulated  during 


370  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

the  operation  was  voided  in  a  full,  forcible  stream;  no  vom- 
iting. Called  in  the  evening  and  emptied  bladder  with  a 
catheter.  The  lady  complained  of  the  instrument,  and  said 
she  would  not  submit  to  its  use  again. 

Second  day.  Called  at  seven  a.  m.  to  pass  the  catheter,  but 
she  had  anticipated  this  by  getting  up,  evacuating  the  bow- 
els and  passing  water.  I  remonstrated,  but  with  no  effect, 
for  at  four  p.  m.  I  found  her  in  a  rocking  chair,  which  she 
had  occupied  since  noon.  Examination  showed  the  two 
lower  stitches  on  the  anterior  vaginal  wall  nearly  cut  through. 

Third  day.  Patient  unruly  as  ever.  Lower  front  stitches 
torn  out. 

Fourth  day.  She  now  realizes  the  damage  done,  and  keeps 
the  horizontal  position. 

Ninth  day.  Has  remained  in  bed  since  the  morning  of  the 
fourth  day,  but  would  not  permit  the  use  of  the  catheter. 
Removed  all  the  stitches.  Posterior  wound  united  complete- 
ly, also  upper  half  of  anterior  wound.  Appointed  the  next 
day  to  freshen  and  close  the  lower  part  of  the  latter.  During 
the  night  she  sprang  from  her  bed  to  chastise  her  nurse. 
Under  this  undue  strain  the  tender  union  that  had  been  se- 
cured gave  way,  and  all  benefit  from  the  operation  was  lost. 
I  abandoned  the  case  in  disgust.  She  has  since  requested 
me  to  repeat  the  operation,  or  close  the.  vulva,  but  I  firmly 
declined  further  operations  upon  such  an  unruly  and  incon- 
siderate patient. 

Case  IX.  Spinal  Curvature,  Lateral. — Miss  Emma 
C.  complained  as  follows:  Constant  feeling  of  weariness; 
dry  cough;  dyspnoea  on  exercise  and  on  ascending  stairs; 
stitch  in  left  side;  cold  feet;  pale  face,  colorless  lips,  red 
cheeks  and  slight  feeling  of  heat  each  afternoon;  menstrua- 
tion profuse  and  anticipating;  forebodings  of  evil;  crying 
over  imaginary  or  trifling  troubles;  melancholy;  continued 
headache  through  forehead  and  eyes;  sleep  disturbed;  sharp 
pain  along  the  spine;  appetite  poor;  bowels  inactive;  pulse 
one  hundred  and  four  and  weak;  temperature  ninety-nine, 
respirations  twenty- four.  Examination  showed  lungs  healthy 
and  disclosed  what  was  before  unknown  to  the  patient,  lat- 


Surgery,  371 

eral  curvature  of  the  spine.  Has  been  at  boarding  school 
for  the  past  ten  months;  is  sixteen  years  old,  growing  rapid- 
ly; enjoyed  good  health  until  the  last  seven  months.  Friends 
fearful  of  consumption. 

Prescribed  Citrate  iron  and  Strich,  305,  two  grains  before 
each  meal,  and  Aconite  2,  to  be  taken  whenever  feeling  of 
heat  and  fever  was  present.  Advised  further  out  door  exer- 
cise, plain,  nutritious  diet,  regular  habits,  swinging  by  the 
arms  sitting  on  an  inclined  plane,  the  lowest  side  correspond- 
ing to  the  lower  shoulder,  left,  to  practice  the  arm  position 
of  Dr.  Jayne;  have  the  neck  bathed  and  rubbed  daily,  and 
avoid  all  confining  work  and  study.  Following  closely  the 
above  plan  speedily  and  completely  removed  all  the  morbid 
symptoms,  and  at  the  present  time,  ten  months  from  the  be- 
ginning of  treatment,  only  the  slightest  evidence  of  the 
curvature  can  be  detected. 

Case  X.  Removal  op  a  Wen. — In  the  fall  of  1875  I  re- 
moved a  small  wen  from  the  back  of  A.  J.'s  neck.  It  was 
so  situated  as  to  be  constantly  irritated  by  his  collar.  The 
third  day  he  had  a  hard  chill  followed  by  high  fever,  with 
rapid  swelling  of  the  neck,  burning  in  and  about  the  wound, 
which  gapped,  was  inflamed  and  dry.  Thus  from  so  trivial 
an  operation  originated  traumatic  erysipelas,  which  threaten- 
ed life,  and  from  which  he  did  not  fully  recover  in  a  month. 

NoTB.— The  aathor's  remarks  upon  these  cases  will  appear  next 
month.— [Ed. 


MhtilUmm^. 


The  Milwatlkee  Test.     Prof.  Hawkes  Explains. 

Editor  Advance: — Objective  study  of  mental  philosophy 
teaches  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  conscientiousness.  The 
first  of  these  is  what  may  be  called  the  intuitive,  or  innate 
conscientiousness,  which  enables,  nay,  compels,  its  possessor 
to  distinguish  between  the  right  and  wrong  of  an  abstract 
question.  Its  possessor  may  be  a  rascal,  but  not  without 
his  knowledge.  It  may  be  called  the  genius  of  justice.  It 
bears  the  same  relation  to  the  just  judge,  that  intuitive  per- 
ception of  proportions  sustains  to  the  genius  of  sculpture: 
color  in  painting;  harmony  in  music. 

The  second  kind  of  conscientiousness  is  the  result  of  edu- 
cation (more  properly  the  lack  of  it),  environment,  prejudice. 
Its  possessor  may  desire  and  intend  to  do  and  say  the  right 
but  yet  does  and  says  the  wrong.  He  may  do  serious  injury 
to  his  fellows,  and  be  unaware  of  it.  We  can  not  call  him  a 
villain,  yet  he  does  villainous  things. 

This  is  the  kind  of  conscientiousness  which  makes  bigots, 
burns  martyrs  in  the  name  of  God,  hides  truth,  would  throttle 
science,  and  stay  all  progress  in  the  name  of  conscience. 

In  selecting  judges  to  d,ecide  the  merits  of  any  important 
question,  it  is  desirable  that  they  should,  if  possible,  possess 
the  good  of  both  kinds.  They  should  have  the  intuitive  per- 
ception of  right  of  the  first,  and  the  desire  always  to  do 
right  of  the  second.  A  judge  without  both  is  liable  to  be 
an  unjust  judge.     Very  few  possess  both  qualifications. 

In  selecting  judges  to  decide  a  question  of  at  least  National 
interest,  it  is  essential  that  men  of  National  reputation  be 
chosen.  It  is  not  best  to  take  their  own  estimate  as  to  that. 
This  reputation  can  be  known  only  through  public  writings 
or  doinf^s,  which  show   their  ability  to  successfully  grapple 


Miscellaneous.  373 

with  the  subject.  These  must  embrace  evidence  of  a  famili- 
arity with  the  question,  a  large  intellectuality,  and  a  rigid 
conscientiousness. 

There  might  be  others  equally  able,  but  not  known,  whom 
it  would  be  unsatisfactory  and  risky  to  try.  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  are  not  selected  from  among  lawyers  who 
have  never  had  a  "case"  outsidp  of  a  police  court.  It  would 
be  equally  foolish  to  put  in  a  medical  text  book  a  definition 
of  *'cure"  by  one  who  had  been  so  situated  through  life  as  to 
necessarily  know  nothing  at  all  about  it. 

The  conviction  based  upon  these  conclusions  induced  me 
to  oppose  the  "Milwaukee  Test."  Not  that  I  questioned  the 
honesty  of  the  intentions  of  the  individuals  composing  the 
committee  who  had  the  matter  in  charge,  but  that  I  had  no 
evidence  whatever  of  their  ability  to  perform  satisfactorily 
the  task  they  had  set  for  themselves.  There  was  no  pubHc 
evidence  of  their  fitness  for  the  task,  and  I  feared  the  result. 
Their  report  published  in  the  Hahnemannian,  for  October, 
proves  the  correctness  of  my  conclusions,  and  the  wisdom 
of  my  course  in  the  matter.  My  name  is  used  in  two  in- 
stances in  that  report,  and  in  both  are  gross  perversions  of 
the  facts,  to  say  the  least.  To  a  lack  of  which  kind  of  con- 
scientiousness these  errors  are  to  be  attributed  I  leave  your 
readers  to  determine. 

On  page  six  hundred  and  two  of  said  number  of  said 
journal,  said  report,  says;  "The  following  physicians,  be- 
lievers in  the  eflicacy  of  the  30th  attenuatioHy  have  applied 
for  and  received  the  test  pellets,"  Then  follows  a  list  of 
names,  the  third  of  which  is  "Professor  J.  W.  Hawkes 
Chicago,  111." 

The  truth  is,  Mr.  Editor,  I  never  applied  for,  nor  ever  re- 
ceived, the  "test  pellets."  Nor  do  I  believe  in  the  30th  "at- 
tenuation." Nor  do  I  believe  that  men  who  use  as  synony- 
mous terms  "attenuation"  and  "potency,"  are  fitted  to  pass 
upon  any  question  pertaining  to  homoeopathic  medicine. 

Now  some  wag,  knowing  their  inexperience,  may  have 
"played  a  joke"  on  them.  But  I  certainly  am  innocent  of 
making  any  such  applicatio9. 


374  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Again,  on  page  six  hundred  and  four,  is  the  following 
paragraph  from  the  same  report:  "Another  proposition  is 
that  of  Professor  W.  J.  Hawkes,  of  Chicago,  made  at  the 
last  meeting  of  our  State  Society,  and  since  repeated  in  the 
Homoeopath.  He  will  undertake  to  pick  out  the  30th  as  often 
as  we  can  pick  out  the  3d  (he  afterward  raised  this  to  the  6th) 
and  will  het  one  hundred  dollars  thereon." 

What  I  did  write  may  be  found  in  the  August  number  of 
the  Homoeopath,  and  is  as  follows:  "I  will  then  agree  to  as 
often  select  the  vial  medicated  with  the  30th  or  200th,  as 
any  of  these  gentlemen  can  select  that  medicated  with  the 
6th,  or  even  one  or  two  numbers  lower.  Moreover,  I  will 
agree  to  donate  to  some  homeopathic  charity  one  hundred 
dollars  for  each  time  I  may  be  less  successful  than  he,  and  he 
to  do  the  same  as  often  as  he  shall  be  the  least  successful.** 

I  have  italicised  the  words  to  which  I  desire  to  call  espec- 
ial attention,  for  comparison  between  the  quotation  from  the 
two  journals.  After  such  a  comparison,  I  ask,  is  this  a  com- 
mittee Htted  to  settle  the  potency  question? 

The  misrepresentition  in  regard  to  my  "having  applied  for 
and  obtained  the  test  pellets"  must  be  a  mistake;  for  it  would 
be  idiotic  to  intentionally  publish  anything  so  easily  disproved. 
But  in  the  second  quotation  the  cloven  foot  would  seem  to 
be  unmistakable  in  that  little  word  "bet."  The  common 
meaning  of  the  word  is  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  my  article. 
So  also  with  the  statement  that  I  had  changed  my  proposi« 
tion  from  the  3d  to  the  6th. 

But  whichever  horn  of  the  dilemma  they  may  take,  the 
"Milwaukee  Test"  committee  will  not  have  gained  much  in 
reputation  as  judges  in  a  high  court  of  inquiry.  Yours,  for 
progressive  Homoeopathy,  W.  J.  Hawkes,  Chicago,  Octo- 
ber II,  1879. 


MisceUaneous,  375 


Concorning  "Scratches"  and  the  "CritiqTie." 

BUNGLKTOWN,  AugUSt,  1879. 

To  THE  Editor  of  the  Advance:  Dear  Sir: — I  never 
read  poetry.  My  wife  never  reads  anything  else,  I  read 
your  "Critique  on  Scratches."*  My  wife  positively  refuses 
to  read  it.  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  why«  As  for  myself,  1 
have  read  it  over  a  great  many  times.  '  There  is  a  peculiarly 
melancholy  interest  attached  to  the  exercise.  In  gazing  upon 
it  as  a  whole — my  wife  suggests  **hole" — she  says  it  looks 
like  unoccupied  space.  I  was  about  to  remark  before  this 
unpleasant  interruption,  that  in  grasping  the  production  by 
its  "totality,"  one  is  reminded  of  a  tree  or  something  of  that 
sort  which  had  been  struck  by  ^lightning.  Also  it  reminds 
one  of  some  ancient  ruins  well  on  in  the  process  of  decay. 
My  wife  again  interferes  at  this  point.  She  is  strong  on  the 
doctrines  of  heredity.  She  says  the  child  is  just  like  its  father; 
ex  nihilo  nihil  fit  Consider,  she  says,  the  mental  ruin  that 
could  conceive  such  stuflT  as  that.  At  this  point  I  gave  Mrs. 
Q;^ ,  that  is  my  wife,  a  dollar  and  advised  her  to  go  shop- 
ping. She  went.  Henceforward  I  hope  to  have  things  my 
own  way — I  mean  with  regard  to  this  **Critique  on 
Scratches."  I  understand  that  the  book  in  question  is  a  col- 
lection of  poetry.  If  that  is  so  I  shall  never  read  it.  My 
wife  will  if  she  can  borrow  a  copy  from  the  neighbors. 
Under  no  circumstances  would  I  attempt  to  read  it,  knowing 
the  sad  effect  it  has  already  had  on  the  once  brilliant  mind 
of  the  Advance  editor.  I  would  hke  to  know  what  form 
of  insanity  could  give  origin  to  such  a  word  as  ^*'Cumaogi8r8V^\ 
and  what  do  you  suppose  is  the  meaning  of  it?  I  have  laid 
it  carefully  on  my  Webster's  Unabriged,  and  it  flattened  the 
lexicon  out  as  thin  as  tissue  paper.     I  shall  try  it  again  when 

*Vide  August  Advance 

tNoTE.— Our  devil  is  a  Welshman ;  that  goes  for  something.  Our 
impression  is  that  we  were  trying  to  say  something  about  gum  elas- 
tic stockings,  but  the  idea  is  wholly  lost  now.  That  word  killed  it 
dead. — [Ed. 


376  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

I  come  across  an  iron  bound  volume  of  Webster.  *^Andax 
and  Canteus'''  are  good,  They  look  like  Latin  manufactured 
by  some  Yankee  "melican  man."     Yours,  Dr.  Quidmuck. 

P.  S.  My  wife  has  returned.  The  dollar  I  gave  her  is 
gone.  I  thought  she  would  buy  sugar,  or  coffee,  or  cotton 
for  the  family.  Not  at  all.  She  purchased  a  copy  of 
Scratches,  Thank  Heaven,  I  start  for  the  Andirondacks  to- 
morrow morning. 


-♦-•- 


Beporting  Cases  for  Medical  Journals.     By  T.  c.  Hunter, 

M.  D. 

What  is  the  use  of  reporting  cases  for  publication?  I  lake 
it  to  be  one  of  two  things:  either  to  instruct  the  profession  by 
bringing  to  their  notice  some  new  manifestation  of  disease, 
some  new  method  of  treatment,  or  some  confirmation  of  an 
old  method;  or  to  bring  the  writer's  name  prominently  before 
the  profession  by  showing  that  he  has  unusual  skill  and 
knowledge. 

In  the  August  number  of  the  American  Hommopath^  I  find 
a  very  interesting  case  reported  by  Prof.  E.  M.  Hale.  Before 
reading  it,  I  wondered  if  the  learned  Prof,  had  not  found  a 
new  weed,  bug,  or  something  of  that  sort  that  nobody  else 
knew  anything  about,  and  sure  enough  I  soon  found  wads 
of  cotton  soaked  in  Glycerine  and  Folymnia  applied  to  the 
neck  of  the  uterus.  1  have  found,  and  it  is  neither  new  nor 
original,  that  Glycerine  applied  locally  in  some  cases  of 
uterine  disease  has  a  good  effect,  but  why  add  Folymnia}  I 
have  the  first  and  third  editions  of  Hale's  Materia  Medica 
and  yet  I  am  in  entire  darkness  as  to  what  Folymnia  is.  Is 
it  of  vegetable,  animal  or  mineral  origin?  I  have  two  works 
on  botany  and  they  do  not  mention  it.     On  reading  further  I 


Miscellaneous,  377 

find  the  same  remedy  used  internally  in  attenuation  with 
Bartya  lod.,  another  remedy  about  which  my  text  books  on 
materia  medica  are  silent  (I  do  not  have  Allen).  A  little 
further  on  Viburnum  was  used,  but  whether  it  was  Vib.  op,^ 
or  Vib.pmn,y  deponent  saith  not  Further  on  we  find  Chel,^ 
attenuated  with  Hydrastis  sulph.,  ix  tinct  (sic).  Hydrastis 
car*.,  is  mentioned  in  my  books  but  what  Hydrastis  sulph.^  is, 
they  do  not  inform  me;  perhaps  a  new  kind  the  learned 
Prof,  has  found  growing  near  Chicago. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  after  the  assault  of  the  learned  Prof, 
the  disease  yielded  and  the  lady  recovered  her  health,  and 
also  that  she  shows  her  appreciation  of  the  Profs  learned 
and  skillful  services.  I  hope  also  that  his  Honorarium  was 
equally  satisfactory. 

The  Docior  thinks  he  cured  her  in  "defiance  of  a  certain 
branch  of  our  school."  What  branch?  Was  it  the  "so-called 
(falsely)  Hahnemannian?"  Which  leads  me  to  remark  that 
I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what  the  learned  Professor  considers 
the  true  Hahnemannian.  Was  this  case  treated  on  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  by  Hahnemann  in  any  of  his  published 
works?  Was  this  given  us  to  illustrate  the  law  of  similia  as 
laid  by  the  aforesaid  immortal  old  fogy?  If  so  I  would  be 
pleased  to  have  it  pointed  out,  so  that  I,  as  well  as  others 
may  profit  by  it.  I  have  a  case  on  hand  at  this  time  some- 
what similar  to  that  reported,  and  I  am  very  anxious  to  know 
whether  Folymnia,  Viburnum,  Hydrastis,  sulph.  are  indi- 
cated or  not. 

Perhaps  Prof.  Hale  wishes  all  of  us  who  can  not  imitate 
him  in  his  lofty  flights  to  send  our  patients  to  him.  But  I 
would  like  to  have  the  gratitude  of  the  lady  and  her  friends, 
and  more  particularly  the  shekels  which  might  be  the  result 
of  such  gratitude.  Selfish,  I  know,  but  "such  is  life."  I  am 
waiting  for  the  Professor  to  get  out  another  edition, as  when- 
ever I  have  gotten  any  of  them  I  have  always  been  sorry  I  did 
not  wait  another  month  for  a  later,  and  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  a  different  book. 

Dec-3 


378  Ciuomnats  Medical  Advance. 


A  Oorrocticxi.     By  Dr.  Ad.  Lippe,  Philadelphia. 

We  have  to  thank  S.  P.*  for  his  extremely  polite  manner 
in  which  he  calls  our  attention  to  the  fact  that  **The  Genius 
of  the  Homoeopathic  Healing  Art"  was  not  only  translated,  as 
we  stated,  hy  Dr.  Gram  but  also  by  Dr.  Dudgeon,  and  pub* 
lished  among  Hahnemann's  lesser  writings,  under  the  title 
"Spirit  of  the  Homceopathic  Doctrine."  We  admit  to  the 
tender  charge  of  omitting  this  translation,  for  which  we  looked 
in  Hempel's  translation  of  the  second  volume  of  Hahne- 
mann's Materia  Medica  Pura;  it  was  not  there, .  why,  we 
know  not;  we  did  not  look  for  so  important  a  paper  in  Hah- 
nemann's lesser  writings.  We  do  not  propose  to  be  outdone 
by  S.  P.,  and  now  correct  his  kind  correction.  There  is 
another  translation  of  said  paper  to  be  found  in  the  ffomcBO' 
pathic  Examiner  J  (Glasgow)  1840,  by  Dr.  G.  M.  Scott.  This 
paper  was  translated  into  the  French  language  by  A.  J.  L. 
Jordan,  in  1834,  in  ''Tome  premier''  ofTraite  de  M.  if." 
*Hahnemannian  Monthly,  August  1879,  page  509. 


Charles  Jtiliu  Eempel,  H.  D. 

This  eminent  scholar  and  well  known  writer,  died  at  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich.,  September  24th,  1879.  We  are  indebted  to 
Dr.  Arndt  for  the  following  account  of  his  long  and  useful 
life: 

Charles  J.  Hempel  was  born  in  Solingon,  near  Cologne, 
Prussia,  on  September  5th,  181 1.  After  having  mastered  the 
wcollegiate  course  of  his  own  country,  he  removed,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three,  to  Paris,  Supporting  himself  there  as  a 
^teacher  of  languages,  he  not  only  listened  to  the  lectures  of 


Miscellaneous,  379 

the  medical  faculty,  but  devoted  much  time  to  the  critical 
study  of  music,  of  the  arts  and  of  polite  literature.  His  genial 
manners  and  his  ability  won  him  the  friendship  of  the  dis- 
tinguished Prof.  Michelet,  who  employed  the  enthusiastic 
young  student  as  a  translator  from  German  historical  works 
and  brought  him  to  the  notice  of  the  members  of  the  faculty 
of  the  University  of  Paris.  He  emigrated  to  America  in 
1835  and  graduated  in  the  medical  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  New  York.  Soon  after  this  he  openly  declared  his 
faith  in  Homeopathy  and  entered  upon  practice  in  accord- 
ance with  his  avowed  belief. 

The  school  of  which   he  soon  became  an  acknowledged 
leader  was  at  that  time  small  in  numbers,  without  political  or 
social   influence  and,  above  all,  without  a  literature.     The 
works  of  Hahnemann,  the  founder  of  the  school,  were  acces- 
sible only  to  the  few  who  had  a  knowledge  of  the  German 
language*     Eminently  fitted  for  literary  labors,  Dr.  Hempel 
at  once  commenced  the  translation   of  the  Materia  Medica 
Pura,  followed,  at  brief  intervals,  by  the  rendering  into  Eng- 
lish  of  the   other  works  of  Hahnmann.     He   continued   to 
translate  many  of  the  standard  works  on  materia  medica  and 
on  theory  and  practice,  issued  voluminous  repertories,  and, 
while  attending   to   his  growing   practice,  took  a  foremost 
part  in  creating  a  literature  for  the  school,  in  developing  its 
resources  and   in  spreading  its  doctrines.     In  1855  ^^  ^^^ 
married  to  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Calder,  of  Grand  Rapids.     He  was 
called  to  fill  the  chair  of  materia  medica  in  the  Hahnemann 
Medical  College  of  Philadephia.     His  success  in  teaching 
materia  medica  led  to  the  publication  of  his  lectures  in  a  vol- 
ume of  twelve  hundred  pages,  which  went  through  two  large 
editions,  both  of  which  were  republished  in  England.     In 
1869,   the  Doctor  began  to  fail  in   health,   and  his  eyesight 
grew  weak.     In   1S71  he   made  a  trip  to  Europe,  consulted 
eminent  specialists,  and  learned  that  blindness  was  inevitable. 
During  the  years  following  he  continued  to  fail  slowly  but 
constantly,  until  he  became  a  perfect  invalid,  absolutely  blind 
and  helpless. 


380  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

In  of  spite  this  terrible  affliction  his  intellect  remained  per- 
fectly clear.  During  the  weary  days  of  his  long  illness  he  wrote, 
by  the  aid  of  his  wife,  who  acted  as  his  amanuensis,  a  work 
on  the  principles  of  Homeopathy,  and  prepared  a  new  edi- 
tion of  his  work  on  materia  medica.  This  latter  work  became 
the  one  last  point  of  interest  of  his  life,  and  when  arrange- 
ments for  its  publication  had  been  made,  he  resigned  himself 
to  the  conviction  that  his  life's  work  was  done.  During  the 
stormy  weather  of  last  week  he  took  a  severe  cold,  unex- 
pected complications  arose,  and  on  the  24th  day  of  September 
the  weary  wanderer  entered  into  the  rest  for  which  he  had 
often  prayed. 

Dr.  Hempel  was  an  indefatigable  worker.  He  translated 
into  English  nine  large  works  on  medicine;  he  published  a 
work  on  domestic  practice  in  French,  English  and  German; 
he  wrote  and  published  four  large  works  on  medicine;  he 
furnished  the  best  tianslation  extant  of  the  prose  works  of 
Schiller;  he  left  the  unpublished  manuscript  of  a  large  Ger- 
man grammar,  which  good  authorities  have  pronounced  a 
book  of  the  highest  merit;  and  he  published  a  number  of  rel- 
igio-philosophical  works. 

The  life,  now  closed,  was  active,  earnest,  the  heart  now  still 
was  child-like,  void  of  malice;  the  spirit  now  gone  home, 
was,  nay,  is,  joyous,  hopeful  and  bright,  softening  into  gentler 
shades  the  short-comings  of  human  nature  and  scattering 
sunbeams  on  the  pathway  of  others.     Bequieseat  in  pace. 

H.  R,  A. 


Kedical  Legislation.    . 

Everything  goes  by  fashion.  There  is  a  mania  for  legal 
protection  for  the  doctors  of  the  allopathic  school,  and  as  a 
counter  current  we  commend  the  following  from  a  distin- 
guished gentl 


1 4 « kt  1 1 


Miscellaneous.  381 

Doctors,  as  a  general  thing,  are  ''death"  on  constitutional 
treatment,  and  it  is  certainly  surprising  to  thinking  people 
that  they  have  not  started  out  in  this  matter  of  protecting 
and  elevating  the  practice  of  medicine  by  an  attack,  with  a 
panacea  upon  the  diseased  condition  of  the  constitution  of 
the  State,  which  peremptorily  forbids  class  legislation.  A 
body  of  men  claiming  to  be  scientists,  and  at  the  same  time 
not  sufficiently  logical  to  work  by  logical  methods  for  its  own 
protection,  does  not  specially  deserve  protection,  and  in  this 
instance  evinced  no  greater  wisdom  than  is  manifested  by 
the  irregular  practitioners  which  it  aims  to  suppress. 

Now,  the  query  comes  up  right  here,  What  special  inter- 
ests  have  doctors  at  stake  that  they  should  rise  up  and  ask  for 
special  legislation  in  their  favor?     It  is  the  people  who  take 
the  risk,  and  with  the  people  the  whole  matter  should  rest. 
If  the  State  wants  doctors   of  a  certain  standard,  the  State 
must  provide  the  means  of  attaining  this  standard,  but  it  can 
not,  without  a  flagrant  violation  of  its  consitution,  enact  spe- 
cial laws  for  the  proctection  of  a  class  of  men  who  will  have 
it  in  their  power  to  fix  the  standard  of  a  physician's  attain- 
ments, and  thus  establish  a  medical  aristocracy  and  trades- 
union.     The  people  trust  the  schools  and  workshops  for  the 
education  and  drilling  of  the  competent  engineer  who  shall 
construct  safe  bridges  with  mathematical  precision,  and  at 
the  same  time  engineers  have  no  need  of  special  legislation, 
for  their  superior  skill  secures  them  employment  and  protects 
them.     The  only    proper   and   legitimate  way   to   suppress 
quackery  is  for  physicians  to  show  by  superior  skill  and  excel- 
lence in  their  practice  that  they  are  entitled  to  the  confidence 
and  patronage  of  the  people,  and  they  will  thus  surely  estab- 
lish a  standard  of  merit  that  the  people  will  not  fail  to  recog- 
nize.    When  matters  of  life  and  death  are   concerned,  the 
people  are  always  on  the  alert  and  quick  to  detect  imposi- 
tion, and  there  need  not  be  any  very  great  alarm  mainfestea 
by  the  doctors  in  this  particular. 

It  is  pretty  well  understand  that  all  legislation  having  in 
view  only  "fair  play"  and  just  dealing,  attempts  merely  the 
regulation   of  future  action,   consequently  we  have  here  a 


382  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

strong  evidence  of  the  monarchical  tendencies  of  those  legis- 
lature-beseeching M.  D.'s.     The  very  fact  that  these  doctors 
are  willing  to  devote  their  time  to  discussions  of  this  kind, 
and  besiege  our  law-makers  without  cessation  for  an  enact- 
ment in  their  favor,  is  a  tacit  admission  on  their  part  of  their 
inability  to  cope  with  an  unrestricted  competition  in  the  pro- 
fession and  shows  a  great  want   of  independent  manliness, 
because  they  are  willing  to  beg  for  exclusive  privilegs.     If 
our  coming  legislators  are  as  wise  and  prudent  as  they  should 
be»  they  will  very  justly  conclude  to  let  the  doctors  take  cire 
of  themselves.     They  are  no  more   entiiled  to  special  legis- 
lation in  their  favor  than  the  blacksmith  or  the  shoemaker, 
nor  have  they  any  greater  right  to  be  constituted  a  special  or 
exclusive  caste  than  either  of  the  above  named  mechanics.     If 
these  physicians  who  are  continually  convulsed  with  great 
spasms  of  interest  in  the  dear  people,  are  in  earnest  in  their 
endeavors  to  elevate  the  standard  of  medical  attainments  in 
our  State,  let  them  ask  the  State  to  constitute  an  examining 
board  of  its  own  to  be  composed  of  a  certain  number  of  the 
best  physicians,  and  authorize  this  board  to  bestow  an  hon- 
orary diploma  or  medal  of  distinction  upon  those  who   pass 
satisfactory    examination,    and     have    it    distinctly    under- 
stood that  physicians  are   invited,  not  compelled  to  appear 
before  this  board,  and  you  place  the  very  apt  to  be  egotistical 
M.  D.'s  on  the  same  plane  with  artisans  and  other  scientists, 
and  they  will  have  abundant  opportunity  to   display   their 
medals  when  they  win  them,  and  it  is  quite  plain  and  evident 
that  these  medals  and  diplomas  thus  obtained  will  become  a 
mark  of  undoubted  distinction  wherever  exhibited  by  their 
possessor. 

When  doctors  double  their  diligence  in  regard  to  what  they 
expect  a  legislature  to  do  for  them,  rather  than  in  regard  to 
what  they  intend  to  do  for  themselves  and  their  patients 
through  the  testimony  of  their  own  works  it  is  clear  that  a 
feeling  of  inability  has  seized  them,  and  nothing  short  of  a 
legalized  trades-union  will  brace  them  up  for  long  and  loud 
assertions  of  their  own  infallibility. 

Law  makers  have  looked  after  the  interests  of  the  people 
pretty  closely  by  making  the  penalty  for  malpractice  severe 


MiBcellaneoui,  383 

and  scathinn^;  in  fact,  the  people's  interests  in  this  particular 
have  been  so  well  cared  for  that  it  is  evident  that  we  doctors 
did  not  have  a  hand  in  framing  this  law.  Further,  if  the  peo- 
ple desire  to  be  humbugged  and  doctored  by  quacks  in  a 
country  abounding  in  repubh'can  institutions,  free  schools  and 
flourishing  medical  colleges,  an  incorporated  doctors'  trades- 
union  would  be  utterly  powerless  to  prevent  it — they  would 
choose  their  own  physicians  still,  quack  or  no  quack. 

The  arrogance  displayed  by  our  profession  in  the  past  in 
this,  as  well  as  in  other  countries,  can  not  hope  to  become  a 
flourishing  thing  of  to-day.  The  people  generally  are  keep- 
ing pace  with  every  new  advance  made  by  medical  science, 
and  are  far  from  being  too  ignorant  to  choose  intelligently  a 
physician  to  heal  their  ills  and  maladies.  A  physician's 
greatest  and  surest  protection  lies  in  his  success  and  ability 
to  cure  his  patients,  and  this  very  success  will  do  more  to 
place  the  bungKng  quack  in  the  background  than  whole  hosts 
of  medical  bills,  and  will  enable  the  true  physician  to  reach  a 
higher  standard  than  he  can  ever  expect  to  attain  by  legis- 
lative boosting. — D.  H.,  Indianapolis. 


AxXd&jiecdote 

Dr.  Hering,  while  travelling  in  Germany,  saw  an  old  gen- 
tleman, who  had  suffered  much  under  many  doctors,  who  all 
treated  him  differently.  He  at  last  determined  to  take  no 
more  medicine  until  he  should  find  three  doctors  who  would 
all  agree  upon  his  case,  and  for  this  purpose  he  was  traveling 
and  had,  when  Dr.  Hering  saw  him,  consulted  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven  doctors,  who  wrote  him  eight  hund- 
red and  thirty-two  prescriptions  containing  ten  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  different  remedies.     He  requested  Dr.  Hering  to 


384  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

prescribe,  but  he  declined  it,  and  asked  him  if  Hahnemann 
were  not  among  the  number  he  had  consulted.  With  a 
smile  he  turned  to  number  three  hundred  and  one,  the  name 
of  the  disease  o,  remedy  o.  "That  was  the  wisest  man  of 
the  lot"  said  he,  "for  he  said  the  name  of  the  remedy  did  not 
concern  me;  but  that  the  cure  was  the  essential  point"  "But 
why  did  you  not  allow  him  to  treat  you?"  "Because"  said 
he  "he  is  but  two,  and  I  must  have  three  who  agree."  Dr. 
Hering  said,  if  he  were  willing  to  sacrifice  some  hundred 
francs  in  the  experiment,  he  would  find  not  three  but  thirty- 
three  physicians  who  would  agree  in  his  case,  to  which  he 
acceded.  A  description  of  his  disease  was  then  made  and  sent 
to  thirty-three  homoBopathic  physicians.  He  shortly  after 
wrote  to  Dr.  Hering,  saying  "I  send  you  wine  of  the  year 
1822,  because  twenty-two  physicians  agree  respecting  my 
case.  I  thereby  perceive  that  there  is  such  a  thing  in  this 
world  as  twenty-two  physicians  who  have  fixed  upon  the 
same  remedy."  He  took  the  remedy  and  was  cured. — Horn, 
Examiner^  1840. 


Instructions  for  Disinfeotion,  Prepared  for  the  National  Board 
of  Health,  1879. 

Disinfection  is  the  destruction  of  the  poisons  of  infectious 
and  contagious  diseases. 

Deodorizers,  or  substances  which  destory  smells,  are  not 
necessarily  disinfectants,  and  disinfectants  do  not  necesfarily 
have  an  odor. 

Disinfection  can  not  compensate  for  want  of  cleanliness  nor 
of  ventilation, 

I. — DISINFECTANTS   TO   BE    EMPLOYED. 

I.  Boll-sulphur  (brimstone)  for  fumigation. 


Misoellaneous,  385 

2.  Sulphate  of  iron  {copperas)  dissolved  in  water  in  the 
proportion  of  one  and  a  half  pounds  to  the  gallon;  for  soil, 
sewers,  etc. 

3.  Sulphate  of  zinc  and  Common  salt  dissolved  together  in 
water  in  the  proportions  of  four  ounces  Sulphate  and  two 
ounces  Salt  to  the  gallon;  for  clothing,  bed-linen,  etc. 

Note. — CaiMU  acid  is  not  included  in  the  above  list  for  the  fol- 
lowing reasons :  It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  the  quality  of  the 
commerical  article,  and  the  purchaser  can  never  be  certain  of  secur- 
ing it  of  proper  strength;  it  is  expensive,  when  of  good  quality,  and 
experience  has  shown  that  it  must  be  employed  in  comparatively 
large  quantities  to  be  of  any  use ;  it  is  liable  by  its  strong  odor  to  give 
a  false  sense  of  security. 

II. HOW   TO   USE   DISINFECTANTS. 

1.  In  the  sickroom.^-The  most  available  agents  are  fresh 
air  and  cleanliness.  The  clothing,  towels,  bed  linen,  etc., 
should,  on  removal  from  the  patient,  and  before  they  are 
taken  from  the  room,  be  placed  in  a  pail  or  tub  of  the  Zinc 
Solution^  boiling  hot  if  possible. 

All  discharges  should  either  be  received  in  vessels  contain- 
ing Copperas  solution,  or,  when  this  is  impracticable,  should 
be  immediately  covered  with  Copperas  solution.  All  vessels 
used  about  the  patient  should  be  cleansed  with  the  same  sol- 
ution. 

Unnecessary  furniture — especially  that  which  is  stuffed — 
carpets  and  hangings,  should  when  possible,  be  removed 
from  the  room  at  the  outset,  otherwise,  they  should  remain 
for  subsequent  fumigation  and  treatment. 

2.  Fumigation  with  Sulphur  is  the  only  practicable  method 
for  disinfecting  the  house.  For  this  purpose  the  rooms  to  be 
disinfected  must  be  vacated.  Heavy  clothing,  blankets,  bed- 
ding, and  other  articles  which  can  not  be  treated  with  Zinc 
solution,  should  be  opened  and  exposed  during  fumigation, 
as  directed  below.  Close  the  rooms  as  tightly  as  possible, 
place  the  Sulphur  in  iron  pans  supported  upon  bricks  placed 
in  wash  tubs  containing  a  little  water,  set  it  on  fire  by  hot 
coals  or  with  the  aid  of  a  spoonful  of  Alcohol,  and  allow  the 
room  to  remain  closed  for  twenty-four  hours.  For  a  room 
about  ten  feet  square,  at  least  two  pounds  o{ Sulphur  should 
be  used;  for  larger  rooms,  proportionally  increased  quantities. 


386  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

3.  Premises. — Cellars,  yards,  stables  gutters,  privies,  cess- 
pools, water-closets,  drains,  sewers,  etc.,  should  be  frequently 
and  liberally  treated  with  Copperas  solution.     The  Copperas 

solution  is  easily  prepared  by  hai>ging  a  basket  containing  I 

about  sixty  pounds  of  Copperas  in  a  barrel  of  water. 

4.  Body  and  bed  clothing,  etc., — It  is  best  to  burn  all  articles 

which  have  been  in  contact  with  persons  sick  with  con  tag-  * 

ious  or  infectious  diseases.     Articles  too  valuable  to  be  des- 
troyed should  be  treated  as  follows: 

(a.)  Cotton,  linen,  flannels,  blankets,  etc.,  should  be  treated 
with  the  boiling  hot  Zinc  solution;  introduce  piece  by  piece; 
secure  thorough  wetting,  and  boil  for  at  least  half  an  hour. 

(6.)  Heavy  woolen  clothing,  silk,  furs,  stuffed  bed  covers 
beds,  and  other  articles  which  can  not  be  treated  with  the  Zinc 
solution,  should  be  hung  in  the  room  during  fumigation,  their 
surfaces  thoroughly  exposed,  and  pockets  turned  inside  out 
Afterward  they  should  be  hung  in  the  open  air,  beaten,  and 
shaken.  Pillows,  beds,  stuffed  mattresses,  upholstered  furni- 
ture, etc.,  should  be  cut  open,  the  contents  spread  out  and 
thoroughly  fumigated.  Carpets  are  best  fumigated  on  the 
floor,  but  should  afterwaid  be  removed  to  the  open  air  and 
thoroughly  beaten. 

5.  Corpses  should  be  thoroughly  washed  with  a  Zinc  sol- 
ution  of  double  strength  should  then  be  wrapped  in  a  sheet 
wet  with  the  Zinc  solution,  and  buried  at  once.  Metallic, 
metal  lined,  or  air-tight  cofHns  should  be  used  when  possible, 
certainly  when  the  body  is  to  be  transported  for  any  consid- 
erable distance. 


!&Qo|  MMt$*. 


The  Laws  of  TherapeuticSi  or  the  Science  and  Art  of  Medicine.    By  Joseph 
Eidd,  M.  D.    Lindsay  &  Biakinton,  Philadelphia,  pp.  196. 

Oar  first  impression  was  to  cast  this  book  aside,  and  condemn  it  alto- 
gether. We  have  done  better — we  have  read  it  with  care  and  pleasure. 
The  pleasure,  however,  was  on  the  principle  that  a  half  a  loaf  is  better 
than  none.  That  the  distinguished  publishers,  all  of  whose  works  have 
heretofore  been  strictly  of  the  allopathic  school,  should  consent  to  publish 
a  book  like  this,  full  of  homoeopathic  ideas  and  doctrines,  is  at  least  worthy 
of  notice.  We  hope  they  will  find  this  venture  a  paying  one,  and  so  con- 
sent to  put  upon  their  list  some  of  our  standard  literature.  Dr.  Eidd 
gives  a  very  crude  showing  for  Homoeopathy,  and  while  he  gives  some  ex 
cellent  exemplifications  of  the  law  SimiUa^  he  attempts  an  equal  showing 
for  OofUraria,  The  book  is  small,  but  it  has  in  it  many  excellent  ideas, 
and  we  can  wish  the  old  school  no  better  thing  than  that  they  read  it  care- 
fully. The  book  carries  its  own  refutation  to  the  assumption  that  there 
are  several  laws  of  therapeutics.  The  similar  can  be  found  in  every  one 
of  the  alleged  cures  by  any  other  than  the  intended  homoeopathic  remedy- 
Price  $1.25.    Kobert  Clarke  &  Co. 


Jousset's  Lectures  on  Clinical  Medicine.     Translated  into  English  by 
Prof.  B.  Ludlam.    8.  C.  Grigg|  <&  Co.,  Publishers,  Chicago. 

This  book  is  beautifully  printed,  and  generally  very  attractive  in 
style  and  appearance.  Bat  it  is  incorrectly  named.  It  should  have 
been  christened.  Lectures  on  Special  Pathology  and  Diagnosis. 

It  will  disappoint  the  therapeutist  as  much  as  it  will  delight  the 
sttldent  of  diagnosis.  As  far  as  it  goes  it  is  an  excellent  work,  but  it 
falls  far  short  of  what  its  title  implies.  It  is  virtually  without  therapeu- 
tics, and  clinical  lectures  with  lame  therapeutics  are  necessarily  imper- 
fect. Therapeutics  should  be  the  head  and  front  of  clinical  teaching. 
For  this  reason  we  may  justly  compare  thu  book  to  the  perfect  statue  o 
a  Coloeeus  with  the  head  of  a  pigmy.  ^ 

Dr.  Bartholow,  professor  of  materia  medica  and  general  theri  pen  tics 
in  Jefierson  Medical  College,  said  in  a  lecture  delivered  the  current  year, 
*'I  heard  but  a  few  years  ago,  a  very  able  teacher,  himself  a  professor  of 
practice,  declare  that  if  the  four  great  chairs  of  surgery,  anatomy,  practice 


388  Cincinnati  Wedical  Advance, 

of  medicine  and  obstetrics,  were  well  filled  in  a  medical  school,  it  was  of 
little  consequence  who  occupied  the  others.  And  as  for  materia  medica 
and  therapeutics,  any  old  woman  could  teach  that.  His  was  the  tradi- 
tional old  woman,  who  knew  how  to  prepare  catnip  and  tansy  teas ;  and  on 
special  occasions  could  administer  Ooator  oil  An  amount  of  therapeutical 
knowledge,  sufficient  now  for  the  leaders  of  French  medical  practice,  if 
we  may  credit  some  recent  reports  from  Paris." 

Judging  from  Jousset's  lectures,  it  would  seem  as  if  French  homoeopath ic 
therapeutics  were  held  in  proportionately  low  esteem.  Professor  Bartho- 
low  further  very  truthfully  says :  "The  end  to  which  all  our  studies  are 
directed  as  practical  physicians,  is  the  applications  of  remedial  agents  to 
the  cure  of  diseases.  An  unprejudiced  thinker  would  regard  it  as  incredi- 
ble that  a  considerable  part  of  our  profession  are  either  indifierent  or  satis- 
fied with  vague  notions,  and  that  a  still  larger  part  fall  into  routine 
methods  with  a  few  agents  which  have  to  'do  duty  for  all  possible  condi- 
tions. This  is  a  result  in  part  of  the  overshadoiring  importance  of  phy- 
siological and  pathological  studies."  This  is  precisely  the  fault  we  have 
to  find  with  such  clinical  teaching  as  these  lectures  of  Jousset's.  And  this 
rebuke,  though  from  the  mouth  of  a  representative  of  the  essentially  physio- 
pathological  school,  applies  to  the  utterances  of  one  who  claims  to  repre- 
sent a  school  whose  only  distinction  is  its  therapeutics. 

We  gladly  grant,  and  heartily  laud,  the  great  merits  of  this  book.  Any 
one  can  learn  from  its  admirable  diagnostic  and  pathological  distinctions. 
The  translator  has  done  his  work  in  a  masterly  manner.  His  notes  are 
really  the  most  reliable  part  of  the  book,  in  a  therapeutic  sense.  But  as  a 
teacher  of  therapeutics — of  how  to  heal  the  sick — it  is  worpe  than  useless. 
If  it  teaches  anything  in  this  direction  it  teaches  that  a  remedy  is  to  be 
prescribed  for  a  disease,  and  not  because  the  symptoms  of  the  patient 
demand  it.  The  following  case  is  a  fair  example.  It  is  in  lecture  XII, 
pages  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  and  one  hundred  and  thirty -five  : 

"Typhoid  Fever.  Case  xzxiv. — Mrs.  Charpentier,  aged  thirty- 
five,  entered  on  the  first  of  April,  and  died  on  the  sixth  of  April.  This 
patient  came  to  us  on  the  twelfth  day  of  her  illnes!*,  which  commenced,  as 
we  heard  from  her  relatives,  with  headache  and  vomiting.  There  was  no 
epistaxis.  The  stools  were  frequent,  but  they  had  been  provoked  by  a  pur- 
gative given  during  the  first  day  of  the  disease.  From  that  time  there  has 
been  constipation.  The  patient  was  completely  prostrated.  She  com- 
plains of  headache,  and  says  that  since  she  has  been  ill  she  does  not  hear 
distinctly. 

''The  abdomen  is  sensitive,  especially  in  the  right  iliac  fossa,  but  there 
are  no  spots  on  the  skin.  The  pulse  is  frequent  and  small ;  the  tongue 
whitish,  a  little  red  at  the  tips  and  on  the  sides.  An  examination  of  the 
chest  reveals  nothing.  No  rales  are  to  be  heard,  although  there  is  dysp- 
noea and  a  frequent  cough. 


Book  Notces,  389 

"April  Ist.    Evening,  temperature  104®,  pulse  120. 

"April  2d.  Morning,  temperature  101.8®,  pulse  120.  Aneniewn  met  in 
third  trituration.    Evening,  temperature  104.36®,  pulse  120. 

"April  3d.  Morning,  temperature  1 04®,  pulse  120.  Carbo,  VegetabUis, 
twelfth  dilution.    Evening,  temperature  104.72®,  pulse  128. 

"April  4th.  Morning,  temperature  103.28®,  pulse  116.  Stramonixanf 
third  dilution.    Evening,  temperature  104.36®,  pulse  128. 

"April  5th.  Morning,  temperature  102.56®,  pulse  120.  Stramonium ^ 
third  dilution.    Evening,  temperature  105.44®,  pulse  136. 

"April  6th.  Morning,  temperature  102.20®,  pulse  128.  Stramonium  in 
the  mother  tincture,  one  drop.  Evening,  temperature  106.88®,  pulse  168. 
Death." 

"From  the  2d  to  the  6th  of  April  the  prostration  and  adynamia  in- 
creased. The  patient  has  had  no  alvine  evacuations  at  all,  and  during 
the  last  days  no  urinary  discbarge ;  not  because  of  retention  of  the  urine, 
but  from  absence  of  the  secretion.  She  is  agitated  and  delirious,  especi- 
ally at  night.    The  face  is  pale  and  there  is  considerable  emaciation." 

That  is  the  whole  of  it.    What  therapeutic  fact  can  a  student  learn 
from  the  case  ?    We  are  not  told  why  no  medicine  was  given  the  first 
day,  Ar9enicum  the  second,  Carho  veg,  the  third,  and  Shwnoniim  the  fourth, 
fifth  and  sixth  days.     The  only  reason  given  is  the  implied  one  that  it 
was  because  the  patient  had  typhoid  fever.    The  only  symptom  mentioned 
that  does  not  appear  in  nearly  every  case  of  typhoid  fever  is  that  of  the 
tongue,  and  that  symptom  is  more  prominent  under  Itku»  tax,  than  under 
any  other  remedy,  but  it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  treatment  of  the  case. 
The  chief  object  of  a  teacher  of  clinical   therapeutics  should  be  the  in- 
struction of  his  pupils  so  that  in  a.  similar  case  they  may  be  able  to  ap- 
ply the  curative  remedy.     And  in  order  so  to  do,  it  is  necessary  to  tell 
them  why  such  a  remedy  is  given.     But  when  either  of  twenty  remedies 
may  be  the  right  one  in  a  given  case  of  typhoid  fever,  it  is  not  sufficient 
to  say :  "I  gave  Anenicum  because  the  patient  has  typhoid  fever."      We 
can  easily  understand  why  a  teacher  holding  such  an  estimate  of  homoeo- 
pathic therapeutics  should  "not  deny  the  charge  of  a  want  of  faith  in 
Homoeopathy  exclusively."    The  only  fault  we  have  to  find   with  the 
translator  is  the  evidence,  furnished  by  his  quotations  from  Prof.  Hawkes' 
clinical  lecture,  that  his  views  of  thera{)eutical  teaching  coincide  with 
those  of  the  author  he  has  translated.    In  that  quotation  he  has  left  out, 
without  asterisks  to  indicate  the  omission,  the  paragraph  wherein  are 
given  the  reasons  and  symptoms  upon  which  the  selection  of  hb  remedy 
was  based. — Quid  Nuc. 


390  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance. 

The  Advantages  and  Accidents  of  Artificial  Anasthesia.    By  Lawrence 

Turnbull,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.    Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  Philadelphia. 

This  is  but  a  small  work  of  three  hundred  and  twenty-two  pages,  but 
its  importance  to  the  physician  is  unquestionably  great.  How  many  of 
us  are  constantly  giving  Chloroform  or  other  aneesthetics  ?  How  necessary 
both  for  our  reputation  and  the  safety  of  those  who  confide  in  us,  that  we 
should  thoroughly  understand  the  business.  All  the  principal  agents 
used  to  produce  the  ansesthetic  effect  are  carefully  describedi  and  especially 
the  dangers  that  besel  the  use  of  Chloro/ormj  Sulphuric  ether  and  Chloral 
hydraUf  are  clearly  pointed  out.  We  commend  this  work  as  a  most  valu- 
able and  necessary  addition  to  the  physician's  library.  Price  $1.60.  For 
sale  by  Bobert  Clarke  &  Co'. 

The  Popular  Scisac£  Momthly  for  October,  1879,  is  a  number  par- 
ticularly valuable  to  the  physician.  The  opening  article  on  protoplasm 
and  life  by  Prof.  AUman,  is  altogether  the  best  discussion  we  have  seen 
upon  this  subject.  Other  articles,  Microorganisms  in  their  Effects  in 
Nature ;  Science  and  Philosophy  of  Recreation  and  the  source  of  Muscu- 
lar Power,  claim  special  attention.  If  our  readers  had  taken  our  advice 
they  would  all  long  ago  have  subscribed  for  this  journal.  Send  five  dol- 
lars to  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

The  Sgiemtifio  Amebioan. — Nothing  comes  more  welcome  to  our 
table  than  this  weekly  visitor.  Its  illustrations  are  beautiful,  and  its  ar- 
ticles always  full  of  value  and  interest  to  the  reader.  What  a  blessing  it 
would  be  if  this  journal  visited  every  household  in  the  land  I  It  would 
be  an  inexhaustible  source  of  inspiration.  Try  it.  See  our  list  and  add 
it  to  your  subscription  along  with  the  Advance  for  1880. 

Volume  IX  of  Ziemssen's  Cyclopaedia  is  delayed  by  the  illness  of  Prof, 
von  Ztemssen,  but  will  be  ready  for  delivery  in  a  few  months. 


€imii  ^M$. 


We  have  examined  the  advanced  sheets  of  ProL  Allen's  work  on  In- 
termittent Fever.     It  pleases  us  very  much.     We  wonder  such  a  work 


Editor's  Table,  391 

has  not  been  produced  long  ago.  It  will,  we  are  snre,  receive  a  hearty 
welcome  at  the  hands  of  the  profession.  Let  those  who  have  constantly 
to  wrestle  with  this  hydra-headed  monster  consult  Dr.  Allen's  book  be- 
fore they  resort  to  the  pernicious  use  of  Quinine, 

DiED.-Dr.  A.  E.  Hunger,  of  WaterviUe,  N.  Y.  Appropriate  resolu- 
tions were  passed  by  the  Oneida  County  Homoeopathic  Society,  of  which 
he  was  a  distinguished  member. 

Died.— SUas  Bailey,  M.  D.,  formerly  of  Toledo,  O.,  October  16,  1879. 
The  Doctor  had  of  late  resided  in  Bridgewater,  N.  Y.  The  Oneida 
County  Homceopathic  Medical  Society  passed  appropriate  resolutions  of 
respect  and  sympathy.— C.  E.  Chase,  Sec. 

The  Medical  Counsellor,  of  Chicago,  is  well  gotten  up.     That's  a  fact. 

Dr.  C.  H.  Goodman,  editor  Homoeopathic  News,  of  St.  Louis,  has  been 
elected  to  the  chair  of  anatomy  in  the  Homoeopathic  College  of  MisK)uri. 
We  congratulate  the  college. 

Db.  a.  C.  Jones  has  removed  to  Minneapolis.  Dr.  8.  Chapin  takes 
Dr.  Jones'  place  and  practice  at  Connersville,  Ind. 

Lunacy  REPORM8.-~Historical  CoLsiderations.  E.  Seguin,  M.  D.,  and 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  pp.  16.    A  pamphlet  of  decided  interest. 

Pbof.  J.  W.  DowLiNO,  313  Madison  ave..  New  York,  will  hereafter 
make  a  specialty  of  "heart  and  lung  diseases."  The  doctor  will  consult  at 
home  or  abroad. 

Pbop.  Phiw).  G.  the  gay  dOimavr,  the  long  time  cruel  heart  smasher  of 
St.  Louis,  the  famous  editor  of  the  (Mnical  JReview,  and  the  well  known 
whole  Bouled  fellow  that  he  is,  is  married  at  last,  and  as  Joe  Emmet  sav« 
"Dot  settles  it."  Miss  Clara  V.  Hodge,  also  of  St.  Louis,  is  the  hapny 
bride.  May  good  St.  Valentine  not  forget  them,  but  send  to  their  homl 
his  little  gifte.  ^™® 

Amende.— For  the  very  full  report  upon  Dr.  Baer's  paper  in  our  last 
number,  we  neglected  to  give  credit  to  Dr.  M.  T.  Runnels,  the  secretery  of 
the  Indiana  Homoeopathic  Institute. 

Marbied.— Dr.  H.  C.  Morrow,  of  Shelbyville,  Indiana,  to  Miss  Fannie 
D.  Catteraon,  October  27, 1879.  ,      miss  r  annie 

Dr.  C.  L.  Hart  has  moved  to  15th  and  Famum  sts.,  Omaha,  Neb. 

Dr.  S.  Saltmarsh  has  left  Knoxville,  Tennnessee,  and  located  in  Cin- 
cinnati. The  Doctor  has  left  a  fine  field  open  for  a  good  homoeopathic 
physician. 

AeknowUd^merU  of  Books  Received. 

FROM  ULNDSAY  A  BLAKISTON,  PHILADELPHIA. 

Tyson's  Practical  Guide  to  Examination  of  Urine.    $1.26. 
Mear's  Practical  Surgery.    227  illustrations.    $2.00. 


392  Cincinnat  Medical  Advance, 

Anbill  on  Diseases  of  Women.    Fifth  edition.    $2.25. 

Eidd's  Laws  of  Therapeutics.    $1.25. 

American  Health  Primers :  Long  Life  and  How  to  Beach  It — ^Richard- 
son ;  Hearing  and  How  to  Keep  It — Burnett ;  Winter  and  Its  Dangers — 
Osgood ;  Eye  Sight  and  How  to  Care  for  It — Harlan  ;  Summer  and  Its 
Diseases — Wilson.    Each  Fifty  cents. 

Turnbiirs  Ansesthetic  Manual.    Advantages  and  Accidents.    $1.50. 

Galabin  on  Diseases  of  Women.    Student's  Guide.    $2.00. 

Heath's  Surgical  Diagnosis.    $2.00. 

FROM  WILLIAM  WOOD  dt  CO.,  NEW  YORK. 

Bartholow  on  Spermatorrhoea.    $1.25. 

Bichet's  Physiology  and  Histology  of  the  Cerebral  Convolutions,  also, 
Poisons  of  the  Intellect.    $1.50. 
Charcot  on  Bright's  Disease.    $1.50. 
Charcot  on  Localization  of  Diseases  of  the  Brain.    $1.50. 
Hilton  on  Pain  and  Best.    $1.00. 

Frierichs  on  Diseases  of  the  Liver.    Three  volumes,  each  $1.00. 
Tait  on  Diseases  of  Women.    $1.00. 

Bosenthal  on  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System.  Two  volumes,  each  $1.00. 
Phillips'  Materia  Medica.     $1.00. 
Ellis  on  Diseases  of  Children.    $1.00. 
Beviews  of  the  foregoing  books  in  preparation. 


fVaniSt  Locations,  Practices  for  Sale,  Etc. 


Under  this  head  we  will  be  glad  to  insert,  gratis,  notices,  change  of  location, 
practices  for  sale,  exchanges  offered  or  any  miscellaneous  want  pertaining  to  the  pro- 
fession,  not  of  a  purely  advertising  or  personal  nature.  We  will  be  specially  obliged 
to  physicl  ins  giving  the  names  ot  good  locations. 


Practice  for  Sale. — In  a  town  of  three  thousand  inhabitants,  near  Cin- 
cinnati. No  other  homoeopathic  physician.  I  am  holding  the  appoint- 
ment of  township  physician,  which  I  can  turn  over  to  any  one  buying  me 
out.  Satisfactory  reasons  given  for  selling.  Address  Dr.  J.C.  EIilgour, 
New  Bichmond,  Ohio. 

Good  openings  in  the  South  for  homoeopathic  physicians :  Tazoo  City, 
Miss.  For  particulars  address  J.  W.  Champlain,  Esq.,  at  that  place. 
Baton  Bouge,  La.,  address  Prof.  Magruder.  These  are  two  good  locations 
for  young  and  plucky  men  who  are  not  afraid  of  Yellow  Jack. 

New  Orleans,  Nov,  11,  1879.  Yours,  Bcebickjb  <&  Tafel. 


CONTENTS  VOL.  VIII. 


A. 

Arnica  in  Hydrocephalus,  J.  F. 

American  Public  Health  Asso- 
ciation      49 

A  Case  from  Dailv  Practice.   Dr. 

a  Koeek ' 52 

A  Friend  Writes.     Ed 65 

American  Institute.    Ed 66 

ABonansa.    Ed 162 

Ann  Arbor  Clinics.  Service  of 
Prof.  JFVanklin.   W.  B.  Wheeler, 

M.  D -.  182 

Asthenopia.  Prof.  T.  P.  Wibim»  189 
Ann   Arbor  Clinics.    Sendee  of 

Prof  Allen 235 

A  Typical  Case,  with  Remarks. 

Oeo.Lee,  M.  D 237 

Answer  to  Long  Island  M.  D....  250 

B. 

Babbit's  Principles  of  Light  and 
Color.  Edmn  D.  Babfnt.  D.  M.    56 

Bastard  Homoeopathy.    Ed 66 

Book  Notice8..69,  107,  167,  206, 

250,  HOI 

C. 

Cases  from  my  Note  Book.  G.  E^ 
Bhaddmm,  M.  D 43 

Correspondence  from  Central 
America.  D.  B.  Morrow,  M.D.    47 

Clinical  Cases  of  Eve  and  Ear 
Diseases.    T.  P.  Wiistm,  M.  D. 

82,  281 

Clinical  Cases.  D.  B.  Morrow, 
M.D 86 

Cured  Cases.  Dr.  Qruhenmann, 
TrandaUd  by  A.  McNeil, 
M.  D. 90,  137 

Chlorosis.  MiUie  J.  Chapmitn, 
M.  D 115 

Calendula  off,  JD.  Clapper,  M.D.  130 

Chronic  Pleurisy.  J.  O.  Mal- 
colm, M.D 144 

Characteristic  Symptoms 146 

Clinical  Cases.  may  HowelU, 
M.  D 179 

Comments  on  ''Ten  Surgical 
Cases."    /.  Q.  Oilehrist,  M.  D.  197 


Correspondence 199 

Commencement  Exercises  Pulte 
Medical  College 204 

Clinics  from  S.  H.  Jackson,  M.  D.  232  . 

Champlain  Valley  Hom.  Med. 
Society : 242 

Cutler's  Suture  Cutter  and  For- 
ceps   246 

Correspondence 249 

Clinical  Cases.  Edward  Rush- 
more,  M.  D 279 

Correspondence.  S.  Lilienthal, 
M.  D 284 

Croup  Differentially  Considered. 
H.  a  A 286 

D. 

Dr.  Wilson'f  "Schematic  View."    51 

Dr.  H.  M.  Paine.    Ed 163 

Dysmenorrhoea.  Translated  by  A. 

MeNeU,M.  D 201 

Dowling  on  Bangs  &  Co.    Fingai 

Hapgood,  M.D 247 

Dr.  Lippe's  "Fatal  Errors."    D. 

Haggart,  M.D 263 

E. 

Editorial  Correspondence 45 

Editor's  Table..63,  111,  159,  207, 

254,  304 

Epidemic  Tobacco.  R.  S.  Brig- 
ham,  M.  D 139 

Extracts  from  the  Preface,  and 
Chapter  on  Instruments,  of  a 
Treatise  upon  the  Medical  and 
Surgical  Diseases  of  Women, 
(fully  illustrated)  with  their 
Homceopathic  Treatment.  M. 
M.  Eaton,  M.D 163 

F. 

Fatal  Errors.     Dr.  Ad.  Lippe....  122 

6. 

Grindelia  robusta.  Partial  Prov- 
ing made  with  the  Fluid  Ex- 
tract.   IL  R.  Amdi,  M.  D 170 

H. 

Homoeopathic  Medical  Society 
of  Wabash  Valley 56 


Contents   Vol  VIII. 


Hahnemann  Medical  Society  of 
Barry  and  Eaton  Counties, 
Michigan 153 

Hot  Batha  in  Typhoid  Fever. 
Translated  by  S.  L 231 

Homoeopathic  Medical  Society 
of  Ohio 294 

I. 

Is  this  a  Peculiar  Case?  S,  MUh 
Fowler,  M,  D 77 

Intermittent  Fever.  i>.  A.  Hil- 
ler,  M,  D 136 

Is  it  an  Evil  to  he  Abolished?...  196 

Ingrowing  Toe  Nail.  W,  T. 
Bruce,  M.  D 234 

L. 

Lac  Caninum.    IT,    W.   Taylor, 

M.  D 79 

Lead  Poisoning.    Prof.  Hardy—  132 

M. 

Minor  Surgery.  J,  J,  Lobaugh, 
M.D 73 

Michigan  University 107 

Medical  Clinic.  Service  of  Prof. 
WUson.    J.  a  Wood,  M.  D....  180 

Membranous  Dysmenorrhoea.  J. 
H.  Dix,M.  p..... 182 

Micfiigan  University.  Dedica- 
cation  of  the  New  Homoeo- 
pathic Hospital,  March  12, 
1880 287 

N. 

Notes  on   Practice.       John  H. 

Henry,  M.  D 134 

Now  We  Have  It.    Ed 163 

0. 

Our  School.    Ed 258 

P. 

Professional  Bemuneration.    0. 

S.  Bunnels,  M.  D. 67 

Puerperal  Insanity.  A.  C.  Mickey, 

M.  D 93 

Puerperal  Eclampsia  and  Fever. 

Dr.  Herbert  M.  Dayfoot 104 

Progressive  Medicine.  A.  Ourtis, 

M.  D 154 

Professor  W.  H.  Woodyalt 155 

Puerperal  Metritis.  S,  MUte  Fouh 

ler,  M.D 228 

Puerperal  Peritonitis  or  Metritis 

C.  L,  Hart,  M.  D 221  272 


Q. 

Query 162 

R. 

Retrospective  and   Prospective. 

Ed 113 

Restlessness.    E.  J.  Lee,  M.  D...  126 

S. 

Study  of  the  Pathogenesis  of  Al- 
cohol, with  reference  to  Patho- 
logical Changes  induced  in 
the  Organism.  Wm.  Owena, 
M.D 173 

Scientific  Medicine  (?)  Illustrat- 
ed.    Ah  Sam,  M.  D 295 

T. 

The  Studjr  of  Force  as  Related 

to  Medical  Science.  The  Editor.    17 
Ten  Surgical   Cases.     Part  II. 

a  S.  Fahnestock,  M.  D 24 

The  Homoeopathic  Materia  Med- 
ics.    0.  S.  Sanders,  M.  D...33,  100 
Traumatic  Hemorrhage.    A.  P. 

Davis,  M.  D 44 

The  King  is  Dead.    Ed 66 

The  Motion  of  the  Brain.    J.  F. 

Elsom 149 

Two  New  Journals.    Ed 161 

The  Death  of  Socrates.  A  Con- 
tribution to  the  Pathogenesis 
of  Hemlock.     Translated  by  0. 

B.  Moss,  M.D 195 

The  Most  Idle  Fear.    Ed 209 

The  So-called  "Nosodes."   J.  Q. 

OUchriat,  M.  D 210 

The  American  Institute.  Ed 257 

The  Milwaukee  Agony.  Ed 257 

The  Thirtieth  Potency.     Tmns- 

latedbyS.L 259 

Tape  Worm 580 

Toxicological  Effects  of  Morphia 

Sulphate.    P. 293 

The  International  Homoeopathic 
Convention 299 

V. 

Viburnum  Prunifolium — Black 
Haw — Sloe.  Oeo.  W.  Higbee. 
M.D 38 

W. 

Worms.     A.  McNeil,  M.  D 57 

Woody att  is  Dead.   Ed 113 

What  Is  It?  L(mg  Island  M.  D^  135 
** Wabash  Ague,"  (a  new  species.) 
H.  a  AUen,  M,  D 267 


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T.  P.  WILSON,  U.  D.,  Editob.  J.  P.  GHFPEBT,  M.  D., . 

VoLCHB  VIII.         Cincinnati,  0.,  January,  1880.         i 


The  Study  of  Fores  as  Sslatad  ts  Uedioal  Sciencd.    By  the 

Editor. 

Our  investigation  of  Nature  is  apt  to  be  fragmentary  and 
superficial.  We  take  whatever  we  may  have  in  hand  and 
study  it  too  much  apart  from  its  relations.  By  that  means 
we  lose  siglit  of  a  comprehensive  view  of  its  origin  and  re- 
sults. 

In  medical  science  this  vicious  mode  of  study  is  most  pain- 
fully apparent  The  mind  of  the  student  is  made  to  lay  hold 
of  facts  singly  or  in  groups,  as  though  they  Were  ultimates. 
And  in  this  way  nothing  is  learned  as  to  the  beginning  or 
end  of  things.  With  all  the  simplicity  of  a  barbarian  we 
deal  only  with  that  which  addresses  itself  to  our  senses,  leav- 
ing the  higher  wallcs  of  reason  untrodden. 

It  is  proposed  by  our  medical  colleges  to  hereafter  require 

of  their  students  a  preparatory  knowledge  of  physics.     This 

is  most  fortunate,  for  if  the  student  obtains  such  knowledge 

>»-.  17 


18  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

before^he  enters  upon  his  medical  studies,  he  will  not  run  the 
risk  of  failing  to  get  it  altogether. 

What  has  physics  to  do  with  medicine?  Can  not  a  man 
practice  the  healing  art  without  filling  his  head  with  such 
academic  lore?  Are  we  not  hurting  our  practicalities  with 
scholasticism?  Do  not  anatomy,  physiology,  pathology,  ma- 
teria medica  and  chemistry  form  a  sufficiently  broad  and 
stable  base?  He  must  be  a  learned  doctor  who  understands 
these  things.  Can  he  want  more?  He  knows  all  the  materia 
medica  from  Aconite  to  Zinc,  The  natural  history,  the 
physical  qualities,  the  pharmaceutical  preparations,  the  toxi- 
cological  and  pathogenetic  effects  of  all  these  drugs,  does  he 
not  know  them  well? 

Does  he  not  understand  disease?  Are  not  fevers,  inflam- 
mations, congestions,  exudations,  ulcerations  and  the  like,  fa- 
miliar to  hia  mind  and  eyes?  Yea,  verily,  though  he  be  fresh 
from  the  school  of  the  prophets,  can  he  not  prophesy  and 
work  miracles? 

Can  he  not  assault  the  fortresses  of  disease  with  fire  and 
sword?  Does  he  not  know  that  typhoid  fever  is  a  disease, 
and  that  Phosphorus  is  a  drug?  Can  he  not  successfully 
apply  the  one  to  the  cure  of  the  other? 

But  what  are  these  things  with  which  this  medical  man  is 
dealing  so  adroitly?  What,  for  instance,  is  Phosphorus f  and 
what  is  the  cause  and  mode  of  its  action? 

Why,  says  this  medical  man,  Phosphorus  is  a  substance 
found  in  nature.  Taken  into  the  human  body  it  produces 
toxicological,  pathogenetic  and  therapeutic  effects. 

Quite  true,  but  how  did  nature  make  Phosphorus  so  differ- 
ent from  any  other  substance,  and  in  what  special  way  does 
it  produce  its  peculiar  effects? 

Now  taking  Phosphorus  as  typical  of  all  medicinal  sub- 
stances, we  propose  to  press  this  inquiry  until  we  reach  a 
point  beyond  which  we  can  not  go.  In  doing  so  we  may 
transcend  the  ordinary  limits  of  the  curriculum  of  the  medical 
schools.  But  in  doing  so  we  will  endeavor  to  not  get  beyond 
the  boundary  lines — if  there  be  any — of  the  science  of  physics. 


The  Study  of  Force  as  Belated  to  Medical  Science,     19 

To  begin  with,  however,  let  us  deal  with  some  more  com- 
mon substances.  Take  for  instance,  an  iron  poker,  red  hot. 
Beside  it  lies  an  exactly  similar  piece  of  iron  only  that  it  is 
cold.  Now  the  difference  between  a  hot  poker  and  a  cold 
poker  need  not  be  enlarged  upon.  The  business  abilities  of 
the  former  are  undeniable.  They  both  have  capabilities,  but 
the  sphere  of  possible  action  of  the  hot  poker  is  considerably 
enlarged  above  that  of  its  companion. 

I  think  a  child  might  tell  you  that  the  difference  between 
these  two  pokers  was  that  of  heat.  Says  the  learned  physi- 
cist, heat  is  a  mode  of  motion.  Then  what  is  motion?  The 
conception  of  motion  rests  upon  two  antecedent  primitive 
ideas.     These  are,  existence  and  space. 

Space  is  that  which  lies  between  existences,  or  if  you  please, 
places.  Motion  is  the  traversing  through  space  from  place 
to  place.  This  motion  involves  necessarily  the  idea  of  tnne 
which  marks  the  mte  of  motion. 

Well  now,  what  is  it  that  is  in  motion  in  the  heated  poker? 
We  answer  it  is  the  molecules  of  iron.  Everv  molecule  is 
actively  moving  through  a  certain  space.  Look  you  now, 
the  hot  bar  is  larger  than  the  cold  one.  At  the  same  tempera- 
ture, however,  they  are  oPthe"  same  size.  If  you  could  tell 
me  how  many  molecules  of  iron  lay  in  the  diameter  of  the 
bar,  we  could  with  that  number  divide  the  increase  of  dia- 
meter and  find  approximately  how  large  a  space  each  mole- 
cule was  moving  through.  This  matter  is  commended  to  the 
attention  of  several  learned  gentlemen,  who  of  late  have  blos- 
somed into  a  wonderful  wealth  of  knowledge  in  the  depart- 
ment of  molecular  physics,  and  proven  to  their  own  satisfac- 
tion by  figures  that  there  is  absolutely  nothing,  or  at  least 
hardly  anything  in  the  thirtieth  Hahnemannian  dilution. 

Wc  will  now  take  the  cold  bar  of  iron  and  charge  it  with 
electricity  or  magnetism.  But  what  are  electricity  and  mag- 
netism? They  also  are  modes  of  motion.  The  molecules  of 
this  cold  bar  are  now  in  motion,  but  it  is  not  hot,  for  the  mo- 
tion is  of  u  different  kind.  We  may  now  take  this  bar  aud 
successively  charge  it  with  heat,  light,  electricity  or  magnet- 
ism, or  we  may  swing  it  through  the  air,  which  is  a  most  pal- 
pable mode  of  mechanical  motion. 


20  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Let  me  here  lay  down  a  definite  law  growing  out  of  this 
investigation.  The  effect  which  is  produced  by  the  bar  of 
iron  depends  upon  the  ciiaracter  of  the  force  with  which  it  is 
endowed. 

We  come  now  to  speak  of  force  in  a  more  abstract  sense. 
Force  is  recognized  in  two  states:  it  is  static  and  dynamic. 

Static  force  gives  us  stability  of  form  and  substance. 

Dynamic  force  gives  us  instability  of  whatever  sort  or 
kind. 

For  instance,  dynamic  forces  through  cheir  activities  pro- 
duce an  apple.  Static  forces  maintain  it  as  such  until  dy- 
namic forces  eventually  scatter  and  destroy  it. 

A  piece  of  bitumenous  coal  may  be  a  very  harmless  and 
useless  object,  though  it  be  endowed  with  wonderful  possi- 
bilities. 

You  now  change  its  forces  from  the  static  to  the  dynamic 
condition,  in  other  words  you  set  it  on  fire  and  it  is  no  longer 
harmless  or  useless. 

It  must  be  plain  that  we  are  now  studying  force  as  connect 
ed  with  matter.  Looking  then  to  the  material  forms  of  the 
universe  we  find  in  them  innumerable  states  or  conditions. 
We  recognize  wood  and  iron,  water  and  air,  as  things  essen- 
tially unlike.  They  are,  however,  ahke  in  that  they  are  all 
material.  In  regard  to  this  material  substance  of  which  tliey 
are  composed,  we  have  no  comprehension  as  to  its  size  and 
shape.  But  this  we  do  know:  each  of  these  states  of  matter 
is  endowed  with  peculiar  forces.  Their  differences  are  meas- 
ured by  their  forces. 

We  come  back  then,  to  the  original  question,  what  is 
Phosphorvs?  And  we  answer.  Phosphorus  is  matter  endowed 
with  a  peculiar  force.  The  force  has  a  mode  of  motion  pe- 
culiarly its  own.  How  does  it  produce,  then,  its  effects?  Let 
me  answer  this  by  an  illustration. 

If  I  take  the  cold  poker  and  give  to  it  a  certain  amount  of 
mechanical  motion,  and  it  comes  in  contact  with  you  it  is  at 
once  brought  to  a  state  of  rest. 

The  motion  has  been  communicated  to  you.  It  has  pro- 
duced its  peculiar  effects  easily  recognized.     If  now  I  take 


The  Study  of  Force  as  Belated  to  Medical  Science.    21 

the  hot  poker  and  apply  it  to  you,  quite  a  different  effect  is 
produced,  for  the  force  and  its  mode  of  motion  are  different. 
The  heat  at  once  passes  from  the  poker  to  you  and  its  char- 
acteristic eflfect  is  seen  and  understood. 

If  then  you  ask  me  how  Phosphorus  acts  I  will  answer  that 
it  acts  by  communicating  its  special  mode  of  motion  to  the 
protoplasm,  cell  or  tissues,  with  which  it  comes  in  contact. 
In  that  respect,  and  perhaps  in  all  respects,  the  Phosphor 
force  is  like  all  other  forces,  subject  in  its  action  to  well 
known  laws. 

If  we  raise  this  question  in  regard  to  other  drugs,  as  Aeon- 
itCj  Belladonna,  Pulsatilla  and  the  like,  we  have  this  to  say 
in  reply:  they  are  all  made  of  matter  endowed  with  peculiar 
forces.  The  Aconite  force  which  produces  its  characteristic 
effects,  toxicological,  pathogenetic  and  curative,  is  a  mode  of 
motion. 

Under  certain  conditions  that  motion  is  communicated  to 
ornei  substances.  You  are  burned  with  a  poker  and  pois- 
oned with  Aconite  in  the  same  way.  They  both  act  by  con- 
tact. In  that  contact  they  communicate  their  mode  of  mo- 
tion.    The  result  is  characteristic  of  the  mode. 

We  speak  of  forces  as  entities.  There  is  no  individual  and 
distinct  force.  All  forces  are  correlative.  In  a  static  condi- 
tion they  maintain  certain  relations  through  almost  endless 
periods. 

In  plants  the  static  period  is  comparatively  brief.  Vege- 
table drugs  in  a  limited  time  lose  their  peculiar  power.  On 
the  contrary,  mineral  substances  seem  practically  unchang- 
able.  And  yet  minerals  are  susceptible  to  great  changes 
through  combinations.  Sodium  and  its  chloride,  Ammonia 
and  its  nitrate,  Calcium  and  its  carbonate.  Zinc  and  its  sul- 
phate, are  well  known  instances  of  modified  force  or  mode  of 
motion  through  combination. 

A  mechanical  explanation  of  this  fact  is  perhaps  allowable. 
If  Zinc  and  Oxygen  represent  two  sides  of  a  square,  their 
combination  according  to  mechanics  would  produce  the  diag- 
onal of  that  square.  That  diagonal  would  be  neither  Oxy- 
gen nor  Zinc,  but  another  substance  with  another  mode  of 
motion  and  we  call  it  Oxide  of  zinc. 


22  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

We  can  learn  something  more  of  the  nature  of  force  by 
recurring  to  our  heated  poker.  If  we  split  it  into  two  equal 
parts  ils  capacity  for  action  i^s  nearly  doubled.  If  we  divide 
it  indefinitely  we  indefinitely  increase  its  capacity  as  a  me- 
dium of  heat,  (radiation). 

If,  however,  we  plung  it  into  a  mass  of  water  the  heat  is 
at  once  communicated  to  the  water.  Now,  imagine  if  you 
can,  a  man  looking  with  a  microscope  in  that  water  lor  par- 
ticles of  iron,  and  refusing  to  believe  that  the  water  will  burn 
as  the  pokei ,  unless  he  can  find  some  of  the  poker  floating 
in  the  fluid. 

Let  us  go  back,  now,  to  the  consideration  of  drugs  for  a 
moment.  They  are  to  be  considered  as  so  many  modes  of 
motion.  Each  molecule  has  the  movement  peculiar  to  its 
kind.  Each  molecule  is  capable  of  transmitting  its  motion  to 
other  substances.     This  it  can  do  only  by  contact. 

If,  therefore,  you  break  up  the  druor  and  indefinitely  divide 
its  substance  you  indefinitely  increase  its  power  of  action. 

This  truth  is  unassailable,  for  it  rests  firmly,  first,  upon 
iinalogy,  of  which  we  have  already  given  several  instances, 
and  second,  upon  experience  and  observation.  It  has  been 
so  tested  millions  of  times  and  the  test  can  be  repeated  inde- 
finitely. That  is  said  to  be  a  scientific  test  which  can  be  re- 
peated at  will.     To  this  we  submit  the  stitement. 

If  you  plunge  a  finely  divided  mass  of  matter  endowed 
with  a  motion  peculiar  to  Belladonna  into  a  body  of  Alcohol, 
and  by  succuarsion  secure  the  necessary  contact,  that  motion 
is  communicated  to  every  molecule  of  Alcohol, 

By  successive  dilutions  the  peculiar  mode  of  motion  is  car- 
ried forward,  not  by  the  original  drug  but  by  the  alcohol 
itself  to  other  masses  of  Alcohol,  which  in  turn  become  en- 
dowed with  the  same  quality  of  motion. 

It  is  now  thirteen  years  since  I  made  use  of  the  following 
language:  It  is  our  proud  boast  that  we  have  achieved 
the  great  rpsult  of  isolating  the  drug  force  from  the  drug. 
We  have  struck  from  the  fettered  limbs  of  our  materia  med- 
ica  the  incumbrances  of  drug  forms,  and  holding  in  oui 
precious  attenuations  the  real  curative  power,  we  can  bring 


The  Study  of  Force  as  Related  to  Medical  Science.    23 

to  the  destruction  of  the  force  of  disease  a  power  which  fact 
and  philosophy  declare  is  alone  fitted  for  the  work.  Do  you 
ask  me  now,  if  in  the  higher  attenuations  of  our  remedies 
matter  is  not  so  finely  divided  and  subdivided  that,  in  fact, 
we  have  no  substance  of  the  drug  in  them?  Well,  what  of 
that?  Are  we  not  wiser  than  others  in  laying  aside  the  dead 
and  useless  form  of  the  drug  and  using  only  its  force? 

In  the  thirteen  years  that  have  passed  since  this  utterance, 
scientific  investigations  have  swept  us  forward  immense  dis- 
tances along  the  path  of  knowledge.  The  most  wonderful 
discoveries  of  the  present  century  have  been  in  the  domains 
of  molecular  physics  and  dynamics. 

When  Samuel  Hahnemann  discovered  the  power  of  atten- 
uated remedies  to  cure  disease,  he  struck,  by  chance,  upon  a 
practical  fact  in  dynamics  that  has  waited  nearly  half  a  cen> 
tury  for  an  explanation.  And  every  fresh  discovery  in  this 
field  has  since  his  day  given  conformation  to  his  discovery. 

The   true   physician   of  to-day   is  not  a   mere  mechanist* 
using  only  gross  forms,  but  a  dynamist  skilled  in  the  employ 
ment  of  force.     He  will  not  be  led  away  by  the  material  form 
of  the  drug  upon  the  one  hand,  nor  by  che  gross  products  of 
disease  upon  the  other.     His  skilled  eye  will  see  in  both  the 
omnipotent  force  which  is  the  active  and  all  efficient  agent. 

As  might  a  child  cry  for  his  play  things  so  will  not  he  cry 
for  this  or  that  form  of  matter,  but  rather  search  after  and 
employ  that  condition  of  force  best  suited  for  his  work. 

Those  who  declare  that  in  the  employment  of  attenuated 
remedies  and  minute  doses  we  are  not  lational  or  scientific, 
betray  an  unpardonable  ignorance  of  science,  as  well  as  a 
want  of  that  empirical  knowledge  which  is  so  easy  to  obtain 
and  which  of  itself  is  conclusive. 

The  study  of  drugs  as  the  embodiment  of  forces,  having 
each  its  peculiar  mode  of  motion,  forms  but  one  part  of  an 
interesting  and  important  subject,  and  upon  that  part  in  the 
present  paper  I  have  but  imperfectly  touched.  The  second 
part  involves  the  consideration  of  diseases  as  so  many  pecu- 
liar modes  of  motion;  and  the  third  part  comprehends  the 
philosophy  of  applying  the  force  of  the  drug  to  the  force  of 


24  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

the  disease,  and  thereby  produce  what  is  called  a  cure.  I 
must  leave  these  latter  topics  untouched  until  some  future 
time. 


mpti% 


Ten  Stmgical  CaSOS.  Read  before  the  Indiana  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy,  at  Indianapolis,  Ma}'  ist,  1879,  By  C. 
S.  Fahnestock,  M.  D.^  LaPorte,  Ind.     Part  II, 

Case  I, — Presents  two  mishaps,  one  of  which  due  to  my 
own  carelessness  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  all  where  the 
blame  rests  wholly  with  the  surgeon.  Had  the  diagnosis 
been  made  with  care,  the  seat  of  the  disease  located  with  cer- 
tainty, the  details  of  the  operation  reviewed  before  giving 
the  anaesthetic,  the  wrong  finger  would  never  have  been 
lanced.  I  knew  that  I  should  have  done  so,  I  had  read  and 
been  taught  to  do  so,  but  gentlemen  that  one  blunder  made 
me  remember  to  do  so.  Others  have  made  similar  mistakes 
and  I  do  not  refer  to  errors  of  diagnosis  where  a  case  is  care« 
fully  examined  b}'  one  or  several,  and  the  operation  dis- 
closes something  entirely  different  from  what  was  anticipated, 
but  where  carelessness  is  the  sole  cause  as  in  the  followinor 
case  occurring  in  the  practice  of  a  friend.  He  removed  l 
large  uterine  polypus  and  eleven  months  later  the  lady  again 
consulted  him,  complaining  as  before  but  suspecting  preg- 
nancy. So  positive  was  he  of  a  second  polypus,  that  disre* 
garding  her  statements  as  to  motion  and  without  an  examin- 
ation he  operated  and  removed  a  five  months  foetus.  Allow 
me  to  say  that  he  is  neither  a  fool  nor  a  knave.    Dr.  Lungren, 


Surgery.  25 

of  Toledo,  my  preceptor,  upon  hearing  of  the  case  remarked, 
^'I  can  readily  see  how  he  made  such  an  error  and  do  not  con* 
sider  it  an  evidence  of  ignorance.'*  No,  it  was  not  ignorance 
but  pure  carelessness. 

There  is  another  cause  of  danger  where  every  step  of  an 
operation  has  not  been  considered  beforehand.  I  believe  all 
surgeons  experience  a  feeling  of  mental  tension  when  per- 
forming the  most  difficult  part  of  an  operation;  this  completed, 
his  mind  is  relaxed  and  his  attention  less  keen.  He  is  not  on 
his  guard  as  before  and  danger  is  at  hand.  It  was  so  in  my 
case.  The  sense  of  relief  was  so  great,  when  the  grave  symp- 
toms from  Chloroform  ceased,  when  the  danger  seemed 
past,  that  I  did  not  exercise  ordinary  care  but  trusting  to  a 
superficial  examination  made  a  cut  that  was  worse  than 
useless.  It  is  under  the  same  conditions  of  mental  relaxation 
that  sponges  and  forceps  have  been  left  in  the  abdomen  after 
ovariotomy,  accupressure  pins  closed  in  the  wound  without 
a  wire  to  withdraw  them,  the  distal  end  of  the  femoral  artery 
accidentally  cut  during  tenotomy  left  to  bleed  after  tying  the 
proximal  end  and  an  hundred  equally  inexcusable  accidents. 

Another  source  of  accident  for  which  the  surgeon  is  re- 
sponsible may  be  avoided  by  always  procuring  the  best  ma- 
terial, checking  over  your  instruments,  especially  the  minor 
ones  whose  use  is  not  formidable;  in  that  they  are  on  hand 
and  in  good  order.  I  once  assisted  at  an  operation  where 
artery,  needle  and  dissecting  forceps  had  all  been  forgotten 
rendering  the  necessary  manipulations  very  perplexing  to  the 
operator.  A  dull  needle  may  seriously  damage  by  draggihg 
the  tissues,  a  rotten  ligature  may  break,  poor  plaster  may 
slip  in  the  very  case  where  you  depend  upon  the  pressure  it 
exerts  to  control  hemorrhage  and  peritonitis  may  be  set  up 
by  sand  from  a  poorly  washed  sponge. 

A  mishap  or  failure  of  an  operation  may  be  the  fault  of  the 
patient  as  in  Case  VIII.  The  after  treatment  in  this  instance 
had  been  fully  explained  to  the  lady  and  she  had  promised 
faithful  compliance.  In  such  cases  the  surgeon  is  placed  at 
great  disadvantage  and  must  govern  his  actions  by  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  individual  he  may  have  under  his  care. 


26  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

This  IS  not  the  only  c<ise  of  the  kind  I  have  seen.  One  occurr- 
ed quite  recently.  I  put  a  selon  in  an  abscess  over  the 
knee  to  secure  proper  drainage.  All  went  well  for  five  days. 
On  the  sixth  day  during  my  absence  erysipelas  appeared. 
When  I  returned,  Dr.  Whiting  who  had  been  called  turned 
the  case  over  to  me,  with  the  disease  under  control.  Some 
two  weeks  later  a  friend  of  the  patient  told  me  confidentially, 
that  a  caller  had  recommended  washing  the  knee  with  strong 
lye,  saying  "It  cured  my  knee  which  was  just  like  yours.'* 
The  proprietor  of  the  knee  acted  on  the  advice  and  the  erysip* 
elas  began  within  two  hours.  He  never  told  me  what  he  did 
and  always  wonders  why  his  knee  should  have  grown  sud- 
denly worse.  He  little  dreams  that  his  foolish  experiment  is 
known,  but  would,  if  there  were  the  ghost  of  a  chance  glad- 
ly saddle  the  blame  on  his  physician. 

Another  series  of  calamities  may  be  unforseen  and  beyond 
the  surgeon's  control  as  the  dangerous  symptoms  from  the 
ancesthetic  in  Case  I.  There  was  nothirig  in  the  lady's  con- 
dition that  indicated  intolerance  of  Chloroform^  neither  was 
there  any  known  disease  of  the  heart  or  lungs.  It  was 
administered  with  every  possible  care  and  yet  by  prompt  and 
faithful  attention  only  was  a  fatal  issue  prevented.  No 
one  should  administer  an  anaesthetic  unless  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  its  effects  and  the  dangers  attending  its  use.  He 
must  also  be  master  of  all  means  of  resuscitation  and  of  com- 
batting the  serious  symptoms  that  may  present.  Even  then 
it  may  happen  that  life  we  are  trying  to  save  or  render  more 
comfortable  may  be  cut  of  by  the  very  means  we  employ. 

Some  claim  greater  safety  from  an  admixture  of  Turpentine 
or  Amyle  and  Chloroform.  Uther  is  generally  considered  safer 
than  Chlorqform  and  when  administered  from  a  large  evap- 
orating surface,  acts  almost  as  speedily,  but  it  is  not  so  con- 
venient and  the  more  frequent  occurrance  of  unpleasant  after 
effects  is  an  objection  to  its  use  in  short  operations.  There  are 
instances  recorded,  where  Ether  and  Chloroform  have  been 
safely  administered  to  patients  with  heart  disease,  as  in  Case 
IV. 


Surgery,  27 

In  these  cases  there  were  no  untoward  symptoms  and  it 
is  very  doubtful  whether  any  heart  disease  save  fatty  de- 
f^eneration  and  such  as  render  the  heart  beat  particularly  feeble 
has  any  special  bearing  upon  fatal  results  from  Ether  or 
Chloroform,  But  the  chief  difficulty  is  just  here,  the  very 
cause  of  the  greatest  danger  is  the  one  least  suspected,  the 
one  most  difficult  to  recognise  (often  impossible)  the  one  re- 
sponsible for  three  fourths  of  all  deaths  from  anaesthesia,  fatty 
degeneration  of  the  heart.  Some  regard  kidney  disease  with 
albuminuria  as  the  most  unfavorable,  but  statistics  of  its  use 
in  puerperal  cases  do  not  substantiate  that  view.  As  to  lung 
troubles,  it  may  be  said,  that  where  the  constitution  is  such 
as  to  warrant  any  grave  operation,  it  will  bear  the  anaesthet- 
ic, but  Ether  should  be  preferred  as  it  irritates  less  than 
Chloroform,  Further,  persons  addicted  to  the  copious  use  of 
alcoholic  liquors,  and  those  who  present  a  leuco-phlegmatici 
bloated  and  hydrsemic  appearance  are  not  good  subjects  for 
anaesthetics.  Whenever  administering  Chloroform  or  Ether 
no  matter  when,  why,  or  where,  watch  the  lungs  as  well  as 
tLc  pulse,  and  suspend  the  anaesthetic  the  moment  thoracic 
respiration  ceases  and  diaphragmatic  suction  prevails, 
whether  the  patient  be  under  its  full  influence  or  not,  for 
when  that  point  is  reached,  the  margin  of  their  legitimate 
use  is  reached,  beyond  which  all  is  danger. 

In  some  cases  both  surgeon  and  patient  may  be  at  fault  as 
in  Case  X.  It  was  a  trivial  affair  but  a  life  was  nearly  sacri- 
ficed. It  warns  not  to  make  Hght  of  any  little  operation  for 
a  mortality  of  one-half  to  one  per  cent  attends  them.  This 
mortality  is  the  great  point  to  be  considered  in  operations  of 
expediency  or  decorative  surgery.  A  life  may  be  shortened 
to  a  few  days  by  the  amputation  of  a  crooked  finger  or  the 
removal  of  a  wen,  neither  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
life,  health  or  even  comfort,  but  merely  to  gratify  vanity,  a 
life  may  be  sacrificed,  which  otherwise  would  have  been  pro- 
longed for  years  doing  good  to  others  and  filling  its  allotted 
mission.  Avoid  the  use  of  the  knife  when  a  bloodless  ope- 
ration will  answer  or  medical  treatment  remove  the  trouble. 
Do  not  urge  a  patient  with  a  small  tumor  to  sit  right  down 


30  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

be  ovaritomists,  but  any  of  you  may  meet  a  casein  your  circle 
of  patients  and  remembering  how  unfavorable  was  the  out- 
look and  successful  the  result  in  this  instance,  you  will  not 
discourage  your  patient  as  physicians  did  this  lady  by  such 
consoling  remarks  as  "If  you  were  only  a  few  years  younger, 
if  that  heart  trouble  was  not  present,  if  you  did  not  cough  so, 
the  tumor  might  be  removed,  but  as  it  is  you  will  surely  die 
in  the  operation."  You  will  rather  encourage  and  operate  your- 
selves or  refer  them  to  some  surgeon  for  relief. 

All  physicians  are  called  upon  to  treat  accidents  similar 
to  that  of  Case  V.  The  general  public  consider  a  sprain 
equivalent  to  the  loss  of  the  joint  for  six  months  or  a  year, 
while  the  truth  is,  if  properly  handled,  complete  recovery  in 
two  or  three  weeks  even  though  synovitis  result  from  the 
accident.  Absolute  rest  is  the  first  great  indication.  If  pain 
is  caused  by  pressing  the  articular  surfaces  together  extension 
is  called  for,  if  however  pain  is  experienced  when  extension 
is  made,  it  is  contra-indicated. 

When  synovitis  is  present  extension  is  always  called  for 
and  if  there  be  much  swelling  or  effusion  pressure  may  be 
added.  We  can  extend  in  most  cases  by  weight  and  pulley, 
make  pressure  by  straps  of  adhesive,  plaster  Paris  bandage, 
elastic  webbing,  or  a  rubber  bag  surrounding  the  joint. 
Absolute  immobility  may  be  obtained  by  straps  and  splints  or 
better  by  the  plaster  Paris  bandage.  Follow  this  treatment, 
fixation  always,  extension,  or  pressure  or  both  when  needed 

d  your  patients  will  no  longer  consider  sprains  worre  than 

fractures. 

The  palliative  operation  of  Case  VI  is  applicable  where, 
with  an  incurable  disease  the  bowels  are  obstructed,  as  in 
cancer  of  the  rectum  etc.,  and  may  also  be  of  great  service  by 
reducino^  the  outward  pressure  of  the  contents  of  the  abdo- 
men when  excessive,  before  applying  taxis.  It  will  also 
render  important  aid  in  the  excessive  tympanitis  which  some- 
times follows  gastrotomy. 

Do  not  imitate  the  example  set  by  this  case.  Always  oper- 
ate upon  a  strangulated  hernia,  after  other  means  have  had  a 
fair  trail.     Give  your  patient  a   chance  for  life.     Death  wil- 


Surgery.  31 

positively  result  without  the  operation,  and  so  it  can  not  be 
justly  charged  to  the  surgeon  even  if  the  herniotomy  is  un- 
successful. Don't  fool  along  as  I  did  (I  never  will  again) 
for  you  will  surely  lose  the  case.  Operate  or  withdraw  from 
all  responsibility.  This  is  not  the  place  to  consider  the  in- 
dications for  herniotomy,  but  rather  to  impress  upon  us  our 
duty,  to  operate  at  once  when  it  is  demanded,  and  if  we  can 
not  obtain  permission  from  those  in  authority  place  the  re- 
sponsibility where  it  belongs.  Many  lives  have  been  sacri- 
ficed by  disobeying  this  rule. 

Case  VII  was  treated  by  Buck's  method.  It  has  given  me 
better  results  in  cases  of  this  kind  than  any  other.  It  can  be 
applied  easily,  requires  nothing  but  what  can  be  had  in  any 
house,  save  perhaps  adhesive  plaster.  The  whole  leg  can  be 
inspected  at  any  time  without  handling  splints  or  bandages. 
The  modus  operandi  in  a  nut  shell  is  this.  The  muscles  are 
brought  and  retained  in  position  by  extension,  and  they  lying 
parallel  to  and  around  the  bone  do  the  duty  usually  assigned 
to  splints. 

Case  IX  had  been  examined  by  three  physicians  and  each 
diagnosed  incipient  tuberculosis,  and  each  overlooked  the  lat- 
eral curvature.  I  admit  the  symptoms  bear  great  resemb- 
lance to  the  former,  but  upon  closer  examination,  the  stitch  in 
the  side  was  found  quite  different  from  that  of  circumscirbed 
pleuritis,  the  mental  condition  the  opposite  of  that  accom- 
panying tuberculosis,  the  lungs  perfectly  normal  and  ansmic 
the  direct  cause  of  the  trouble.  Such  cases  are  quite  fre- 
quent among  young  ladies  who  are  growing  rapidly  and  have 
been  deprived  of  out  door  exercise  and  sunshine.  Do  not 
jump  at  diagnoses  and  frighten  people  before  they  are  hurt. 
The  only  surgical  part  of  this  case  was  the  spinal  curvature. 
It  was  of  recent  origin,  hence  the  rapid  gain.  The  dyspnoea 
by  developing  the  respiratory  muscles  more  on  one  side  than 
on  the  other  was  undoubtedly  the  exciting  while  the  general 
weakness  was  the  predisposing  cause.  I  have  introduced 
this  case  in  defense  of  surgeons  because  we  frequently  hear 
"he  is  a  good  surgeon  but  a  poor  physician  for  no  one  can  be 
both,"    (was   said   when   the  young  ladies  friends  first  pro- 


32  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance, 

posed  visiting  LaPorte  for  advice),  and  so  often  has  this  been 
repeated  by  members  of  the  profession  that  both  they  and 
their  patients  really  believe  it.  Many  whom  I  have  known 
to  make  similar  remarks  are  very  particular  to  advertise  as 
"physicians  and  surgeons"  and  attempt  to  explain  their  incon- 
sistency in  this  wise:  "I  can  do  surgery  if  I  want  to  or  have 
to,  but  I  don't  like  it."  I  deny  the  truth  of  all  this,  nay  more, 
I  affirm  the  opposite. 

No  one  can  be  a  good  surgeon  unless  he  is  a  good  physi- 
cian, for  medical  diagnosis  is  just  as  essential  to  the  one,  as 
to  the  other;  to  the  physician  that  he  may  properly  regulate 
the  surroundings  of  his  patient;  to  the  surgeon,  because  any 
disease  may  and  frequently  does  complicate  surgical  cases; 
but  the  surgeon  must  go  further  than  this  and  discriminate 
accurately,  for  while  an  error  in  medical  diagnosis  is  rarely 
attended  by  grave  results,  and  are  generally  discovered  be- 
fore harm  i.*»  done,  there  is  no  remedy  for  an  useless  operation, 
or  for  opening  the  abdomen  to  remove  a  tumor  when  only  ex- 
cessive adiposis  or  a  pregnant  womb  is  present,  no  remedy 
after  a  knite  has  once  been  thrust  into  an  aneurism  instead  of 
a  supposed  abscess. 

A  good  surgeon  will  avoid  the  use  of  the  knife  as  much  as 
prossible.  To  do  this  requires  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
materia  medica  and  it  is  generally  admitted  that  surgical 
therapeutics  present  greater  difficulters  than  medical,  but  the 
surgeon  is  also  compelled  to  be  equally  posted  in  medical 
therapeuties  in  as  much  as  medical  diseases  complicate  and 
follow  surgical  operations.  If  a  man  be  a  good  surgeon  he 
must  posess  all  the  qualifications  of  a  good  physician  and  in 
addition  others  which  make  him  what  he  is.  Those  who  hold 
otherwise  have  anything  but  a  correct  idea  of  surgery.  To 
them  it  is  a  mere  mechanical  afliar,  mere  butchery.  The  idea 
of  greater  judgment  being  required  to  know  when  not  to  cut 
rather  than  to  know  where  and  how  to  cut  has  never  dawned 
upon  them.  I  do  not  write  this  to  underrate  any  physician 
or  to  bolster  up  all  or  any  who  choose  to  call  themselves 
surgeons,  but  to  show  that  the  two  departments  must  run 
side  by   side  and  just  as  we  find  in  mechanics   and  all  avo- 


Surgery,  33 

cations  some  doing  work  which  others  can  not,  so  we  must 
expect  to  meet  in  our  own  profession  some  possessing  better 
judgment,  quicker  perceptions,  greater  mechanical  skill 
less  fe.^r  of  responsibility  and  more  courage  than  others  and 
it  is  among  these  only  that  we  shall  find  good  surgeons.  They 
are  born  not  made. 


Aali(ia  MthitA. 


The  Bomodopathio  Materia  Medica.    By  o.  S.  Sanders,  M.  D., 

Boston.     Part  I. 

Medicine  is  renowned  for  its  antiquity.  The  annals  of 
history  do  not  reach  back  of  it,  but  only  open  the  portals  of 
fable,  in  whose  shadowy  domain  it  is  suppo^d  to  dwell.  It 
is  as  old  as  pain  in  the  body — or  sorrow  in  the  mind.  Pain 
was  the  first  incentive  to  medical  research, — and  the  instinct 
or  wisdom  that  prompted  self-preservation,  the  first  physician. 
It  w^as  maternal  love  in  the  heart  of  the  first  mother,  assiduous 
to  relieve  her  child  from  the  cause  of  sickness,  and  arrest  the 
shaft  of  death,  that  laid  the  foundation  of  therapeutics. 

Medicine  had  its  origin  in  man's  necessity.  From  small 
begiunings  it  has  grown  into  a  splendid  science;  and  so  long 
as  men  live  on  the  earth,  and  get  sick  or  hurt,  medicine  will 
be  needed,  and  the  materia  medica  of  our  school  a  book  more 
to  be  studied,  and  its  healing  virtues  better  known. 

Every  house  has  its  sick  chamber,  and  every  home  its  in- 
valid.    When  we  look  at  the  great  aggregation  of  mankind, 
how  few  make  the  journey  of  life  twenty-four  hours  without 
some  incommodity  of  body  or  mind. 
Jan-2 


34  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

The  arm  of  law,  that  wields  the  weapon  of  mortality, 
strikes  down  and  lays  low  in  death  one- half  of  the  children 
born,  under  five  years  of  age;  and  the  majority  of  the  other 
half  scarcely  reach  the  period  of  one  score  and  ten,  while  only 
here  and  there  young  vetenms  in  years  are  seen  out  of  this 
vast  humanity.  To  seek  out  the  healino^  potion,  and  bear  it  to 
this  large  number  of  sufferers,  is  the  duty  of  the  physici^.n. 
If  he  can  not  do  this  he  is  better  out  of  the  profession  than  in 
it.  The  true  genius  in  medicine,  as  he  enters  the  vestibule  of 
bis  profession,  should  never  go  beyond,  unless  he  enters  upon 
his  work  with  a  loyal  spirit  of  conviction  that  he  can  do 
something  to  a^^sauge  pain,  give  vigor  to  the  body  and  cheer 
to  the  soul.  Yet,  to  heal  the  wounded  and  cure  the  sick  is 
not  the  whole  duty  of  the  medical  man.  His  knowledge 
must  not  be  too  narrow,  not  formulated.  The  etiology  of 
disease,  as  well  as  a  knowledge  of  the  law  of  drugs,  must  be 
apprehended.  An  understanding  of  the  materia  medica  of 
nature,  and  its  application,  in  its  largest  sense,  are  a  defence 
against  maladies  of  body  and  mind. 

The  writtlen  materia  medica  treats  of  the  knowledge  of  drugs 
in  their  several  kingdoms,  as  well  as  their  importance  in  the 
cure  of  diseases.  Yet  no  practitioner  should  lose  sight  of 
that  great  fact,  that  prevention  of  disease  is  far  more  import- 
ant than  cure.  The  study  of  hygiene  has  become  an  abso- 
lute necessity.  It  is  hardly  second  in  its  significance  in  car- 
ing for  humanity  in  its  great  needs.  Not  only  physician^, 
but  national  and  State  legislatures  and  sanitary  associations 
are  alive  to  its  importance.  Organized  boards  of  health,  not 
only  in  cities  but  in  towns  and  villages,  should  be  vigorous  in 
their  efforts  lo  eradicate  every  germ  of  illness  flesh  is  heir  to. 
The  mortality  resulting  from  malarial  diseases  and  malignant 
fevers  in  the  eruptive  and  non-eruptive  forms,  demand  that 
the  most  strict  sanitary  measures  should  claim  the  earnest  at- 
tention of  all  cla.sses  of  men.  Heretofore  great  efforts  have 
been  made  by  thousands  of  medical  men  to  obtain  the  history, 
pathogenetic  and  curative  action  of  dru^s, — efforts  that  merit 
the  highest  praise  from  every  physician  and  patient  in  the 
world,  who  learn  and  test  their  healing  virtues.     But  more 


Materia  Medica,  35 

recently  a  new  portal  is  open,  and  as  large,  if  not  a  larger  field 
than  our  materia  medica,  for  thought  and  research,  is  before 
us.  However  much  good  is  credited  to  the  birth  and  growth 
of  our  materia  medica  to  enable  us  to  cure  the  sick,  the  great 
progress  more  particularly  made  of  late  years  in  the  sanitary 
department  of  science  delights  the  judgment  and  cheers  our 
most  hopeful  expectation  for  the  future  welfare  of  mankind. 
When  death  occurs  or  epidemic^  appear  in  a  district,  it  is 
natural  for  individuals  ami  com>nunities  \o  be  anxious  about 
causes  and  cures;  and  when  doctors  and  phtlantliropi^ts  read 
from  the  daily  papers  the  long  list  of  those  who  have  left 
dear  friends  behind  to  mourn,  they  may  almost  begin  to  think 
that  sickness  and  death  have  outgrown  science;  and  while  the 
medical  man  has  been  searchinc|^  for  remedies,  disease  has 
strengthened  itself  by  feeding  on  its  victims.  Not  one  of  ns 
but  will  proclaim  that  diagnosis  is  delicate,  and  sometimes 
extremedy  difficult,  so  that  when  the  patient  is  unintelligible 
or  symptoms  more  or  les^  complicated,  (so  that  apparently, 
the  whole  domain  of  pathology  is  brought  under  review,)  the 
judgment  trembles  in  painful  suspense.  It  requires  the  nicest 
discrimination,  first,  to  group  and  classify  symptoms;  and 
second,  to  select  the  drug  or,  in  other  words,  the  remedy  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  similars.  As  before  stated,  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  materia  medica  and  the  therapeutic  law  is  not  all 
that  should  claim  the  attention  of  the  physician;  for  it  is  no 
less  imperative  for  him  to  keep  mankind  from  sickness,  than 
to  cure,  prolong  and  perfect  life.  He  should  be  an  educator 
as  well  as  a  healer.  So  long  as  men  lean  towards  the  grave, 
and  the  cradle  of  our  little  ones  rock  that  way,  it  is  our  duty 
as  physicians  to  teach  prevention  as  well  as  cure.  Pro- 
phylactics are  as  valuable  as  therapeutics.  There  is  an  old 
proverb — and  it  is  as  true  to-day  as  ever,  and  as  applicable  in 
connection  with  our  theme  as  any  other,  "that  an  ounce  of 
prevention  is  better  than  a  pound  of  cure,"  and  hence  the  doc- 
tor who  does  most  to  impart  knowledge  concerning  the  laws 
of  health  in  the  sanitary  and  hygienic  departments,  and  cures 
the  most  patients,  is  he  who  gives  to  a  sickly  humanity    "The 


36  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance* 

oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the 
spirit  of  heaviness." 

Our  mission  is  not  always  to  act  on  the  defensive  but  at 
times  assume  the  aggressive,  meet  every  subtle  foe  in  its  hid- 
ing place,  whatever  its  form  or  purpose.  Deliver  man,  as 
far  as  may  be,  from  the  fear  of  hostility  and  bondag;e,  or  from 
habitations  and  habits  that  produce  seed  and  soil  for  disease 
and  death,  then  you  will  increase  their  joys,  as  well  as  rescue 
from  suffering.  Such  a  physician  will  not  only  annihilate 
pain,  but  he  will  prepare  the  heart  fertile  for  the  indwelling 
of  pleasure.  The  physician  is  not  only  to  be  fortified  with  a 
knowledge  of  his  mateiia  medica  in  its  most  sanguine  possi- 
bility, but  he  must  carry  with  him  the  safety  lamp,  the  life  boat 
and  that  is  not  all,  he  must  ring  the  fog  bell,  whose  tongue 
shall  speak  life  amidst  the  shadows  of  death.  If  he  would 
prevent  sickness  and  perpetuate  life  then,  as  far  as  he  knows 
the  haunts  of  vice,  or  pitfalls  of  death,  let  him  warn  unwry 
feet  against  approach,  and  with  the  spirit  of  the  missionary 
of  the  cross,  bear  tidings  to  save  from,  as  well  as  medicines 
to  cure,  maladies  of  body  or  mind.  While  human  life  is 
frugal,  it  has  an  abundance  of  wealth  to  promote  longevity, 
peace  and  happiness.  Still  the  emissaries  that  abridge  life's 
journey,  and  hasten  the  innocent  on  to  suffering  and  to  death, 
are  not  a  few.  Like  invisble  foes,  and  subtle  as  witchcraft, 
they  prowl  incessantly  to  destroy.  So  many  lives  are  mort- 
gaged to  ignorance,  imprudence  and  excesses,  it  is  often  in 
the  ability  of  the  physician  to  prevent  a  speedy  foreclosure, 
by  ministering  to  the  moral  as  well  as  to  the  physical, — not 
only  with  material  substances,  but  with  spiritual  forces.  Lord 
Bacon,  in  commending  his  "History  of  Life  and  Death"  to 
the  readers,  expresses  the  hope  "that  the  nobler  sort  of  phy- 
sicians will  advance  their  thoughts,  and  not  employ  their 
time  wholly  in  the  sordidness  of  cures,  neither  for  necessity 
only,  but  that  they  will  become  coadjutors  and  instruments 
of  the  divine  omnipotence  and  clemency,  in  prolonging  and 
renewing  the  life  of  man.  These  thoughts  and  suggestions 
are  the  outcome  of  the  fact  that  the  gift  of  healing  does  not 
proceed  wholly  from  a  knowledge  of  the  materia  medica;  but 


Materia  Medica,  37 

the  animus  of  the  physician,  as  well  as  adjuvants,  are  a  part 
of  the  means  to  accomplish  one  of  the  noblest  purposes  of  life. 
The    means  and  measures  that  are  healthful  to  the  patien  t 
under  homoeopathic  medication,  are  as  numerous  as  under 
other  modes  of  treatment. 

I  am,  however,  a  disclaimer  against  the  interpolation  of  ex- 
pedients, as  many  practice.         *         *         *         *         * 

I  believe  in  Homoeopathy  as  a  science,  founded  upon  a  law; 
a  law  which  claims  supremacy;  a  lav/  before  which  all  col- 
lateral medicine,  or  adjuvants  must  bow  in  subjection;  and 
that  hygiene,  and  all  other  expedients,  or  auxiliaries,  merit 
our  encomiums  only  which  are  in  agreement  with  the  law 
of  similitude.  It  is  the  immutable  law  of  thereapeutics — the 
Similia — that  legislates  'o  the  practitioner  the  choice  of  his 
remedy,  and  not  pathology.  While  many  a  champion  has 
done  battle  for  Similia,  and  stood  boldly  and  fearlessly  for 
the  purity  and  simplicity  of  the  truth  of  Homoeopathy,  there 
are  some  among  us  who  are  not  quite  ready  to  discard  entire- 
ly the  use  of  adjuvants;  and  in  so  doing,  feel  that  they  do  not 
dishonor  the  integrity  of  the  materia  medica,  or  bring  reproach 
upon  the  thereapeutic  law  of  Homoeopathy.  In  this  age  of 
thought,  however  scholarly,  or  versed  in  science,  it  is  not  in 
the  law  of  mind  for  all  to  see  or  think  alike;  hence,  not  all 
students  in  medicine  are  capable  of  arranging  or  retaining  in 
memorv  truths  and  facts  so  eminent  in  character  as  are  con- 
nected  with  our  pharmaco-dynamics.  The  classifica- 
tions of  drugs  of  the  old  school  has  been  ignored  by  the 
new  school  of  medicine.  We  have  no  number  of  medi- 
cines grouped  as  cathartics,  emetics,  expectorants,  etc.;  no 
formulas  combining  medicines  for  certain  or  uncertain  patho- 
logical conditions;  but  each  drug  in  our  materia  medica  must 
stand  or  fall  upon  its  own  merit,  in  its  sphere  of  symptom- 
atology. When  the  student  of  medicine  undertakes  to  mas- 
ter the  homoeopathic  materia  medica,  he  soon  learns  that  it 
is  no  diminutive  branch  of  medical  science,  but  one  of  the 
greatest  and  grandest  the  mind  of  man  ever  undertook. 


38  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


Tibumum  pnxnifolixim— Black  haw— Sloe.  By  Geo.  W. 
Higbee,  M.  D.,  Sullivan,  Ind.  Read  before  the  Wa- 
bash Valley  HomoBopathic  Medical  Society,  May  6th, 

1879. 

This  remedy  I  have  selected  having  noticed  but  little  said 
about  it  in  the  papers  of  medical  societies  and  medical  jour- 
nals, and  having  had  some  experience  with  it,  I  feel  justified 
in  writing  upon  it,  in  such  a  manner  as  will  best  present  it 
for  your  consideration,  as  a  medical  remedy. 

I  have  made  my  own  tincture,  and  made  it  from  the  fleshy 
part  of  the  bark  from  the  root.  It  is  a  remedy,  the  medical 
properties  of  which,  according  to  the  United  States  Homoeo- 
pathic Pharmacopoeia  should  be  made  from  the  leaves,  but 
it  seems  t">  have  more  strength  and  virtue,  and  with  me  bet- 
ter succe>s  when  made  from  the  root.  It  is  a  remedy  I  prize 
very  much.  It  alone  has  won  for  me  many  and  glorious  vic- 
tories. In  all  cases  of  threatened  miscarriage  I  always  first 
think  of  Viburnum,  and  secondly  of  Secale,  It  is  one  of  my 
best  remedies  !o  prevent  miscarriage  if  given  before  the 
membranes  are  injured,  and  when  the  pains  are  spasmodic 
and  threatening.  It  is  also  of  much  value  for  after  pains, 
both  of  natural  and  premature  labor,  and  should  be  given  a 
dose  after  each  pain. 

It  is  equally  as  good  and  useful  for  the  several  false  pains 
preceeding  normal  labor.  Cramps  in  the  abdomen  and  legs 
of  pregnant  women  are  controlled  very  quickly  by  it. 

It  is  the  safest  and  surest  remedy  I  have  yet  found  to  con- 
duct women  through  their  time  of  gestation  who  have  mis- 
carried one  or  more  times  before,  and  seem  to  be  severely 
threatened  with  the  same  fate  again.  I  rely  upon  this  reme- 
dy to  a  very  great  extent  for  all  uterine  pains  during  gesta- 
tion, especially  when  they  radiate  or  extend  into  or  through 
the  abdominal  and  pelvic  regions,  more  so  when  the  pains 
indicate  an  active  and  congestive  tendency.  I  use  the  tinc- 
ture in  all  cases  from  six  to  ten  drops  in  water  at  a  dose 
every  two  or  four  hours,  as  the  severity  of  the  case  demands 


Materia  Medica,  39 

Should  there  be  much  nervousness  I  would  give  Secale.  In 
all  cases  of  miscarriage  and  abortion  in  using  Viburnum 
we  should  be  governed  more  by  the  pains.  While  in  using 
Secale  we  should  be  sroverned  more  by  the  secretions  and  dis- 
charges, as  metrorrhagia,  excessive  urine,  profuse  sweat- 
ing etc.,  and  in  fact,  all  cases  where  there  is  excessive  and 
profuse  secretions  from  all  the  secreting  outlets  of  the  body, 
I  always  am  first  led  to  think  of  and  use  Secale  and  always 
flatter  myself  that  I  am  using  a  sure  and  safe  remedy. 

As  to  time.  I  have  always  met  with  better  success  by 
using  Viburnum  previous  and  up  to  the  time  of  normal  labor, 
and  Secale  during  and  after  the  time  of  noimal  labor. 

Doctor  Baer  says  that  Secale  has  its  sphere  of  action  more 
manifest  by  pains  and  secretions  only  during  expulsive  efforts. 
While  in  my  experiments  with  Viburnu>m  I  have  found  that 
its  sphere  of  action  is  more  manifest  by  severe  pains  and  con- 
tractions of  a  non-expulsive  nature.  I  mean  such  pains  and 
contractions  not  incident  to  normal  labor. 

Secale  has  no  curative  action  of  which  I  am  yet  acquainted 
upon  the  virgin  uterus,  or  upon  the  uterus  undeveloped  by 
normal  or  abnormal  processes. 

While  Vibu7*nu7n  has  curative  action  on  the  uterus,  where 
there  are  pains  and  contractions  incident  to  developement. 

Whenever  the  uterine  fibres  are  normally  or  abnormally 
hypertrophied,  then  may  Secale  be  indicated,  because  the 
primary  action  of  Secale  on  the  healthy  uterus  tends  to  in- 
duce a  condition  of  congestion,  and  to  irritate  the  muscular 
tissues  and  nerve  fibres,  so  as  to  cause  that  organ  to  become 
abnormally  hypertophied.  Whenever  the  uterus  is  largely 
and  abnormally  hypertrophied,  or  in  gestation  fully  devel- 
oped, then  pains  incident  thereto  generally  demand  Secale, 
While  on  the  other  hand  should  pains  occur  during  the  pro- 
cess of  these  developements,  and  more  especially,  when  in- 
cident to  the  normol  development,  then  the  medical  remedy 
would  be  found  in  Viburnum.  Dr.  Lilienthal  says  that 
Secale  affects  first  the  cerebro  spinal  and  ganglionic  system 
and  through  them,  not  only  the  walls  of  the  blood  vessels. 


40  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

but  also  venous  stagnation  and  toxaemia  take  plice  showing 
itself  in  suffering  of  the   organs  and  finally  gangrene. 

This  is  going  much  farther,  and  effecting  the  system  in  a 
much  more  severe  manner  then  would  Viburnum  You 
will  find  in  the  use  of  Viburnum  a  very  pleasant  and  mild 
remedy,  generally  giving  good  and  prompt  satisfaction  when 
indicated.  I  will  close  this  paper  by  further  saying:  The 
Viburnum  prun,  is  the  common  black  haw,  and  the  Viburn- 
um opulis  the  high  cranberry  bush,  found  growing  in 
marshy  places  in  the  Northern  States. 

The  common  snow  ball,  a  shrub  growing  in  door  yards 
for  a  flowers  or  an  ornament  is  tlie  Viburnum  opulis  in  the 
cultivated  form.  The  flowers  grow  in  large,  round,  white 
bunches,  hence  the  term  snow  ball.  The  flowers  of  the  com- 
mon black  haw  are  white  and  grow  in  large  round  bunches; 
not  so  large  nor  so  globular  as  those  of  the  snow  ball,  yet 
any  one  can  see  the  similarity  of  the  two  kinds  of  Viburnum^ 
and  both  remedies,  so  far  as  I  have  noticed,  have  similar  ef- 
fects. Tincture  made  from  the  snow  ball  is  not  so  good  as 
that  made  from  the  high  cranberry  growing  wild.  In  fact 
I  find  it  hardly  reliable. 


Witmml  €Uttic$> 


Arnica  in  Hydrocephalus. — Within  the  last  month  have 
had  two  cases  of  acute  hydrocephalus,  both  boys  aged  ten 
months,  having  had  no  eruption  of  the  teeth;  both  h«iving 
large  heads  in  proportion  to  their  bodies,  and  both  having 
had  severe  concussions  by  falling  on  the  back  of  their  heads 
within  ten  days  previous  to  their  becoming  ill. 


General  Clinics.  41 

The  first  case  (my  own  boy)  has  been  very  healthy  from 
birth,  except  one  attack  of  membranous  croup  in  January 
last,  but  with  a  hydrocephaloid  predisposition  from  the  ma- 
ternal side.  Had  been  having  watery,  bad  smelling  stools  for 
several  days  previous  to  the  night  of  June  14th,  1879,  when 
during  that  night  he  become  restless  and  cross,  and  kept  mov- 
ing over  the  bed  in  a  semi-handspring  movement,  nursing 
and  drinking  very  often,  and  vomiting  the  watery  portions 
soon  after  without  much  effort  or  apparent  sickness  of  stom- 
ach, with  frequent  watery,  cadaverous  smelling  stools.  Cu- 
prum y>  was  given  from  the  characterstic  symptiom,  "throw- 
ing the  breech  up,"  with  relief  from  that  by  morning;  but  a 
soporous  condition,  with  throwing  the  head  back,  and  roll- 
ing from  side  to  side;  dosing  with  eyes  partly  open;  vomit- 
ing soon  after  nursing,  showed  that  exudation  was  advanc- 
ing rapidly.  Calling  in  the  assistance  of  Dr.  McNeil,  of 
New  Albany,  Aethusa  30,  Hellebore  30,  and  Secale  30  and 
200  were  agreed  upon  within  the  three  following  days,  and 
given  in  the  order  named,  with  slight  apparent  benefit  from 
the  Aethusa,  and  considerable  improvement  from  both  Hel- 
lebore and  SecalCy  but  not  lasting,  and  on  the  fourth  day  he 
commenced  sinking  fast  again  with  these  symptoms  promi- 
nent. 

Intense  thirst  for  large  quantities  of  water  and  often,  and 
retained,  except  after  nursing  when  he  always  wanted  a 
drink  of  water,  and  in  a  few  minutes  vomited  up  the  watery 
portion,  the  solids  of  the  milk  were  retained;  hands  and 
arms  from  elbow  down  were  death-like  cold,  with  cold  clam- 
my sweat  (from  the  first  this  conditionwas  prominent)  with 
slight  warming  up  for  a  few  hours  each  morning  at  day- 
break. Lay  in  a  soporus  state;  picking  at  the  bed  clothes;  eyes 
half  open;  wants  the  head  low,  rolling  it  when  lying,  turn- 
ing it  from  side  to  side  when  being  carried;  restless,  but  does 
not  want  to  be  carried  only  for  a  few  moments,  and  yet  his 
couch  don't  seem  comfortable  to  him  when  down;  head  hot, 
body  and  lower  limbs  normal,  the  arms  below  the  elbow  only 
being  so  death-like  cold;  stools  generally  watery  and  fetid, 
80.iietimes  moie  consistent,  averaging  four  a  day.    An  ecchy- 


42  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

mosed  spot  appearing  on  the  face,  then  on  the  limbs,  then  on 
the  body,  remaining  but  a  few  hours  in  one  place,  disappear- 
injj  of  itself,  leaving  scarcely  a  trace,  and  a  peculiar  fetid 
smell  about  the  whole  body;  conjunctival  injection;  worse 
and  more  fretful  awaking  from  a  short  sleep;  inclination  for 
the  open  air,  much  brighter  when  out  in  the  open  air. 

At  three  p.  m.  on  the  i8th,  had  studied  up  the  case  thor- 
oughly and  concluded  Arnica  was  the  remedy,  and  gave  one 
dose  of  30a;,  when  I  thought  the  presence  of  another  colleague 
might  be  beneficial,  in  his  observing  something  overlooked^ 
and  I  stepped  to  the  telephone  and  asked  one  if  he  would 
call  and  see  my  boy.  When  he  came,  a  full  history  from  the 
record  kept  was  given,  and  after  a  causel  examination  he 
suggested  ^^Apis  as  indicated  all  the  way  through,"  but  upon 
my  stating  that  the  baby's  thirst  had  been  excessive  through 
out,  and  also  urination  profuse,  and  no  cri  hydrocephalique^  he 
then  said  ^^Calc,  carb,  was  the  remedy  to  bring  him  out  on  gen- 
eral principles  against  the  then  stated  fact  that  there  had 
been  no  sweat  about  the  head  or  feet,  nor  cold  feet,  nor  any- 
thing abnormal  about  the  Abdomen^  and  that  three  doses  of 
Calc.  carb.  had  been  given  him,  within  the  six  weeks  pre- 
vious to  this  attack  which  would  have  averted  this  condition 
if  it  had  have  been  homoeopathic  to  it.  Therefore  Arnica 
302;  continued  with  the  approval  of  Dr.  McNeil  some  hours 
afterward,  and  with  improvement  in  rapid  strides,  so  that  in 
one  week  from  that  time,  ihis  child  had  regained  his  former 
strength  and  vivacity,  and  now  three  weeks  from  that  time, 
the  two  lower  central  inci^^ors  are  nearly  through,  without 
two  hours  loss  of  sleep  or  fretfulness. 

Casb  II. — Was  called  to  see  this  child  on  the  25th  of  June, 
after  the  parents  had  for  nearly  a  week  been  trying  to  check 
the  watery  discharge  from  the  bowels  with  Blackberry  cor- 
dial^  but  could  not  keep  them  checked.  The  bones  of  the 
skull  were  separated  about  ont-fourth  of  an  inch,  most 
around  the  temporal  bone;  exophthalmic  eyes,  and  fretful; 
continual  whine;  wanted  to  nurse  or  drink  continually,  with 
Vomiting  soon  after.  Calc.  phos.  seemed  indicated  and  was 
administered  to  both  mother  and  child,  (the  mother  only  had 


General  Clinics,  43 

milk  in  the  left  breast  from  the  first)  a  slight  improvement 
for  two  (lays,  when  almost  the  identical  symptoms  character- 
istic in  case  one  appeared,  the  red  blotches  appearing  and 
disappearing,  the  cold  arms  below  the  elbow,  etc.  Arnica 
y>x  was  administered  with  slight  improvement  at  once,  but 
as  the  mother's  milk  did  not  agree  with  the  child,  it  was 
withdrawn  altogether,  and  Beef  essence  given,  and  allowed  to 
suck  raw  beefsteak,  and  raw  bacon  ad  libitum.  Arnica 
200,  with  rapid  improvement  and  on  the  ninth  day,  this  (the 
worse  case  of  the  two)  was  dishcarged  as  cured,  the  only 
prominent  symptom  being  the  constant  pleasure  the  child 
seemed  to  have  sncking  his  piece  of  raw  beef  steak  when 
awake. 

Remedies  chosen  on  general  principles^  may  sometimes  hit 
the  mark,  but  1  get  more  honest  satisfaction  from  selecting 
my  remedies  by  the  symptoms. — J.  F.  Edgar,  M.  D.,  Louis- 
ville, Ky. 

Cases  From  my  Note  Book. — Case  I,  Pyrosis  with 
Pregnancy.  Carbo.  veg.  cc. — Mrs.  C,  aet.  twenty-four, 
pregnant  eight  months;  suffered  sixteen  days  with  pyrosis. 
Excessive  amount  of  gas  on  stomach;  constantly  hungry; 
constant  eructations  of  gas,  which  tasted  hot  and  acrid; 
stomach  distended  and  tender.  Carbo.  veg.  cc.  relieved  in 
one  hour,  and  a  dose  once  a  day  for  two  weeks  kept  her  O. 
K.  No  trouble  then  until  labor.  Had  exhausted  Allopathy 
before  she  would  consent  to  try  Homoeopathy. 

Case  II.  Constipation,  Headache,  etc.  Coffea  cc. 
Stannum  6x. — L.  E.  C,  aet.  fifty,  male;  tall,  lean,  stooping, 
dark  hair,  skin  and  eyes;  of  sedentary  habits;  habitually 
constipated  with  hemorrhoidal  tendency.  Has  suffered  for 
years  from  sick  headache,  which  usually  lasted  three  days. 
During  the  attack  could  not  eat,  had  vertigo,  flustered  face, 
burning  in  eyes  and  throbbing  temples.  Could  sleep,  but 
would  awake  with  no  amelioration.  About  noon  on  the  third 
day  would  vomit  freely,  and  thereupon  the  headache  would 
gradually  subside.  Coffea  cc  relieved,  but  after  three  months 
again  the  headache  returned,  this  time  occurring  every  week 


44  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

about  Friday  noon  and  lasting  until  Saturday  night,  increas> 
ing  the  first  twenty-four  hours  and  then  after  vomiting  grad- 
ually declining;  urine  scanty  and  red.     StannnmSx  cured. 

Case  III,  Hbadachb.  Nitrite  of  amyl  30. — J.  S. 
W.,  aet.  forty,  full,  dark,  raw  boned,  large  framed  man,  a 
cotton  broker,  has  suffered  for  years  with  severe  headache 
in  eyes  and  temples;  darting,  stitching  pains  through  the 
orbits;  severe  and  persistent  throbbing  in  temples;  good  ap- 
petite, bowels  regular,  no  dissipated  habits.  Had  not  read  a 
book  through  for  fifteen  years.  Head  would  commence  to 
ache  after  breakfast,  continue  until  noon,  during  which  time 
he  could  neither  read,  write  nor  attend  to  business;  had  to 
sit  in  a  darkened  room  and  be  perfectly  quiet;  after  lunch  at 
twelve  m.,  and  a  little  sleep  he  would  awake  feeling  well 
and  so  continue  until  next  morning.  Nitrite  of  amyl  30  re- 
lieved.— G.  E.  Blackburn,  M.  D.,  Shreveport,  La. 

Traumatic  Hemorrhage.  Ipecac  3. — I  was  called  to 
see  a  patient  aet.  about  forty,  corpulent,  dark  hair,  who  was 
suffering  from  malaria  and  irritation  of  pharynx,  and  an 
elongated  uvula,  and  it  being  the  cause  of  the  irritation,  I  at 
once  excised  it.  It  bled  slightly  and  I  thought  nothing 
strange  of  it.  I  left  the  patient  and  thought  all  was  right, 
but  in  about  four  hours  was  summoned  to  see  him.  I  found 
he  had  continued  to  bleed  all  the  time,  in  fact  kept  spitting 
out  great  mouthfuls  of  blood.  I  at  once  began  to  use  styp- 
tics, and  used  the  Natrum  mur.  in  solution  strong,  failed; 
then  used  Hamamelis.  mr.,  failed;  then  Arg,  nit,  stick,  failed; 
then  Persulph  ferric  and  all  failed.  Gave  Ergot;  it  had  no 
effect.  1  then  put  ten  gtts  Ipecac  yc  in  half  goblet  of  water, 
gave  teaspoonful  every  five  minutes;  third  dose  arrested  the 
hemorrhage,  and  all  went  on  to  a  good  recovery. — A.  P, 
Davis,  M.  D. 


&iiu$lUmmi* 


Sditorial  Corresposdenoe. 

Nashville,  Nov.  20,  1879. 

Dear  Advance: — A  few  days  ago  an  unsolicited  invita- 
tion came  to  us  to  meet  the  American  Public  Health  Asso- 
ciation, at  its  annual  session,  in  this  city.  The  circular  signed 
by  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  M.  D.,  a  distinguished  old  school 
physician,  iu  behalf  of  the  "Committee  of  Arrangements," 
stated  that,  "Public  men  of  all  descriptions,  jurists,  clergy- 
men, scinetists  and  others,  are  quite  as  welcome  as  physicians; 
for  this  reform  is  a  matter  of  law  more  than  of  physic,  and  a 
public,  healthy  opinion,  is  the  gist  of  the  whole  business/' 

This  was  an  open  door  which  we  could  not  resist  enterino*. 
The  Cincinnati  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  made  us  a 
delegate,  and  "The  Committee  of  Arrangements"  being  noti- 
fied of  the  fact  kindly  sent  us  a  pass  for  the  trip.  Thus  it 
was  made  plain  that  the  actions  of  the  A.  P.  H.  A.  did  not 
belie  its  professions.  It  meant  what  it  said,  and  all  we  have 
since  seen  confirms  their  sincerity  in  trying  to  make  this 
great  national  work  free  from  sectarian  bias.  We  joined  the 
crowd  somewhat  doubtfully,  but  we  have  received  only  the 
most  cordial  welcome  and  courteous  treatment.  We  had 
hoped  to  meet  here  a  larger  number  of  the  leading  members 
of  our  school.  We  suspect  their  absence  was  due  to  lack  of 
information.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  at  all  subsequent  meet- 
ings of  this  distinguished  body  there  will  be  present  delegates 
from  all  our  societies.  Dr.  Geo.  W.  Foote,  of  Galesburg, 
111 ,  and  Dr.  J.  P.  Dake,  of  this  city,  are  in  daily  attendance 
with  us,  and  have  added  much  to  the  pleasure  of  our  stay. 
Dr.  J.  L.  Cabell,  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  presided.  In 
all,  four  hundred  members  are  present,  being  much  the  lar<y- 
est  ever  assembled  at  the  session  of  the  Association.  We 
are  strongly  impressed  with  the  intelligence,  ability  and  ear- 
nestness of  the  members.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  they 
renresent  a  work  not  second  in  importance  to  any  work  be- 


46  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

fore  the  American  people.  If  the  wealth  of  the  nation  is  its 
health,  then  this  association  is  the  peer  of  any  public  organi- 
zation in  the  world.  As  a  matter  of  course,  yellow  fever  is 
the  all  absorbing  topic.  Our  proximity  to  Memphig  and 
there  being  present  representatives  from  all  of  the  fever- 
stricken  cities  of  the  South,  it  is  not  strange  that  questions  re- 
lating to  the  nature  ,  propagation  and  prevention  of  yellow 
fever  are  paramount.  We  have,  ourselves,  agreeably  to  in- 
vitation, prepared  and  presented  a  paper  upon  public  health; 
but  as  it  did  not  touch  upon  ytllow  fever,  it  was,  ^by  the 
Executive  Commitee,  decided  to  be  "not  germane,"  and  so 
respectfully  returned  to  us.  Next  time  we  hope  to  write  a 
paper  in  English,  but  german(e)  in  fact,  and  if  we  succeed, 
we  expect  to  obtain  a  hearing.  For  a  detail  of  proceedings 
our  readers  must  look  to  the  annual  report  of  the  association, 
which  can  be  obtained  of  the  secretary.  It  was  curious  to 
observe  how  very  divergent  the  views  of  the  members  were 
upon  all  points.  Must  yellow  fever  epidemics  in  this 
country  always  start  from  a  fresh  importation?  Yes  and  no. 
Can  the  disease  hyberrate  and  inaugurate  an  epidemic  the 
following  year?  Yes  and  no.  Is  cotton  peculiarly  liable  to 
spread  the  disease?  Yes  and  no.  Can  it  be  best  prevented 
by  quarantine  or  cleanliness?  What  kind  of  quarantine  is 
best?  These  and  kindred  questions  were  fought  over  with 
great  earnestness,  but  in  the  best  of  spirit.  Sewerage,  syphilis 
and  garbage  called  out  excellent  papers 

The  Memphis  doctors  would  have  us  believe  that  their 
city  is  comparatively  clean,  but  Dr.  Bell,  of  the  ^^Sanitarian^** 
who  has  but  recently  examined  it,  declared  it  to  be  "unutter- 
ably filthy."  He  did  not  blame  the  citizens  of  Memphis,  but 
he  thought  the  fact"  should  not  be  concealed,  and  he  urged 
the  State  and  the  Nation  to  clean  it  up  at  once  or  look  for 
more  of  the  pestilence.  We  have  just  returned  from  an  ex- 
cursion  to  Belle  Meade,  the  residence  and  plantation  of  Gen- 
eral Harding,  where  we  found  blooded  stock,  red  deer  and 
southern  hospitality  in  abundance,  Nashville  is  a  beautiful 
city,  and  it  is  growing  with  great  rapidity.  The  Doctors 
Dake,  father  and  two  sons,  represent  Homoeopathy   in  this 


'    Miscellaneous.  47 

city,  and  they  know  very  well  how  to  do  it.  With  a  popu- 
lation of  nearly  forty  thousand,  we  find  here  a  field  of  great 
promise  for  the  future  of  our  cause.  The  American  Public 
Health  Association  meets  next  year  in  New  Orleans.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  members  of  our  school  will  wake  up  to 
this  great  work  and  join  the  band  of  noble  men  who  are 
striving  to  do  a  work  worthv  of  our  civilized  humanity. — T. 
P.  W. 


OorrOSpo&denoO  from  Central  America. 

Belize,  August  2i8t,  1879. 

Wishing  to  journey  a  little  abroad,  and  not  caring  to  follow 
the  well  worn  and  well  known  lines  of  travel,  I  rolled  out 
of  the  Queen  City  one  frosty  evening  in  November  on  the 
O.  &  M.  R.  R.,  raced  across  the  sunny  South  to  that  Queen 
City  of  the  South,  New  Orleans,  where  I  stopped  a  month 
and  enjoyed  the  autumn  over  again.  Oranges  were  hanging 
golden  in  the  green  foliage,  and  roses  and  camelias  nodded  to 
each  other  in  the  gardens.  It  was  just  after  that  scourge  of 
death  of  1878,  and  mourning  costume  were  most  to  be  seen 
upon  the  streets,  which  appeared  more  or  less  gay,  notwith- 
standing the  "nightmare'*  of  the  summer.  When  the 
Christmas  had  passed  and  the  chill  winds  of  the  North 
again  approached,  I  steamed  across  the  Gulf  to  this  land  of 
perpetual  sumiLer,  where  chill  winds  are  unknown,  and 
from  Jiinuarv  to  January  again  balmy  breezes  blow.  Arriv- 
ed January  first,  temperature  eighty-four  degrees  in  the 
shade.     Many  fiowers  in  full  bloom  and  trees  in  full  fruit. 

I  immediately  applied  to  Lieut.  Gen.  Barlee  for  a  license 
to  practice,  and  as  doctors  were  needed,  and  he  had  not 
heard  of  the  Illinois  Board  of  Health  he  considered  my  cre- 
dentials good,  informed  me  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with 


48  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

the  character  of  my  alma  mater,  (I  doubt  if  he  ever  heard 
of  it),  and  immediately  issued  me  a  license,  which  I  have 
not  since  seen.  I  presently  met  Parson  Henderson,  of  the 
Baptist  Church.  He  is  a  Scotchman  and  long  a  resident 
here,  and  is  the  pioneer  of  Hom<B:)pathy  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  He  has  been  practicing  Homoeopathy  and  preach- 
ing Baptism  for  more  than  thirty  years  for  his  congregation, 
and  others  who  required  his  services.  For  this  he  suffered 
persecution  at  the  hands  of  the  allopathists.  During  the 
cholera  of  1849  and  1856,  am  not  certain  ns  to  years,  the 
Board  of  Health  of  Belize  passed  a  law  that  any  person 
found  practicing  Homceopathy  and  losing  a  patient  should 
be  imprisoned  in  the  common  jail.  The  Parson  was  arrest- 
ed and  imprisoned,  and  that  too  while,  as  he  asserts,  he  was 
curing  seven  out  of  nine  patients,  and  the  allopaths  were 
losing  seven  out  of  nine  of  theirs.  Fortunately  for  cholera 
patients.  Homoeopathy  and  the  Parson,  the  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor was  a  human  man  and  he  vetoed  that  measure,  set  the 
Parson  at  large  and  cheered  him  on  his  doubly  Christian 
mission.  Afterward  he  was  compelled  to  quit  preaching  to 
the  prisoners  in  jail  because  he  was  a  homcBOpnthist,  but  at 
present  all  such  annoyances  are  removed,  and  the  parson  is 
allowed  to  preach  even  at  the  city  hospital.  His  btock  in 
trade  consists  of  a  half  dozen  books,  among  them  Hull's 
Jahr  and  Repertory,  and  a  box  of  some  eighty  remedies 
which  must  be  "pretty  well  up"  by  this  tj^ne,  for  I  think  they 
have  been  constantly  lefilled, 

The  climate  here  is  remarkable  for  i^s  salubrity,  having  a 
rano"e  of  only  ten  to  twenty  degrees  in  the  year,  while  at  the 
Queen  City  it  has  a  range  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
degrees.  The  trade  winds  blowing  almost  continuously  from 
the  East  make  even  the  summer  more  pleasant  and  enjoyable 
than  in  the  North.  There  is  a  remarkable  absence  of  lung 
and  throat  diseases,  and  I  believe  that  no  better  climate  could 
be  found  on  the  round  globe  than  this  for  patients  thus  af- 
flicted. The  few  I  have  treated  were  easily  cured.  For 
ansemic  persons  with  poor  circulation  and  low  vitality  this 
would  be  a  delightful  climate.      (Sun   strokes)    coupes   de 


Miscellaneous,  49 

soli e  are  unknown.  Have  not  encountered  any  fevers  nioire 
difficult  than  in  Ohio.  I  was  informed  that  female  diseases 
could  not  be  cured  liere,  but  that  such  patients  must  journey 
North.  I  soon  had  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  a  fallacyi — 
D.  B.  Morrow,  M.  D. 


American  Public  Eealtli  Associiction. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Public  Health  Associa- 
tion, at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  November  18-21,  1879,  ^^^  ^^^' 
lowing  resolutions  relative  to  the  National  Board  of  Health 
were  unanimously  adopted: 

Whereas  the  National  Board  of  Health  has,  in  accordance 
with  the  law  which  created  it,  requested  the  advice  of  the 
American  Public  Health  Association  regarding  the  form  of 
a  permanent  national  health  organization  of  the  United 
States,  including  its  relations  to  quarantine,  both  maritime 
and  inland;  and, 

Whereas  the  opinions  of  the  advisory  council  of  th^  asso- 
ciation upon  the  subject  of  health  legislation,  collected  and 
presented  to  this  body  through  Dr.  J.  M.  Tonen  chairman  of 
the  council,  have  been  duly  considered:     Therefore, 

Resolved^  That,  in'  .the  opinion  of  the  American  Public 
Health  Association,  the  present  National  Board  of  Health 
has  been  of  such  vast  service  to  the  country  that  it  is  not  ex- 
pedient to  make  any  essential  change  in  itis  organization,  and 
that  any  minor  improvement  in  details  should  be  left  to  the 
Board  itself. 

Resolved^  That  the  investigations  which  have  been  com- 
menced by  the  Board  are  approved  and  should  be  continued 
and  that  similar  investigations  should  vbp  undertaken  By  it 
into  the  consideration  and  prevention  of  other  diseases  as  well 
as  yellow  fever. 


50  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Resolved,  That  Congress  should  appropriate  sufficient 
funds  to  enable  the  Board  to  employ  the  best  talent  and  ap- 
paratus in  such  scientific  and  practical  inquiries. 

JResoloedj  That  the  operation  of  the  existing  quarantine  law, 
and  of  the  rules  and  regulations  prepared  by  the  National 
Board  of  Health  on  that  subject,  have  accomplished  great 
good,  and  that  no  change  in  the  law  should  be  made  with- 
out the  most  careful  and  serious  consideration. 

Besolvedy  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  association  the  quar- 
antine laws  of  the  United  States  should  be  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  National  Board  of  Health  and  of  an  executive  com- 
mittee to  be  selected  by  that  body. 

Resolved^  That  this  association  has  no  suggestions  to  make 
with  reference  to  any  amendments  to  existing  legislation  in 
regard  to  quarantine,  preferring  that  they  should  come  from 
the  National  Board  of  Ileal th,  as  the  most  competent  body 
to  advise  whatever  may  be  best. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  for  the  National  Board  of 
Health  to  call  an  international  congress  for  the  discussion  of 
the  very  important  subjects  of  international  sanitary  quaran- 
tine, etc.. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  General  Government 
to  build,  equip,  and  conduct,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  a  quarantine  station,  at  such  a  place  as  may  be  desig- 
nated by  the  National  Board  of  Health. 

Resolved,  That  the  secret.iry^of  this  association  be  instructed 
to  forvvard  to  the  National  Board  of  Health  a  certified  copy 
of  these  resolutions,  together  with  the  reports  and  documents 
of  the  advisory  council;  and  that  the  executive  committee  be 
instructed  to  take  such  action  during  the  next  session  of  Con- 
gress as  may  deem  best  suited  to  promote  legislation  in  accord- 
ance with  these  resolutions. 


Miscellaneous.  51 


Dr.  Wilson's  "Sohematio  Tiew." 

To  THE  Editor  of  the  Advance: — I  am  delighted  with 
your  organon  of  medicine  as  presented  in  the  November 
number  of  your  journal.  When  studying  geography  there 
is  nothing  so  valuable  as  a  map  with  lines,  roads  and  water 
courses  to  guide  us.  In  the  stAdy  of  disease,  as  well  as  any 
thing  else,  it  is  well  to  have  something  that  you  can  see  and 
put  your  finger  on  and  say,  "I  have  him."  Paddy  was  quite 
sure  of  his  flea. 

"Nature  is  strictly  orderly  in  her  processes  of  development; 
she  proceeds  from  the  simple  to  the  complex."  This  is  de- 
cidedly good,  only  give  us  more  of  it.  Illustrate,  and  let  us 
see  where  you  begin.  We  are  a  little  afraid  to  commit  our- 
selves too  filly,  for  you  seem  to  get  the  "organon  of  the  art 
of  healing"  and  the  "organon  of  medicine'*  a  little  mixed,  as 
one  would  say.  The  one  relates  to  the  healing  or  curing  the 
sick,  and  the  other  relates  to  the  action  of  drugs  upon  the 
living  oiganism.  The  why  of  the  latter  is  essential  to  the 
how  of  the  former.  We  claim  to  have  a  law  of  cure,  but 
we  lack  the  essential  of  the  how.  We  have  a  pathogenesis 
of  drugs,  but  we  lack  the  essentials  of  a  why.  We  know 
and  can  demonstrate  it  every  time,  that  Aconite  will  produce 
a  high  degree  of  arterial  tension  and  hyperaemia  of  the  ar- 
terial cnpillaries,  but  the  why  i^  wanting.  We  know  and 
can  demonstrate  at  any  time  that  Qumine,  China,  Carbo  veg:, 
Ars.,  Arnica  and  Sulph.  will  cure  intermittent  fever,  the  re- 
sults being  quite  uniform,  but  a  rational  explanation  of  the 
whv  and  the  how  is  what  we  want.  Give  us  the  modus 
operandi  in  harmony  with  the  law  Similia,  You  may  sug- 
gest that  any  attempt  at  such  explanation  is  at  best  specula- 
tive or  hypothetical,  but  you  will  see  that  nothing  which  has 
been,  and  can  again  be  demonstrated,  is  merely  speculative. 
This  is  what  we  need  and  what  we  must  have  before  we 
can  have  an  organon  of  homoBOpathic  medicine.  Can  you 
give  it  to  us? — Wm.  Owens,  M.  D. 
Jan-3 


52  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


A  Case  Prom  Dally  Praotioe.     By  Dr.  C.  Koeck,  Munich, 

Bavaria. 

One  night  I  was  suddenly  called  to  an  American  family, 
coming  from  Paris,  whose  daughter  was  suddenly  taken  very 
sick  on  the  journey  to  Carlsbad.  Arriving  at  the  hotel  I 
found  a  young  lady  of  about  nineteen  years  in  bed,  vomiting 
a  quantity  of  mucus,  bile  and  food.  The  patient  complained 
of  unbearable  pains  on  the  right  side  immediately  under  the 
false  ribs,  radiating  over  the  whole  right  chest  and  extending 
through  the  entire  abdomen;  it  was  a  constant  moaning  and 
groaning,  and  a  perpetual  begging  for  Chloroform^  whose  in- 
halations did  not  produce  the  desired  relief,  as  the  trembling 
of  the  exremities  and  the  spasmodic  manifestations  on  the 
head  and  trunk  kept  steadily  on;  the  pulse  was  small,  fili- 
form, the  temperature  of  the  skin  subnormal,  the  color  of 
the  face  pale,  the  features  announcing  great  suffering;  the 
abdominal  walls  tense  and  very  sensitive  to  pressure;,  the 
hepatic  region  covered  by  a  poultice;  extremely  painful. 

The  father  told  that  for  the  last  two  years  the  patient  suf- 
fered from  bilious  colic,  caused  by  the  slightest  mental  effort 
or  by  bodily  exertions,  or  from  indigestion.  She  always 
was  treated  homceopathically  during  the  attacks  with  Oltve 
oil  and  Morphine.  There  were  several  vials  with  pellets, 
labelled  Ohamomilla^  A  tropins,  Colocynthis,  Nux  vomica  and 
Morphine,  A  physician  of  Chicago  advised  Carlsbad.  Dur- 
ing the  journey  she  already  received  one  Morphine  injection 
and  all  the  homoeopathic  drugs,  but  without  the  least  relief, 
they  rather  seemed  to  aggravate  the  pains  and  the  vomiting. 
The  diagnosis  was  clear.  Kafka,  Baehr  and  others  also  re- 
commend Belladonna,  Atropine,  Digitalis,  Phulman  the 
same  and  Merc,  Podophyllum,  Card.,  but  some  she  had 
taken;  to  the  others  I  felt  doubtful,  but  I  recollected  the 
teachings  of  my  master.  Prof.  Buchner,  who  in  his  lectures 
said:  In  spasmodic  constriction  of  the  concrements  Belladon- 
na and  Atropine  are  indicated,  because  it  relieves  the  sphinc- 
ter-like formation  of  the  ring  muscles;  but  Tobacco  causes  a 


Miscellaneous,  53 

spasm  of  the  longitudinal  muscles;  Natrum  carbonicum  pre- 
vents the  formation  of  concrements;  m  gouty  persons  Bry- 
onia; in  tuberculosis  Kali  carh;  in  scrofulosis  Calcarea  carb,; 
in  carcinomatous  patients  Calcarea  arseniosa;  in  dartrous 
constitutions  Calcarea  acetica,  etc.,  etc. 

I  prescribed,  therefore,  Oleum  amygdal,  dulcium  30,0;  tinct. 
Nicot.  tobac.  guttas  20,  Misce  potts,  and  ordered  it  to  be  rub- 
bed on  the  right  hypochondrium  every  half  hour.  Internal- 
ly she  received  eight  drops  of  the  second  centesimal  potency 
of  Tobacco  in  half  a  glass  of  water,  a  teaspoonful  every  half 
hour  till  relieved. 

At  my  morning  visit  I  found  my  patient  sitting  up  in  bed 
drinking  tea.  After  giving  a  few  doses  the  vomiting  ceased, 
copious  stools  followed,  with  perfect  cessation  of  all  pain.  I 
ordered  her  now  to  take  Natmm  carb.  and  the  next  day  she 
continued  her  journey  to  Carlsbad. — Allg,  Horn.  Zeit,  No.  21, 
1879. 


Alas!  this  great  master  of  Homoeopathy;  this  accomplish- 
ed teacher;  this  tender-hearted  physician,  is  no  more.  Prof. 
Josef  Buchner  died  in  Munich,  Novemher  7th,  1879,  from  a 
hypostatic  terminal  pneumonia.  Our  school  has  lost  in  him 
one  of  its  foremost  pillars  in  Germany.  Fearless  in  his  teach- 
ings, even  the  enemies  of  our  school  had  to  acknowledge 
his  deep  erudition  and  his  thirst  for  truth.  May  that  eternal 
truth  be  now  vouchsafed  to  him,  m^'  departed  friend. — S.  L. 


Babbitt's  Principles  of  Ligbt  and  Color. 

To  THE  Editor  of  the  Advance: — Speaking  of  my  work 
you  say  that  the  author  "always  comes  at  science  from  the 
upper  regions."     I  deem  Franklin  Smith's  remarks  as  given 


54  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

in  a  Boston  Journal  more  correct  as  follows:  "In  the  *Prin- 
ciples  of  Light  and  Color,'  the  great  leading  and  fundamental 
principles  of  things  are  demonstrated  by  facts  drawn  from 
heaven  and  earth,  from  art  and  literature,  from  every  depart- 
ment of  nature  and  human  life,  while  the  scores  of  fact**  to 
settle  the  principles  of  chromo  chemistry  and  chromo  thera- 
peutics ought  to  be  called  demonstration."  Our  allopathic 
brethren  are  too  much  "of  the  earth  earthy"  and  deal  with 
matter  as  the  chief  thing,  while  some  of  our  homeopaths  fly 
to  the  other  extreme  and  contend  that  spiritual  forces  are  the 
only  principle  of  therapeutics,  but  my  philosophy  recognizes 
the  fact  that  spirit  and  matter  are  forever  correlative,  form- 
ing nature's  great  duality  of  positive  and  negative  forces  that 
can  never  be  divorced.  Thus  1  have  aimed  in  all  cases  to 
combine  the  inductive  or  scientific  method  on  the  one  hand 
with  the  deductive  and  intuitive  method  on  the  other,  and 
have  not  been  so  one  sided  as  to  "come  at  science  from  the 
upper  regions"  merely,  realizing  as  I  do  that  spirit  is  the 
primal  or  positive  law  of  power,  while  matter  is  the  negative 
or  reactive  law  and  that  we  must  investigate  the  action  of 
both  in  order  to  become  full  orbed  in  our  perception  of  truth. 
By  my  research  into  the  workings  of  atoms  and  ethers,  I 
think  I  can  perceive  beyond  all  guess  work  the  basic  princi- 
ples of  force,  including  such  departments  as  heat,  light,  color, 
electricity,  chemical  action,  magnetism,  psychic  force,  etc. 
The  knowledge  of  ihete  has  enabled  me  to  see  how  they 
must  work  in  connection  with  therapeutics.  They  have  en- 
abled me  to  see  just  how  the  chemcial  and  therapeutical 
potency  of  all  substances  may  be  dtetermined  by  their  color 
as  seen  in  spectrum  analysis,  or  in  most  cases  as  it  appears 
in  the  ordinary  cold  condition  of  the  substances,  and  having 
seen  the  principle  so  clearly,  I  have  experimented  myself  and 
studied  the  experience  of  others  which  shows  that  it  is  borne 
out  constantly  in  practice.  In  proof  of  this  1  have  adduced 
hundreds  of  facts  showing  the  power  of  color  in  drugs,  in 
sunlight  and  in  substances  charged  by  the  different  colors  of 
sunlight.  These  facts  include  very  many  marvelous  cures 
wrought  by  means  of  the  different  solar  rays,  or  by  substances 


Miscellaneotis.  55 

whose  colors  as  shown  by  eminent  medical  authorities  reveal 
the  very  same  law  of  power.  And  yet  in  speaking  of 
chromopathy  as  I  have  thus^  developed  it,  you  say,  "how 
far  it  is  true  we  can  not  judge,"  My  dear  sir,  pardon  me,  but 
yon  can  judge  positively  and  accurately  if  you  will  only  ex- 
amine the  immense  array  of  facts  which  I  have  presented, 
and  even  a  mind  of  far  less  clearness  than  your  own  can 
judge  of  the  corr.ectness  of  these  principles  if  they  can  only 
spare  the  time  to  study  them.  I  will  hereby  challenge  you 
to  find  one  substance  in  all  nature  that  goes  counter  to  my 
principles  of  chromopathy. 

I  would  state  here  that  the  investigation  of  these  fine  forces 
has  made  me  see  a  great  truth  in  Horn ceopa thy,  although 
I  find  that  homoeopathists  have  not  reached  all  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  things.  They  are  blessing  the  world  by 
leading  people  into  a  more  refined  and  pure  materia  medica 
and  by  establishing  the  principles  of  similia  similihus  which 
is  true  and  beautiful  if  used  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a 
drug  that  when  thoroughly  triturated,  as  in  high  dilutions, 
is  able  to  cure  a  disease  similar  to  that  which  is  caused  by 
the  crude  drug  itself,  or  which  in  many  cases  may  be  pro- 
duced (not  cured)  by  a  low  dilution  of  this  drug.  I  believe 
however  that  even  homeopaths  are  as  yet  not  sufficiently 
clear  with  reference  to  nature's  great  law  of  equilibrium,  or 
the  processes  of  chemical  afTinity  so  active  in  all  triturations, 
or  the  great  law  of  contrasts  so  universal  in  all  natural  and 
artistic  creations.  When  I  speak  of  contrasts,  I  do  not  mean 
contraries  on  the  contraria  contraris  plan,  but  I  must  not 
take  time  for  an  explanation  here. 

Many  prominent  homeopathic  physicians  and  editors  have 
already  thoroughly  studied  and  tested  the  principles  of  light 
and  color  and  have  given  their  enthusiastic  approval  of  it. 
Some  with  whom  I  have  talked  on  the  subject  have  differed 
at  first  from  my  position,  but  on  hearing  the  full  explanation 
of  the  law  of  homeopathic  potencies  have  admitted  the  reas 
onableness  of  my  position.  The  etheric  atomic  law  devel- 
oped in  the  third  chapter,  shows  just  hqw  the  potency  of  a 
drug  may  be  communicated  to  a  fluid  or  other  substance  by 


56  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

trituration  even  if  not  a  particle  of  the  original  drug  should 
remain.  Page  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  onward  shows 
that  the  finer  emanations  of  all  things  float  in  the  atmosphere, 
the  coarser  ones  remaining  more  in  the  grosser  solids  of  the 
earth,  and  the  full  development  of  the  laws  of  chemical 
affinity,  chromo  chemistry,  etc.,  shows  just  how  these  fine 
voLttile  particles  are  appropriated  by  trituration,  and  how  a 
long  trituration  as  in  high  potencies  will  take  up  elements 
through  chemical  affinity  which  are  the  contrasts  of  the  origi- 
nal drug.  In  this  way  homoeopathic  preparations,  especially 
in  cases  of  high  attentuations  which  call  forth  the  sneers  of 
the  ignorant  as  being  mere  diluted  moonshine,  are  seen  to 
work  according  to  a  scientific  law  and  to  possess  a  very 
subtle  power  for  the  cure  of  disease.  I  have  endeavered  to 
show  the  world  the  sure  foundation  on  which  Homoeopathy 
rests  although  this  foundation  is  evidently  diflerent  from  what 
the  more  narrow  minded  of  its  own  advocates  may  conceive 
it  to  be. — Edwin  D.  Babbitt,  D.  M. 


Bcmosopathic  Medical  Society  of  Wabash  Valley. 

The  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical 
Society  of  the  Wabash  Valley  met  according  to  notice  at 
library  room  of  Dr.  H.  L.  Obetz,  Paris,  III.,  on  Wednesday, 
Nov.  5th  1879.  Physicians  were  present  from  Indianapolis, 
Crawfordsville  and  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  Charleston,  Spring- 
field, Mattoon  and  Paris,  111.  Dr.  Waters  read  a  paper  on 
minor  surgery,  setting  forth  the  importance  of  more  skill  and 
nicety  in  manipulating  in  the  various  operationt  with  which 
the  physician  comes  in  daily  contact.  A  bungler  is  no  credit, 
either  to  himself  or  the  profession.  Dr.  Elder  presented  a 
paper  on  "A  case  from  Practice,''  promising  to  give  the  result 


MUoManeous.  57 

of  his  treatment  in  the  case  at  a  future  day.  Dr.  Moore, 
also  read  a  paper,  on  Cases  from  Practice.  Dr.  W.  P.  Arm- 
strong sent  this  society  a  paper  on  the  effects  of  Smoking  on 
the  Heart.  Mrs.  Lizzie  P.  James,  of  Spring^eld,  111.,  presented 
a  paper  on  her  treatment  of  Intussusception  of  the  Bowels. 
All  of  these  were  very  interesting,  and  discussed  by  the  mem« 
bers  in  a  spirited,  but  friendly  manner.  Dr.  Obetz  presented 
several  surgical  cases  for  the  opinion  of  the  convention,  and 
to  show  what  our  system  of  practice  will  accomplish,  as 
compared  with  that  of  the  opposite  school.  At  a  late  hour 
the  society  adjourned  to  meet  in  Danville,  111.,  about  the  first 
of  May,  1880. 

At  eight  o'clock  p.  m.,  Dr.  Sarchet  delivered  a  very  able 
address  to  a  highly  appreciative  audience,  reviewing  the 
history  of  medicine  in  short,  and  showing  the  superiority  of 
the  homoeopathic  practice,  as  shown  in  the  statistics,  derived 
from  various  sources.  This  was  a  very  interesting  meeting, 
and  those  who  failed  to  be  present,  missed  a  great  treat. — P. 
B.  HoYT,  M.  D.,  Secretary. 


■»  ♦■ 


Worms.     By  A.  McNeil,  M.  D.,  New  Albany. 

One  of  the  prevalent  errors  in  regard  to  the  long,  round 
worms  which  exist  so  frequently  in  children,  is  that  they 
must  be  poisoned.  I  have  heard  given  physiological  and 
philosophical  reasons,  showing  that  any  other  mode  of  treat- 
ment was  a  waste  of  time  at  least.  Physiology  and  philosophy 
are  noble  sciences,  and  I  honor  the  man  whose  mind  is  well 
stored  with  them,  and  I  think  I  could  prove  from  them  that 
poisoning  worms  is  not  the  best  thing  for  the  receptacles  of 
the  said  worms,  unless  the  aforesaid  receptacles  are  not  ab- 
sorbents.    But  the  crucial  tests  of  experience  is  better  than 


60  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

proved  of  unquestionable  value,  saving  the  student  and  inexperienced 
practitioner  the  trouble  of  culling  out  from  so  large  a  number  of  remedies 
the  right  one  for  a  given  case. 

Some  practitioners  will  miss  favorite  remedies  for  certain  conditions. 
Herein  the  work  partakes  of  the  individuality  which  characterizes  every 
successful  practitioner's  work.  The  author  makes  a  free  use  of  Er^ot  in 
doses  of  sufficient  strength,  to  develop  its  primary  action  or  physiological 
effects.  For  this  he  may  suffer  criticism  at  the  hands  of  strict  homoeo- 
paths. 

Many  will  question  the  right  to  assail  the  author  on  this  point,  since 
we  all  occasionally  prescribe  remedies  in  sufficient  doses  to  develop  specific 
drug  action  or  physiological  effects.  It  is  not  the  dose  which  renders 
a  given  drug  homoeopathic  to  a  case,  but  the  identity  of  either  its  primary 
or  secondary  effects,  to  the  existing  morbid  condition. 

The  author  is  evidently  a  follower  of  Dr.  Hale,  since  he  draws  largely 
on  this  gentleman's  therapeutics  of  the  new  remedies. 

We  commend  this  little  work  to  students  and  practitioners,  as  contain- 
ing much  that  is  valuable,  and,  indeed,  little  that  will  not  prove  reliable 
in  daily  practice. — A.  C.  B. 

Lilienthal's  HomoBopathic  Therapeutics. 

A  second  edition  already  I  So  much  for  a  big  fire.  Well,  this  is  much 
improved  every  way.  It  is  larger  and  more  correct.  It  is  a  big  nut  shell 
and  full  of  meat.  All,  and  more  than  we  said  of  the  first,  is  true  of  this 
edition.  The  publishers  have  shown  remarkable  energy  and  pluck  iu  re- 
producing this  and  the  other  works,  so  recently  devoured  by  the  flames. 

The  HomoBopathic  Therapeutics  of  Intermittent  Fever.    By  H.  C.  Allen, 
M.  D.,  of  Detroit.    Published  by  Drake's  Homoeopathic  Pharmacy. 

It  is  one  thing  to  have  a  piano  in  one's  house  and  another  thing  to  play 
upon  it  skillfully.  Every  homoeopathic  physician  has  his  materia  medica, 
but  not  every  one  knows  how  to  use  it  in  treating  intermittent  fever.  Can 
it  be  soused?  It  would  seem  not,  judging  from  the  practice  of  many. 
But  judging  from  this  admirable  little  book,  nothing  suits  such  cases  so 
well  as  Homoeopathy.  In  order  to  play  well  upon  a  piano  you  have  to 
learn  how.  Just  so  with  the  curing  of  fever  and  ague.  It  is  easier  to  re- 
sort to  Quinine  just  as  the  ''regulars"  do,  than  to  understand  the  patho- 
genesis of  our  remed ies,  and  to  apply  them  effectively.  Bu t  nil  desperandum. 
Read  this  book.  It  will  make  crooked  paths  straight,  and  rough  places 
smooth.    Never  say  it  can  not  be  done  until  you  try  it  in  the  way  here 


Book  Koiices,  61 

pointed  out.  Dr.  Allen  deserves  the  hearty  thanks  of  the  profession, 
Allen's  (T.  F.)  Materia  Medica  and  Allen*s  (H.  C.)  Therapeutics  will 
both  do  to  tie  to. 

Ziemssens's  Cyclopsedia  of  the  Practice  of  Medicinei  Vol.  XVII.  General 
Anomalies  of  Nutrition  and  Poisons.  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  New 
York. 

This  volume  is  to  our  mind  one  of  the  best  of  the  series.  We  have  here 
nearly  one  thousand  pages  dovoted  to  subjects  not  often  included  in  the 
ordinary  medical  curriculum,  but  which  are  of  the  greatest  practical  im« 
portance  to  the  practitioner  of  medicine.  Prof.  Immermann  treats  of 
hemophilia  I  scurvy,  and  morbus  masculosus  werlhofii.  The  first  of  these 
subjects  is  especially  interesting,  as  the  "bleeder's  disease"  is  a  matter 
heretofore  very  little  investigated.  The  other  two  subjects  are  exhaustively 
treated,  and  deserve  careful  study.  Prof.'s  Boehm,  Naunyn  and  Yon 
Boeck  treat  of  all  the  various  poisons,  and  we  know  of  no  text  book  that 
will  at  all  compare  with  this  in  fullness  and  accuracy.  The  effects  of 
Qptum,  Mercwry,  Aconite,  SajUanint,  Ergot  and  many  others  are  fully  ex- 
plained, and  the  student  in  toxicology  and  materia  medica  will  find  these 
chapters  brim  full  of  the  most  important  facts.  For  sale  by  Bobert 
Clarke  <&  Co. 

A   Guide  to  Surgical  Diagnosis       By  Christopher  Heath,  F.  B.  C.  S. 
Pp.  2U.     Lindsay  <&  Blakiston,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

This  book  is  for  the  student,  for  he  can  easily  memorize  all  that  is  to  be 
found  in  it,  and  that  is  just  what  he  needs  to  know,  and  no  more.  It  is 
alscj  for  the  busy  doctor  (all  doctors  are  busy)  for  he  can  catch  it  up  and 
in  a  moment  find  the  indication  that  will  help  him  to  settle  a  perplexing 
case.  It  is  not  what  the  student  or  doctor  knows,  but  what  he  can  remem- 
ber that  helps  in  time  of  need.  Now,  this  is  the  book  that  brings  that 
necessary  faculty  into  action.  In  dislocations,  fracturesi  accidents  and 
seemingly  anomalous  cases,  there  is  to  be  found  in  this  book  information 
that  goes  to  the  right  spot.  Before  you  get  into  trouble  get  the  book*  For 
sale  by  Peter  G.  Thompson. 

Photographic  illustrations  of  Skin  Diseases.    Parts  III  and  IV«    By  Geo« 
H.  Fox,  A,  M.,  M.  D.    E.  B.  Tfeat,  806  Broadway,  New  York 

Our  readers  will  remember  our  notices  of  parts  I  and  II.    The  present 
numbers  are  still  better,  and  afford  us  much  pleasure  in  studying  them. 


62  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance, 

The  following  are  beautifully  illustrated:  fibroma  pendulum,  varicella) 
zoster  pectoral  in,  raster  lumbalU,  eczema  universale,  leucoderroa 
chromophytosis,  favus  capitis,  favus  corporis  and  eczema  cruris.  Noth- 
ing could  be  finer  than  the  representations  made  of  these  diseases.  The 
parts  are  each  two  dollars,  but  they  are  well  worth  it.  We  commend  them 
to  all  interested  in  diseases  of  the  skin.  But  for  treatment  consult  Lilien- 
thal. 

How  To  Be  Well,  or  Common  Sense  Medical  Hygiene.    By  M.  Augusta 
Fairchild,  M.  D.    8.  R.  Wells  &  Co.,  New  York.    Price  $1.00. 

Here  is  a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wiahed  for,  and  quite  likely  to 
be  achieved,  if  the  very  plain  and  simple  directions  of  the  writer  are  fol- 
lowed. It  is  a  most  excellent  book  for  the  homoeopathic  practitioner  who 
can  safely  and  usefully  add  its  many  hygienic  suggestions  to  his  internal 
treatment.    For  sale  by  Robert  Clarke  &  Co. 

HomoBopathic    Family   Guide.    By  I.  D.  Johnson,  M.  D.    Boericke  & 
Tafel,  1880. 

This  book  is  unexceptionable  in  contents  and  make  up.  It  is  undoubt- 
edly the  bedt  work  of  the  kind  yet  produced.  It  is  a  real  pleasure  to  consult 
its  fair,  full  pages.  It  may  be  that  it  is  large  and  comprehensive  for  a 
domestic  work,  but  we  never  did  admire  the  vest  pocket  specimens  that  so 
abortively  set  forth  the  merits  of  our  practice  to  laymen,  hj  all  means 
let  us  have  a  good  thing  if  we  are  to  have  anything.  For  sale  at  the 
pharmacies. 

The  Guiding  Symptoms  of  Our  Materia  Medica.    By  C.  Hering,  M.  D. 

Published   by  the   American   Homoeopathic  Publishing  Society, 
Philadelphia. 

We  have  here  before  us  the  initial  volume  of  a  series  to  be  issued  under 
the  hand  of  the  veteran  Hering.  The  entire  work  will  fill  ten  volumes  of 
about  five  hundred  pages  each.  Price  in  cloth,  $5.00.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  this  is  complementary  to  all  other  works  on  materia  medica, 
being  chiefiy  a  selection  of  cured  SYSiPTOMS.  Now  this  is  a  most  import- 
ant fact  and  amounts  to  a  verification  of  the  pathogenesis  of  our  drugs. 
We  hope  this  work  will  go  on  to  completion,  and  that  subscribers  enough 
will  materialize  to  enable  the  company  and  the  editor  to  ihsue  the  succeed- 
ing volumes  without  ^^elay.  The  growlers  at  our  materia  medica  will,  we 
trust,  soon  find  their   occupation  gone.     Those   who  want  it  improved 


Editor's  Table.  63 

should  wonc  to  improve  it.  Those  who  desire  it  at  its  best  should  sub- 
scribe for  **The  Guiding  Sjmptoms.''  Address  Dr.  C.  Mohr,  Secretarj, 
Philadelphia. 


%mm*%  %Mi. 


A  HAPPY  New  Yeab  to  All  I 

Now  is  the  time  to  collect  your  bills,  and  remit  your  subscription  for  the 
Advance. 

Bureau  of  Clinical  Meoicikk. — The  bureau  of  clinical  medicine 
have  selected  as  the  topic  for  papers  and  discussion,  at  the  next  meeting 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  Scarlatina,  Scarlet  Fever. 

Its  history,  etiology  and  varieties.    N.  F.  Cooke,  M.  D.,  Chicago, 

The  diagnosis  and  course  of  its  varieties.  Prognosis  and  Pathology. 
Samuel  Lilienthal,  M.  D.,  New  York. 

Contagious  nature  of,  and  liability  to  exemption  from,  as  to  age  and  pre. 
vious  attack.    T.  F.  Pomeroy,  M.  D.,  Detroit. 

Dissimilarity  to  diphtheria  and  to  other  cutaneous  diseases.  J.  P.  Mills 
M.  D.,  Chicago. 

Belladonna  and  other  prophylactics ;  and  for  what  varieties.  Influence 
of  seasons,  climate,  etc.  O.  P.  Buer,  M.  D.,  Richmond,  Ind. 

Treatment  of  its  varieties  and  symptoms.    A.  Lippe,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

Any  member  or  other  physician  having  anything  to  communicate  under 
either  of  these  heads,  will  please  correspond  with  the  member  of  the  bu- 
reau having  it  in  charge,  or  with  the  chairman. — C.  Pearson,  608  12th 
street,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Editor  Advance  : — Will  you  please  inform  your  readers  why  the  ar- 
ticle of  H.  M.  Paine,  M.  D.,  entitled  *'An  Examination  of  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Minimum  Dose,  and  the  Theory  of  Dynamization  promulgated 
by  Dr.  S.  Hahnemann*'  should  appear  in  the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of 
Anatomy  and  Physiology  7  It  was  not  even  read  by  title  in  that  bureau,  if 
it  was  in  any  other.  Define  the  powers  of  the  committee  of  publication. 
As  President  of  the  American  Institute,  is  this  a  regular  proceeding? — 
Yours  sincerely,  EKquiBKR. 

New  York  Ophthalmic  Hospital  for  Eye  and  Ear. — Report  for 
the  month  ending  November  30,  1379.    Number  of  prescriptions,  three 


64  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

thousand,  two  htndred  and  seventy-two ;  namber  of  new  patients,  three 
hundred  and  sixty ;  number  of  patients  resident  in  the  hospital,  forty-four ; 
average  daily  attendance,  one  hundred  and  forty-two ;  largest,  two  hun- 
dred.— ^J.'H.  BUFFUM,  M.  D.,  Resident  Sui*geon. 

HuNOABiAN  WtNES. — We  are  in  receipt  of  samples  of  wines  from  the 
establishment  of  L.  Reich,  14  West  Eleventh  street,  New  York.  These 
are  imported  for  medicinal  purposes,  and  have  the  highest  recommenda- 
tions from  physicians  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  We  believe  they  are 
unequalled  in  purity,  aiSd  gladly  commend  them  to  our  readers  whose 
patients  may  stand  in  need  of  something  reliable  and  elegant. 

Mr*  Editor  :-—^Why  is  it  that  among  our  professedly  homoeopathic 
journals,  some  of  them  which  ''fly"  a  ''sectarian  name"  are  the  least  hom- 
oeopathic in  their  principles?  Why  is  it  the  ^'Hahnemannian"  (save  the 
mark,)  the  "Homoeopathic  Times,"  and  the  "U.  S.  Med.  Gazette,  a  Mon- 
thly Record  of  Homoeopathic  Medicine,"  are  so  fearfully  "ofl^"  in  color  ? 
Is  it  on  the  well  known  principle  that  the  man  who  cries  "thief"  the 
loudest  is  the  one  who  did  the  stealing?     Answer  and  oblige. — Cam- 

BROUNE. 

We  are  not  able  answer  what  we  do  not  understand. — [Eo.] 

The  Cincinnati  Hom.  Medical  Society  recently  elected  the  following 
officers  for  the  ensuing  year :  President,  Dr.  M.  M.  Eaton ;  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  Dr.  T.  P.  Wilson;  Secretary,  Dr.  J.  P.  Geppert;  Treasurer,  Dr. 
8.  R.  Qeiser.    This  society  is  a  live  one  and  will  do  good  work. 

Died. — Dr.  E.  J.  Ehrman,  Nov.  24th,  1879,  aged  sixty-one  years.  Dr* 
Ehrman  practiced  medicine  nearly  thirty  years  in  southern  Indiana  and 
won  the  title  of  Father  of  Homoeopathy  in  Evansville.  His  good  quali- 
ties endeared  him  to  all  who  knew  him,  and  won  their  respect  and  admir^ 
ation.  A  pleasing  incident  connected  with  the  funeral  was  that  a  major- 
ity of  his  pall  bearers  were  members  of  the  "regular^'  school.  The 
homoeopathic  physicians  of  Evansville  assembled,  passed  eulogistic  resolu- 
tions, and  attended  the  funeral  as  a  body.  Homoeopathy  mourns  the  de- 
mise of  a  good  man. 

For  Sale.-^A  few  copies  of  Blchardson's  Obstetrics  at  $3.00  each. 
Regular  price  $5.00.  Address  Advance  Ck^,  80  W.  9th  street,  Cincin- 
nati, O, 

IVaniSy  LocajlumSy  Practices  for  Sale,  Etc. 

Milwaukee,  Dec.  12th,  1879. 
Medical  Advance: — ^There  is  a  good  location  for  a  homoeopathic 
physician  of  some  experience  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa.    Apply  immediately 
to  me  and  I  will  give  further  particulars.    A  good  man  can  do  $6,000  per 
annum. — Lewis  Sherman,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 


T.  P.  WII.SON,  M.  D„  Editdb.  J.  P.  GEPPKKT,  M.I 

VoLCKB  Vlll.        Cincinnati,  O.,  Febbuaby,  18S0. 


B  to  the  editor  of  the  Advancr,  miut  be  directed 
to  Dr.  T.  P.  WilBon,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.  Busiaess  letters  must  be 
sent  as  heretofore,  to  Medical  Advanck  Co,,  Ciociiinati,  0. 

A  Fbibnd  of  ours  writ«s  uk  "Please  drop  my  name  from  your  list. 
Do  Dot  take  any  offeose  at  this,  for  I  am  Koiug  out  of  the  professioa 
altogether.  I  am  thoroughly  disfiUBted  with  it.  I  tJiInk  on  most 
queBtions  you  and  I  are  in  accord,  but  oa  our  notions  of  medicines, 
dilutions  and  such  like,  I  do  not  agree  with  you,  I  wish  you,  how- 
ever, success."  We  ore  sorry  to  hear  this,  for  the  gentleman  is  a 
strong  and  able  writer  and  is  well  known  by  the  labors  of  hia  pen. 
If  he  is  disgusted  with  what  he  has  seen,  and  not  satisfied  with  what 
he  has  done,  we  would  advise  him  to  adopt  our  views  and  try  our 
wayj  for,  to  our  mind  it  woald  restore  his  faith  in  and  love  for  medi- 
cal practice.  The  men  who  lean  toward  what  they  are  pleased  to  call 
tlie  "liberal  side,''  never  seem  quite  happy,  while  the  man  whosFrictly 
follows  limUia,  and  all  that  it  implies,  is  generally  happy  and  con- 
tented with  bis  work,  and  often,  perhaps,  over  confident,  bat  he  can 
not  help  it,  for  the  thing  works  so  nicely  he  comes  to  love  and  trust 
it  as  something  almost  infallible.  He  never  doabts  that,  however  he 
may  now  and  then  donbt  himself, 

Feb  I  6& 


66  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

The  Kino  is  dead.  Long  live  the  KiDg!  The  Hahnemancian 
Monthly  after  a  "fitful  fever"  of  twelve  months,  has  died;  or,  per- 
haps, we  oaght  to  say,  has  changed  doctors  so  that  it  would  not  die. 
Its  escapades  of  late  have  greatly  endangered  its  life,  and  death  stared 
it  in  the  face,  as  we  mentally  predicted  it  would.  But  the  Hahne- 
mannian  has  a  long  and  honorable  history,  which  even  the  unwis- 
dom of  its  late  director  could  not  destroy.  Even  the  blessings  of  the 
English  Pope  could  not  save  it,  and  we  are  glad,  if  it  is  dead,  that  it  is 
in  a  fair  way  to  rise  to  a  new  and  better  life.  Yes,  the  late  editor 
was  smart ;  too  smart  in  fact,  and  not  correspondingly  wise.  He  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines  and  they  despoiled  him.  Drs.  Fab. 
BiNOTON,  Dudley  and  B.  W.  James,  of  Philadelphia,  are  to  control  it 
hereafter.  We  wish  it  success  in  propagating  and  defending  true 
Homoeopathy. 

The  next  meetinq  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy  will 
be  held  in  Milwaukee.  We  understand  that  already  preparations 
are  being  made  to  receive  the  Association  in  that  beautiful  lake  city. 
We  are  assured  that  the  attendance  promises  to  be  much  larger  than 
usual.  We  know  the  West  can  do  great  things  if  it  tries.  The  time 
of  meeting  will  be  announced  before  long.    Don't  forget  the  place. 

The  Tbansactions  of  the  last  meeting  of  the  Institute,  at  Lake 
George,  will  soon  be  out,  together  with  the  Centennial  volumes* 
Patience  good  friends.  Dr.  Bubqheb,  the  secretary  of  the  Institute, 
writes  us  that  he  is  going  to  stir  up  the  profession  in  general,  and  the 
members  of  the  bureaus  in  particular.  Burgheb  means  business- 
Look  out  for  him. 

We  have  seen  chickens  being  fed  at  the  hand  of  their  generous 
owners  pick  up  small  morsels  with  great  haste,  and  run  to  a  great  dis- 
tance and  devour  the  same  with  precipitation.  We  have  seen  medi- 
cal men  pick  out  of  th  e  great  reservoir  of  homoeopathic  knowledge 
one  or  two  elementary  ideas,  and  at  a  safe  distance  manage  to  swallow 
what  they  had  thus  stolen.  The  chicken  has  no  need  to  act  like  a 
thief,  and  these  men,  if  they  were  wise,  might  see  how  easily  others 
make  a  full  meal  when  they  get  only  a  scant  subsistence.  And  if 
these  chickens  could  talk,  and  should  say  that  the  tit  bit  they  had 
surreptitiously  gotten  was  about  all  the  farmer  had  in  his  dish,  they 
would  be  as  wise  as  these  medical  men,  who  think  that  their  half 
starved  facts,  and  distorted  at  that,  are  all  there  is  to  Homoeopathy. 
Babtholow,  Rinoeb  and  Phillips  teaching  Homoeopathy!  Bahl  They 
will  do  it  when  one  drop  makes  a  shower.  It  is  bastard  Homos- 
opathy,  and  nothing  else. 


Prqfeasional  Bemuneration,  67 


FroftflSional  Bemimeration.  By  O.  S.  Runnels,  M.  D.,  India- 
napolis, Ind.  Read  at  the  Twelfth  Annual  Session 
of  the  Indiana  Institute  of  HomcBopathy. 

The  question  of  success  in  life  is  one  of  the  broadest  that 
can  be  discussed.  It  is  the  most  expansive  because  it  in- 
volves and  includes  every  query  pertaining  to  right  living, 
and  because,  nolens  voleiiSy  every  human  being  is  required  to 
essay  its  problem.  What  constitutes  success,  what  road 
shall  be  taken,  and  methods  employed  to  attain  it,  are  the 
general  interrogations  that  propound  themselves;  and  in  the 
scramble  for  life,  where  self-preservation  is  the  primal  law 
and  only  '^the  fittest  survive,"  it  is  plain  they  should  be  well 
considered,  and  rightly  answered.  Particularly  is  this  so 
after  the  life  work  has  been  chosen  and  entered  upon,  and 
the  struggle  of  competition  commenced. 

Essentially,  success  means — whatever  other  attributes  are 
included — the  attainment  through  honest  and  noble  methods 
of  a  "good  living"  for  self  and  those  dependent.  Try  to 
deny  this  as  we  may  by  insistence  upon  a  more  unselfish  and 
philanthropic  definition,  the  stubborn  fact  will  recur  that 
nutrition  of  body  and  mind  is  the  first  necessity,  and  that  ^ 

only  those  who  are  well  fed  in  both  senses  can  be  considered 
a  success.  This  fact  has  been  so  long  established  that  it 
would  seem  unnecessary  to  come  before  a  body  like  this, 
composed  of  doctors  well  versed  in  laws  of  growth  and 
decay,  to  restate  it;  but  this  truth  long  used-*like  money — 
needs  a  recoining,  as  the  medical  profession  seems  to  know 
less,  as  a  body,  about  ordinary  business  principles — which  is 
proven  by  the  general  slip-shod  management  of  their  finan- 
ces— than  any  other  class  of  citizens  While  this  is  true,  it 
is  strange,  but  not  so  strange  either,  as  I  find  upon  reflection 
that  a  kind  of  suicidal  policy  has  been  taught  us  for  ages. 
Not  long  since  I  heard  one  of  the  most  distingfuished  teachers 
in  the  country,  himself  fat  and  rich,  say  to  his  class:  **l8 
there  a  gentleman  present  who  has  entered  this  sacred  pro- 
fession for  the  purpose  of  making  money,  for  the  sake  of  the 


N 


68  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

dollar?  If  so  he  should  leave  these  halls  at  once  and  renounce 
the  profession  forever.  The  holy  work  of  healing  should  not 
be  cursed  by  any  such  mercenary  spirit."  And  I  have  heard 
and  seen  in  our  various  channels  of  communication  the  same 
sentiment  many  times  repeated. 

Being  an  expression  old  and  oft-restated  its  baleful  influ- 
ence has  gradually  filtered  in  and  permeated  the  medical  fab« 
ric  uptil  to-day,  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  doctor  possessed 
of  such  business  principles  as  will  enable  him  to  make  his 
practice  a  living  issue  to  all  concerned. 

Whatever  else  may  be  said  the  sentiment  is  sickly  and  fal- 
lacious to  the  last  degree  and  has  done  as  much  to  cripple 
medicine  as  any  one  thing  that  can  be  named. 

It  is  the  outgrowth  of  that  one-sided  and  emasculating  code 
to  which  the  clergy  have  subscribed  for,  lo,  these  centuries, 
viz:  going  into  the  vineyard  without  stipulation  and  receiving 
for  pay  as  a  mendicant,  practically,  whatsoever  a  large 
hearted  (?)  people  might  choose  to  donate. 

Now  I  am  free  to  say  that  no  man  is  excusable  for  quietly 
accepting  any  such  menial  and  dwarfing  position;  for  he 
can  never  attain,  while  he  does  it,  to  that  erect  and  robust 
professional  standing  which  should  be  the  ambitious  aim  of 
all.  It  necessitates  a  consent  to  crawl  on  through  a  profitless 
existence;  a  contentment  with  whatever  a  slow  and  ungrate- 
ful public  may  dole  out  and  a  surrender  of  all  those  helps  that 
rightfully  belong  to  him  but  which  per  force  he  can  not  com- 
mand. 

That  "  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire"  is  universally  ad  - 
mitted;  bui  while  manual  work  receives  its  reward  mental 
toil  for  the  most  part  has  to  beg  and  starve. 

People  have  somehow  reached  the  conclusion  that  biain 
work  does  not  cost  the  producer  anything  and  that  therefore 
no  wrong  is  done,  if  it  be  the  last  item  paid  for,  or  be  paid 
for,  perchance,  only  after  a  ruinous  discount  has  been  con- 
sented to;  or,  be  not  paid  for  at  all.  It  is  high  time  that  the 
fact  of  such  a  condition  be  broadly  recognized,  the  causes 
searched  for,  and  agencies  set  in  motion  that  will  remove 
them. 


Professional  Hemuneration.  69 

To  prove  that  in  our  profession  this  condition  is  about  as 
represented  I  need  only  refer  to  the  large  number  of  accounts 
denominated  **bad,"  in  the  hands  of  every  physician  and  to 
the  general  tone  of  slander  that  characterizes  every  remark 
about  ^*doctors'  bills.'*  These  facts  self-evident  and  un- 
deniable as  they  are,  can  not  be  regarded  as  laudable  symp- 
toms; for  they  do  not  indicate  a  self-limiting  disease.  They 
are  only  valuable  in  leading  us  to  the  correct  diagnosis  and 
treatment,  to  the  cause  and  cure  of  the  case. 

As  "every  man  is  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune,"  so  also 
is  he  the  creator  of  his  own  misfortune;  and  that  the  harvest 
is  the  same  in  kind  as  the  seed  sown  is  a  like  truth  of  unvary* 
ing  fulfillment  here  well  instanced.  The  fault  lies  in  the  pro- 
fession itself;  and  the  time  is  come  when  abuse  of  the  people 
for  performing  what  they  have  been  so  long  and  thoroughlv 
taught  to  do  must  cease. 

Medicine  as  well  as  theology  had  superstition  for  a  mother; 
or  rather  superstition  was  the  mother  of  the  joint  offspring 
the  priest-doctor;  which  in  the  chain  of  development  has 
gradually  evolved  into  the  two  professions  as  we  find  them* 
Remembering  this  we  can  understand  where  the  bias  was 
obtained  and  why  they  have  so  much  in  common,  each  re* 
taining  to  an  extent,  as  they  do,  the  shackles  of  their  ancestor* 

It  was  considered  a  base  thing  for  one  engaged  in  so  holy 
a  calling  to  indulge  in  any  material  thoughts  whatever. 

Oh,  no,  he  must  rely  upon  the  Invisible  entirely  for  enough 
of  the  earthy  to  solidify  his  bones;  it  would  be  infidelity,  an 
offense  worthy  of  death,  if  he  did  not! 

And  thus,  because  poverty  has  been  esteemed  the  requisite 
qualification,  in  these  two  professions,  inability  and  disadvant- 
age have  been  perpetuated.  It  is  because  of  this  very  reason 
that  the  doctors  of  soul  and  body  are  hampered  and  crippled, 
as  we  find  them,  by  fetters  elsewhere  in  the  business  world 
unknown.  This  remarkable  foolishness  is  to-day  widely  pre- 
valent and,  strange  to  say,  is  fostered  by  the  doctors  them- 
selves. When  will  they  learn  that  the  world  has  moved  on 
and  that  this  is  the  age  of  enlightenment  and  equity?  The 
edict  has  gone  forth  that  slavery  is  wrong  and  that  it  is  right 
to  have  pay  for  labor. 


70  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

For  the  confirmation  of  this  principle  armies  have  fought 
and  triumphed;  and  the  result  is  crystallized  in  the  laws  of 
the  land.  The  fact,  then,  must  be  accepted  and  acted  upon. 
Medical  schools  must  be  consistent  and  teach  it,  and  medical 
journals  must  iterate  and  reiterate  it  till  the  weak  minded 
sentiment  referred  to,  shall  disappear  forever.  To  further  ac- 
complish it  the  profession,  to  a  man,  must  do  two  things: 
first,  advance  in  excellence;  second,  require  prompt  pay- 
ment. There  must  be  better  qualification,  and  a  higher  prac- 
tice of  honor,  in  those  who  have  professional  labor  to  sell. 
As  it  is,  the  ranks  are  crowded  with  men  of  low- grade  at- 
tainment or  mountebank  propensities  who  do  not  really  de- 
serve much  remuneration. 

First,  and  least  to  be  blamed,  are  the  indigent,  who  are  too 
poor  to  buy  books,  periodicals  and  instruments  and  without 
which  the  finest  ability  is  inadequate;  second,  and  much  to  be 
goaded,  are  the  indolent,  who  are  without  the  animation  to 
use  such  helps  if  possessed  and  are  wanting  the  ambition  to 
gain  them;  and  lastly,  and  ever  to  be  exposed  are  the  adven- 
turers, who  having  had  little  or  no  preliminary  culture,  have  by 
some  devious  way  clambered  into  the  fold  and  are  depending 
upon  "seventh  son"  or  mother  witendowmenent  to  carry  them 
through;  or  who,  having  had  a  good  rudimentary  start,  have 
fallen  into  prostitution  and  resort  to  any  ignoble  practice  to 
further  their  selfish  ends.  A  man  can  be  poor  or  lazy  in  this 
country  pretty  much  as  he  wills  to  and  the  burden  is  largely  his 
own,  a  personal  matter;  but  when  he  converts  himself  into  a 
professional  devastator  and  freebooter,  that  is  another  matter 
which  vitally  affects  us  all. 

These  men,  and  you  have  them  for  neighbors  in  every  com- 
munity, embody  the  curse.  Glad  to  get  business  at  any  rate 
they  announce  to  the  public  that  their  charges  are  merely 
nominal  or  fifty  per  cent  less  than  the  established  price. 

If  any  movement  be  on  foot  to  build  up  the  cause  and  bet- 
ter the  fraternity  they  are  sure  to  be  the  naughty  children 
that  ^*won*t  play."  Studiously  shunning  the  societies,  because 
they  have  not  brains  enough  to  furnish  a  fact  for  the  advance- 


Paofessional  Remuneration,  71 

ment  of  science,  they  busy  themselves  by  lying  about  their 
more  prosperous  neighbors  thereby  hoping  to  build  them- 
selves up.  If  called  in  consultation  they  are  certain,  by  sub 
voce  disparagement  and  innuendo,  to  besmear  their  benefactor 
before  they  get  through. 

A  common  error  on  the  part  of  many  good  physicians, 
and  another  element  of  debasement,  is  misplaced  generosity. 
I  refer  to  the  practice  of  treating  clergymen,  and  others  able 
to  pay,  for  nothing;  and  this,  perhaps,  when  the  brother  of 
the  ''cloth"  is  receiving  for  a  salary  a  sum  equivalent  to  or 
double  the  doctor's  income  and,  when,  at  the  same  time,  the 
doctor  feels  himself  obliged  to  ask  pay  of  widows,  orphans 
and  the  other  meritorius  poor.  This  thing  needs  only  to  be 
stated  to  be  condemned,  for  the  scales  of  justice  do  not  bal- 
ance in  such  a  measurement.  There  will  be  a  healthier 
Christianity  when  charity  is  more  wisely  bestowed.  From  an 
extended  experience  in  treating  clergymen  whom  I  have  in- 
variably charged  I  have  yet  to  meet  the  first  one  that  re- 
monstrated. Repeatedly  have  they  expressed  to  me  their  ap- 
proval of  this  practice  and  their  condemnation  of  the  plan 
that  consigns  them  willing  or  not  to  the  ranks  of  the  mendi- 
cant. 

But  this  leads  me  to  say  that  our  services  shuuld  never  for 
mercenary  reasons  be  withheld  from  those  reduced  to  honest 
need.  As  the  '^Good  Samaritan,"  the  worthy  physician  must 
ever  be  related  to  this  large  and  ever  present  class.  And  to 
the  honor  and  tender  sympathy  of  our  profession  be  it  said 
that  no  other  class  in  society  can  at  all  compare  with  the  doc- 
tors in  their  arduous  and  self-denying  chanties. 

For  this  very  reason  doctors  have  the  better  right  to  ex- 
pect their  just  dues  promptly.  It  is  an  equal  charity  and 
ju<(tice  due  themselves  and  co-laborers  that  they  fix  a  fair 
valuation  upon  their  services  and,  to  the  extent  of  individual 
ability,  to  require  payment.  In  this  matter  of  collecting, 
doctors  have  assumed  the  attitude  of  the  beggar. 

As  a  general  rule  accounts  are  presented  with  an  apology, 
much  as  a  fellow  would  beg  ofT  before  a  police  judge  for 
sheep  stealing.     The  doctor  feels  as  if  he  were  doing  a  mean 


72  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

thing  and  so  postpones  it  as  long  as  possible.  The  hope  is 
expressed  to  Mr.  Debter  that  he  will  pardon  the — ^bill  (?)  and 
is  assured  that  he  will  confer  a  lasting  obligation,  if  he  will 
respond  even  in  a  small  amount!  As  if  the  preponderance  of 
obligation  had  not  long  existed  in  the  opposite  directionl  No, 
until  doctors  can  approach  their  debtors  with  the  consciousness 
of  having  rendered  an  equivalent  for  the  sum  demanded  and 
to  which  he  has  a  right  and  just  claim,  there  can  be  no  health- 
ful business  atmosphere  in  the  medical  profession.  Honest 
accounts  must  be  promptly  and  frankly  presented,  and  pay  to 
their  full  face,  (except  charity,)  insisted  upon.  The  practice 
of  '*knockiug-oflP'  from  ten  per  cent  to  fifty  per  cent,  by  way 
of  discount,  is  mischievous  and  should  be  abolished.  Gen- 
eral bankrupty  would  sweep  the  country  if  that  were  the  cus- 
tom in  all  vocations;  and  special  collapse  is  none  the  less  cer- 
tain to  all  those  who  practice  it  in  ours.  Make  a  candid  ac- 
count of  your  services  and  collect  it  and  don't  deny  that  you 
"work  for  money"  and  expect  to  receive  it.  Business  is  noth- 
ing but  exchange  and  is  a  rule  that  works  both  ways  equally 
well;  so  that  service  and  pay  must  be  reciprocal.  This  is 
with  us,  the  great  desideratum. 

To  reach  it  attention  must  be,  in  the  second  place,  faithfully 
paid  to  collections,  such  attention  as  the  merchant  pays  to  it, 
regarding.it  as  he  does  one  of  the  two  cardinal  points  of  suc- 
cess. There  must  be  method  in  it.  Collections  must  be  made 
regularly  and  systematically,  not  after  long  uncertain  intervals 
and  with  intermittent  eflbrt,  but  often  when  the  service  is 
completed  and  ever  with  unrelaxing  over  sight 

For  nine  years  I  have  made  a  general  rendition  of  my  ac- 
counts every  ninety  days.  All  classes,  from  rich  to  poor,  have 
been  alike  favored  every  quarter  with  the  statement  of  their 
indebtedness.  The  plan  has  worked  like  a  charm.  People 
who  intend  to  pay  do  not  care  much  when  they  do  so  and 
are  always  better  content  with  a  small  bill  than  a  large  one. 
But,  if  in  three  months,  the  account  has  reached  magnitude, 
then  it  is  high  time  that  the  debter  be  apprised  of  the  fact; 
that  he  may  rectify  any  mistake  while  the  matter  is  fresh  in 


Surgtry,  73 

memory  and  acknowledge  its  correctness  if  he  do  not  at  once 
pay,  thus  preventing  future  misunderstanding.  For  a  "doc- 
tors bill"  is  just  like  any  other  current  account,  may  grow  very 
^ast,  and  good  people  are  prone  to  raise  both  hands  in  amaze- 
ment and  declare  they  "never  got  so  much.*'  In  that  case  one 
of  two  things  is  sure  to  be  lost,  possibly  both,  the  "bill'*  or 
the  family.  Then,  for  protection  in  many  ways,  collect  often 
and  regularly;  or  at  least  keep  the  gi owing  object  before 
them. 

After  this  extended  personal  experience  and  the  commend- 
atory testimony  of  several  of  my  friends  of  like  practice  I 
am  urgent  in  my  recommendation  of  the  adoption  of  these 
principles. 

Their  faithful  use  will  elminate  from  your  ledgers  and  the 
land,  that  large  class  of  respectable  (?)  paupers  and  dead 
beats,  with  money  enough  for  dress  and  ornamentation  but 
not  for  the  doctor,  so  well  known  to  you  all:  will  yearly  in- 
crease your  patronage  in  number,  worth  and  desirableness  and 
will  possess  you  of  sufficient  means  to  enable  you  to  com- 
mand not  only  the  conveniences  of  life  but  such  vocational 
help^  as  will  elevate  you  into  the  front  rank  of  the  profession. 


■♦-♦• 


Sui^gii^y. 


Minor  Swgery.     By  J.  J.  Lobaugh,  M.  D.,  Elm  wood  Ills., 
Read  before  the  Western  Adademy  of  Homoeopathy. 

In  a  recent  number  of  a  medical  journal  a  writer  refers  to 
the  country  doctor  as  being  "a  man  who  dabbles  in  every- 
thing and  excels  in  nothing."     However  true  this  may  be  it 


74  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

is  not  wholly  the  fault  of  the  physician,  but  it  is  largely  the 
result  of  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed.  In  many 
instances  he  is  the  only  medical  man  in  the  community  in 
which  he  resides  and  therefore  he  is  expected  to  be  posted 
on  all  subjects  of  a  medical  or  surgical  character.  There  can 
be  but  few  specialists  in  villages  and  country  places,  and  the 
one  individual  who  may  there  represent  the  healing  art  must 
be  prepared  to  grapple  with  whatever  may  come  in  his  way. 
To-day  he  must  be  a  dentist,  extracting  some  refractory  tooth, 
to-morrow  he  will  perhaps  be  absorbed  in  the  difficulties  of 
some  complicnted  case  of  parturition;  and  again  he  must  be  a 
surgeon  ready  to  act  intelligently  in  some  sad  case  of  injured 
and  suffering  humanity. 

Such  manifold  duties  compel  a  man  to  dabble  in  every- 
thing and  doubtless  he  serves  his  patrons  best  who  can  treat 
them  with  ordinary  ability  in  such  requisite  capacity. 

While  a  man  so  situated  may  not  hope,  without  unusual 
talent,  to  become  a  distinguished  surgical  operator,  yet  there 
are  innumerable  minor  operations  presenting  themselves  al- 
most daily, and  I  consider  it  of  the  highest  importance  that  he 
should  acquire  a  facility  in  doing  these  little  things  so  that  he 
may  do  them  neatly  and  skillfully.  Whatever  is  worth  do- 
ing at  all  is  worth  doing  well,  and  no  matter  how  insignifi- 
cant an  operation  may  seem,  it  is  not  alwaj^s  a  small  thing  to 
the  patient,  and  he  who  can  do  it  with  an  appearance  of  skill 
and  dexterity  will  not  fail  to  be  appreciated  above  him  who 
can  do  it  only  bunglingly  if  at  all.  Our  mission  is  to  relieve 
suffering  and  the  little  nerves  have  acute  sensibility  as  well 
as  the  larger  ones,  and  the  pain  of  an  aching  tooth  or  a  twing- 
ing corn  may  be  as  excruciating  as  some  lesion  of  a  more 
vital  character,  and  there  may  be  as  much  dexterity  shown 
in  the  little  operations  of  minor  surgery  as  in  those  of  a  more 
formidable  appearance. 

Pulling  Tkkth. — If  a  physician  must  extract  teeth  why 
not  try  to  do  it  expertly.  Why  should  a  man  bungle  along 
for  years  having  as  his  sole  reliance  an  old  turnkey,  or  a  pair 
of  rusty  and  badly  constructed  forceps  as  I  have  seen  physi- 
cians of  some  local  distinction  doing;  breaking  off  teeth  and 


Surgery,  76 

allowing  the  sensitive  roots  to  remain  to  torment  the  abused 
patient.  If  a  dentist  can  extract  teeth  skillfully  why  can  not 
a  physician  with  a  few  well  chosen,  but  not  necessarily  ex- 
pensive instruments,  learn  to  do  the  same  thing?  And  in 
districts  where  dentists  are  not  readily  accessible  a  physician 
may  thereby  relieve  much  suffering,  add  considerably  to  his 
income,  and  acquire  some  local  celebrity  for  skill  in  that  line. 

Extracting  Corns. — There  are  multitudes  of  people  who 

suffer  agonies  with  old,  hard  corns  on  their  feet.  I  have  often 

been  asked  in  a  hopeless  kind  of  way,  ^'Doctor  can  you  do 

anything  for  corns?"     I  am  generally  able  to  give  an  affirm - 

^ative  answer  with  much  confidence. 

In  the  case  of  old,  hard  corns  that  have  partially  crippled 
the  patient  for  years  I  take  a  very  sharp,  and  very  finely 
pointed  blade  and  proceed  to  cut  away  carefully  all  the  in- 
durated part.  I  draw  no  blood  but  I  remove  all  the  central 
portion  to  as  great  a  depth  as  it  may  penetrate.  The  result 
almost  invariably  is  immediate  and  sometimes  lasting  relief, 
and  the  patient  usually  feels  a  lively  sense  of  gratitude  for 
what  you  have  done  for  him. 

Opening  a  Boil. — A  boil  is  comparatively  a  little  thing, 
but  all  who  have  had  any  personal  experience  with  them 
know  them  to  be  intensely  painful.  Shall  we  tell  the  patient 
to  apply  a  poultice  to  promote  suppuration  and  then  it  will 
recover?  If  he  is  a  person  of  ordinary  observation  he  will 
probably  know  as  much  himself  and  your  suggestion  will 
give  him  no  exalted  opinion  of  your  superior  wisdom.  You 
can  give  him  an  anesthetic  and  incise  the  part  freely  and  it 
will  soon  recover,  but  to  most  people  the  idea  of  taking  an 
anesthetic  is  not  pleasant  for  they  realize  that  there  is  some 
danger  in  the  use  of  such  agents,  and  they  will  endure  the 
pain  of  a  boil  rather  than  submit  to  the  operation.  I  have 
used  successfully  the  following  plan.  Take  a  common  tin 
funnel,  put  in  the  large  end  salt  mixed  with  snow  or  pounded 
ice,  and  work  it  down  into  the  small  end  on  the  center  of  the 
boil  and  observe  carefully  the  effect.  When  the  part  becomes 
entirely  white  you  may  remove  the  freezing  mixture  take  a 
fine  and  very  sharply  pointed  blade  and  pass  it  down  entirely 


76  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

through  the  induration  and  incise  the  part  freely.  The  pa- 
tient will  experience  no  pain  and  if  you  use  ordinary  care  the 
part  will  not  be  frost  bitten,  but  the  boil  will  be  in  a  condi- 
tion to  give  very  little  further  trouble.  The  ether  spray  may 
be  used  to  produce  refrigeration,  instead|of  the  salt  and  ice. 

Nerve  Caught  is  Cicatrix — Suppose  a  patient  has 
a  lacerated  wound  of  a  finger  or  thumb;  the  wound  has  healed 
but  there  is  in  the  cicatrix  a  point  of  exquisite  sensibility,  so 
much  so  that  the  member  is  practically  useless,  or  worse 
than  useless,  and  sometimes  it  will  diminish  very  much  in  size. 
Will  you  apply  liniments  and  other  external  applications  of  a 
like  nature  in  hope  of  giving  relief?  The  end  of  the  nerve"* 
must  be  freed  from  the  cicatrix  and  this  can  only  be  done  by 
a  small  operation;  a  part  of  the  cicatrix  must  be  removed.  I 
apply  the  freezing  mixture  the  same  as  in  the  boil  and  the 
little  operation  is  soon  over,  and  without  pain  to  the  patient, 
the  nerve  retracts  and  the  finger  becomes  once  more  a  useful 
member  of  the  body. 

In-growing  Toe  Nail: — An  in-growing  toe  nail  is  far 
from  being  a  comfortable  thing,  and  the  ordinary  treatment 
is  not  generallv  very  satisfactory.  The  removal  of  the  nail 
does  not  give  a  sensation  of  pleasure  to  him  who  has  to  feel 
all  the  pain  or  pleasure  there  may  be  in  the  operation. 
Besides  tetanus  may  possibly  follow,  or  when  the  new  nail 
grows  on,  why  may  it  not  be  as  bad  as  the  old  one. 

Take  a  small  piece  of  tin  about  an  inch  and  a  half  long  and 
three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  wide;  bend  a  little  book  at  one 
end  and  slip  it  under  the  side  of  the  offending  nail  where  it 
is  pressing  into  the  flesh,  at  the  other  end  a  small  hook  up- 
ward; now  draw  firmly  so  as  to  draw  the  nail  out  of  the  ulcer 
as  far  as  i>eems  desirable,  and  then  by  passing  adhesive  plas- 
ter through  the  book  at  the  free  end  you  can  secure  the  ap- 
paratus to  the  foot  so  as  to  maintain  a  decided  traction  on 
the  nail.  In  a  few  weeks  you  will  be  surprised  at  the  result 
for  the  ulceration  will  be  healed,  and  the  nail  will  be  found 
lying  flat  once  more  in  its  normal  position. 

Fistula  of  the  Rectum  is  a  condition  generally  requir- 
ing surgical  interference  to  effect  a  cure,  and  the  common 
cutting  operation  seems  very  formidable  to  most  patients. 


Theory  and  /Practice.  77 

Pass  one  end  of  a  stout  cord  entirely  through  the  sinus 
and  bring  it  out  through  the  rectum.  Permit  the  cord 
to  remain  .in  the  sinus  as  a  kind  of  seton.  It  can  be  pre- 
vented from  coming  out  by  uniting  the  tw^o  ends.  The  pa- 
tient will  go  about  his  business  as  usual,  and  in  two  or  three 
months  the  sinus  will  be  nearly  gone;  little  more  than  integu- 
ment will  remain  over  the  cord. 

The  latter  may  now  be  removed  and  a  slight  incision  will 
complete  the  cure.  The  patient  has  perhaps  not  lost  a  day 
from  business,  and  has  suffered  very  little  inconvenience.  I 
have  treated  some  old  and  bad  cases  in  this  way,  thus  convert- 
ing into  a  very  simple  operation  what  would  otherwise  have 
been  a  very  serious  one.  Possibly  the  elastic  ligature  might 
be  superior  to  this  method. 

I  might  extend  this  article  but  it  seems  scarcely  necessary. 
I  claim  no  particular  originality  in  these  methods,  I  urge  no 
special  superority  in  them  over  other  methods.  I  have  given 
them  here  more  for  illustration  than  for  instruction,  and  I 
reiterate  here  what  I  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  paper, 
that  we  should  endeavor  to  perform  carefully  and  skillfully 
the  multitude  of  little  things  our  hands  find  to  do.  They  can 
scarcely  be  dignified  with  the  name  of  operations,  but  it  is 
necessary  they  should  be  done  and  they  should  be  well  done. 


■»  ♦■ 


^l^oi^g  itt(6  ^mdit$. 


Is  this  a  Peculiar  Case  f 

1  was  called,  July  19th  1879,  to  attend  Mrs.  W.,  supposed 
to  be  in  labor  with  her  second  child.  Patient  is  about  twenty- 


78  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

two  years  of  age,  rather  slight  of  stature,  and  of  sanguine 
lymphatic  temperament;  has  always  enjoyed  very  good 
health.  They  are  in  moderate  circumstances,  and  except  the 
day  above  given  (July  19th)  to  the  day  of  her  actual  confine- 
ment, attended  to  her  house  work  as  usual,  except  the  wash- 
ing, etc.  The  messenger  (her  husband)  reported  her  pains 
regular  and  the  "waters  broken,"  and  I  should  "hurry.*'  I 
found  the  OS  dilated  to  the  size  of  a  silver  half-dollar,  soft  and 
dilatable,  the  head  presenting  in  the  first  position  and  low 
down  in  the  pelvis;  the  rectum  and  bladder  empty,  and  the 
soft  parrs  cool  moist  and  soft,  and  promised  an  easy  speedy 
delivery.  Bat  "the  best  laid  schemes  of  women  and  men, 
Gang  aft  a-gley,"  and  so  it  proved,  leaving  in  this  instance 
naught  but  disappointment,  chagrin  and  long  weary  hours  of 
waiting.  I  exhibited  remedies  carefully,  in  potency,  then  in 
substance,  from  the  mother  tincture  to  the  20  m„  (the  high- 
test  I  had),  but  th«  pains  gradualy  subsided,  after  the  os  bad 
become  fully  dilated  and  the  head  almost  pressing  on  the  soft 
parts,  which  seemed  only  waiting  the  attack  to  yield. 

I  went  home  to  read  up,  but  could  find  nothing  in  my 
library  that  afforded  me  any  light.  Then  called  on  my  neigh- 
bors, but  in  none  of  the  works  regarded  as  authority  could 
any  thing  be  found. 

After  several  hours,  not  having  heard  from  the  patient  (as 
I  had  directed  should  anything  occur)  I  called  and  found  her 
about  the  house.  On  examination  found  the  os  about  the  size 
of  a  dollar,  no  pain  whatever,  and  patient  as  comfortable  as 
at  any  time  during  the  past  three  months. 

She  is  sure  her  time  was  up  the  first  week  in  July.  She 
had  a  profuse  flow  last  November,  1878,  two  months  after 
she  supposed  she  was  pregnant,  which  was  of  fluid  blood 
entire,  not  yeilding  so  much  as  a  clot.  Again  in  March  last 
she  suffered  another  flooding,  which  contained  clots,  but 
which  she  washed  carefully,  and  could  Hnd  nothing  which 
indicated  miscarriage.  She  first  felt  motion  in  February,  at 
least  a  month  previous  to  the  last  flow,  and  which  has  never 
intermitted. 


Theory  and  Practice.  79 

After  my  first  visit,  I  made  examinations  at  intervals  of 
several  clays,  and  at  each  time  found  the  os  in  the  same  con- 
dition of  dictation,  until  about  four  weeks  had  elapsed,  when 
it  gradualy  closed  to  about  the  size  of  a  nickle,  where  it  re- 
mained until  the  evening  of  August  2^th,  when  labor  set  in, 
and  in  three- fourths  of  an  hour  from  the  first  pain,  she  was 
delivered  of  a  large,  healthy,  well  developed  male  child;  near- 
ly six  weeks  after  the  breaking  of  the  membranes,  and  dis- 
charge of  waters. 

There  was  not  to  exceed  two  ounces  of  fluid  discharged 
with  the  child,  and  none  whatever  following.  The  placenta 
came  away  entire  with  secundines;  the  uterus  contracted 
well,  there  was  no  flooding,  nor  after-pains  to  speak  of.  In 
short  I  never  attended  a  case  of  confinement  which  pro- 
gressed and  terminated  more  pleasantly. 

To-day  I  discharged  the  patient;  flow  of  milk  fully  estab- 
lished; lochia  normal;  mother  cheerful  and  happy,  and  baby 
thriving.  Comments  are  in  order.  I  am  satisfied  that  I  did 
the  best,  the  only  thing  under  the  circumstances.  I  am  satis- 
fied  too  that  there  are  those  who  would  have  counseled  inter- 
ference, with  instruments,  or  Ergot^  or  both.  In  all  human 
probability  they  would  have  sacrificed  the  child«  and  ner- 
manently  injured  the  mother. — S.Mills  Fowlbr,  Dubuque, 
Iowa. 


■»  »■ 


Lao  Ca&innm.     By  H.  W.  Taylor,  M.  D.,  Caawfordsville,  Ind. 

It  may  turn  out  that  the  true  science  of  medicine,  like  every 
other  science,  is  the  simplest  of  all  things;  the  most  direct  of 
all  things;  the  most  unmistakable  of  all  things.  That  instead 
of  leaning  upon  the  fail  reeds  of  "theory"  and  abstract  specu- 
lation it  will  be  found  planted  in  a  truth  so  palpable  that  to 


80  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

be  able  to  discern  it  is  to  comprehend  it  in  all  its  immensity 
to  know  it  all  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 

And  this  coming  "science  of  medicine"  I  do  firmly  believe 
will  be  found  to  consist  in  these  two  correlative  and  comple- 
.  mentary  propositions:  First,  all  diseases  are  wholly  of  ani- 
mal origin,  and  consist  in  the  absorption  into  the  lymphatics, 
of  dead  animal  tissues.  These  dead  tissues  may  be  extraneous, 
or  antigenetic — may  arise  in  some  other  animal  as  does  scar- 
latina,  or  in  the  diseased  animal  only  as  does  pneumonia. 
Second,  that  this  same  dead  animal  tissue  which  produces 
the  disease  when  mixed  with  living  solids  and  fluids  of 
another  animal,  is  also  capable  of  curing  the  disease  after 
being  properly  prepared  by  dilution  or  trituration.  These 
premises  make  therapeutics  a  simple,  invariable,  infallible 
deduction. 

Given  a  case  of  disease  the  remedy  lies  in  that  part  of  the 
fluids  or  solids  of  the  patient  himself,  in  which  is  the  disease 
virus,  viz.,  in  the  affected  lymphatics.  The  mode  of  prepara- 
tion and  administration  forms  it's  problem  to  be  solved. 

On  June  29th,  1879,  1  was  called  to  see  Mrs.  H.,  of  Jackson, 
Mich.,  stopping  at  a  hotel  in  Crawfordsville.  She  is  tall, 
dark,  in  medium  flesh,  and  twenty -eight  years  old;  but  of  poor 
health  eight  or  nine  years,  until  she  beean  homceopathic  treat- 
ment one  year  ago;  since  then  health  fair  until  now.  Had 
chill  last  night  followed,  by  fever,  restlessness,  insomnia  and 
sore  throat  as  prominent  conditions;  pulse  one  hundred,  tem- 
perature one  hundred  and  ten  and  a  half  degrees;  throat 
swollen,  sore,  "stifl*,"  swallowing  painful;  tonsils  and  sub- 
maxillary glands  considerably  enlarged;  lateral  cervical  glands 
hard  and  much  swollen;  some  fetor  of  breath;  whole  faucial 
cavity  from  posterior  half  on  tonsils  covered  with  a  thick, 
yellow  layer  of  dead  epithelium  in  course  of  exfoliation. 
This  I  used  to  think  was  "exudation."     I  know  better  now. 

The  landlady  had  prescribed  Kali  chlor,,  crude,  and  having 
mucn  faith  in  that  drug  I  continued  it,  merely  systematizing 
its  administration.  No  more  than  one  ounce  was  taken  in  all, 
A  quantity  which  experience  has  taught  me,  is  utterly  inade- 
quate  to  the  making  of  even  the  slightest  impression  upon  a 
case  of  diphtheria. 


Theory  and  Practice.  81 

June  30th.  Patient  worse;  throat  swollen  so  much  as  to 
prevent  taking  of  food;  liquids  are  more  difficult  to  swallow 
than  solids,  at  symptom  .that  I  have  invariably  observed  in 
malignant  cases;  pulse  one  hundred  and  ten,  temperature  one 
hundred  and  three  degrees,  at  ten  a.  m.;  is  very  restless  and 
complains  of  burning  of  palms.  These  two  symptoms  were 
prominently  developed  by  my  wife  in  her  proving  of  Lac 
caninum,  Swan's  200th,  as  reported  in  the  Advancb. 

I  had  still  some  of  the  lozenges  left  from  that  proving.  I 
took  one  and  with  much  patient  mashing  and  stirring  dis- 
solved it  partially  in  a  tumbler  of  clean  ice  water,  and  directed 
a  teaspoonful  every  hour,  and  that  each  teaspoonful  be  know 
to  contain  some  floating  particles  of  the  imperfectly  dissolved 
lozenge. 

July  1st.  A  remarkable  change  in  the  patient.  She  slept 
quite  well  all  night  without  medicine.  Pulse  eighty,  temper- 
ature one  hundred  degrees;  the  swelling  almost  gone;  the 
fauces  which  yesterday  morning  were  completely  covered  with 
thick  yellow  so-called  exudation,  with  greenish  cast  on  back 
of  tonsils,  was  now  almost  clean  only  narrow  strips  of  the 
"depoRit"  on  the  backs  of  the  tonsils  remaining  to  assure  me 
that  I  had  had  a  case  of  diphtheria. 

To  say  that  I  was  surprised  at  the  result  scarcely  conveys 
the  idea.  I  had  but  just  discharged  a  strong  twelve-year-old 
boy  who  had  been  in  bed  ten  days  with  an  attack  precisely 
similar,  even  to  the  greenish  spots  on  the  middle  of  the  ton- 
sillar **exudation."  His  temperature  continued  at  one  hundred 
and  two  and  a  half,  full  ten  days  although  taking  one  hundred 
grains  of  kali  chlor,  per  diem.  I  kept  my  patient  under  obser- 
vation until  the  exfoliation  over  the  tonsils  was  complete. 
Hughes  says  that  in  a  psuedo  diphtheria  in  which  JPhy- 
tolacca  is  specific,  the  disappearance  of  the  '^membrane"  re- 
veals deep  ulcers.  I  was  watching  for  the  deep  ulcers;  they 
were  not  there.  With  the  disappearance  ot  the  "membrane'* 
the  lymphatic  engorgement  subsided,  and  on  the  fifth  day  of 
the  attack  the  patient  declared  herself  "perfectly  well;*'  pulse 
seventy-four,  temperature  ninety -eight  degrees. 
£eb-2 


§ii$mml  €liniti. 


Clinical  Cases  of  Eye  and  Ear  Diseases.    Reported  from  Dr. 

Wilson's  Clinic.     C.  H.  Guilbert,  M.  D.,  C.  M,  Lukens, 
M.  D.,  Assistants. 

Cask  XI. — Strabismus  Con  vergenb. — Mr.  J.  Johnson,  Clinton  street, 
Cincinnati.  This  gentleman  is  seventy  years  old.  Since  he  can  first 
remember  both  of  his  eyes  have  turned  in.  He  does  not  know  the 
cause,  neither  is  it  possible  for  us  to  discover  it.  In  most  cases  we 
can  find  out  the  cause,  but  in  this  it  is  not  apparent.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  matter  of  great  importance  to  understand  the  origin  of  this 
trouble,  for  in  some  instances  it  would  be  impossible  otherwise  to  re. 
lieve  permanently  and  satisfactorily  the  squinting.  But  this  is  of 
much  greater  importance  in  children  than  in  old  persons.  Itoccursbut 
seldom  that  people  so  far  advanced  in  life,  apply  for  relief  from  this 
sort  of  trouble.  Having  suffered  it  many  years  they  consider  it  of 
small  moment  to  have  the  deformity  corrected.  It  was  vaguely 
hinted  by  attending  friends  that  our  patient  was  a  widower,  and  had 
in  view  new  matrimonial  alliances.  Be  that  as  it  may,  this  leads  us 
to  enquire,  why  should  cross  eyes  be  made  straight?  We  answer, 
chiefly  for  the  looks  of  the  thing.  If  one  with  a  beautiful  face  should 
have  his  eye  turned  suddenly  in,  it  would  almost  frighten  him  to  look 
at  it.  There  can  be  no  real  beauty  about  a  face  marred  by  crooked 
eyes.  This  patient  submitted  to  the  operation  without  the  use  of 
Chloroform,  This  we  always  prefer,  when  patients  are  willing.  Both 
internal  recti  were  raised  and  their  tendons  cut  across.  After  this 
there  was  a  slight  convergence.  This  was  proof  positive  that  some 
portion  of  the  tendon  of  one  of  the  muscles  was  not  cut  off.  A  care, 
ful  sweep  of  the  strabismus  hook  caught  a  few  straggling  fibers,  and 
these  being  cut  across,  the  eyes  became  at  once  parallel.  For  after, 
treatment  we  never  fail  to  give  Aconite  30,  a  dose  every  hour.  The 
eyes  should  not  be  bandaged,  but  left  to  their  ordinary  work.  No  in- 
flammation or  pain  is  likely  to  follow,  and  in  two  or  three  weeks  it 
will  be  impossible  to  tell  that  he  has  ever  had  his  eyes  crossed.  The 
operation  is  simple  and  without  danger,  and  yet  there  are  thousands 
out  of  a  foolish  fear  of  consequences,  who  suffer  on  year  after  year 
and  have  no  relief.  Our  patient,  now  that  his  eyes  are  straight,  is  by 
no  means  a  bad  looking  old  gentleman,  and  being  in  good  general 
health,  may  live  ten  or  fifteen  years  yet,  rid  of  a  great  annoyance. 


General  Clinics,  83 

CAasXII.— Acute  Inflammation  of  thb  Middle  Eab,  Caused  bt 
Injury.  Attempt  to  Dislodge  Cerumen. — Chas.  Boyle,  painter,  agied 
twenty-eight.  This  patient  says  he  has  for  several  weeks  past  been 
troubled  with  deafness  and  roaring  in  his  right  ear.  To  cure  this,  he 
says  that  some  days  ago  he  began  to  pick  at  the  ear  passage,  and  found 
in  it  a  plug.  This  he  attempted  to  remove.  The  attempt  brought  on 
pain,  and  therefore  he  tried  the  harder  to  remove  the  obstruction. 
The  pain  increased  rapidly,  and  for  three  days  and  nights  he  has 
been  in  dreadful  suffering.  His  countenance  shows  what  distress  he 
is  in.  He  proposes  to  give  a  detailed  history  of  his  case.  This  Dr. 
Wilson  would  not  allow,  for  a  glance  at  the  ear  showed  an  urgency  to 
action  that  need  no  further  present  information.  The  Doctor  re- 
marked that  he  would  relieve  his  patient  first,  aud  hear  his  story 
afterwards.  Procuring  a  supply  of  warm  water  he  syringed  the  ear 
with  great  care  and  delicacy,  and  removed  from  it  a  large,  dry  plug  of 
wax.  Still  the  pain  was  very  severe.  He  then  took  a  small  sponge^ 
and  dipping  it  into  hot  water  he  filled  the  external  ear.  In  less  than 
a  minute  the  pain  stopped  and  the  patient  expressed  his  gratitude. 
Upon  further  examination  the  drnm  head  was  found  to  be  perforated 
and  in  a  state  of  ulceration.  When  asked  as  to  the  other  ear  the  pa- 
tient said  it  was  all  right.  It  did  not  escape  the  attention  of  the  Doc- 
tor, however,  that  Mr.  B.  did  not  hear  conversation  well.  Upon  measur  _ 
ing  the  hearing  power  of  the  left  ear,  it  was  found  to  be  deficient  about 
one-half.  An  examination  of  the  passage  revealed  the  fact  that  it  was 
nearly  closed  with  a  dry  plug,  being  in  all  respects  like  the  right  ear 
before  the  patient  began  picking  at  it.  Suppose  now  he  had  at. 
tempt«d  to  clear  it  out  as  he  had  the  other,  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  had  a  second  ear  nearly  ruined  by  inflammation. 

With  a  fresh  supply  of  warm  water  the  Doctor  carefully  syringed 
the  ear,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  probe  sought  to  get  the  mass  out.  It 
was  almost  as  dry  and  hard  as  a  bone,  and  at  the  end  of  half  an  hour's 
trial  the  doctor  decided  to  fill  the  ear  with  Vaseline  and  let  it  rest 
until  the  following  day.  The  opening  was  closed  with  a  piece  of  cot- 
ton. There  being  no  pain  or  unpleasant  sensation  of  any  sort  in  the 
ear,  it  was  deemed  best  to  wait  until  the  oil  had  softened  the  mass^ 
after  which  it  could  be  dislodged  with  ease'.  The  patient  was  given 
AeoniieZO,  a  single  powder  to  be  taken  in  water,  two  teaspoonfuls 
every  hour,  and  he  was  further  instructed  to  procure  a  Rmall  piece  of 
sponge  and  drop  a  few  drops  of  hot  water — as  hot  as  could  be  borne — 
into  the  right  ear. 

The  following  day  Mr.  B.  appeared  and  smilingly  reported  himsel| 
"as  happy  as  a  king.''  He  was  without  pain  and  "slept  like  a  top  al| 
night."  His  right  ear  was  now  discharging  pus  very  freely .  The  plug 
of  cotton  was  removed  from  the  left  ear,  and  in  less  than  a  minute 


84  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

after  commencing  to  syringe  it  a  large  mass  and  many  smaller  pieces 
came  away.  An  examination  of  the  drum  head  showed  that  it  was 
entirely  free  from  injury,  but  showed  evident  signs  of  catarrhal 
trouble  in  the  middle  ear.  The  ears  were  then  inflated  with  air  and 
the  patient's  hearing  at  once  rose  to  the  normal  standard.  Of  course 
the  hearing  in  such  a  case  was  done  by  the  left  ear,  which  had  been 
happily  relieved  without  being  injured.  It  would  have  been  just  as 
easy  to  have  relieved  the  right  ear,  had  he  but  sought  proper  assist- 
ance, and  not  taken  so  delicate  a  task  in  his  own  hands.  People 
often  imagine  they  will  be  made  to  suffer  greatly  if  they  apply  to  the 
surgeon  for  aid,  and  such  is  the  fact  too  often,  it  must  be  confessed. 

The  better  fact  is  that  in  competent  hands  the  patient  escapes  all 
suffering,  and  in  a  case  like  this,  preserves  bis  hearing  besides.  If,  as 
is  sometimes  the  case,  the  wax  is  soft^  it  may  be  carefully  syringed 
out  by  any  judicious  person  if  they  have  the  proper  instruments* 
But  the  most  reprehensible  thing  to  be  done  is  to  attempt  such  a  task 
with  a  stick,  ear  spoon  or  anything  of  that  sort.  It  should  never  be 
touched  in  that  way.  We  find  well-educated  physicians  undertaking 
to  clear  out  the  ear  with  probes  and  forceps,  and  they  do  a  deal  of 
mischief.  It  is  now  seldom  that  anything  done  about  the  ear  is  pain- 
ful to  the  patient.  Modern  improvements  in  this  department  now 
enable  us  to  not  only  achieve  wonderful  success,  but  to  accomplish 
our  work  without  suffering.  Cerumen  in  the  ear  is  a  common  cause 
of  deafness.  Often  in  looking  into  the  ear  with  the  unaided  eye 
nothing  can  be  seen,  but  it  can  quickly  be  discovered  by  the  surgeon 
and  almost  as  quickly  removed.  Think  what  this  patient  might  have 
escaped  had  he  applied  for  relief  when  he  first  found  his  ear  was  in 
trouble. 

CaSB   XIII. — ^ASTHBNOPIA   WFTH    UnUSUAL  PbESBYOPIA    AND  OTHJER 

OoHPUCATiNQ  Conditions. — ^This  case  came  to  us  from  Oxford,  Ohio. 
She  is  a  married  lady,  aet.  forty-one,  in  good  health;  sent  by  her 
physician.  Dr.  Logee.  She  tells  us  she  has  been  wearing  glasses  nine 
years,  and  in  that  time  has  changed  them  four  or  five  times.  Those 
she  now  has  are  sixteen  inch  convex.  She  has  been  careful  to  wear 
them  for  the  near  point  only ;  that  is,  for  reading,  sewing,  etc.,  etc. 
She  has  been  a  long  time  promising  to  come  and  have  her  eyes  ex- 
amined. Through  fear,  however,  she  has  staid  away  until  now,  when 
she  is  greatly  alarmed  lest  she  is  going  blind.  She  is  complaining  of 
severe  pain  in  her  head  and  eyeballs.  It  is  almost  constant  Some 
times  the  eyeballs  are  very  sore.  She  can  not  see  well  at  a  distance; 
the  right  eye  is  especially  blurred,  and  when  she  attempts  to  use  her 
eyes  for  the  near  point  the  pain  in  her  head  and  eyes  becomes  very 
severe.  Her  anxiety  of  mind  was  so  great  that  she  became  so  ner- 
vous that  she  could  scarcely  consent  to  an  examination.    The  Doctor 


General  Clinics,  85 

found  it  necessary  to  postpone  farther  investigation  for  a  while,  not, 
however,  until  he  arrived  at  that  point  in  the  examination  when  he 
could  assure  her  that  in  her  case  there  was  no  danger  from  blindness. 
This  had  an  immediate  and  happy  effect  on  the  patient *8  mind.  Pa* 
tients  often  come  to  us  greatly  depressed  or  excited  by  fear.  It  is 
hard  for  the  surgeon  to  always  fully  realize  this  fact.  Whenever 
possible,  he  should  make  it  his  first  duty  to  speak  words  of  encour- 
agement 

This  patient  returned  later  in  the  day  and  quietly  and  cheerfully 
submitted  to  a  completion  of  the  examination  of  her  case.  What  was 
finally  arrived  at  can  best  be  understood  by  one  or  two  preliminary  re- 
marks. At  about  forty-five  years  of  age  the  eyes  underwent  a  physio- 
logical change,  known  to  the  physician  as  PreAyopia,  When  this  con- 
dition comes  on  the  crystalline  lens  loses  much  of  its  natural  elastic- 
ity and  remains  flat  On  this  account  the  patient  can  no  longer  see 
easily  at  the  near  point — say  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  from  the  eye. 
They  must  either  move  small  objects — reading,  for  instance,  farther 
off  or  else  put  on  suitable  glasses.  And  this  is  just  where  these  pa- 
tients often  make  a  sad  mistake.  They  are  not  careful  in  the  selec- 
tion of  glasses.  They  pick  up  what  they  happen  to  find,  or  they  go 
to  a  jeweler  and  select  glasses  they  should  not  wear. 

This  patient,  however,  had  been  carefully  prescribed  for  by  her 
physician,  but  upon  examination  an  unusual  condition  was  discov- 
ered. Usually  both  eyes  have  the  same  refraction.  The  same 
strength  of  glass  will  suit  equally  well  either  eye.  In  this  case  the 
eyes  were  unlike  in  their  refractive  power.  This  is  known  as  a  con~ 
dition  called  Anuometropia.  For  seeing  at  a  distance  a  pair  of  glasses  with 
eighteen  inch  convex  lenses  answered  a  good  purpose  and  greatly  im. 
proved  her  vision.  She  was  ordered  to  get  such  glasses  and  wear 
them  constantly.  To  this  she  strenuously  objected.  Her  chief  ob. 
jection  was  that  those  who  wore  glasses  all  the  while  carried  their 
heads  tilted  backward,  and  stuck  their  chins  out  in  a  ridiculous 
fashion.  She  had  just  came  from  the  Exposition,  and  she  said  all 
ladies  wearing  glasses  made  a  laughable  figure  looking  at  things  as  it 
were  along  their  noses.  This  the  Doctor  did  not  deny,  but  assured 
her  that  it  was  a  fault  easily  remedied,  and  that  it  was  a  great  pity 
these  ladies  did  not  know  this  fact.  A  skillful  surgeon  and  an  intelli- 
gent optician  will  adjust  their  glasses  so  as  wholly  to  avoid  this.  It 
all  depends  upon  the  setting  of  the  frame  on  the  nose.  If  you  will 
notice  people's  faces  you  will  find  in  some  the  bridge  of  the  nose  is 
high  and  in  others  very  low.  It  is  impossible  these  persons  so  differ- 
ent in  shape  should  wear  the  same  shaped  frames.  Glasses  worn  for 
distance  should  sit  high,  no  matter  what  the  shape  of  the  nose,  and 
there  the  patient  can  always  look  through  them  without  elevating 


86  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

the  chin.    Glasses  worn  for  the  near  point  should  sit  low  so  as  to  b^ 
in  front  of  the  vision  when  directed  downward.    These  points  are 
generally  overlooked  and  patients  made  far  from  comfortable. 

In  the  case  of  this  lady,  she  had  to  have  another  and  much 
stronger  pair  of  glasses  for  sewing  and  reading.  For  the  right  eye 
a  nine  inch  convex  lens  was  prescribed,  and  for  the  left  a  twelve  inch 
convex  lens.  Theoreticallly  this  is  correct.  Practically  it  seemed  to 
work  well,  but  in  event  of  failure  to  suit  she  must  have  twelve  inch 
lenses  for  both  eyes. 

Now  as  to  the  pain  she  has  had  so  long.  What  should  be  done  for 
that?  This  pain  and  weakness  of  vision  we  call  asthenopia.  It  is 
possible  that  after  wearing  her  glasses  a  few  weeks  it  will  disappear. 
A  statement  of  her  case  was  fully  written  out  for  her  physician,  and 
he  was  advised  to  give  her  Bdladonna  for  the  present,  and  if  her  re- 
covery was  not  soon  manifest  to  give  her  Cimicifuga  or  Natrum  mur. 
Also  it  was  suggested  that  occasionally  a  mild  current  of  electricity 
should  be  passed  through  the  eyeballs. 

This  case  we  have  dwelt  upon  at  length  because  it  is  a  specially  in- 
structive one.  Her  state  of  mind,  induced  by  the  fear  of  blindness, 
added  much  to  her  su£fering.  When  that  was  removed  she  was  half 
cured  to  begin  with.  Again,  unequal  refraction  of  the  eyes  is  too 
often  overlooked,  and  this  wholly  prevents  relief.  And  for  a  final 
fact,  if  the  glasses  are  not  mounted  in  proper  frames  and  adjusted  to 
the  shape  of  the  face,  and  the  wants  of  the  vision,  the  relief  is  not  a 
complete  one. 


Clinical  Cases. — Case  I. — Mrs.  A.,  widow,  act.  forty- 
two,  mother  of  three  children,  tall  and  meager,  so  that  she 
said  she  was  all  skin  and  bones;  was  troubled  with  an  in- 
ordinate sexual  desire;  had  a  slight  fever,  and  not  immediate- 
ly recovering  she  dismissed  me  and  called  her  former  doctor, 
an  Eclectic,  and  I  lost  sight  of  the  case  for  fourteen  months, 
when  she  returned.  Had  been  flooding  much,  and  was 
troubled  with  loose  bowels,  with  pains  and  cuttings:  indi- 
gestion and  worse  about  the  mouth;  tongue  sometimes  red, 
sometimes  coated  white;  had  tried  eclectics,  allopaths  and 
electricity  without  relief.  I  gave  Ars.,  Lack.,  Merc,  NiL  ac. 
without  relief.  When  questioned  as  to  what  kind  of  food 
did  not  agree  with  her,  she  said  she  could  not  eat  soup,  it 
went  right  through.  Argen,  nt^.  2CX)th,  with  directions  to  take 
a  dose,  six  pellets,  at  night  u  ntil  better,  then  to  take  nothing.  In 


General  Clinics.  87 

a  week  came  back  worse  than  ever;  said  at  first  she  was 
better,  but  thought  if  a  little  was  good  more  was  better,  and 
she  took  the  medicine  all  through  the  day  until  it  was  gone. 
Placebo,  was  given  and  this  cured,  but  she  gave  Electricity 
the  credit. 

Casb  II. — Mr.  M.,  aet  forty,  dyspeptic,  fond  of  warm 
drinks;  cold  drinks,  especially  at  meal  time,  did  not  agree; 
after  meals  was  troubled  much  with  loud  eructations  which 
gdve  temporary  relief  to  a  full  feeling  in  the  stomach;  was 
troubled  with  weakness  of  the  lower  limbs  at  times,  and  of 
left  side  continually;  it  was  almost  paralytic;  a  total  disincli- 
nation to  do  anything  with  the  left  hand;  bowels  regular, 
appetite  and  sleep  good.  Argen.  nit.  3d,  afterwards  200th. 
The  left  side  was  strengthened,  until  at  present  it  is  almost  as 
strong  and  ready  as  the  right.  Dyspeptic  symptoms  so 
much  improved  as  to  give  no  trouble. 

Case  III. — Mrs.  Y.,  Spanish,  aet.  seventy-nine,  much 
wrinkled  and  tanned,  but  not  gray;  loud  bubbling  almost 
continually,  as  though  a  gas  bag  was  unstopped  and  was 
discharging,  or  as  though  all  the  food  and  water  she  swal- 
lowed was  converted  into  gas;  did  not  pass  wind  down; 
complained  of  much  pain  across  the  region  of  the 
stomach,  spleen  and  liver;  pains  radiated  up  into  chest;  se- 
vere aching  across  forehead  and  all  over  head;  vomiting  of 
glairy  mucus  and  water;  tongue  pointed,  thick,  blue  and 
covered  with  a  thick,  dirty,  grayish  coat  that  looked  as 
though  it  might  be  scraped  off,  and  on  each  end  a  row  of 
blue  or  black  nodules;  had  tonic  spasms,  worse  at  night, 
coming  with  cries,  then  straightened  out  and  was  inflexible 
for  two  or  three  minutes.  Had  to  examine  by  means  of  an 
interpreter  and  could  not  arrive  at  the  subjective  symptoms 
well.  Colc,^  Kux  V.  and  Conium  each  in  turn  gave  tempo- 
rary relief.  She  was  ravenous  and  suffered  after  every  meal. 
Argent  nit  so  strong  I  could  taste  it.  Next  morning  was 
informed  she  was  much  worse;  fits  all  night.  Argent,  200 
steadily  improved;  dismissed  case  and  received  pay. 

Case  IV. — Mr.  J.  D.,  aet.  forty  five,  Cooley,  stout.  Been 
in  Jamaica  and  this  country  for  fourteen  years;  had  a  swell- 


88  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

ing,  encircling  the  body  over  stomach  and  small  of  back; 
was  worse  when  the  back  swelled;  feet  and  legs  much 
swollen,  and  pitted  on  pressure  to  knees.  Had  severe  head- 
ache on  left  side  across  forehead,  and  on  top  of  head;  could 
not  see  distinctly;  vision  misty  and  double;  left  eye  worse; 
no  appetite;  tongue  broad,  thick  and  coated  a  dirty  white; 
a  taste  of  Alum  in  mouth,  sometimes  said  it  was  bitter,  but 
did  not  know  much  English;  emesis  after  food  and  water; 
first  food  then  a  little  glairy  mucus  and  water;  this  he  said 
was  bitter;  passed  much  clear  urine;  very  costive;  continual 
loud  belching  like  every  thing  turned  to  wind;  passed 
none  down  at  all.  Ars,  3  temporarily  relieved  the  vom- 
iting, and  the  anasarca  was  reduced  a  little.  Bell,  3  relieved 
headache,  but  they  all  returned  in  three  or  four  days.  Gave 
Carbo.  veg.  3  and  200,  for  the  loud  belching,  but  without  even 
temporary  relief;  gave  Argent,  nit.  in  water,  so  strong  that 
it  colored  the  water,  and  tasted  like  Alum^  one  dose  on  go- 
ing to  bed.  His  bowels  opened  during  the  night,  vomiting 
ceased,  appetite  returned,  swellings  disappeared  and  my  pa- 
tient rapidly  improved,  excepting  his  bowels,  which  were 
now  too  loose.  A  few  doses  of  Merc,  sol,  3  corrected  that 
difficulty,  and  one  Cooley  went  on  his  way  rejoicing.  I  give 
these  cases  because  Argent,  nit.  is  not  frequently  lauded,  and 
it|certa inly  deserves  to  be.  For  loud  belching  (in  my  opinion) 
it  has  no  equal,  and  it  is  also  useful  for  other  complaints  than 
ophthalmia  or  keratitis.     Study  it  up. 

Case  V. — Mrs.  D.,  aet.  thirty-five;  mother  of  three. 
Found  her  in  labor;  had  not  previously  had  the  pleasure  of 
her  acquaintance;  a  fine  girl  without  let  or  hindrance. 
While  visiting  her  three  days  afterwards,  she  said,  "doctor, 
what  must  I  do  with  this  breast?'*  I  said,  "let  the  baby  suck 
it.*'  "But  it  can't."  I  then  examined  the  offending  member, 
found  it  tense,  hard  and  sore,  on  pressure.  The  nipple  was 
retracted,  and  in  its  place  I  inserted  my  index  finger  to  the 
first  joint.  She  said  the  doctor  for  the  previous  child  had 
put  on  some  black  looking  wash,  and  had  lanced  in  three 
places.  I  ordered  baked  cotton  to  be  applied  all  over  left 
chest,  and  breast,  and  Phytolacca  6  in  water.     The  next  day 


General  Cinic8,  89 

it  was  less  tense  and  swollen,  and  in  three  or  four  days  was 
as  soft  and  pliable  as  the  other.  I  now  gave  Graphites  30 
for  the  effects  of  the  old  inflammation,  and  discontinued  the 
cotton.     No  abscess. 

Case  VI.— Ella  W.,  Creole,  (octoroon)  fifth  child.  Found 
her  swinging  in  a  hammock;  had  been  in  labor  for  thirty 
hours.  The  midwife  did  not  know  what  to  do.  She  was 
trembling,  or  shaking  convulsively  from  head  to  foot;  moan- 
ing and  crying.  I  requested  her  to  take  a  bed,  and  she  arose 
and  walked  to  it.  When  in  the  bed  the  tremor  was  so  great 
as  to  shake  the  floor  under  my  feet;  examined  and  found  the  os 
dilated  about  the  size  of  a  peso  or  trade  dollar;  head  presenta- 
tion, first  position;  waited  for  a  pain  which  she  said  almost 
broke  her  back,  and  she  coinplained  piteously.  No  move^ 
ment  whatever, of  child  or  womb;  pulse  indicated  excitement 
more  than  fever.  On  passing  hand  over  her  person  I  found 
a  marble  coldness,  with  perspiration;  forehead  warm,  with 
warm  perspiration;  exhibited  Arnica  3  in  water,  a  teaspoon- 
ful  every  five  minutes;  in  about  fifteen  minutes  she  grasped 
and  squeezed  my  hand,  indicating  a  dilating  pain.  In  a  few 
minutes  more  she  commenced  to  pull.  I  now  gave  her  the 
right  hand,  and  during  the  pains  pressed  with  the  left  gently 
but  firmly  over  region  of  the  womb,  leaving  the  mid  wife  to 
look  out  for  accidents;  in  about  thirty  minntes  a  fine  girl  was 
born,  and  I  took  my  departure.  Mother  made  a  fine  recov- 
ery. A  Mr.  Robertson,  a  frontiersman  in  Texas,  a  secesh 
colonel  during  the  war,  and  having  some  knowledge  of  medi- 
cine, was  the  first  person  I  ever  heard  mention  the  use  of 
external  pressure  in  labor.  He  said  that  while  on  the  frontier 
in  Texas  and  across  the  border  in  Mexico,  he  practiced  medi- 
cine, and  when  he  had  any  difficulty  in  a  case  of  labor,  he 
placed  them  on  their  abdomen  in  a  hammock,  and  soon  the 
child  was  born.  I  think  it  probable  that  such  is  the  custom 
among  midwives  (although  it  was  new  to  them  here)  because 
doctors  are  seldom  called  in  such  cases  throughout  these 
countries. 

Recently  I  have  seen  some  reported  cases.  Believe  it  to 
be  a  good  method;  probably  much  safer,  and  just  as  expedi- 


90  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

tious,    as  the  much   used  and  abused    forceps  and    Secale. 
cor, — D.  B.  Morrow,  M.  D.,  Belize,  Brit.  Honduras. 

Cured  Cases.  By  Dr.  Grubenmann,  of  St.  Gallen. 
Translated  from  the  Allg.  Hom.  Zeitung.  By  A.  McNeil, 
M.  D.,  New  Albany. — Diphtheria — For  a  year  and  a  half 
we  have  had  in  St.  Gallen  and  vicinity  an  epidemic  of  a 
combination  of  scarlet  fever  and  diphtheria.  For  a  year  it 
has  been  diphtheria  purum  of  a  quite  pernicious  character. 
This  latter  disease  appears  to  have  now  reached  its  end,  for 
I  have  neither  seen  nor  heard  of  a  case  for  four  weeks.  I 
take  the  liberty  of  communicating  to  my  colleagues  my 
treatment  of  this  disease.  I  have  treated  about  fifty  cases 
and  cured  all  without  an  exception.  Light  cases  (catarrhal 
diphtheria)  are  not  included  in  these  fifty  cases.  There 
were  four  adults  all  affected  with  considerable  fever;  tempe- 
rature from  one  hundred  and  two  to  one  hundred  and  four 
in  the  first  twentv-four  hours.  Of  the  children,  from  two  to 
twelve,  at  least  a  quarter  were  severe  cases;  two  being  well 
marked  cases  of  the  septo-gangrenous  form.  There  were 
no  cases  of  the  laryngeal  variety,  nor  was  a  case  followed  by 
diphtheritic  paralysis  or  paresis.  Until  three  years  ago  I 
trusted  diphtheria  with  Apis  6  to  30,  Bromine,  Belladonna^ 
Kaliphos,  and  Merc,  cy.,  3d  to  6th,  all  in  the  centesimal  dilu- 
tion, with  favorable,  but  not  striking  results.  I  began  to 
lose  confidence  in  Merc,  cy.  over  three  years  ago,  until  I  be- 
gan to  use  it  as  recommended  by  Dr.  von  Villers,  not  below 
the  6th  cent.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  here  acknowledge  my  in- 
debtedness to  him  for  many  valuable  hints  gathered  from 
his  publications.  During  this  epidemic  I  have  employed 
Merc,  cy.,  but  never  below  the  15th  cent  (from  the  I5tli  to 
the  30th)  and  therewith  subdued  the  disease.  Generally  in 
twenty-four  hours  from  the  administration  of  that  remedy 
the  favorable  effects  were  apparent,  and  after  ninety-six 
hours  more  the  throat  was  fully  restored  to  its  normal  condi- 
tion. The  greatest  length  of  the  cure  in  cases  which  first 
came  under  my  care  in  an  advanced  stage  was  ten  days.  I 
proved  that  Merc,  hi,\  which  is  so  strongly  recommended  by 


(General  Clinics.  91 

ray  honored  colleague,  Dr.  Goullon,  Jr.,  has  by  far  not  the 
favorable  effects  I  had  anticipated,  for  I  tried  it  on  four  cases 
in  one  family,  without  perceiving  any  favorable  results; 
after  thirty -six  hours  I  saw  such  an  increase  in  the  patches 
in  the  throat,  that  I  gladly  resorted  to  the  Merc,  cy.,  and  I 
soon  perceived  a  prompt  decrease  of  the  membrane.  An- 
other trial  in  a  child  of  ten  years  gave  the  same  result.  (I  do 
not,  therefore,  deny  that  this  preparation  of  Mercury  may  be 
useful  in  this  disease  if  indicated. — Author),  If  after  four 
days  there  are  no  patches  in  the  throat  and  no  fever,  I  still 
continue  the  medicine,  (Why?  Trans.)  and  give  strict  orders 
not  to  allow  the  patient  to  get  up  for  some  days,  for  I  have 
learned  by  experience  on  my  own  daughter  as  well  as  on 
others  that  by  leaving  the  bed  too  soon,  relapses  mild  and 
also  dangerous  may  occur.  I  did  not  employ  anything  but 
the  Merc.  cy.  internally,  in  a  solution  of  distilled  water;  no 
inhalations,  insufflations,  gargles,  caustics,  nor  pencilings. 
How  any  one  in  the  treatment  of  diphtheria  can  use  heroic 
doses  of  Carbolic  and  Salicylic  acids,  Chlorate  of  Potash^ 
Pulverized  charcoal.  Sulphur,  Tincture  of  Iron,  etc.,  intern- 
nally  and  locally,  (often  three  drugs  at  a  time)  as  is  done  by 
some  homcBopathic  physicians,  and  yet  speak  about  Hom- 
oeopathy is  more  than  I  can  comprehend. 

Croup. — Last  winter  many  cases  of  croup  came  into  my 
care,  some  of  them  pseudo  croup  or  acute  catarrh  of  the 
larynx,  but  from  the  middle  of  November  till  the  beginning 
of  Februar}'  only,  I  had  six  severe  and  well  marked  mem- 
braneous cases,  of  which  two  who  were  in  extremis  ,came 
•out  of  the  allopathic  camp.  When  I  think  of  curing  these, 
and  of  many  other  cases  I  treated  in  former  years,  where 
Homoeopathy  was  almost  without  exception  successful,  and 
even  were  present  in  the  last  stages,  it  grieves  me  to  perceive 
that  frequently  in  homoeopathic  societies,  or  in^our  literature 
the  assertion  is  made  that  in  true  croup  Homoeopathy  can  do 
but  little,  and  that  it  avails  nothing  where  it  has  been  grow* 
ing  worse  for  two  consecutive  days.  Only  because  these 
colleagues  are  accustomed  to  administer  Iodine,  Brom., 
Spongia  and  Hepar  sulph.^  in  from  the  second  to  the  fifth 


92  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

decimal,  could  explain  such  expressions,  or  more  properly, 
failure.  With  such  dosing  most  certainly  they  can  cure  no 
membranous  croup  in  the  advanced  stages.  I  no  longer  use 
lod,  and  Brom,  under  the  fifteenth  cent,  in  such  severe  cases, 
and  I  have  rescued  many  little  patients  who  came  to  me 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  allopaths  after  seventy* two  hours, 
steadily  becoming  worse.  Of  the  twenty  physicians  in  St. 
Gallen,  I  may  assert  without  exaggeration  that  no  one  treats 
as  many  cases  of  croup  as  I  do,  and  I  say  this,  not,  indeed, 
to  magnify  myself,  but  in  order  to  give  HomoBopathy  the 
honor  to  which  it  is  entitled,  and  to  show  the  confidence  it 
enjoys  in  this  and  many  other  acute  diseases. 

I  will  report  one  of  these  six  severe  cases  of  croup,  it  be 
ing  in  a  well  known  family,  and  coming  from  Dr.  S.  who  is 
well  known  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  it  thereby  excited 
much  attention. 

The  eight  year  old  boy  of  Herr  B.  had  been  three  entire 
days  under  the  care  of  Dr.  S.,  and  was  becoming  rapidly 
and  frightfully  worse  under  his  care.  I  was  called  at  ten 
p.  m.  on  the  26th  of  January,  because  the  parents  and  their 
old  family  physician  had  despaired  of  the  child's  recovery, 
and  with  the  Doctor's  consent.  For  twelve  hours  tLe  pa- 
tient had  lain,  without  a  minute's  amelioration,  in  a  laryngeal 
stenosis  of  a  very  severe  type,  somnolent,  voiceless;  the 
most  laborious  exertion  of  the  respiratory  muscles  that  the 
clavicular  fossa  sank  in  at  every  respiration,  so  that  a  hen's 
egg  might  have  lain  therein.  I  told  the  parents  that  if  no 
well  marked  aleviation  arose  within  twelve  hours  from  the 
Jod,  15th  which  I  administered,  death  must  ensue.  Fortu-* 
nately,  after  six  hours  a  violent  attack  of  coughing  occurred 
and  he  expectorated  a  tubular  formed  tough  membrane,  ten 
centimeters  long,  which  was  follov*ed  after  an  interval  by  an 
aggravation  (stenotic  respiration),  and  six  hours  after  the 
preceding,  another  such  expectoration;  and  so  on  until  in 
thirty-six  hours  after  my  taking  the  case  he  had  raised  half 
a  glass  full  of  membranes,  one  of  which  on  examination 
proved  to  be  fifteen  centimeters  in  length.  He  was  now  out 
of  danger,  and  in  three  days  was  out  of  bed. 


Miscellaneous.  93 

In  two  other  of  these  six  severe  cases,  the  gray,  skinny 
membrane  was  cleaily  visible  in  the  throat;  both  tonsils 
were,  as  it  were,  papered,  while  the  diphtheritic  patches 
were  firm  and  smooth,  adhering  like  a  thin  skin.  Brom.  15th 
was  administered.  In  all  of  these  cases,  both  of  croup  and 
diphtheria,  I  gave  ten  drops  of  the  remedy  in  from  the  15th 
to  the  30th  cent  in  one  hundred  drams  Aqua  distillata,  a 
teaspoonful  at  periods  of  fifteen  minutes  to  an  hour. 


•♦♦- 


MUttlhmmi^* 


PnorpOIftl  Ixisaility.     By  a,  C.  Rickey,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Mental  Diseases,  Pulte  Medical  College. 

The  condition  of  pregnancy  and  the  puerperal  state  occa- 
sions *not  only  disorders  of  the  bodily  functions,  but  aflfects 
in  a  decided  manner  the  mental  faculties  as  well,  in  no  small 
number  of  cases.  This  disturbance  varies  widely  from  a 
slight  alteration  of  the  natural  disposition,  to  a  decided  devel- 
opment of  acute  mania  or  melancholia,  or  other  form  of  in- 
sanity. 

It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  see  a  woman  who  is  natu- 
rally of  a  genial,  amiable  disposition,  undergo  such  a  change 
in  consequence  of  the  pregnant  state,  as  to  become  fretful, 
peevish  and  unamiahle.  Neither  does  it  create  surprise  to 
the  skilled  attendant  to  witness  the  causeless  tear,  or  laugh. 
Such  alterations  of  disposition  are  of  frequent  occurrence  and 
usually  abate  with  the  termination  of  pregnancy. 

The  mental  disorders  of  women,  connected  with  child 
bearing,  are  separable  into,  first,  the  insanity  of  pregnancy; 


94  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

second,  the  insanity  of  the  puerperal  state;  third,  the  insanity 
of  lactation. 

First  form.  When  these  disorders  develop  during  preg- 
nancy it  is  usually  between  the  third  and  seventh  month. 
It  more  frequently  takes  on  the  melancholic  type,  and  is  more 
amenable  to  treatment  than  other  forms. 

It  occurs  less  frequently  than  the  insanity  of  the  puerperal 
state,  or  of  lactation.  In  one-half  the  cases  there  seems  to  be 
an  hereditary  tendency.  It  occurs  more  frequently  in  primi- 
perae,  and  between  the  thirtieth  and  fortieth  year  of  age. 
Some  cases  take  on  a  decided  suicidal  tendency,  and  show  a 
disposition  to  kill  the  child.  Others  show  weakness  in  the 
direction  of  strong  drink  and  kleptomania. 

The  prognosis  of  this  form  is  usually  favorable,  but  the 
disease  does  not  abate  until  after  delivery. 

A  temporary  form  of  insanity  occasionally  develops  during 
labor,  induced  by  the  severity  of  the  pain  and  !<uffering. 
During  siioh  fits  of  frenzy,  mothers  have  killed  their  own 
new  born  offspring. 

An  important  question  might  be  raised,  as  to  the  medico- 
legal aspect  of  such  cases.  The  highest  authorities  release 
such  patients  from  guilt  for  acts  committed  during  such  fits 
of  temporary  unsoundness. 

Second  form.  Puerperal  insanity  proper  usually  takes  on 
the  form  of  acute  mania  or  melancholia. 

Most  cases  of  acute  mania  develop  before  the  sixteenth 
day  after  confinement 

If  mental  unsoundness  comes  on  later  than  this  period,  it  is 
more  frequently  of  the  melancholic  type. 

Acute  Mania. — Symptoms. — ^The  symptoms  of  acute  mania 
occurring  during  the  puerperal  state  do  not  differ  essentially 
from  the  same  affection,  uncomplicated  by  pregnancy. 

Among  the  first  symptoms  to  be  noticed  are  a  restless,  hur- 
ried manner,  trembling,  agitation  and  excitement;  an  un- 
naturally anxious,  suspicious  and  unpleasant  expression  about 
the  face;  sometimes  the  face  is  pallid — at  others  flushed; 
there  is  an  irritability  of  temper,  an  impatience  and  change- 
able state  of   mind;    the  memory  is  impaired;   there  is  obsti- 


Miscellaneoua,  95 

nacy,  stubbornness,  obstinate  silence;  the  patient  refuses  to 
answer  questions,  or  repeats  them  after  attendant;  will 
break  out  all  of  a  sudden  in  a  torrent  of  incoherent  language. 
These  symptoms  may  develop  gradually  and  suddenly,  or 
after  loss  of  sleep  and  sources  of  anxiety  and  irritation.  She 
imagines  evil  has  befallen  her  husband  or  child — that 
it  is  dead  or  stolen;  if  her  child  is  brought  to  her  she  thinks 
it  is  not  her  own;  is  filled  with  vain  imaginations  about  the 
supposed  unfaithfulness  of  her  husband;  is  jealous,  suspic- 
ious and  hateful;  may  attempt  to  take  the  life  of  her  child; 
is  filled  with  gloomy  forebodings  about  her  own  welfare; 
fear  of  death;  fixed  determination  to  keep  the  mouth  shut; 
is  often  obscene  and  immoral  in  language  and  conduct,  to  a 
degree  that  excites  universal  surprise. 

From  these  conditions,  the  case  may  progress  to  the  more 
advanced  stages  of  nianiacal  insanity,  or  may  give  way  to 
complete  recovery.  Some  patients  become  boisterous,  de- 
lirious and  raving. 

This  form  of  puerperal  insanity  is  more  dangerous  to  life, 
while  the  melancholic  form  is  more  destructive  to  reason. 

It  is  estimated  that  ten  per  cent  of  these  cases  die  (Allo- 
pathy), When  attended  by  much  fever,  a  rapid  pulse,  indi- 
cating a  high  degree  of  inflammatory  action  about  the  cere- 
brum, the  prognosis  is  grave.  The  duration  of  acute  mania 
is  much  shorter  than  that  of  melancholia.  Most  cases  which 
recover,  do  so,  in  from  three  to  six  months.  If  the  disease 
continues  longer  than  that,  the  prognosis  is  very  unfavora- 
ble. After  recovery  a  blank  covers  the  period  occupied  by 
the  derangement. 

Melancholia. — ^This  form  of  puerperal  insanity  usually  gets 
in  after  the  sixteenth  day  after  confinement.  It  is  less  dan- 
gerous to  life,  but  is  more  likely  to  develop  into  confirmed 
insanity. 

It  is  characterized  by  the  usual  symptoms  of  melancholic 
derangement.  There  is  a  profound  depression  of  the  spirits, 
a  settled  gloom  fixes  itself  upon  the  patient.  She  is  tor- 
mented with  doubts,  fears,  forebodings;  imagines  false  and 
unpleasant  things  about  herself  and  friends.     This  state  may 


96  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

be  constant  or  it  may  vacillate  with  periods  of  the  wildest 
excitement  and  delirium. 

The  line  of  demarkation  between  various  forms  of  insanity 
are  by  no  means  always  to  be  clearly  drawn,  since  one  form 
frequently  passes  into  another. 

Third  form.  The  insanity  oflactation,  differs  in  no  essential 
particular  from  that  of  the  puerperal  state.  It  usually  results 
from  the  debility  consequent  upon  excessive  haemorrhages, 
and  prolonged  lactation.  There  usually  exists  a  condition  of 
decided  anaemia,  or  hydraemia.  There  is  more  risk  of  con- 
firmed insanity  developing  from  this  form  of  disease  than  the 
two  preceding.  The  patient  has  strange  likes  and  dislikes, 
and  unwarranted  suspicions.  Is  more  likely  to  be  deranged 
upon  sexual  matters.  Many  patients  are  vulgar  and  obscene 
to  a  degree  that  is  unaccountable.  Such  patients  are  usually 
much  excited,  sleepless,  may  tear  of!  the  clothing,  strike  and 
bite,  seeking  to  injure  those  about  her,  concerning  whom  she 
imagines  strange  and  unwarranted  things.  She  may  attempt 
to  injure  her  own  person.  Some  women  will  stubbornly  re- 
fuse all  food.  Force  being  required  to  introduce  sufficient 
nourishment  to  sustain  life. 

The  stomach  is  usually  deranged;  the  bowels  constipated. 
The  urine  is  scanty,  high  colored  and  loaded  with  the  phos- 
phates. Marasmus  and  general  wasting  occur  from  loss  of 
food  and  rest. 

Etiology. — In  forty-five  out  of  one-hundred  and  eleven 
cases  recorded  by  Dr.  Reid,  and  in  twenty-two  out  of  seven- 
ty-three cases  recorded  by  Dr.  Tuke,  there  was  undoubted 
evidence  ot  hereditary  tendency. 

A  predisposition  to  insanity  like  that  to  any  other  disease, 
is  easily  developed  into  activity  by  exciting  causes,  which 
would  exert  but  little  influence  over  women  in  a  normal  con- 
dition. 

A  large  number  of  cases  of  this  affection  are  found  in  the 
person  of  unfortunate  young  women,  who  have  become 
pregnant  outside  the  marriage  relation.  The  morbid  sense 
of  shame  and  disgrace,  the  mental  anxiety  and  care,  play  a 
most  important  role  in  developing  these  forms  of  mental  un- 


Jiiacellaneot^s.  97 

soundness.  Out  of  two  thousand,  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
one  cases  reported  by  Dr,  Tuke,  she  hundred  and  forty-seven 
were  unmarried  women. 

Sudden  shock,  or  fright,  or  any  powerful  emotion,  may  act 
as  an  exciting  cause. 

There  is  an  undoubted  connection  in  some  cases  with  urae- 
mia, that  form  of  blood  poisoning  which  frequently  occurs 
during  the  pregnant  state.  The  debility  resulting  from  haem- 
orrhages, and  prolonged  lactation,  and  too  frequent  child 
bearing,  furnish  other  tauses  which  render  a  development  of 
the  disease  from  simple  exciting  causes,  quite  easy. 

Pathology. — As  to  the  pathology  of  this  affection  little 
need  be  said  to  distinguish  it  from  other  forms  of  insanity, 
There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind,  that  in  all  forms  of  mental 
disorder  there  is  either  a  functional  or  structural  disturbance 
or  departure  from  the  conditions  of  health.  There  are  at  least 
four  conditions  that  may  induce  very  serious  cerebral  symp- 
toms, and  yet  leave  little  or  no  change  of  structure  to  be  re- 
cognized after  death:  first,  a  change  in  the  blood  itself,  as  in 
anaemia,  spanaemia,  phthisis,  etc.;  second,  a  variation  from  the 
normal  blood  supply  to  the  brain;  third,  refiex  irfitation; 
fourth,  shock.  Each  of  these  conditions  if  long  continued 
or  frequently  repeated,  will  induce  structural  lesipn,  that 
can  be  recognized  aftjr  death. 

In  acute  mania  and  melancholia  there  very  commonly  ex- 
ists active  hypersemia  and  dilatation  of  the  capillaries. 
Marked  alterations  in  the  quantity  of  blood  circulating 
through  the  gray  matter  is  invariably  attended  by  deranged 
intellection. 

Acute  and  sub-acute  inflammation  undoubtedly  exists  in 
the  cases  of  pronounced  and  violent  mania.  In  their  initial 
stages  such  pathological  conditions  are  quite  amenable  to  ap- 
propriate medication,  but  if  not  arrested,  these  merely  func- 
tional disturbances  will  ultimately  end  in  structural  changes, 
such  as,  thickening  of  the  coats  of  the  arteries  and  meninges, 
degeneration  of  the  walls  of  the  arteries  and  nerve  tissue, 
extravasations  into  the  ventricles,  arachnoid  spaces  and  the 
nerve  substance. 
Feb.3 


98  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

These  changes  do  not  develop  in  puerperal  insanity  unless 
it  passes  into  confirmed  lunacy. 

Treatment. — Regimenal.  In  the  treatment  of  mental  dis* 
orders  incident  to  the  pregnant  and  puerperal  state,  an  effort 
must  first  be  made  to  remove  all  causes  of  general  or  local  ir- 
ritation of  the  nervous  system.  The  diet  must  be  regulated 
and  adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  case.  Where  food  is  ob«>ti- 
nately  refused  the  patient  must  be  compelled  to  eat,  or  be 
nourished  by  nutrient  enemata.  Abundant  sleep  should  be 
secured.  All  stimulants  should  be  avoided,  together  with  all 
associations  and  surroundings,  which  necessarily  excite  and 
disturb  the  patient.  The  stomach  and  bowels  should  be  well 
cared  for,  enemata  being  resorted  to  where  obstinate  con- 
stipation exists. 

So  long  as  the  patient  can  be  cared  for  at  home,  it  is  much 
better  for  her  than  to  be  sent  to  an  insane  asylum.  The 
surroundings  of  the  patient  should  be  cheerful,  enlivening, 
calculated  to  take  the  mind  ofl^  of  morbid  brooding,  and  de- 
spondency. It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  insanity  of 
pregnancy  is  likely  to  continue  during  the  natural  term.  It 
may,  however,  yield  before  that  time  to  remedial  measures. 
The  diet  should  be  generous,  especially  in  cases  of  marked 
debility. 

Treatment — Remedial.  Aconite. — Ailments  from  fright 
or  anger;  great  fear  of  death,  of  getting  up;  of  strangers;  in- 
consolable anxiety;  reproaching  others  for  mere  trifles. 

Aurum^ — Religious  mania;  prays  all  the  time;  imagines 
she  is  not  6t  for  this  world;  unhappy  with  continual  thoughts 
of  suicide;  praecordial  anguish,  driving  her  from  place  to 
place;  weak  memory  and  intellect. 

Belladonna, — Mania;  merry  but  quarrelsome;  strikes  and 
bites;  starts  in  affright  at  the  approach  of  others;  tries  to  es- 
cape or  hide;  insomnia,  fear  of  ghosts  moaning;  begs  those 
around  her  to  get  her  out  of  the  way  and  kill  her. 

Cimicifuga. — Declares  she  will  go  crazy;  mental  depres- 
sion with  suicidal  tendency;  suspicious,  indifferent  taciturn; 
takes  no  interest  in  household  matters,  irritable,  the  least 
thing  makes  her  angry  and  destructive. 


Miscellaneous.  99 

ffyoscyamus. — Indescribable  rage  and  horrid  anguish;  does 
not  know  her  own  relatives;  complains  of  having  been  pois- 
oned; complete  loss  of  modesty;  throws  off  bed  clothes; 
hyperaesthesia  of  cutaneous  nerves. 

Ignatia, — Melancholia  from  suppressed  mental  sufferings, 
with  much  sighing;  desires  to  be  alone  that  she  may  give 
way  to  her  imaginary  grief. 

Platina, — Voluptuous  crawling  up  and  about  the  genitals; 
very  haughty;  looks  down  disdainfully  upon  her  attendants; 
black,  tarry,  vaginal  discharge. 

Pulsatilla. — Sad,  weeping  mood;  taciturn;  sees  strange 
things  on  closing  the  eyes,  and  hears  all  kinds  of  operatic 
airs;  after  slight  emotions,  diflicult  breathing. 

Stramonium, — Nymphomania,  with  obscene  gestures  and 
language;  desires  light  and  company,  being  afraid  to  go  alone; 
very  loquacious,  in  a  prayerful,  beseechmg,  imploring  lan- 
guage; face  often  red  and  bloated. 

Veratrum   alb. — Religious  melancholy  or  nymphomania, 
with  desire  to  embrace  everybody,  and  even  inanimate  objects;, 
mania,   with  desire   to  tear  off  her  clothes;  very  lascivious; 
desire  for  cool  and  refreshing  things. 

Study  more  particularly  for  profound 

Melancholy. — First,  AurunL,  Ignatia,  Staph.  Second,  Ars., 
BelLy  Calc.,  Caust.,  Cim.,  Coni,^  Helon^  Lyeop,,  Nux  vom.^  Puls^ 

Mania. — Acon.^  BelLj  Cupr..  Hyos.,  Camph,,  Ledum,  Lycop,^ 
Nux  mos..  Nux  vom»,  Platina. 

Nymphomania. — Bell,,  Canth.,  China.,  Hyos.,  Nux.,  Phos., 
Plati.,  Puis.,  Stram.,  Sulph.,  Verat,,  Zinc,  Tarant.. 

Where  great  debility  and  anaemia  have  caused  the  disease, 
study  Calc,  Chi.,  Nux  vom.,  Phos.  acid,  Sulph,   Verat,  Alb. 

Where  there  is  marked  gastric  disturbance  with  constipa- 
tion, sludy  Bryon.,  Calc.  c,  Cocc,  Ignatia,  Natr.  mur.,  Nux  v., 
Puis,,  Sepia,  Verat.  v. 


100  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


The  Homodopathic  Materia  Medica.  By  o.  S.  Sanders  M.  D., 

Boston.     Part  IT. 

The  homcBopathic  materia  medica  to-dny  is  no  manual, 
but  an  encyclopaedia.  The  component  parts  are  like  so  many 
bright  orbs  in  the  constellation  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  The 
collecting  of  the  hundreds  of  material  substances,  so  carefully 
analyzed  for  medicinal  purposes,  comprises  one  of  the  grand- 
est results  connected  with  the  scientific  world.  The  produc- 
tion of  such  a  masterpiece  of  literature  has  an  auspicious  be- 
ginning. It  is  now  less  than  a  century  since  the  proclamation 
of  the  doctrine  Similia  was  announced  to  the  world;  and  in- 
stead of  of  completing  the  materia  medica,  we  are  justified 
in  saying  it  has  hardly  commenced.  The  opposition  to  the 
revelation  of  the  law  Similia  has  been  fuel  for  the  flames,  in- 
stead of  water  to  quench  it.  The  content,  to  professional 
issues,  is  a  device  of  the  enem}*  to  destroy  the  confidence  of 
the  people — as  a  practice  of  choice,  and  to  prevent  honest  and 
eurne^t  students  of  medical  research  from  adopting  measures 
that  will  change  the  formulated  use  of  drugs,  which  for  cen* 
turies  have  been  the  bane  of  mankind.  Our  materia 
medica  is  a  work  of  almost  unlimited  dimensions;  yea,  so  vast 
it  may  be,  that  it  is  well  nigh  being  un  wieldly  in  the  ordinary 
period  of  a  lifetime.  I  know  a  disciple  of.Hahnemann  who 
has  been  a  close  student  of  the  homceopathic  materia  medica, 
and  a  faithful  and  happy  practitioner  for  upwards  of  thirty 
years,  and  it  is  said  with  an  enviable  success,  and  his  testi- 
mony to-day  is,  that  he  discovers  more  to  learn  than  he  has 
yet  been  able  to  accomplish  with  all  diligence.  Is  not  this 
the  testimony  of  every  one  of  us,  whether  the  experience  has 
been  few  or  many  years?  I  would  not  speak  prejudicially 
against  the  cumulative  mass  of  matter  in  our  materia  med- 
ica; doubtless  the  coming  generations  will  abridge  it.  Still, 
the  many  numerous  volumes  presented  to  the  student  of  med- 
icine, touching  our  theme,  may  be  so  many  vehicles  fraught 
with  valuable  suggestions  and  experience,  and  with  them  our 
libraries  and  our  minds  may  be  greatly  enriched.     With  so 


Miscellaneous.  101 

much  to  learn,  like  astronomers,  mathematicians,  etc.,  it  is 
not  strange  that  some  dare  not  grapple  with  it,  or  never 
master  it  however  studious  and  untiring  in  their  research; 
and  still,  the  mineral,  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms  are  full 
of  unkown  medicinal  substances,  which,  doubtless,  will  be  as 
varied  in  adaptation  and  virtuous  in  choice,  as  any  remedy 
now  at  our  command.  The  materia  medica  of  our  school  to- 
day is  not  within  its  defects  any  more  than  other  branches  of 
science  in  its  primary  stage.  The  work  of  digest,  is  winnow- 
ing or  clearing  away  whatever  may  be  compared  to  hay, 
wood  or  stubble,  as  in  the  figure,  retaming  the  "lively  stones" 
only.  In  order  to  preserve  che  good  name  of  our  school  of 
medicine,  its  devotees  must  be  as  faithful  and  honest  in  point- 
ing out  mistakes  or  errors  connected  with  the  materia  med- 
ica,^as  in  other  departments  of  education. 

It  mig:it  not  be  misspent  time  to  re-prove  many  of  the 
drugs,  already  embraced  in  the  Homceopathic  literature.  Is 
it  not  quite  possible  that  the  same  noble  results  will  follow, 
with  less  verbal  forms  of  expressions,  denoting  symptoms, 
from  which  we  get  the  Similia?  For  instance,  Aconite  has 
something  like  sevent3'-six  characteristic  symptoms;  Arseni' 
cum,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight;  Belladonna,  ninety-two; 
Bryonia,  eighty-two;  China,  fifty;  ^ux  vomica,  eighty;  Fhos- 
phorus,  fifty-seven;  Bhustox,  forty-nine;  and  so  on,  with  more 
or  less  to  the  end  of  the  chapter.  Is  it  not  well  said,  that  it  is  no 
small  undertaking  to  memorize  the  characteristic  symptoms  of 
over  three  hundred  drugs?  A  mind  of  less  calibre  than  that  of 
the  venerable  Hahnemann,  or  our  Guernsey,  would  * 'hardly 
ever'*  think  of  doing  it;  yet,  there  is  no  possible  way  of  appre- 
ciating, or  appropriating  the  results  of  the  powersof  drugs,  ex- 
cept by  constant  and  untiring  study,  in  conjunction  with  the 
art  of  cure.  In  carefully  re-proving  our  drugs,  I  venture  to 
say,  by  reducing  the  number  of  characteristic  symptoms  to 
anywhere  from  three  to  twenty,  as  m  my  believe  should  and 
can  be  done,  such  a  book  on  materia  medica  would  soon  find 
its  way  to  the  library  of  medical  men  in  every  school  of  prac- 
tice. 

It  may  not  be  unjust  criticism  to  assert,  that  in  some  re- 
spects the  work  of  our  materia  medica  seems  to  be  overdone, 


102  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

for  the  eflbrt  required  in  comprehending  it,  augments  per- 
plexity, rather  than  lucidness;  and  to  many,  symptomatology 
is  more  difficult  to  command  than  pathology;  and  may  there 
not  he  another  fact,  that  in  somo  special  instances,  symptoms 
may  have  been  recorded  in  our  materia  medica,  which  clin- 
ical observation  will  not  verify?  With  a  materia  medica, 
like  a  store  house  full  of  rich  fruitage  of  great  variety,  it  is 
not  always  easy  for  the  busy  practitioner  to  discriminate  in 
the  choice  of  remedies;  for  when  we  study  Aconite^  or  read 
Professor  Hem  pel's  several  lectures  on  this  drug,  we  are 
almost  persuaded  that  this  polycrest  remedy  will  cure  every 
malady  akin  to  man.  And  again,  when  we  study  Bryonia^ 
Arsenicum^  Sulphur^  and  many  others,  we  may,  in  our  great 
haste,  think  in  them  we  have  found  the  Similia.  And  yet 
in  our  disappointment  we  may  find  the  reason  of  our  defeat  in 
ourselves,  and  not  for  want  of  wealth  in  the  materia  medica. 
Based  upon  the  law  Similia,  the  materia  medica  of  ourschooU 
with  the  ponderosity  of  matter,  is  the  Alps  of  medicine.  The 
underlying  principle  is  what  makes  it  great.  It  may  not  be 
strange  for  some  men,  with  their  idiosyncrasy,  to  have  a  feel- 
ing of  distrust  respecting  the  certainty  of  the  curative  action 
of  not  a  few  of  the  drugs  occupying  a  place  in  the  catalogue 
of  remedies;  and  in  consequence  of  this  fact,  resort  to  analo- 
gical  reasonings  and  clinical  experience,  which  savor  some- 
what of  the  so-called  physiological  school  of  medicine.  The 
question  is  often  asked,  what  objection  is  there  in  proving 
drugs,  to  continue  the  work  until  not  only  a  decided  toxico- 
logical  effect  is  produced,  but  a  pathological  change  is  expe- 
rienced? In  my  judgment,  the  proving  of  any  drug  should 
he  made  upon  the  lower  order  of  animals,  as  well  as  men 
and  women,  scores  of  times,  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances, with  appreciable  doses  of  the  medicine  on  trial.  Is 
it  not  the  conviction  of  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
homcBopathic  fraternity,  that  in  the  law  of  drugs  there  is  af- 
finity for  certain  parts  of  the  body,  either  fibre,  fluid,  func- 
tion or  organ,  with  a  marked  differential  importance?  Drugs 
are  divided  into  two  classes,  irritative  and  deadly,  each  sub- 
stance possessing  qualities  of  an  individual  import.     It  is  a 


Miscellaneous.  103 

known  certainty  that  drugs  classed  under  the  bead  of  eme- 
tics, act  upon  the  stomach;  those  under  the  head  of  cathar-. 
tics,  act  specifically  upon  different  sections  of  the  alimentary 
canal,  and  equally  true  is  it  of  all  other  medicines.  One  of 
my  first  le^^sons  in  my  departure,  from  the  allopathic  practice 
was,  that  Aconite  wsls  the  lance  in  the  hand  of  a  homoeopathic 
practitioner;  that  it  acted  potentially  upon  the  circulation  of 
the  blood,  alTecting  its  momentum,  as  well  as  changing  its 
quality.  While  Bryonia  has  an  affinity  for  serous  tissues, 
thereby  possessing  great  value  in  pleuritis,  arachnitis,  etc., 
Belladonna  acts  forcibly  upon  the  mucous  and  dermoid  tis- 
sues, Lycopodium  upon  the  lymphatic  or  smaller  glands,  and 
Mercurius  upon  the  larger  glands  of  the  body.  When  the 
pulse  is  bounding,  face  reddening,  head  aching,  limbs  toss- 
ing, and  death  fearing,  there  is  no  mistake  that  Aconite  is  the 
Similia.  With  marked  debility,  burning,  cedema,  emaciation, 
intenwittence,  irritation  or  inflammation  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane, with  burning  thirst,  and  little  sips  of  water  is  all  the 
stomach  will  retain,  nausea,  watery  diarrhoea  with  hippo- 
cratic  expression,  the  Similia  is  Arsenicnm  album  the  world 
over. 

While  medicine  has  been  a  system  of  theories  for  ages,  in 
our  materia  medica  we  have  direct  agencies — a  necessity — as 
a  means  to  an  end,  embracing  grand  essentials,  having  a 
place,  a  meaning,  a  range  and  a  possibility.  The  saving  of 
life  and  the  recovery  of  health  so  frequently  come  from  this 
source — the  homoeopathic  materia  medica  with  all  its  defects, 
is  the  unfurled  banner,  yea,  the  beacon  light,  for  every  disci- 
ple of  medicine. 


104  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance. 


Puerperal  Eclampsia  and  Fever,     By  Dr.  Herbert  M.  Day- 
foot,  Mt.  Morris,  N.  Y. 

Our  defeats  are  often  of  more  benefit  to  us  than  our  vic- 
tories. While  the  latter  may  give  us  confidence  in  ourselves 
and  our  remedies,  the  former  should  awaken  a  spirit  of  in- 
vestigation, and  stimulate  us  to  increased  study  and  research- 
that  we  may  be  the  be' ter  prepared  to  overcome  our  errors 
of  omission  and  commisson.  While  in  any  given  case  we 
may  have  done  our  duty,  and  our  whole  duty,  according  to 
the  light  that  is  in  us,  the  age,  wisdom  and  experienee  of 
other  and  better  heads  might  suggest  a  more  desirable  and 
more  successful  line  of  treatment.  In  this  spirit  and  for 
this  purpose  I  give  the  details  of  the  following  case: 

Was  called  to  see  Mrs.  H.,  aet.  twenty -four,  dark  hair  and 
eyes;  about  six  and  one-half  months  advanced  in  first  preg- 
.nancy;  found  her  suffering  from  neuralgia  of  the  left  side  of 
the  face;  considerable  swelling  under  the  eyes.  Gave  Ars, 
3x  and  requested  her  to  send  a  vial  of  her  urine  to  my  office 
for  examination.  Did  not  hear  from  her  for  two  or  three 
days,  when  her  husband  informed  me  that  the  urine  was  all 
right,  and  the  swelling  had  about  disappeared.  In  a  few 
days  I  was  again  requested  to  sec  her,  when  she  said  the 
previous  symptoms  were  relieved,  but  complained  of  much 
discomfort  she  experienced  the  night  before,  of  a  peculiar 
pain  extending  from  the  throat  into  the  bowels.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day  I  was  hurridly  summoned  and 
learned  that  her  friends  had  found  her  lying  ifisensible  on 
the  bed,  and  that  soon  after  she  had  what  was  described  as  a 
spasm.  She  was  in  a  measure  unconscious,  and  though  she 
could  recognize  friends,  her  mind  was  very  much  clouded. 
She  complained  of  being  dizzy  and  soon  said,  "What  is  the 
matter  with  me.  I  can  not  see?"  In  about  one  hour  and  a 
half  she  was  seized  with  a  genuine  convulsion;  there  were 
no  labor  pains,  and  an  examination  showed  the  os  undilated. 
Another  convulsion  soon  followed,  and  on  consultation  with 
Dr.  Ames,  (regular),  it  was  decided  to  induce  labor  as  soon 


Miscellaneous,  105 

as  possible.  The  pulse  was  one' hundred  and  twenty-five, 
but  not  very  strong.  The  next  or  third  convulsion  was  miti- 
gated by  Chloroform,  Verat  vir.  tine,  wiis  given  every  hour. 
Bell,  tine,  was  applied  to  theos,  and  warm  water  injected  into 
the  uterus.  Three  more  convulsions  followed  from  one  to 
two  hours  apart.  Dilatation  progressed  slowly.  About  two 
hours  after  the  sixth  convulsion,  I  succeeded,  by  aid  of  a  ca- 
theter, in  rupturing  the  membranes.  Labor  not  making  suf- 
ficient progress,  I  introduced  and  inflated  a  thin  rubber 
pessary.  Pains  soon  came  on  at  regular  intervals,  and  al- 
though patient  was  still  unconscious  she  made  some  slight 
outcry  at  the  recurrence  of  each  pain.  In  about  eighteen 
hours  dilatation  had  so  far  progressed  that  after  having  evac- 
uated the  bladder  and  rectum,  I  was  enabled  to  apply  the 
forceps  and  deliver  without  much  trouble.  The  child  lived 
about  two  hours.  We  were  now  about  twelve  hours  without 
a  convulsion,  and  the  outlook  was  more  favorable.  Three 
hours  after  I  found  my  patient  conscious;  pulse  eighty-five; 
skin  cool,  considerable  thirst;  she  did  not  know  her  child 
was  born,  the  past  thirty-six  hours  was  a  blank  to  her. 

The  next  morning  the  patient  had  without  my  knowledge 
a  breakfast  of  toast,  potatoes  and  baked  apples,  and  in  the 
afternoon  suffered  from  considerable  griping  in  the  bowels, 
together  with  the  peculiar  pain  in  the  throat  before  men- 
tioned. The  urine  was  loaded  with  albumen,  which,  how- 
ever, decreased  day  by  day,  until  the  sixth  day,  when  it  was 
nearly  free.  The  condition  up  to  the  seventh  day  was  as 
follows:  pulse  from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty;  temperature  from  one  hundred  and  two  to  one 
hundred  and  four  and  a  half  degrees;  respirations  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty-five  per  minute;  considerable  tympan- 
itis, together  with  griping  pain;  no  headache,  tongue  moist, 
some  thirst.  The  remedies  employed  were  Verat,  vir.,  Acon,^ 
Coloc,  and  Bry,  Hot  water  injection  per  rectum  gave  most 
relief  to  the  griping  pain.  On  the  seventh  day  the  pulse 
was  down  to  one  hundred  and  twelve;  temperature  ninety- 
nine  and  one  eighth  degrees;  the  tympanitis  lessened,  skin 
covered  with  a  gentle  perspiration.     Every  symptom  looked 


108  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

prise  of  the  publishera,  the  editor  and  the  contributors,  which  has  placed 
in  our  hand  such  splendid  yolumeson  medical  science.  They  show  us  at 
a  glance  how  rapidly  we  have  progressed  in  this  department  of  knowledge. 
It  was  something  to  be  a  doctor  in  the  olden  times,  when  books  were  few 
and  knowledge  scarce,  but  now  it  seems  in  one  sense  so  easy,  and  yet  in 
another  a  far  more  difficult  thing,  since  facts  and  principles  have  so 
greatly  accumulated  within  the  past  few  years.  In  the  present  volume 
Juergensen  treats  of  croupous  and  catarrhal  pneumonia,  hydrostatic  pro" 
cessenin  the  lungs,  and  pneumonia  from  embolism.  Prof.  Hertz  treats  of 
anaamia,  hyperaemia  and  oedema,  hemorrhages  of  the  lungs,  helcosis 
atrophy,  hypertrophy,  pulmonary  emphysema,  gangrene  of  the  lungs,  new 
growths  in  the  lungts,  new  growths  in  the  mediastinum,  and  parasites  in 
the  lungs.  Buehle  treats  of  pulmonary  consumption  and  acute  miliary 
tuberculosis.  Bindfleish  treats  of  acute  and  chronic  tuberculosis,  phthisis 
and  acute  tuberculosis. 

The  general  want  of  the  best  information  upon  lung  diseases  in  this 
country,  will  not  fail  to  direct  attention  to  thb  and  volume  IV,  which  we 
have  already  noticed,  both  of  which  treat  of  this  subject.  Juergensen  on 
page  169  makes  this  important  and  truthful  remark :  ''In  all  severe  dis- 
eases I  disapprove  of  darkened  bedrooms.  It  is  sufficient  to  place  the  bed 
in  such  a  position  that  the  light  does  not  shine  directly  in  the  eyes  of  the 
patient.  In  my  opinion,  patients  who  are  exposed  to  the  light  make  the 
best  recovery.''        For  sale  by  Robert  Clarke  A  Ck>. 

The  Ground  of  a  HomcBopath's  Faith.  By  Samuel  A.  Jones,  Professor  of 
Materia  Medica,  Therapeutics  and  Experimental  Pathogenesis  in 
the  Homceopathic  Medical  Ck)llege  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 
Boericke  &  Tafel,  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  1880. 

Fully  to  appreciate  a  work  the  reader  should  know  something  of  the 
surrounding  circumstances — the  environment  and  the  motive.  In  no  in- 
stance is  this  more  forcibly  true  than  in  that  under  consideration.  I  shall 
tell  the  story  of  the  "forging*'  of  this  strange  little  three-edged  homoeo- 
pathic poniard,  as  the  ''tale  was  told  to  me"  by  an  eye  witness,  who  was 
a  graduate  of  the  old  school  department  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 

Near  the  close  of  the  term  of  1879  the  ^'regular"  students  sent  a  "chal- 
lenge" called  out  of  politeness,  a  "request"  for  Prof.  Gatchell  to  lecture  be- 
fore them.  Not  divining  the  depth  of  the  plot,  and  desirous  to  do  battle 
for  the  good  cause,  Prof.  Oatchell  accepted.  At  the  close  of  his  lecture  he 
was  confronted  with  a  pile  of  written  and  "studied"  questions.  It  is  an  old 
saw  that  a  fool  may  ask  questions  that  a  witie  man  can  not  answer.  And  so 
it  proved  in  this  case. 

Elated  with  the  success  of  their  ambuscade,  the  regulars  immediately 
extended  Prof.  8.  A.  Jones  an  invitation  to  the  slaughter.    They  did  not 


Book  Noticei.  109 

dreftm  that  they  had  loosed  the  Sampeon  that  was  to  pull  their  temple 
aboat  their  ears.  They  found  after  they  had  had  time  to  pick  up  the 
pieces,  that  they  had  waked  up  the  wrong  passenger. 

The  first  lecture  over,  the  table  before  the  little  champion  of  the  Truth 
was  piled  high  with  written  questions.  These  papers,  concocted  and  prepared 
beforehand  and  with  malice  aforethought,  failed  miserably  in  their  de. 
sign.  These  questions  were  thrown  at  a  man  who  is  a  very  encyclopadia 
of  bibliographic  knowledge.  They  were  read  with  astonishing  rapidity, 
and  answered  with  a  corresponding  celerity — and  always  with  the  correct 
answer.  Two  of  these  questions  and  answers  fastened  themselves  upon 
my  mind,  and  I  reproduce  them  as  nearly  as  I  may :  '^Has  the  moon  any 
influence  upon  the  action  of  medicine  in  the  human  body  ?"  Singling  out 
the  questioner  by  his  look  of  consciousness  the  lecturer,  looking  straight 
at  him,  replied:  "You  are  perhaps  not  aware  that  a  very  prominent  mem- 
ber of  your  own  school  has  written  a  book  upon  this  subject,  in  which  he 
has  taken  the  affirmative  of  this  question,  that  you,  in  your  ignorance, 
presume  to  be  only  a  homceopathtc  problem."  Reference  to  author  and 
book. 

Second,  **Ib  pathology  necessary  to  the  education  of  a  homcaopathic 
physician?"  Answer,  '*It  would  be  a  piece  unparalelled  folly  for  a  man 
to  spend  the  best  years  of  his  life  studying  something  that  would  be  of  no 
use  to  him.  I  am  still  a  student  of  pathology ;  and  if  you  doubt  it,  bring 
on  your  best  regular  pathologist  for  a  public  competitive  examination. 
If  I  fail  to  make  as  many  palpable  hits  as  he,  I  will  step  down  and  out  of 
Michigan  University.'* 

Written  on  the  peaceful  pages  of  a  medical  journal,  at  the  secure  dis- 
tance of  three  hundred  miles  from  the  field  of  battle,  this  looks  like  mere 
braggadocio.  But  in  a  lecture  room  of  Michigan  University,  in  the  faces  of 
many  *'regular*'  students,  backed  by  the  whole  hostile  faculty  of  the  hos- 
tile regular  department ;  this  bold  defiance  becomes  a  feat  of  medinval  chiv. 
airy;  an  essay  of  knightly  daring;  a  story  to  be  told  in  the  years  of  the 
future;  an  action  worthy  to  be  imitated  in  all  time  to  come. 

For  the  book  itself,  I  need  say  but  little.  Conceived  under  circum- 
stances like  those  merely  hinted  at  here,  it  was  almost  a  work  of  inspira- 
tion. As  a  defense  of  Hom(sopathy  it  is  unrivalled.  As  an  assault  upon 
the  stronghold  of  Allopathy  it  has  called  to  arms  the  defenders  of  the  regu- 
lar faith,  from  Maine  to  California.  It  has  proven  itself  a  lance-head 
that  penetrated  shield  and  breastplate ;  a  shell  that  burst  in  the  midst  of 
of  the  enemy's  camp ;  a  three-edged  poniard  that  is  now  sticking  in  the 
wound  it  has  made. 

A  *'regular"  professor  in  New  York  city  advises  the  distribution  of 
copies  of  this  most  aggressive  piece  of  forensic  Homceopathy,  among  the 
regulars  of  that  city.  Friend  Paine,  is  not  this  the  true  method  for  the 
conversion  of  the  profession  to  the  true  faith  ?  H.  W.  T. 


110  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Long  Life  and  How  To  Reach  It.     By  Jomph  G.  Riehardflon,  M.  D. 
Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  Philadelphia. 

This  forms  one  of  the  excellent  series  of  "American  Health  Primer^" 
being  issned  by  the  above  house.  We  have  seen  nothing  in  the  series  we 
like  better  than  this.  It  is  the  best  compendium  of  sanitary  science  we 
have  yet  seen.  It  treats  of  the  causes  of  disease,  of  clothing,  food,  air, 
water,  sleep,  exercise  and  kindred  subjects,  attention  to  which  might 
greatly  prolong  the  lives  of  many  and  fill  their  days  with  pleasure.  Price 
fifty  cents.    Robert  Clarke  &  Ck>. 

Eye  Sight  and  How  To  Care  For  It.    By  Geo.  C.  Harlan,  M.  D.    Lindsay 
&  Blakiston,  Philadelphia. 

Here  is  another  of  the  "American  Health  Primers"  series.  This  is  an 
attempt  to  make  difficult  things  plain.  No  one,  we  believe,  conld  do  bet- 
ter in  that  respect  than  the  author  of  this  little  book.  The  student  will 
find  this  an  excellent  vade  mecunif  and  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  we 
could  induce  the  general  practitionenf  to  study  it  with  care.  We  heartily 
commend  the  work  to  all.    Price  fifty  oents.    Alfred  Warren,  Cincinnati. 

Pocket  Therapeutics  and  Dose  Book.    By  Morse  Stewart,  Jr.,  A.  B.,  M.  D. 
Qeo,  D.  Stewart  &Co.,  Publishers,  Detroit,  Mich. 

A  convenient  book  of  two  hundred  and  sixtv-three  pages  giving  doses, 
apothecary's  and  metrical  measure  of  drugs,  with  th^'ir  special  therapeutic 
value  from  the  old  school  materia  medica.  The  work  also  contains  a 
brief  table  of  solubilities,  therapeutic  compend,  etc. 

First  Annual  Bepobt  of  the  Women  and  Children  Free  Medical  and 
Surgical  Dispensary,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  1879,  is  worthy  of  great  praise. 
For  the  year  it  has  had  a  total  number  of  patients,  one  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five.  Number  of  out  door  visits,  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
three. 

PflYSICIA.N*S   ViSITINO  LiST    AND    PoCKET    REPERTORY.      Bocrlcke  A 

Tafel.    Good  for  all  time  and  seasons,  and  ^' just  the  thing"  for  the  man 
who  desires  to  keep  a  correct  account  of  his  business. 

Pstcho-Physiolooicai*  Trainiito  of  an  Idiotic  Hand. — By  Edward 
Seguin,  M.  D.    G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York. 

SsxuAii  Neuroses.  By  Dr.  J.  F.  Kent,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  This  is  a 
work  on  a  special  subject,  and  for  specialists  we  specially  commend  it.  Dr. 
Kent  has  given  in  this  work  his  best  thoughts. 

The  Voice.  Edgar  S.  Werner,  Editor  and  Publisher,  Albany,  N.  Y. 
$1.00  per  year.  The  Voice,  as  the  title  indicates,  is  devoted  to  the  science 
of  phonation,  and  has  assumed  the  duty  of  presenting  all  methods  of  cur- 
ing defects  of  speech. 


mUt^ii  ^M$. 


Cleveland  Homceopathig  Hospital. — ^This  institution  is  Faid  to  be 
at  last  finished,  and  has  jnst  been  formally  opened.  We  understand  by 
the  pap3rs  that  the  exercises  were  in  their  nature  gorgeous.  Some  time 
since  we  received  the  following  pleasing  note : 

Cleveland,  September  8th,  1870. 

Prof.  T.  P.  Wilson:  Dear  Sir:  I  have  read  to  our  chairman  of  the 
Huron  street  hospital  building  committee,  your  letter  addressed  to  him 
and  myself,  and  we  are  so  well  pleased  with  the  high  tone  of  the  tetter 
and  your  welfare  in  us  and  the  hospital,  that  we  have  concluded  in  due 
time,  to  request  you  officially  to  be  present  at  the  grand  opening,  when 
the  hospital  is  completed,  and  to  make  a  speech  on  that  occasion.  Of 
course  you  can  not  decline  such  an  honor;  so  prepare  yourself  for  the  oc- 
casion. You  can  afford  to  do  this  much,  besides  you  will  have  plenty  of 
time,  and  we  hope  you  will  acquit  yourself  well  and  not  forget  the  build- 
ing committee.    Yours,  D.  H.    P.  S.  The  '^official"  will  come  in  due  time. 

We  fear  that  a  huge  joke  has  been  perpetrated  on  the  public.  We 
have  not  yet  received  our  "official"  notice  of  the  event,  and  are  inclined  to 
believe  that  what  purports  to  be  an  opening  is  a  mere  sham.  At  any 
rate  we  shall  take  no  notice  of  the  affair  until  we  hear  from  the  ''building 
committee*'  "officially." 

The  followimq  gentlemen  have  just  graduated  in  the  Cincinnati 
School  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology:  Dr.  C,  H.  Gilbert,  Cincinnati, 
Dr.  C.  M.  Lukens,  Cincinnati ;  Dr.  £.  S.  Evans,  Columbus,  O. ;  Dr.  P.  H. 
Lindley,  Michigan ,  Dr.  Allen  H.  Vance,  Springfield,  O. 

Dr.  T.  P.  Wilson  has  been  appointed  to  the  chair  of  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice in  the  homoeopathic  department  of  Michigan  University,  at  Ann 
Arbor.  The  Doctor  will  make  his  future  residence  there,  and  pursue  his 
practice  as  a  specialist. 

Prof.  Chas.  Qatchell  has  resigned  his  position  in  the  Michigan  Univer- 
sity and  gone  to  Milwaukee  to  practice  medicine.    We  wish  him  snccess. 

Dr.  G.  C.  MacDermott,  of  Milwaukee,  removes  to  Cincinnati,  to  take 
the  practice  and  college  chair  just  vacated  by  Prof.  Wilson.  We  know  he 
will  succeed,  because  he  ought  to. 

Dr.  J.  F.  Lebcoynk,  of  Washington,  Pa.,  the  cremationist,  died  recently 
at  the  age  of  eighty-two.  He  left  a  large  estate  valued  at  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  directions  that  his  body  should  be  cremated.    He 


Il2  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

onlj  anticipated  his  race  somewhat  in  what  the  present  generation  regard 
as  peculiarities.    All  original  men  are  ^'peculiar." 

Like  men,  medical  journals  are  born  to  live,  some  for  a  short  time> 
others  longer.  The  present  year  gives  birth  to  some  new  journals,  and  the 
demise  of  five  can  be  credited  to  1880,  to  date.  Survival  of  the  fittest  ap- 
plies alike  to  man's  productions  as  well  as  nature's. 

We  have  received  Metric  Note  number  ten  ;  from  this  we  see  evidence 
of  progress  toward  the  consummation  of  such  a  desirable  object  as  the  in- 
troduction of  the  metric  system.  Like  all  othdr  innovations,  this  finds 
much  opposition  and  indifference  to  overcome.  This  system,  with  the 
objects  of  the  Spelling  Beform  Association  should  receive  the  hearty  co~ 
operation  of  true  progressionists.  Dr.  E.  Seguin,  New  York,  is  one  of  the 
commissioners  charged  to  present  the  matter  to  Congress. 


WantSy  Locations,  Practices  for  Sale,  Etc. 

Under  this  head  we  will  be  gflad  to  insert,  s'ratis,  notices,  change  ot  location, 
practices  for  sale,  exchanges  offered  or  any  miscellaneous  want  pertaining  to  the  pro- 
fession, not  of  a  purely  advertisinfir  or  personal  nature.  We  will  he  specially  obliged 
to  physicians  g-iving  the  names  oftfooa  locations. 


HoRTCOW,  Wis. — Dr.  H.  L.  Bradley  wishes  to  sell  his  real  estate  and 
leave,  a  field  in  which  he  has  been  for  fifteen  years  practicing.  The  Doctor 
leaves  on  account  of  his  wife's  poor  health ;  address  as  above. 

Harrison,  O. — Dr.  O.  J.  Lyon  writes  that  he  wishes  to  change  base 
that  he  may  give  hio  attention  to  the  settling  of  a  will  case ;  states  he  has 
fine  practice,  and  is  open  to  direct  communication  with  parties  interested. 

Dr.  W.  L.  Morgan  has  located  at  Lafayette,  Ind.  The  Doctor  informs 
us  that  a  good  opening  for  an  active  man  is  at  Lebanon,  Ind.,  his  former 
field  of  labor. 


T.  P.  WILSON,  If .  p.,  Editoi.  J.  P.  GEPPEKT,  H.  D.,  Aib-t  Editoi. 

VoLL'ME  VIII.  .       Cincinnati,  O.,  Habch,  1880.  Nuubkk  3. 


Ors  beloved  Woodyatt  is  dead.  No  lanftiRge  can  measare  the  sad- 
neea  with  wbicb  we  write  Uiese  words.  Tbey  will  send  a  thrill  of 
pain  through  thouMods  of  hearts,  for  in  hie  untimely  death  we  have 
■net  a  lose  that  is  simply  measureless.  It  is  to  us  as  if  the  aan  nt  mid- 
day had  been  darkened.  There  is  a  shadow  cast  upon  our  goals  that 
most  rest  there  until  tbe  end  of  time.  It  can  not  be  otherwise,  for  in 
bim  was  centered  so  much  o(  our  pride  and  hope.  Knowing  hisevery 
footstep  from  boyhood  to  manhood,  and  watching  as  we  did,  the  nn- 
foldioK  of  hie  mind,  year  by  year,  and  realising  how  almost  ftithom- 
leaa  was  his  enthusiasm  and  his  power  of  comprehension  of  truth 
ItDOwing  too,  what  he  h«d  achieved  for  medical  science  in  bis  brief 
career,  we  had  just  cause  for  pride.  He  was  in  some  sense  our  boy 
(or  a  little  while,  scd  ever  after  that,  if  we  have  known  the  kin-ahip 
of  aouie,  he  was  our  soul-brother.  And  he  was  so  fnll  of  promise. 
His  past  was  such  an  earnest  of  his  future  that  it  seemed  to  ue  that 
he  had  already  become  grest  and  was  already  worthy  to  wear  the 
cbaplet  of  renown.  Death  has  robbed  ue  of  him  and  he  is  laid  away 
to  sleep,  but  his  memory  and  his  deeds  and  the  nobleness  of  his  soul 
and  mind  «re  forever  enshrined  in  oar  hearts. 

Retbospective  and  PaosPEcrivK.^We  nre  not  all  privileged  to  see 
things  always  alike.  But  thbre  are  some  things  that  strike  the  aver- 
age observer  and  thinker  pretty  much  the  same  way.  So  far  as  the 
Mar-t  113 


114  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

recent  history  of  Homoeopathy  is  concerned  it  must  be  plain  to  a1 
that  our  school  has  passed  through  a  noost  trying  epoch.  Commenc 
ing,  we  think,  with  Cabroll  Dunham's  celebrate<l  address  at  Chicago, 
in  1870,  on  '^Freedom  of  medical  opinion  and  action." 

The  epoch  has  lasted  until  and  culminated  in  the  last  meeting  of 
the  American  Institute,  at  Lake  George.  The  philosophical  historian, 
if  he  shall  ever  write  the  history  of  Homoeopathy,  will  recognize  ia 
the  system  founded  by  Samuel  Hahnemann^  a  necessary  reaction 
from  the  abuses,  the  follies  and  the  ignorance  of  the  old  school  of 
medicine.    It  could  not  be  otherwise  if  there  were  in  those  days 
enough  men  left  who  could  see  the  monstrous  evils  that  flowed  out 
of  the  medic«il  practice,  which  in  those  days  was  founded  upon  human 
authority  and  blind  empiricism.    Homoeopathy  became  a  necessity 
and  was  in  almost  all  respects  the  antithesis  of  the  then  dominant 
school.    Hahnemann's  followers  rapidly  increased.    It  was  not  long 
before  the  new  school  found  its  way  to  America.    How  well  it  ha& 
taken  root  here  need  not  be  told.    It  has  at  all  points  distanced  the 
most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  friends.    Up  to  1870  the  river 
widened  and  deepened  with  a  steady  flow.    There  were  ripples  upon 
its  surface,  but  these  did  not  disturb  the  general  current.    It  was  our 
happy  privilege  to  hear  Cabroll  Dunham's  address  upon  liberty  of 
opinion  and  action.  It  did  not  strike  us  then  as  containing  the  slightest 
objectionable  element.  We  applauded  it- with  others,  to  the  echo.  But 
we  all  know  the  result.    It  was  the  pebble  that  began  the  avalanche- 
It  was  the  fatal  word  that  roused  the  unseen  forces  to  action.    It  was 
the  commencement  of  a  counteraction  that  for  ten  years  has  covered 
our  ranks  with  clouds  of  confusion  and  dismay.    But  it  was  not  the 
fault  of  the  noble  man  who  stood  up  in  Chicago  to  speak  his  honest, 
burning  words.    It  was  because  his  words  were  wrested  from  their 
true  meaning,  and  applied  to  uses  abhorrent  to  his  mind,  and  op- 
posed diametrically  to  his  practice,  that  this  fire&t  wrong  was  done 
our  school.    Under  the  perversion  made  of  his  teachings  we  all  know 
too  well  what  base  attempts  have  been  made  to  drag  down  our  flag 
and  trample  it  in  the  mire.    And  men  too,  with  the  best  possible  in- 
tentions have  suffered  themselves  to  be  led  away  from  the  truth,  and 
have  joined  those  who  have  heaped  scorn  and  contumely  upon  all 
that  was  taught  by  Hahnemann.    We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  with 
a  large  class,  which  yet  called  itself  homoeopathic,  there  was  nothing 
in  such  poor  repute  as  the  most  cherished  doctrines  of  the  homoao- 
pathic  school.   The  pressure  upon  us  from  many  quarters,  both  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe,  was  unmistakably  strong  to  induce  us  to 
abandon  all  our  strong-holds,  and  even  to  tender  capitulation  to  our 
enemy.    But  he  must  be  a  blind  man  who  does  not  see  that  the  wind 
has  begun  to  blow  from  another  quarter.    We  take  up  matters  in 


Editorial,  115 


England  to  begin  with.  The  ''Organon"  has  a  well  underBtood  char- 
acter. To-day  the  "Homoeopathic  Review''  and  the  '^Homoeopathic 
World"  are  competing  with  it  in  devotion  to  homoeopathic  principles. 
It  was  not  always  so.  In  America  the  tide  is  even  more  fully  turned. 
No  man  conversant  with  our  current  literature  but  sees  a  change  in  the 
tendency  of  thought.  Agitation  and  controversy,  though  bitter  and 
prolonged,  have  been  productive  of  much  good.  Multitudes,  both  in  and 
out  of  our  ranks  are  seeing  as  they  never  saw  before,  the  unalterable 
truths  of  Homoeopathy.  It  not  only  can  not  be  overthrown,  but  it  can 
not  be  successfully  opposed.  And  it  needs  no  inspiration  to  foresee  the 
fact  that  the  next  ten  years  will  find  medical  science,  under  the  ban- 
ner of  similia,  holding  greatly  advanced  grounds.  It  may  be  well  to 
mention  in  this  connection  that  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  hold  a 
recognized  standing  in  three  of  the  leading  universities  of  this  coun- 
try, as  medical  schools — ^a  thing  that  would  a  few  years.ago  have  been 
deemed  impossible — we  have  little  to  fear  for  our  educational  inter- 
ests, and  these  being  secured  we  may  well  trust  the  future  for  the 
rest.  All  our  schools  are  seeking  to  take  a  higher  position,  and  it  is 
to  bo  hoped  they  may  succeed,  for  indeed,  we  must  on  this  point 
win  or  lose  all. 


%^%w%  ati&  3tu%\t%. 


OUorosis.     By  Millie  J.  Chapman,  M.  D.    Read  before  the 
Allegheny  County  Medical  Society,.  September,  1879. 

You  have  listened,  from  time  to  time,  to  the  accounts  of 
personal  investigations  of  science,  original  methods  of  operat- 
ing, and  reports  of  wonderful  cures,  resulting  from,  the  skill 
of  those  preceding  me  as  essayists. 

My  researches  have  been  less  extensive,  my  experience 
not  at  all  remarkable,  hence  to-night  I  can  only  serve  you 


Il6  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

with  a  few  extracts  from  the  opinions  of  others,  and  a  state- 
ment of  facts  as  I  have  found  them. 

Chlorosis  is  a  condition  of  debility  almost  exclusively  pecu- 
liar to  young  women.  Occasionally  is  congenital,  but  usually 
manifests  itself  about  the  age  of  puberty,  varying  from  the 
twelfth  to  the  twenty-sixth  year.  The  patient  has  a  pale, 
yellowish  green  countenance.  The  skin  and  mucous  mem* 
branes  are  tinged  with  this  peculiar  pallor;  this  has  given 
rise  to  the  name  "green  sickness." 

It  was  long  considered  one  form  of  anaemia,  caused  by  too 
early  or  retarded  sexual  development.  Virchow  supports 
this  view,  and  says  that  in  chlorosis  the  elements  of  both 
kinds  become  less  numerous,  without  the  occurrence  of  any 
disturbance  in  the  numerical  relation  between  the  colored 
and  colorless  corpuscles.  He  also  states  that  anatomical  ob- 
servations indicate  that  the  foundations  of  the  chlorotic  ail- 
ment are  early  laid  for  the  aorta  and  large  arteries  are  usually, 
and  the  heart  and  sexual  organs  frequently,  found  imperfectly 
developed. 

Andral  and  others  maintain  that  the  two  diseases  are  essen- 
tially different.  According  to  them,  ansemia  consists  in  a 
diminution  of  the  quantity  of  the  blood  without  any  qualita- 
tive change  in  its  composition;  while  chlorosis  depends  upon  a 
qualitative  change  of  the  blood,  a  real  diminution  of  the  red 
corpuscles,  the  decrease  in  number  being  from  one  hundred 
and  thirty  down  to  twenty-eight;  that  the  humming,  purring 
sounds  of  the  heart  and  veins  are  heard  as  soon- as  the  num* 
ber  falls  below  eighty.  The  late  Dr.  C.  Mueller  insists  that 
the  two  diseases  always  occur  together,  and  that  one  can  not 
exist  without  the  other;  that  in  anaemia  there  is  a  constant 
diminution  of  red  corpuscles,  and  chlorosis  is  always  accom- 
panied by  anaemia.  He  considers  the  origin  of  the  disease 
to  be  a  lesion  of  the  spinal  or  ganglionic  nerves. 

Rodier,  Eisenmann,  Becknerel,  Gilt  and  others  confirm 
this  opinion.  They  describe  the  change  in  the  blood  as  a 
secondary,  incidental  phenomenon — a  necessary  consequence 
of  a  disease  that  has  implicated  the  process  by  which  the 
blood  itself  is  made.     Occasionally  well  marked  cases  are 


Theory  and  Praetice,  117 

met  in  which  there  is  no  change  in  the  composition  of  the 
blood. 

A  London  physicinn  ascribes  the  action  of  malarial  influ- 
ences  upon  the  ganglionic  system  an  early  element  of  causa- 
tion. 

The  disease  beginning  in  the  nervous  system,  nervous 
symptoms  are  earliest  developed,  but  gradually  other  tissues 
are  impaired  and  disordered  digestion,  circulation  and  men- 
struation are  present,  thus  continuing  until  the  whole  organ- 
ism, physical  and  mental,  is  feeble  and  enervated. 

Dr,  Ludlam  says,  the  lymphatic  temperament  with  a  ten- 
dency to  scrofula,  constitute  a  ohlorotic  cachexia.  When  this 
exists,  various  influences  act  as  exciting  causes;  troubles  of 
all  kinds,  homesickness,  depression  of  spirits  or  long  enter- 
tained feelings  of  anxiety,  malarial  influence,  fright,  An  e'xclu- 
sive  diet  of  unwholesome  food  and  uterine  or  ovarian  dis- 
eases. 

Young  delicate  girls  who  work  in  shops  and  factories, 
sewing  girls  and  school  teachers,  suffer  from  this  affection^ 
but  no  ol'tener  than  the  daughters  of  the  wealthy  in  comfor- 
table homes  going  often  into  society. 

The  groups  of  symptoms  which  characterize  this  disease, 
do  not  appear  suddenly,  but  manifest  themselves  gradually 
and  almost  insensibly.  The  patient  first  complains  of  general 
lassitude,  and  has  great  aversion'  to  either  mental  or  physical 
exertion,  even  the  most  moderate  effort  is  followed  by  pros- 
tration, or  an  outburst  of  hysteria.  The  temperature  of  the 
body  is  diminished  and  morbidly  sensitive  to  cold;  she  loses 
her  complexion,  becomes  emaciated,  the  appetite  is  fitful,  she 
eats  simply  as  a  duty,  or  she  craves  unwholesome  articles, 
such  as  slate  pencils,  starch,  chnlk  or  charcoal.  The  ordinary 
craving  is  for  fruit,  cucumbers,  vinegar  or  things  in  which 
sourness  predominates.  Barnes  considers  the  craving  for 
these  things  the  cry  of  nature  for  a  supply  of  elements  which 
the  degraded  blood  is  in  need  of,  and  thinks  the  appeal 
should  be  heeded. 

The  tongue  is-  generally  coated  white;  there  is  a  pasty 
taste  in  the  mouth,  especially  on  rising  in  the  morning;  the 


118  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

breath  is  offensive.  There  may  be  heartburn,  sour  stomach, 
gastralgia,  and  in  some  cases  ulceration  of  the  stomach,  with 
persistent  vomiting,  even  haemetemesis*  These  gastric  dis- 
turbances are  attended  by  loss  of  the  cellular  tissues  and  even 
wasting  of  the  muscles.  There  exists  obstinate  constipation, 
or  this  condition  alternat-ed  with  diarrhoea.  Urine  is  pale,  of 
specific  lightness,  and  passed  in  large  quantities. 

The  face  becomes  puffy,  bloated,  especially  so  the  loose 
tissue  about  the  eyelids.  The  eyes  are  surrounded  by  dark 
circles,  which  strongly  contrast  with  the  pearly  appearance  of 
the  white  of  the  eye  and  the  pallor  of  the  lips.  There  is  a 
sad  expression  about  the  face. 

Headache  is  very  common,  and  is  easily  induced  by  exer« 
tion  or  emotion;  is  always  paroxysmal  and  often  periodical. 
In  rare  cases  this  may  increase  in  severity  until  it  induces 
loss  of  memory  or  general  insensibility,  noises  in  the  head, 
pain  in  the  ear,  particularly  the  right  one.  Sleep  is  not  re- 
freshing, is  accompanied  by  snoring,  the  patient  is  often 
drowsy,  falls  asleep  while  at  work,  or  sitting  still. 

The  pulse  is  usually  slower  and  weaker  than  in  health.  It 
may  be  as  low  as  fifty,  or  fifty-five.  The  heart  is  easily  ex- 
cited to  hurried  action,  which  assumes  the  well  known  char- 
acter of  palpitation.  A  little  over-exertion,  such  as  ascending 
stairs  or  hills  too  far,  readily  produces  fainting. 

Severe  pain  more  or  less  fixed  under  the  heart  is  often 
complained  of.  This  and  other  nervous  affections  of  the 
heart,  unattended  by  any  structural  changes,  are  very  com- 
mon. The  most  marked  symptom  affecting  the  circulation  is 
the  anaemic  murmur;  this  is  a  continuous  humming,  or  coo- 
ing sound  heard  over  the  praecordial  region,  and  especially 
over  the  large  blood  vessels  of  the  neck.  It  can  be  felt,  and 
under  the  finger  resembles  the  vibrations  of  a  musical  cord. 
A  species  of  dropsy  is  often  present,  the  ankles  and  feet 
swell,  are  cold  and  readily  affected  by  chillblains;  the  hands 
are  sometimes  swollen,  at  others  shrivelled;  the  nails  are 
brittle. 

The  whole  surface  is  dry  and  bloodless.  The  muscular 
system  is  flabby  and  feeble,  incapable  of  bearing  any  strain; 


Theory  and  Practice,  119 

pains  are  induced  by  slight  exertion.  Depending  upon  a 
similar  systemic  condition,  occasionally  appear  those  nodules 
of  limited  hypersemia,  known  as  erythema  nodosum.  These 
are  found  on  the  legs  and  arms. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  note  a  persistent  leucorrhoea.  The 
discharge  is  said  to  be  due  to  relaxation,  or  want  of  tone  in 
the  vessels,  and  mucous  membrane  of  the  vagina.  It  com  - 
raonly   ceases    when  healthful   menstruation  is   established* 

Chlorosis  may  exist  without  any  menstrual  irregularity,  but 
this  is  not  generally  the  case. 

Amenorrhcea  is  the  most  frequent  of  these  complications. 
Appears  after  the  nervous  symptbms,  and  the  anaemic  condi- 
tion, and  is  removed  by  the  improvement  of  the  general 
health.  It  may  be  attended  with  dysmenorrhoea  or  menor- 
rhagia. 

The  disease  is  easily  known  from  jaundice  by  the  color  of 
the  eyes  and  countenance. 

Dr.  Ludlam  gives  us  a  table  distinguishing  between  this 
disease  and  anaemia.  This  may  often  aid  the  practitioner,  but 
as  the  diseases  may  coexist  and  are  never  so  widely  different 
in  persons,  as  when  found  in  books,  it  is  not  always  an  easy 
matter  to  decide.  The  age,  however,  at  which  it  appears ; 
color  of  countenance,  prominence  of  the  nervous  symptoms 
in  young  women  of  lympathic  temperament,  will  usually 
suggest  the  probability  of  chlorosis. 

The  many  forms  and  complications,  with  the  tendency  to 
relapses,  make  it  a  most  discouraging  task  to  treat  these 
cases;  recovery  always  comes  slowly.  If  the  exciting  causes 
can  be  known  they  should  be  removed  if  possible.  A 
change  of  scenes  and  cheerful  society  will  greatly  aid  the  ac- 
tion of  medicines.  The  diet  should  consist  of  nutritious 
articles,  animal  and  vegetable,  selected  with  great  care. 
Until  the  food  can  be  assimilated  it  is  useless  to  give  a  chlo- 
rotic  patient  milk,  eggs  cr  meat.  Remedies  are  to  be  chosen 
according  to  the  most  prominent  symptoms.  The  majority 
of  cases  will  be  relieved  by  a  persistent  use  of  Ignat.^  Nux 
vom,,  PuU.^  CaL  carb,^  FerrunUi  Sepia,  Bell,  Hyosc.y  or  Lyco- 
podium. 


120  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

Several  of  these  cases  have  come  under  my  observation 
and  care.  I  find  the  dispensary  applicant  and  private  pattent 
alike  are  apt  to  expect  immediate  relief,  and  not  realizing  this, 
change  physicians  and  undertake  every  known  method  of 
treatment. 

Besides  the  above  mentioned  remedies  I  have  used  with 
success  the  Citrate  of  iron  and  Strychnia  in  the  third  decimal 
attenuation.  In  some  cases,  as  an  intercurrent  remedy, 
Sulph,  has  been  of  service.     Sea  salt  baths  are  also  useful. 

Discussion. — Dr.Hofmann — My  remedy  in  these  cases 
is  the  Sanguis  draconis  (Calamus rotang).  I  make  a  satu- 
rated solution  in  Alcohol^  and  give  of  this  four  or  five  drops 
in  a  tablespoonful  of  Wine, 

Dr.  Seip — I  have  an  intractable  case  of  this  kind  on  hand. 
The  patient  is  a  young  lady  of  about  twenty  years  of  age. 
Her  surroundings,  while  they  may  not  be  of  the  best,  would 
not  account  for  this  condition.  She  complained  first  of  ex* 
treme  prostration.  From  many  of  her  symptoms  I  was  led 
to  give  her  Macrotin.  Gave  it  for  four  weeks  without  any 
result.  She  came  back,  and  as  she  had  the  yellow  saddle 
marking  over  the  nose,  I  gave  Sepia^  but  without  any  relief. 
She  complained  also  at  this  time,  of  a  faint  feeling  when 
riding,  especially  when  in  the  cars.  About  six  weeks  ago 
began  to  give  her  Catawba  wine,  together  with  seemingly  ni- 
dicated  remedies.  She  seemed  to  derive  some  benefit  from 
this  treatment,  but  yet  her  strength  did  not  return.  Gave 
Fernim  met  ^x  trit.  She  can  walk  a  short  distance  with  less 
fatigue,  since  taking  this  remedy.  One  of  the  most  annoying 
symptoms  has  been  that  of  pleurodynia,  an  almost  constant 
stitching  pain  in  the  left  chest.  She  menstruates  regularly, 
but  in  a  sm<iller  quantity  and  with  less  pain,  than  she  did 
when  she  was  well.  We  do  not  expect  rapid  cures,  and  our 
remedies  can  be  continued  for  a  longer  time. 

Dr.  Cooper. — Some  years  ago  the  Sanguis  draconis  was 
spoken  of  by  Dr.  Holcombe  as  a  remedy  for  chlorosis.  He 
gave  it  dissolved  in  Madeira  wine.  In  preparing  it,  I  use 
Alcohol  of  ninety-five  per  cent  strength.  There  is  a  great 
difierence  in  the  article  sold  in  the  shops,  for  this  gurn.     The 


Theory  and  Practice.  121 

genuine  article  dissolves  readily  in  Alcohol,  Make  of ^this 
about  a  first  decimal  potency  in  wine.  If  the  wine  is  not 
good  it  becomes  turbid  when  mixed  with  the  gum.  If  the 
wine  is  good,  there  is  very  little  change  in  its  appearance; 
the  taste  is  somewhat  bitter.  I  give  three  doses  a  day.  If 
it  can  not  be  taken  on  an  empty  stomach,  I  give  it  after  a 
meal.  I  use  it  in  those  cases  which  present  an  anaemic  char- 
acter, or  show  d  lack  of  red  corpuscles;  where  there  is  a  clear 
skin  and  every  evidence  of  impoverished  blood  material. 
The  color  of  the  face  changes  in  a  few  days,  after  taking  this' 
drug.     The  effect  upon  the  digestion  is  very  marked. 

Dr.  Childs — I  have  made  use  of  the  remedies  mentioned  in 
the  paper,  but  have  better  results  from  Ferripulvia  (Iron  by 
hydrogen)  than  from  any  of  them.  I  give  it  in  grain  doses  of 
the  first' trituration;  to  be  taken  immediately  after  meals.  In 
these  cases  I  find  a  stimulant  to  be  of  use.  To  meet  this 
want  I  give  Sherry  wine  and  Cinchona  bark^  a  dose  to  be 
taken  before  dinner  and  supper.  Sometimes  find  an  inter- 
current remedy  to  be  of  use.  I  do  not  consider  this  direct 
homceopathic  treatment,  but  rather  a  nutritive  one. 

Dr.  Burgher — I  consider  this  to  be  crude  treatment,  and  I 
differ  from  Dr.  Childs  in  calling  this  a  nutritive  treatment. 
I  do  not  think  Iron  can  be  absorbed  in  this  condition  or  pre- 
paration. Iron  acts  on  the  system  somewhat  similar  to 
Phosphate  of  lime  upon  bony  structures.  It  simply  places 
the  system  in  a  condition  to  assimilate  the  elements  appro- 
priate to  the  tissues  which  are  diseased.  I  have  had  good 
results  from  the  Phosphate  of  lime  30th,  where  assimilation 
goes  on  slowly,  and  also  in  diseases  of  the  bony  structures  of 
the  spine.  But  in  these  case^  I  did  not  supply  the  necessary 
lime,  but  simply  prepared  the  system  to  absorb  the  proper 
nourishment  from  material  supplied. 

Dr.  Childs — When  iron  is  used  for  a  greater  or  less  length 
of  time  in  these  cases,  it  manifests  itself  in  the  fecal  evacua* 
tions.  I  always  direct  the  patients  to  notice,  this.  When 
the  dark  color  shows  that  the  Iron  is  not  absorbed,  I  mode- 
rate the  dose  or  stop  it.  Patients  do  certamly  improve  under 
this  drug.     My  attention  was  called  to  it  in  a  lecture  by  Dr. 


122  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Meigs,  who  said  that  he  had  never  used  anything  which 
gave  him  so  much  satisfaction  as  this  remedy.  He  always 
gave  it  In  full  doses. 

Dr.  Hofmann — I  have  used  Wine  and  Cinchona  bark  in 
ansemic  or  chlorotic  women,  when  nursing  children. 

Dr.  Seip — Dr.  Burgher's  logic  does  not  hold  good.  If  he 
uses  Phosphate  of  lime  to  promote  assimilation  in  bony 
structures,  why  not  use  Iron  here?  The  size  of  the  dose  has 
nothing  to  do  with  it. 

Dr.  Rankin — It  seems  to  me  that  Iron  is  very  often  hom- 
oeopathic to  this  condition.  The  pallor,  weakness  and  char- 
acteristic flushes  are  all  symptoms  of  Iron.  When  Iron  is 
taken  into  the  systehi  it  acts  homoeopathically,  or  not  at  all. 

Dr.  Burgher — Dr.  Childs  gives  Iron  as  a  dietetic  remedy. 
Now  it  is  useless  to  give  this  dose  to  furnish  pabulum.  If  it 
is  indicated  homoeopathically,  a  smaller  dose  would  do. 

Dr.  Childs — ^The  object  in  making  the  first  trituration  is 
for  the  sake  of  bulk.  Crude  Iron  by  hydrogen  is  almost  an 
impalpable  powder.  It  does  certainly  act  as  a  restorer,  to 
nourish  and  build  up  the  blood  in  red  corpuscles. 


#  ♦ 


Fatftl  Errors.     By  Dr.  Ad.  Lippe,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

It  is  a  fatal  error  to  declare  that  the  efficacy  of  the  thirtieth 
potency  as  a  curative  or  sick  making  agent  is  an  open  ques- 
tion, and  that  a  scientiflc{f)  experiment,  at  this  day,  is  a  ne- 
cessity in  order  to  solve  this  question  fully  settled  half  a 
century  ago. 

Comments:  It  might  have  been  supposed  that  the  very 
clever  editorial  in  the  February  number  of  the  Advanck 
had  been  just  sufficient  to  show  how  more  than  absurd  the 
proposition  of  Dr.  Lewis    Shermany  endorsed  by  the  Mil- 


Theory  and  Practice,  123 

waukee  Academy  of  Medicine,  is  in  reality.  No  further 
notice  would  be  taken  of  this  proposition  did  we  not  find 
the  Hahneinannian  Monthly,  March,  1879,  new  series,  call 
earnestly  upon  its  readers  to  give  it  "the  attention  which  so 
important  a  subject  deserves."  The  proponent  says,  among 
other  things,  "if  those  who  advocate  the  use  of  these  pre* 
parations  refuse  to  participate  in  the  experiment,  the  pro- 
fession will  have  reason  to  suspect  that  they  are  insincere." 
A  priori  the  proponent  can  not  possibly  expect  persons  who 
have  made  satisfactory  and  convincing  experiments  for  many 
long  years  to  accept  his  propositions  to  make  it  over  ngain, 
and  that  in  a  manner  by  him  concocted.  Proponent  has  no 
case,  the  important  subject  has  befen  settled  forever.  Dr. 
Lewis  Sherman  and  the  Milwaukee  Academv  of  Medicine 
seem  to  be  ignorant  of  the  "History  .of  Homoeopathy,"  and 
of  the  "Laws  on  Evidence."  The  history  is  just  this:  Hom- 
oeopathy was  introduced  into  the  United  States  about  fifty 
years  ago;  the  early  pioneers,  as  we  well  remember,  had 
only  the  thirtieth  potency  at  their  command;  the  only  shop 
in  ihe  United  States  where  homoeopathic  medicines  were  for 
sale  was  in  Broad  street,  Philadelphia,  kept  by  L  G.  Wessel- 
hoeft,  and  this  bookseller  imported  them  from  Europe.  With 
these  thirtieth  potencies  as  their  only  outfit  in  the  way  of 
medicine,  but  with  a  full  knowledge  of  Hahnemann's  teach- 
ings, and  strictly  following  the  rules  laid  down  in  the  Orga- 
non  in  the  application  of  the  principles  governing  the  hom- 
oeopathic healing  art,  did  these  early  pioneers  enter  upon 
their  mission  "to  cure  the  sick,"  Had  the  experiment  then 
failed  the  new  school  would  have  been  wiped  out  at  once. 
The  very  fact  that  the  school  was  then  fully  established  on 
account  of  the  successes  of  these  early  pioneers  shows 
clearly  and  conclusively  that  this  potency  was  efficacious. 
Were  the  healers,  or  the  healed,  or  both,  credulous  creatures? 
Was  their  experience  fallacious?  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
triumphant  successes  of  the  pioneers,  there  would  have  been 
no  perpetuity  and  no  increasing  popularity  of  that  healing 
art  now  so  unmercifully  and  foolishly  assailed  by  the  Mil- 
waukee School  of  Medicine  through  the  instigation  of  Dr* 
Lewis  Sherman. 


124  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Now  as  to  "evidence!"  What  evidence  do  you  offer  to 
show,  as  you  say,  that  there  exists  a  priori  an  improbability 
of  the  therapeutic  action  of  the  thirtieth  Hahnemannian  di- 
lution? Hahnemann  prepared  "potencies'*  not  dilutions; 
but  what  of  the  a  priori  improbability?  Has  the  Milwaukee 
School  of  Medicine  ever  read  Hahnemann'*s  preface  to 
Aconite?  If  they  have,  and  if  they  truly  and  sincerely  de- 
sired to  test  the  correctness  of  his  statement,  that  in  such 
cases  of  sickness  where  the  characteristic  symptoms  of  the 
sick  corresponded  with  the  characteristic  symptoms  of  ^con- 
lYe,  one  single  dose  of  the  thirtieth  potency  would  be  all  suf- 
ficient to  cure,  and  that  it  would  be  but  rarely  necessary  to  re- 
peat the  do^e  after  twenty- four  hours,  why  do  they  not  begin 
their  attack  by  producing  one  single  case  in  point  to  prove  that 
Hahnemann's  declarations  were  erroneous?  These  men  are 
now  on  the  witness  stand  before  the  medical  world,  and 
should  answer.  The  question  is,  have  you,  or  any  of  you 
ever  made  that  experiment?  And  if  you  made  it,  what 
were  the  results?  Others  have  made  the  experiment,  and 
they  testify  that  it  was  a  success.  Experience  is  not  fallac* 
ious.  If  any  of  you  have  administered  Aconite  under  the 
indications  given  by  Dr.  Richard  Hughes,  or  other  pervert* 
ers  of  our  healing  art,  and  have  failed,  then  it  is  not  to  be 
charged  that  the  failure  proves  conclusively  the  fallacy  of 
Hahnemann's  teachings,  not  at  all — put  the  fault  where  it 
legitimately  belongs.  As  your  scheme  is  wanting  in  even  a 
negation  in  evidence,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  the 
positive  evidence  as  it  is  to  be  found  in  such  documents  as  the 
writings  of  the  founder  of  the  homoeopathic  healing  art,  and 
with  statements  to  be  found  as  further  documentary  evidence 
in  the  writings  of  the  hundreds  of  true  homaeopathicians? 
Will  you  charge  them  with  insincerity  because  they  tell  you 
"you  have  no  case?"  If  you  open,  maybe  for  the  first  time 
in  your  existence,  the  Materia  Medica  and  Chronic  Diseases  of 
Hahnemann,  you  will  find  him  asserting  that  the  thirtieth 
potency  is  all  sufficient  to  cure  such  sick  persons  as  show 
similar  symptoms  recorded  under  the  various  remedies. 
Here  is  positive  documentary  evidence  for  you.      How  are 


Theory  and  Practice.  125 

you  going  to  prove  its  incorrectness,  or  that  it  belongs  to 
"vain  imaginsitipns."  Was  Hahnemann  a  credulous  crea- 
ture? Are  the  hundreds  of  witnesses  who  have  given 
thous^ands  of  evidences  of  the  correctness  of  Hahnemann's 
statements,  all  poor  credulous  creatures?  And  what  about 
the  cured?  You  do  intend  to  discredit  Hahnemann's  state- 
ments, do  you  not?  And  having  brought  discredit  on  him 
as  to  the  efficacy  of  the  thirtieth  potency,  you  will  then  go 
on  and  claim  that  he  must  no  longer  be  trusted;  you  will  ap- 
point an  investigating  committee,  with  a  reverand  gentle- 
man as  chairman,  and  you  will  report  adversely,  and  if  any 
one  should  tell  you  that  you  had  no  case  to  investigate,  you 
will  call  hin>  a  poor  credulous  creature.  You  have  no  more 
a  case  than  the  Hahnemann  Club  has  when  their  president 
talks  about  supplementary  and  auxiliary  laws  discovered  or 
discoverable  without  first  illustrating  that  our  law  of  the 
similars  is  not  all  sufficient.  All  such  vague  assertions,  all 
such  propositions  to  investigate  questions  no  longer  open, 
must  end  in  a  farce.  The  only  logical  deductions  we  can 
possibly  arrive  at,  considering  the  status  of  men  who  at  this 
late  date  question  the  efficacy  of  even  the  thirtieth  potency, 
let  alone  the  much  greater  efficacy  of  the  millionth  potency, 
or  who  impliedly  deny  the  exclusive  law  of  the  similars  as 
all  sufficient  to  guide  the  healer,  or  who  attempt  to  demon- 
strate the  limit  of  the  law  of  thj  similars  is  this:  that  they,  were 
they  honorable  men,  would  honestly  unfurl  their  banner  on 
which  is  written.  Eclecticism  now  and  Fokevkr!!  That 
as  honorable  men,  they  would  no  longer  claim  to  have  a 
right,  the  light  based  on  the  fallacy  that  a  homoeopathician 
can  proclaim  "freedom  of  medical  opinion  of  actions"  to  re- 
tain the  name  of  a  benign  healing  art  in  the  principles  and 
practices  of  which  they  disclaim  to  believe,  or  what  is  worse, 
declaring  their  adherence  to  the  name  and  want  to  pervert 
it  into  their  own  eclecticism,  and  none  but  eclectics  will  serve 
on  the  in vestigating(?)  committee,  or  take  further  notice  of 
this  absurdest  of  all  propositions. 


126  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 


SestleSSneSS.     By  £.  J,  Lee,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

Hahnemann  tells  us  that  "each  drug  manifests  particular 
efiects  in  the  human  body;  and  no  other  drug  will  produce 
effects  of  exactly  the  same  kind."*  The  truth  of  these  words, 
of  Hahnemann,  being  acknowledged,  it  becomes  our  duty  to 
study  carefully  and  thoroughly  these  particular  and  differ- 
ent symptoms  of  each  drug.  It  is  not  suflicient  for  us  to 
know  that  a  drug  has  such  and  such  symptoms;  we  should 
also  know  how  it  differs  from  other  drugs  which  have  (ap- 
parently) the  same,  or  similar  symptoms. 

For  instance,  Lycopodium  has  this  well  known  symptom: 
^'immediately  after  a  (light)  meal  the  abdomen  is  bloated, 
lull,  distended;  patient  has  a  good  appetite,  but  a  small  quan- 
tity of  food  Jills  him  up  and  he  feels  bloated."  China  differs 
in  this,  that  it  has  fullness  after  a  full^  regular  meal.  Hhus, 
tox.  has  ^^great  sleepiness  after  eating,  fullness  in  stomach,  or 
giddiness;"  while  Carbo,  veg.  has  "bloated  abdomen  after 
eating  and  drinking  (more  after  supper);"  and  Sulphur  has 
after  a  little  food  patient  feels  full  in  the  stomach;  also  a 
pressure  as  of  a  weight  in  the  stomach.  Yet  another  exam- 
ple in  ^ux  vom.,  which  has  its  bloatedness  of  the  abdomen 
some  hours  c^fter  eating.  Here  we  have  six  drugs  with  this 
symptom  of  fullness,  or  bloatedness,  after  eating;  yet,  as 
Hahnemann  has  said,  no  two  have  "exactly  the  same  kind." 
Thus  Lycopodium  has  its  fullness  immediately  after,  and  from 
a  light  meal,  while  ^ux  v.,  is  some  hours  after,  and  China 
from  a  full  meal  and  soon.  Where  we  find  a  symptom  under 
two  or  more  drugs  we  can  always  diagnose  them  by  the 
other  symptoms  of  these  drugs.  For  example,  take  this 
symptom  found  under  Puis,  and  J^Tux  vom.,  "pain  in  the 
head,  as  if  lacerated,  on  or  soon  after  waking."  Now  the 
^ux  V.  headache  is  worse  outdoors  and  in  morning,  and 
better  in  warm  room  and  sitting  or  lying  quiet;  Puis,  is  just 
the  reverse,  namely,  worse  in  warm  room,  in  evening,  and 
better  outdoors  and  walking  slowly.  I  am  convinced  that 
we  do  not  sufficiently  study  the  peculiarities  o(  the  individual 
*  Italics  in  this  article  are  all  mine. 


Theory  and  Practice.  127 

aytnptoms'of  our  drugs.  Who  has  not  heard  of  cases,  or  read 
them  in  our  journals,  in  which  Alumina  was  given  because 
the  case  presented  this  symptom:  "even  ac^t  stool  can  only 
be  passsed  by  great  press! ng"-r-th is  symptom  is  considered 
the  key  to  Aluminaj  yet  China^  Carbo,  veg,,  Ph.  acid.  Sepia 
and  Silicia^  all  have  it  equally  prominent  I  think  we  should 
be  careful  how  we  prescribe  on  one  symptom,  even  though 
ic  be  called  a  keynote.  Tnese  examples  sufficiently  illustrate 
the  method  of  study  of  the  materia  medica  which  I  advocate, 
so  I  shall  now  give  a  few  comparisons  of  drugs  having  the 
symptom  restlessness  prominent;  in  some  it  forms  a  very  char- 
acteristic mental  state.  Who  is  ignorant  of  the  restlessness 
of  Ars.j  of  Puls.^  or  Rhus,  tox,:  and  yet  how  few  of  us  have 
ever  made  a  careful  comparison  of  them,  or  made  a  diagnosis 
of  their  minute  shades  of  difference?  It  is  this  carefulness  in 
studying  and  selecting  (he  remedy  that  makes  the  successful 
homoeopathic  physician  and  surgeon. 

The  following  remedies  have  restlessness  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree:* — Aco7i,y  Aeth.,  AgaricuSy  Ailan.  g.^  Aloe.,  Ambra, 
Amm,  c.  Apis,  Arg.  m..  Am.,  Ars.,  Asqfoet.,  Aurum,  Bapti- 
sia,  Bella.,  Bismuth,  Bov.,  Bry.,  Calad., ,  Camphor,  Canth., 
Caps.,  Carbo.  veg.,  Cedron,  Cham.,  Chelid.,  Chi.  h.,  Cina,  Cocc, 
Coloc,  Cupr.,  Con.,  Digitalis,  Bios,  v.,  Bros.,  Dulc,  Eucalyp. 
gl.,  Ferrum,  Graph.,  Uyos.,  IgnaL,  lod..  Ipecac,  Kali,  c,  Ko- 
bait.,  Lach.,  Lachnam.,  Lam.,  Lilium  t,  Lyco.,  Magn.  c,  Magn. 
m.,  Merc,  Menysp.  c,  Mez.,  Mosch.^  Myg.  L,  Natr.  sulph.,  Nit, 
ac,  Nux  v..  Opium,  Grig,  v.,  Petroleum,  Phos.,  Phos.  ac, 
Plumb.,  Prunus  sp..  Puis,,  Plant.  m„  Proto-sulph.  mere 
Itheum.,  Bhus  tox,,  8abad.,  Samb.,  Sepia,,  Secale,  Sil,,  Sol.  n., 
Squilla,  Stann.,  Sulph.,  Sulph.  ac,  Tabac,  Thuja,  Verat. 

I   add    the   special  symptoms  of  restlessness  in  a  few  of 
these  drugs,  as  follows: 

Aconite.  Anxiety,    restlessness,  agonized  tossing  about  in 

bed,  with  fever  and   thirst  (vs.   Lachn.^  which 
has  restless  tossing  during  perspiration. 
Calc  carb.      Restlessness,  as  if  very  busy,  without  accom- 
plishing anything;  very  weak. 


save 


♦Taken  from  the  new  and  admirable  repertory  of  Dr,  O.  Lippe 
ve  a  few  "new  remedies"  which  I  add.  ' 


128 


Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


Arg,   met. 
Arnica, 


Arsenic, 


Asafoet 


Amm.  c.  Uneasiness,  chasing  him  about,  as  if  he  was  not 

safe  in  one  place;  or  as  if  threatened  by  some 
accident;  or  if  accompanied  with  violent  oppres- 
sion of  the  heart. 

Restlessness,  anxiety  which  directs  him  from 
place  to  place. 

Kept  awake  till  two  to  three  a.  m  (Calc,  c.)  by 
heat,  restlessness  and  constant  desire  to  change 
position. 

Anguish,  driving  one  out  of  bed  at  night,  from 
bed  to  sofa,  or  chair,  then  back  to  bed;  or  in 
daytime  from  one  place  to  another.  Can  not 
rest  in  any  place,  changes  continually  and  is  fa* 
tigued  by  so  doing  (Iodine  has  the  restlessness, 
but  not  the  fatigue,  of  Ars). 
Hysteric  restlessness  (  Valer.)  and  anxiety;  un- 
steady and  fickle,  can  not  persevere  in  anything; 
wants  now  one  thing,  then  another;  walks 
hither  and  thither. 

Can  not  do  anything  fast  enough;  he  is  con- 
stantly impelled  to  be  in  motion;  is  sorry  for 
his  inactivity,  yet  can  not  work;  gloomy,  melan- 
choly; great  aneuish,  coming  from  precordial 
region,  driving  one  from  place  to  place;  palpi- 
tation. 

Belladonna.   Restlessness,  changes  from  one  place  to  another; 

nervous  anxiety,  restlessness,  desire  to  escape 
(delirium);  body  moves  from  side  to  side,  much 
twitching  and  jerking  of  the  muscles.  {Bell, 
manifests  a  remarkable  quickness  of  motion  and 
sensation;  the  eyes  snap  and  move  quickly; 
pains  come  and  go  quickly,  G). 
At  times  he  seats  himself,  then  he  lies  down, 
then  he  walks  about,  changing  his  position  all 
the  time  (Ars,,  Iodine.)  because  it  becomes  dis- 
agreeable to  him,  unstable  mind;  begins  now 
this,  then  that,  and  so  on;  holds  but  a  short 
while  to  any  one  thing;  peevish,  dissatisfied. 


A  urum. 


Bismuth. 


Theory  and  Practice. 


129 


Cuprum, 


Ferrum, 


Canst  Very  uneasy  <nll  night;  after  a  short  sleep  awak- 

ened by  anxiety  and  restlessness,  which  scarcely 
allows  ten  minutes  quiet  in  one  place;  must  sit 
up;  involuntary  throwing  of  head  from  side  to 
«^3ide  until  exhaustion  brought  sleep;  restlessness 
.  bf  the  body. 
Nervous  excitability,  with  great  prostration  of 
body;  constant  restlessness,  driving  one  out  of 
bed;  also  restlessness,  with  groaning  and  desire 
to  escape. 

Remitting  pains,  worse  at  night;  driving  one 
out  of  bed  (Pkytolaca  dec,)\  motion  diminishes 
pain  (Bkus). 

Graphites,       Melancholy,  with  inclination  to  grief  and  anxiety 

about  future,  and  nightly  restlessness  driving 
one  out  of  bed. 

Hyo8,  Mania  or  delirium;  wants  to  go  from  one  bed  to 

another;  restless;  jumps  out  of  bed  and  tries  to 
run  away. 

Iodine,  Restlessness,  with  inclination  to  move  about, 

not  permitting  one  to  sit  or  sleep. 

JCobalt,  Feeling  of  great  uneasiness;  has  to  move  about 

and  can  not  keep  still  (with  pain  in  abdomen). 

Merc.  viv.  Anxiety,  apprehension;  desire  to  flee;  uneasi- 
ness in  whole  body;  anxiety  and  restless  change 
of  place. 

Natr,  sulph.  When  lying  long  in  one  position,  the  restless 

desire  to  change  compels  one  to  move,  which 
is  very  painful,  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  new 
position  which  gives  relief. 

Prunua  sp.  Restlessness,  which  does  not  allow  one  to  re- 
main quiet  in  one  place;  he  walks  about  con- 
tinually (with  dyspnoea  and  short  breathing). 

Pulsatilla.      Restlessness,    which    causes   patient    to   move 

about,  even  while  motion  aggravates  his  trouble 
(headache  better  from  slow  motion  in  open  air); 
in  bed  patient  must  seek  a  new  and  easier  posi- 
tion; though  it  pains  him  to  move,  is  no  easier 
Mar -2 


130  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance, 

in  new  position,  and  yet  he  soon  wants  to  move 

agivin,  and  so  on. 
Bhu8.  tox.       Restlessnessness,    which    compels     patient    to 

move  about,  is  worse  on  first  moving,  but  better 

from  continued  motion;  does  not  permit  him  to 

sit  quiet,  and  compels  him  to  toss  'about  in  bed; 

is  better  for  aiohile  in  the  new  position,  yet  he 

must  soon  change  again. 
Silicea.  Has  no  rest  anywhere,  day  or  night;  is  restless; 

fidgety. 
Sepia,  Restless;  he  does  not   know  what  to  do  with 

himself;  is  very  restless  and  fidgety. 
The  following  remedies  have  sleeplessness  from  restless- 
ness, according  to  Hcring:  Aeon.,  (after  12  a.  m.)  Actearac, 
Anac,  Apoc,  can,,  Arrf,,  Carbo.  an,,  Caxist,  Cham,,  Colocyn,, 
Ledum.,  Lyco,,  Mag,  m.,  Mur,  ac,  (before  12  a.  m.)  PhytoL  d,, 
Ranun,  seel.,  Sabina,  (after  12  a.  m.)  Secale,  Stram.,  Voter, 

Restlessness  worse  in  evening:  Carbo,  veg.,  Lauro.,  Merc, 
Nux  v.;  Pho8,  Tossing  in  bed:  Aeon,,  Oknm.,  Cina,,  Per- 
rwn.  Merc,  Wants  to  go  from  one  bed  to  another:  Ars., 
Bell,,  Calc,  c„  Cina,,  Cham,,  Hyos,,  Mezereiim,  Rhus  t.  Sepia, 
Veratrum. 


♦  ♦ 


Calendula  off.     By  D.  Clapper,  M.  D.,  Hagerstown,  Ind. 

I  have  selected  this  remedy,  to  write  upon,  from  the  fact 
that  I  seldom  ever  see  it  mentioned  in  any  of  the  journals; 
and  having  had  considerable  experience  with  it,  I  feel  justi- 
fied in  writing  a  few  Hues  upon  it  and  offering  it  to  the  press. 

I  wish  to  speak  more  particularly  of  its  properties  to  heal 
open  wounds,  for  which  it  is  superior  to  any  remedy  I  have 
ever  used.     In  these  wounds  where  there  is  severe  pain  and 


Theory  and  Practice.  131 

much  extravasation  of  blood,  it  has  never  failed  me.  Al- 
though the  wound  may  have  become  old  and  suppurating,  it 
clears  it  up  with  facility  and  the  healing  process  sets  in  at 
once.  Itisonly  in  wounds  covered  with  skin  that^r/itcaisits 
superior.  I  always  make  my  own  tincture  which  I  use  in 
full  strength,  for  the  first  few  applications  after  which  I 
use  it  from  one-third  to  one-fifth  in  strength  according  to  the 
requirements  of  the  case.  I  will  report  a  case,  and  say  to  my 
fellow  practitioners,  if  you  have  not  given  this  remedy  a  fair 
trail  do  so  and  I  think  you  will  never  regret  it. 

Was  called,  with  my  partner,  to  see  Mr.  B.  aet.  sixty, 
who  was  very  weak,  from  the  loss  of  blood,  caused  by  a  lac- 
erated wound  made  by  an  elder  stump.  Mr.  B.  received  his 
injury  about  three  o'clock,  p.  m.,  and  Iny  until  about  six 
o'clock,  p.  m.,  before  being  discovered.  I  do  not  know  just 
how  much  hemorrhage  there  had  been;  but  when  we  arrived 
at  his  bed  side  at  seven  o'clock  and  thirty  minutes,  we  found 
him  so  weak  that  he  could  hardly  speak;  the  hemorrhage  now 
having  entirely  stopped.  An  examination  proved  that  the  el- 
der bad  passed  in  the  anterior  surface  of  the  thigh,  about  mid- 
way between  the  hip  and  ankle  joint,  to  the  depth  of  four 
inches  We  did  not  probe  it  much  to  see,  just  what  vessels 
were  injured,  for  fear  of  reestablishing  hemorrhage,  but  at 
once  dressed  it  in  Calendula  Unci,  and  prepared  Aconite  ix 
and  Arnica  ix  in  separate  glasses  to  be  eiven  every  hour  in 
alternation  to  control  fever.  Next  morning,  the  25th, 
found  our  patent  resting  quietly  and  had  had  no  more  hemor- 
hage  ds  I  feared  he  might.  Treatment  continued  the  same, 
excepting  that  we  weakened  the  Calendula  to  one-third  in 
strength.  We  continmed  this  treatment  until  the  fifth  day 
when  the  wound  had  entirely  healed  without  any  suppur- 
ation, and  the  patient  able  to  sit  up;  from  this  he  made  a  fine 
recovery. 

I  might  report  many  other  similar  cases  but  one  is  enough 
for  the  present. 


132  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 


Lead  Poisoning.    By  Prof.  Hardy. 

A  male,  aet.  fifty  years,  grinder  of  colors.  He  was  already 
treated,  1875, '"  ^^®  hospital  Bearyon  for  a  light  attack  of 
lead  colic  and  light  arthropathy.  Two  months  ago  he  was 
taken  for  a  second  time  with  colic,  but  this  time  the  pain  is 
severe  and  constipation  obstinate;  at  the  same  time  he  lost 
his  appetite  and  felt  weak. 

Enters  hospital  February  7th,  1879;  he  is  still  vigorous, 
though  complaining  of  debility,  his  skin  and  conjunctiva 
show  markedly  an  icteric  tint;  he  complains  of  severe,  lanci- 
naling,  paroxysmal  pains,  and  says  that  his  bowels  have  not 
moved  for  the  last  ten  days;  the  abdomen  is  excavated  and 
presents  the  well  known  boat-like  form;  on  palpation  the 
intestines  feel  hard,  and  as  if  turned  back  on  themselves; 
light  pressure  with  a  finger  redoubles  the  pain,  but  pressure 
with  the  full  hand  over  the  abdomen  quiets  the  pain.  Ex- 
amination of  the  mouth  shows  nothing  particular,  except  on 
the  edge  of  the  gums  a  gray,  sharply  defined  border;  no 
fever;  urine  abundant,  of  amber  color,  and  after  standing 
leaves  in  the  vessel  a  red,  brick-colored  sediment;  reagents 
fail  to  show  any  coloring  matter  of  bile  in  the  urine;  com- 
plete absence  of  ^11  nervous  symptoms,  no  headache,  no  diz- 
ziness or  stupefaction;  no  epileptiform  convulsions,  nor  the 
least  trace  of  atrophy  of  the  extensor  muscles  of  the  fore- 
arm; there  is  a  slight  arthropathie  of  the  left  knee,  but  it 
does  not  effect  the  whole  extremity  as  we  find  it  in  lead 
poisoning. 

The  question  is  whether  the  light,  sub-icteric  tint  of  the 
skin  belongs  to  true  jaundice.  In  the  absence  of  all 
biliary  matter  in  the  urine,  may  we  not  with  Prof.  Gubler 
consider  such  a  case  as  a  particular  alteration  of  the  serum 
which  gives  to  the  skin  the  particular  tint  of  this  patient? 
Such  a  haematic,  haemophylic  icterus  is,  according  to  Gubler, 
an  index  of  the  profused  loss  of  the  economy,  which  al- 
ways stands  en  rapport  with  a  certain  degree  of  cachexia, 
with  marked  mal-nutrition,  showing  itself  in  this  case  by  de- 


Theory  and  Practice.  133 

bility  and  emaciation.  His  pulse  is  also  very  characteristic, 
showing  atheromatous  degeneracy  of  the  arteries,  the  large 
vessels  feel  hard,  inextensible  and  seem  to  roll  under  pres- 
sure. The  spygmograph  shows  this  still  more  clearly,  a 
short  vertical  ascension,  a  large  plateau,  and  then  a  regular, 
slightly  undulating  descent.  These  three  characters  of 
atheroma  explain  how  the  artery  becomes  converted  in  an 
inextensible  canal,  which  has  lost  its  elasticity,  and  can  only 
be  distended  by  the  blood  to  a  certain  degree,  hence  the  short 
vertical  ascension.  Once  extended  it  takes  a  long  time  to 
come  back  to  its  former  state,  it  remains  immobile  for  some 
time,  and  this  immobility  shows  itself  by  a  well  accentuated 
line;  finally  contraction  takes  place,  but  slowly,  and  we  see 
the  well  marked  line  of  descent  slightly  undulating.  Our 
patient  finally  shows  that  dilatation  of  the  heart,  which  is  so 
often  observed  in  persons  with  atheromatous  arteries,  a  conse- 
quence of  the  energy  with  which  the  heart  must  contract  in 
order  to  overcome  the  fault  of  the  arteries  which  have  lost 
their  contractility,  and  to  force  the  blood  into  the  capillaries. 
Excess  of  labor  naturally  produces  excess  of  nutrition,  hence 
an  increase  of  the  heart's  volume,  showing  itself  by  slight 
dullness  of  sound,  and  especially  by  a  considerable  depression 
of  the  apex.  This  degenerency  of  the  arteries,  common  in 
persons  suffering  from  saturnine  intoxication,  is  only  found 
under  four  conditions:  in  aged  people,  in  alcohol  drinkers, 
in  gouty  patients  and  in  lead  poisoning.  The  age  of  the 
patient,  his  well  known  sobriety,  show  clearly  that  we  had 
to  deal  with  a  plain  case  of  lead  poisoning.  I  may  also  add 
that  he  presents  a  very  marked  pulmonary  emphysema. — 
Bulletin  de  la  8oc,  Med,  Horn,  de  France,  Dec,  1879. — S.  L. 


^trnml  €Uttk$* 


Notes  on  Phactice. — I  send  you  some  old  Homoeopathy 
which  should  be  published  in  slip  form  and  kept  in  the 
medical  case  of  every  homoeopath,  as  he  goes  the  rounds  of 
daily  practice.  I  hope  you  will  publish  it  in  your  valuable 
journal  and  send  each  subscriber  an  extra  slip  or  more  for 
special  reference. 

The  clinical  observations  of  Von  Boeninghausen.  By  Dr. 
DeBonneval.  North  American  Homoeopathic  Journal,  vol. 
i,  185 1,  page  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven.  Dr.  Von  Boen- 
inghausen states  it  as  the  result  of  his  observation  that,  first, 
the  more  chronic  the  aflTection,  the  longer  must  be  the  inter- 
val between  the  administration  of  the  drugs.  Second,  in 
those  subjects,  in  whom  the  remedies  do  not  seem  to  act 
promptly,  we  must  .ascertain  the  cause  that  prevents  their 
action,  (a)  Psora;  administer  a  dose  of  Psorinum  before 
giving  the  remedy  corresponding  to  the  totality,  (b)  Want 
of  susceptibility;  Qpmm  especially  in  plethoric  subjects,  (c) 
In  weak  and  emaciated  patients  with  small  pulse,  Carboveg, 
(d)  Nervous  excitement,  Laurocerasua,  Third,  when  the 
character  of  an  affection  has  been  disguised  by  the  succes- 
sive administration  of  a  large  number  of  homoeopathic 
remedies  which,  without  curing,  have  only  altered  the  symp- 
toms, a  single  dose  of  Fsorinum  a,  few  days,  ordinarily  the 
fourth,  before  giving  the  remedy  indicated.  Fourth,  give 
the  remedy  dry  and  in  a  single  dose — most  frequently  alter- 
nating two  remedies  every  fourth  day. 

He  recommends  the  following  specifics:  Asthma;  evening 
attacks.  Puis.;  morning  attacks,  Ars.;  if  the  symptoms  are 
principally  in  the  throat,  Spongia;  in  the  chest  Phos,;  spas- 
modic, Ipec,  Diseases  of  bones,  Merc,  sol,  is  the  principal 
remedy.  Diabetes,  Coloc.  is  a  specific.  Habitual  drunkness, 
the    best  mode  of  causing   disgust  of  wine  is  to  administer 


General  Clinics.  135 

three  drops  of  Laudanum  or  TincL  opium  in  a  cup  of  coffee. 
Ant  crud,  is  the  best  antidote  to  the  effects  of  sour  wine. 
Erysipehis  he  gives  Oamph.  every  fifteen  minutes;  he  says 
it  will  cure  in  a  few  hours.  Fistula  lachrymalis  is  sometimes 
cured  by  the  alternation  of  Petrol,  and  Silic;  PetroU  and 
Oauat.  act  slowlv.  Diseases  of  muscles,  Am,  is  the  princi- 
pal remedy.  Myelitis,  Calc,  carb.  and  Silic,  given  at  inter- 
vals has  cured  five  cases.  Onanism,  Cod  liver  oil  is  the  best 
remedy,  especially  in  girls.  Panaris,  Sulph,  and  Silic,  four 
days  apart.  Paralysis  of  the  tongue,  Mezer.  acts  very  well. 
Paralysis  of  the  pharynx,  Baryta  cavb,^  Mnr,  ac ,  Caust., 
Con.j  Ars.,  Calc,  carb..  Hep.  sulph,,  lod.;  this  last  is  especially 
indicated  when  solids  can  not  be  swallowed.  Polypus  nasi, 
first,  Cal,  carb,.  Con.,  Phosph.;  second,  Aur.,  Bell,,  Graph,. 
Merc,  Nitr,  ac.^  Silic,  Sulph.,  Staph,  tine  Diseases  of  peri- 
osteum, Merc,  cor.,  Phoa.  ac,  Sabina.  Stricture  of  the  ure- 
thra, Petrol,  is  recommended.  Variola,  Thuja  ocas  specific, 
gives  it  200th,  and  in  eight  days  after  a  single  dose  not  a 
trace  of  the  disease  remains. — John  H.  Henry,  M.  D.,  Sel- 
ma,  Ark. 

What  is  it? — One  year  ago  I  reported  the  following  case, 
for  counsel,  in  che  Investigator,  "Lady,  aet.  about  forty-six, 
has  raised  enlarged  papillae  all  over  the  base  of  the  tongue, 
large  as  pin  heads,  and  larger.  It  would  be  utterly  useless 
to  attempt  to  give  her  symptoms,  for  I  should  have  to  copy 
Allen's  Materia  Medica  one  day,  Hering's  another  day,  and 
so  on.  The  most  annoying  symptoms  are  the  "mountains  on 
the  tongue,"  with  intolerable  dryness,  although  there  is  plenty 
of  saliva.  Constant  swallowing,  and  heat;  patient  very  ner 
vous  and  irritable,  often  wishing  she  were  dead;  general 
health  usually  good;  menstruation  rather  irregular,  sometimes 
goes  eight  to  ten  weeks;  no  other  uterine  trouble  probably 
having  "change  of  life;"  feels  best  when  eating." 

I  have  never  received  any  counsel  or  suggestions  through 
my  report  to  the  "Investigator,"  and  now  I  seek  advice  from 
the  readers  of  the  Advance,  as  the  trouble  still  exists.  If  I 
get  no  advice  from  the  readers  of  the  Advance,  I  shaH  con 


136  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

elude  either  that  it  is  a  rare  case,  or  else  one  so  common  that 
any  fool  ought  to  know  how  to  cure  it,  and  that  I  have  simply 
made  an  exhibition  of  my  ignorance  of  the  materia  medica; 
even  then  I  shall  be  in  the  dark,  not  knowing  which  but  will 
probably  conclude  not  to  report  any  more  "cases  from  prac- 
tice."— Long  Island  M.  D. 

Intermittent  Fever. — P.  H.,  aet.  twenty-two,  Ameri- 
can, (March  25,  1878),  light  complexion,  blue  eyes.  He 
was  taken  last  full  with  chills  and  fever,  in  Yuba  city,  and 
broke  the  same  up  by  taking  Quinine.  However  the  chills 
reappeared  on  the  loth  of  March,  in  this  city,  and  finding  no 
relief  he  came  to  me  to-day.  Chills  every  other  day  at  about 
ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  and  fever  in  the  afternoon  at  about  three 
o'clock,  accompanied  with  severe  headache  and  a  craving 
for  water,  which  will  cause  vomiting,  I  gave  him  Awa 
samoaj  one  powder  every  hour.  Contrary  to  the  run  of  the 
illness,  he  was  seized  by  a  chill  this  very  day,  at  about  three 
o'clock  p.  m.  At  eight  p.  m.  he  felt  a  flush  of  heat  and  prick- 
ling sensation  all  over  the  body. 

March  26th.  To-day,  ten  a.  m.  (the  usual  time  of  his 
chill)  he  feels  very  much  improved,  and  the  craving  for 
drinking  water  has  disappeared.  Yet,  at  noon  he  experi- 
enced a  regular  chill  lasting  for  fifteen  minutes;  then  an  in- 
terval of  twenty  minutes  free  from  it;  then  again  a  chill,  and 
so  on  alternately  till  four  p.  m.  Then  slight  fever  sets  in, 
with  headache;  little  desire  for  drinking  water,  but  again  the 
itching  feeling  all  over  the  body.  Aiva  samoa,  every  two 
hours  one  powder. 

^March  27th.  No  chills  and  no  fever,  but  flushes  of  heat 
and  a  prickling,  itching  sensation  all  over  the  body,  as  before. 
Same  medicine  every  two  hours 

March  jolh.  Weakne'ss  of  body  and  languor.  Medicine 
continued,  every  three  hours  a  powder. 


General  Clinics.  137 

April  2ci,  No  chills  and  no  fever,  and  no  more  itching  on 
the  body,  but  general  weakness.  I  prescribed  to-day  8ulph, 
three  times  a  day  one  powder. 

April  6th.  Patient  is  improving  in  every  respect.  Same 
medicine. 

April  1 2th.  Patient  all  well,  and  discharged. — D.  A.  Hil- 
LKR,  M.  D. 

Cured  Cases.  By  Dr.  Grubenmann,  of  St.  Gallen. 
Translated  from  the  Allg.  Horn.  Zeitung.  By  A.  McNeil, 
M.  D.,  Mew  Albany. — Cancer. — I  must  report  two  cases  of 
carcinoma,  which  prove  that  homoeopaths  need  not  always 
despair  in  this  disease.  Frau  N.,  aet.  thirty-eight,  wife  of  a 
master  butcher,  began  to  suffer  from  monorrhagia  in  the 
beginning  of  April,  1878.  She  had  previously  always  men- 
struated regularly,  attended  with  constant  violent  pains  in 
the  pelvis,  great  malnise,  loss  of  appetite,  constantly  increas- 
ing anaemia  and  emaciation.  By  the  end  of  April  the  bleed- 
ing was  so  constant  that  she  was  compelled  to  keep  her  bed. 
An  examination  revealed  slight  swelling  of  the  uterus,  swell- 
ing and  enlargement  of  the  cervix,  rigid  gaping  of  the  lips  of 
the  womb,  and  several  lumps,  some  reaching  the  size  of  hemp 
seed,  on  the  anterior  labia.  After  different  consultations 
with  my  friend  and  homoeopathic  colleague,  Dr.  Kunzle, 
who  is  skilled  in  operative  gynaecology  and  surgery,  we  de- 
cided an  amputation  of  the  cervix  high  up,  as  the  only  ra- 
tional means  to  preserve  the  uterus  from  further  carcinoma- 
tous degeneration.  The  patient,  who  had  a  horror  of  the 
operation,  would  not  consent,  notwithsanding  my  most 
urgent  persuasion  not  to  delay,  she  could  not  nerve  herself  to 
submit.  She  begged  me  to  first  treat  her  to  control  the  hem- 
orrhage and  pain,  and  if  that  did  not  avail  she  would  resign 
herself  to  the  knife.  By  the  continued  administration  of 
Hydas  can,  6  cent,  internally,  and  a  weak  solution  of  the 
tincture  as  an  injection,  the  bleeding  abated  gradually,  and 
the  pains  as  well,  much  to  my  surprise.  Her  general  health 
improved  and  appetite  returned.  About  the  middle  of  June 
the  yellow  watery  leucorihoea  which  followed  the  bleeding 


138  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

stopped  entirely,  and  the  patient  could  be  considered  per- 
fectly cured.  Since  then  the  menses  have  become  regular 
and  not  profuse.  She  is  entirely  well,  and  for  more  than  a 
year  she  has  done  all  the  hard  work  of  her  household.  She 
has  three  children,  and  she  assisted  her  husband  in  his  calling. 

The  second  case  was  the  widow  of  the  late  distinguished 
homoeopathic  physician,  Dr.  Z.,  of  R.  In  the  beginnmg  of 
May,  she  consulted  me  on  account  of  a  hard  tumor  in  the 
left  fossa  clavxularis,  which  was  painful  on  pressure,  and 
the  size  and  shape  of  an  egg.  She  was  fifty-five  years  old, 
good  looking  and  corpulent.  The  tumor  was  adherent  to  the 
muscles  and  soft  parts  beneath,  only  slightly  movable,  a  slight 
fluctuation  in  the  centre,  and  the  skin  covering  the  apex  was 
also  firmly  adherent,  but  not  yet  reddened.  During  i877nhe 
tumor  existed,  although  much  smaller,  and  her  husband  had 
expressed  his  fears  regarding  it.  I  informed  my  patient  that 
this  new  growth  was  not  of  a  very  benignant  character 
(diagnosis,  cystosarcoma)  and  it  would  be  diilicult  to  cure, 
and  begged  her  not  to  defer  the  needful  operation. 

Thuya,  Arsen.^  /Si7ic.,  accomplished  nothing,  and  the  tumor 
increased  slowly  till  the  end  of  July,  about  a  centimeter  higher. 
The  skin  covering  it  became  red,  and  thinned  more  and  more 
until  there  was  a  small  purulent  spot  covering  the  apex.  In 
order  not  to  leave  anything  untried  she  went  to  the  cele- 
brated bath,  Wildbad,  at  Wurtemburg,  on  my  advice,  with 
directions  to  take  thermal  baths,  and  to  lie  on  the  warm,  soft 
sand.  Frau  Z.,  as  a  pronounced  opponent  of  Allopathy,  had 
determined  not  to  consult  the  physicians  there,  but  she  was 
compelled  to  do  so  after  sixteen  days  at  the  baths,  because 
the  purulent  surface  enlarged  and  formed  tolerably  large, 
luxuriant  granulations,  bled  considerably,  and  the  pains  in- 
creased violently.  She  went  to  Dr.  R.,  court  counsellor,  as 
she  had  heard  that  he  was  less  hostile  than  the  others  to  Hom- 
oeopathy. He  was  alarmed  at  the  purulent  "malignant 
tumor  and  said,  "We  allopaths  have  nothing  but  the  knife, 
and  advised  her  to  return  to  her  home  as  soon  as  possible, 
which  she  did,  and  came  under  my  treatment.  To  be  brief 
Conium  6  internally  and  the  third  decimal  dilution  externally 


Miscellaneous,  139 

applied  by  wet  bandages,  brought  unexpectedly  such  a  fav- 
orable change  that  the  tumor  decreased  from  week  to  week 
(secreting  profusely  laudable  pus)  and  at  the  end  of  October 
it  was  level  with  the  surface  of  the  skin,  and  two  months 
afterwards,  December,  1878,  it  was  entirely  cicatrized. 


■♦  ♦ 


Miu$lU%um* 


Zpidesnio  Tobacco.     By  R.  S   Briorbam,  M.  D.     Read  heiore 
the  Indiana  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  IMay  i,  1879. 

Gentlemen  :  1  have  chosen  as  my  subject  one  of  the  most 
persistent,  wide  spread  and  injurious  epidemics  with  which 
I  am  acquainted,  and  so  for  all  I  know,  may  be  upon 
some  of  you  wise  followers  of  jEsculapius;  and  therefore  in 
this  essay  I  may  tread  upon  some  of  your  toes,  and  if  I  do, 
please  excuse  me  in  advance,  for  this  is  my  intention.  I  ask, 
are  physicians,  the  high  priests  of  public  hygiene,  and  as  such 
to  a  certain  extent  of  public  morals,  justified  in  using  tobacco, 
either  upon  physiological,  pathological  or  rational  grounds? 
I  am  aware  that  all  are  in  pursuit  of  pleasure,  and  the  proper 
pursuit  of  pleasure  is  legitimate,  but  to  follow  the  song  of 
the  syren  after  experience  has  given  us  warning  of  the  evil 
that  must  result  is  but  folly.  No  element  has  been  discovered 
or  compound  concocted  that  man  has  not  tested  its  capacity 
to  increase  the  sum  of  his  pleasurable  sensations.  The  ani- 
mal, vegetable  and  mineral  kingdoms  have  been  ransacked 
to  furnish  the  means  of  sensuous  pleasure,  and  some  things, 
as  Alcohol^  Tobacco  and  Opium  bind  the  experimenters  in 
the  strong  chains  of  abject  slavery,  and  these  are  seldom 


140  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

broken,  and  the  slaves  of  either  of  these  tyrants  are  so  in- 
fatuated with  their  service  that  to  obtain  a  better  article  of 
either,  men  would  rash  through,  pellmell  if  necessary,  to 
get  theirs.  And  this  is  really  the  case.  It  is  generally  un- 
derstood that  tobacco  was  not  known  to  the  civilized  world 
before  the  discovery  of  America.  And  probably  the  mound 
builders  were  smoking  tobacco  when  the  Egyptians  were 
building  those  great  monuments,  the  pyramids.  Botanists 
tell  us  that  there  are  several  species  of  plants  producing  ni- 
cotia,  and  some  varieties  are  cultivated  in  nearly  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  used  probably  more  extensively  than  other 
narcotic  poisons,  either  in  chewing,  snuffing  or  smoking. 

History  teaches  us  that  some  kind  of  narcotics  are  used 
the  world  over  as  soothers  of  distorted  and  perturbated  ner- 
vous action.  But  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  man- 
kind use  these  poisons  is  no  argument  that  they  are  benefi- 
cial, either  physically,  morally  or  mentally,  any  more  than 
that  a  vice  if  wide  spread,  would  be  argument  in  its  favor. 
And  no  intelligent  person  will  regard  this  as  an  argument 
in  favor  of  the  use  either  by  smoking,  chewing  or  snuffing 
of  one  of  the  most  poisonous  and  filthy  narcotics  that  the 
earth  produces.  A  weed  so  disgusting  and  obnoxious  that 
only  two  animals  on  earth  use  it  to  any  extent.  The  one  a 
green  worm  that  crawls  and  the  other  a  greener  one  that 
walks. 

Why  the  extensive  use  of  this  noxious  weed  ?  Does  its 
use  improve  the  habits  and  general  appearance  of  the  user? 
Docs  it  improve  health  or  physical  manhood?  Does  it 
brighten  the  intellect  for  the  every  day  duties  of  life,  or  com- 
pose to  calm  and  sweet  sleep  at  night?  Does  it  add  to  the 
sands  of  life?  In  short,  does  the  habitual  use  of  this  loath- 
some weed  confer  a  single  favor  or  comfort  on  any  man  in 
health  ? 

The  answer  to  all  these  questions  n^ust  bean  emphatic  no, 
and  the  highest  medical  and  pathological  authorities  charge 
to  tobacco  many  injurious  effects  to  the  well  being  of  man. 
Tobacco  produces  trembling,  giddiness,  vomiting,  gastral- 
gias,  dyspepsia,  diseases  of  the  ]bowels  and  liver;  vitiated 


Miscellaneous.    ,  141 

taste,  congestions  of  the  brain,  apoplexy,  parajysis,  amauro- 
sis, deafness,  nervousness,  impotence,  sleeplessness,  palpita- 
tions, irritable  and  desponding  moods  and  general  feebleness. 
I  sb all  not  attempt  to  refer  to  proofs  for  all  these  charges 
against  tobacco,  bat  1  believe  there  are  those  present,  old  to- 
bacco sinners,  whose  personal  experience  will  more  or  less 
corroborate  the  above  indictment. 

The  essential  elements  of  life,  whatever  they  may  be,  are 
capable  of  sustaining  only  a  given  amount  of  resistance  until 
they  yield  to  decay  and  death.  That  is,  the  human  organ- 
ism is  tuned  like  a  music  box,  or  string  instrument,  and  will 
endure  only  a  given  amount  of  strains  or  have  only  about  so 
many  tunes  played  upon  it.  If  this  be  true,  is  it  possible  or 
probable,  that  this  or  any  other  stimulant  can  increase  tue 
sum  total  of  the  means  of  usefulness  or  pleasure  within  the 
range  of  man^s  inherent  powers.  Why  used,  and  we  answer 
that  in  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  cases  because  of  our 
immitative  natures  and  habits,  and  the  influence  of  associa- 
tion. 

The  little  boy  wants  to  use  tobacco  because  the  bigger 
ones  do,  and  the  bigger  boys  use  it  because  their  fathers  and 
the  men  generally  use  it. 

If  the  boys  could  grow  up  to  manhood  and  receive  a  good 
physical  and  mental  education  without  contracting  this 
habit,  very  few  indeed  would  then  become  users  of  the  weed 
and  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  middle  aged  men  would 
gladly  free  themselves  from  the  toils  of  this  vile,  filthy  and 
expensive  habit  if  they  had  but  the  power,  but  the  chains  of 
tobacco  slavery  are  too  strong  for  them  to  break,  and  so  they 
continue  smoking,  chewing  and  snuffing  to  the  disgust  of 
themselves  and  all  well-bred  people. 

The  active  principle  of  tobacco  is  nicotine,  which,  by 
chemical  analysis,  is  found  to  contain  about  seventeen  per 
cent  of  nitrogen,  also  a  volatile  oil.  Hydrogen  sulphide 
and  empyreumatic  oil,  cyanogen  carbonic  oxyde  The  kind 
of  tobacco  held  in  the  highest  esteem  is  that  containing  the 
largest  per  cent  of  nicotine;  empyreumatic  oil  is  that  con- 
taining the  greatest  per  cent  of  the  most  virulent  poison 


142  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

known.  In  domestic  economy  there  are  hut  few  uses  this 
weed  serves  to  advantage.  It  is  reported  very  good  to  de- 
stroy vermin  in  general,  especially  on  sheep  and  cattle,  and 
perhaps  some  men  use  it  internally  for  a  like  purpose.  It 
makes  boys  look  prematurely  old  and  withered,  destroys 
their  energy  and  makes  them  appear  listless  and  purpose- 
less. 

It  affects  the  young  more  than  the  mature  and  aged,  yet 
it  affects  ail  more  or  less  injuriously.  Every  old  slave  will 
testify  to  the  many  ills  that  have  come  upon  him  from  the 
use  of  tobacco. 

The  evil  effects  of  chewing  are  spent  upon  the  coatings  of 
the  mouth  and  stomach  principally;  those  of  smoking,  upon 
the  month,  stomach  and  lungs;  those  of  snuffingr,  upon 
the  schneiderian  membrane  and  through  it  the  nervous  sys- 
tems. The  long  continued  use  of  tobacco  produces  thirst, 
and  the  membranes  of  the  mouth  become  benumbed  by  the 
sedative  actions  of  this  drug,  and  this  causes  water  to  have 

an  insipid  taste,  and  hence  the  tobacco  user  is  more  inclined 
to  use  alcoholic  stimulants.  Delirium  tremens  results  from  the 
combined  actions  of  the  poisons  of  tobacco  and  Alcohol.  To- 
bacco not  only  injures  the  physical  body,  but  likewise  injures 
our  moral  and  mental  powers  by  weakening  the  phy^ical  ener- 
gies and  promoting  indolence  and  indifference  to  the  more 
important  work  of  life.  Habitual  users  of  tobacco  become  in- 
capable  of  attending  to  business  without  it.  No  old  tobacco 
user  advises  his  son  to  follow  in  his  foot  steps  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  this  habit.  Is  it  not  humiliating  for  a  proud  man  to 
realize  that  he  is  a  slave  to  a  habit  that  unfits  him  for  the  so- 
ciety of  ladies  while  indulgingin  the  same?  And  has  not 
ever}'  tobacco  sinner  of  mature  age  resolved  many  times  to 
quit  this  filthy  habit?  Men  who  train  to  accomplish  feats  of 
physical  strength  do  not  use  tobacco.  Then  we  think  that 
men  who  train  to  become  moral  and  mental  athletes  should 
not  use  it  because  for  necessity  the  relation  between  the 
physical  and  moral  is  so  intimate  that  an  injury  to  the  one 
must  also  be  an  injury  to  the  other. 

Every  cultured  man  should  strive  to  attain  the  highest 
degree  of  moral  purity  and  mental  greatness  of  which  he  is 


Miscellaneous,  1 43 

capable.  And  every  physician  should  aim  to  be  a  man  of 
culture,  and  to  the  highest  degree  within  his  ability.  Now 
every  physician  here  knows  that  to  a  greater  or  less  degree 
tobacco  injures  him  and  thereby  lessens  his  usefulness  in  his 
high  calling.  Cuba  and  Spain  use  and  produce  more  tobacco 
proportionately  than  any  other  countries,  and  are  they  not 
sorry  examples  of  degeneracy,  indolence  and  decay.  1  can 
conceive  of  no  circumstances  in  which  I  would  adv.se  the 
use  of  tobacco  except  to  kill  time,  and  as  the  least  of  two 
evils  I  advise  them  to  kill  themselves  outright.  There  is  no 
more  reason  for  the  general  use  of  tobacco  than  for  Opium 
or  Arsenic  and  yet  we  sneeringly  pity  the  Opium  eater,  and 
think  the  Arab  a  great  fool  for  eating  Arsenic, 

Snuffing  is  probably  the  most  injurious  mode  of  using 
tobacco  as  it  is  thus  more  directly  brought  into  contact  with 
the  nervous  system  through  the  medium  of  the  schneiderian 
membrane  and  the  mucous  membrane  lining,  the  fauces, 
trachea,  etc.  In  whatever  mode  it  is  used,  causes  increased 
thirst,  and  this  fact  paves  the  way  for  something  stronger 
than  water,  and  thus  is  opened  the  way  that  leads  to  drunk- 
enness. This  habit  is  expensive  and  filthy.  1  believe  it  to 
be  the  highest  duty  of  the  physician  to  exert  himself  to  his 
utmost  to  diffuse  that  knowledge  which  tends  to  increase 
human  happiness  and  progress  We  should  all  regard  our- 
selves as  priests  of  hygiene,  and  should  earnestly  preach 
both  by  precept  and  example,  for  the  physical  purity  of  the 
family  man,  and  more  especially  that  of  the  homoeopathic 
physician.  I  do  not  believe  in  injuring  the  delicate  system  by 
the  fumes  of  thin  drug.  Tobacco  antidotes  very  many  of  our 
drugs.  Then,  with  what  propriety  can  a  walking  smoke 
house  prescribe  the  30th,  2c  or  Im  potency  in  his  office  full 
of  tobacco  smoke,  and  himself  so  saturated  with  the  f\imes 
and  smell  of  the  drug  tobacco  that  he  can  be  smelled  for  a 
square  on  the  windward  side.  In  fact  this  seems  to  me  to  be 
''Jieductio  ad  ab  Surdam"  Tobacco  in  the  future  good  time 
coming  will  only  be  used  as  are  all  other  poisonous  drugs, 
according  to  indications  of  its  pathogenesis. 


144  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

It  is  a  solemn  fact  that  lanatic  and  paralytic  patients  in 
the  public  hospitals  keep  apace  with  the  increased  use  of 
tobacco.  It  is  a  useless  burden  and  lessens  the  chance  to 
win  the  prize,  long  life  and  health.  This  fact  has  been 
tested  in  some  of  the  European  schools. 

Most  tobacco  users  fully  realize  that  their  faculties  have 
been  injured  by  this  habit. 


Olironic  Pleurisy.    By  j.  G.  Malcolm,  M.  D. 

F.  H.  Thompson,  att  about  twenty-six,  machinest.  Got 
over  heated,  while  at  work  some  seven  years  ago;  took  cold, 
coughed  and  raised  a  small  quantity  of  blood;  had  to  quit 
work  for  one  year,  since  then  has  had  a  dry  cough  every 
winter,  but  none  during  summer.  Three  years  after  his  first 
illness  he  had  a  second  attack  of  slight  haemorrhage.  About 
three  years  ago  he  moved  to  Akron,  O.,  and  engaged  as  fire- 
man on  the  yard  engine  of  the  A.  &  G.  W.  R.  R.,  which 
position  he  has  since  held.  About  the  time  of  his  moving  to 
Akron,  he  commend  to  have  difficulty  of  breathing  which 
has  been  increasing  in  severity  ever  since  that  time.  One 
allopathic  physician  of  Akron  treated  him  for  a  year  for 
bronchitis  and  another  for  several  months  for  heart  disease. 
Called  at  my  office  May  12th,  1879;  complexion  good;  gen- 
eral appearance  healthy;  pulse  one  hundred  and  twelve;  says 
it  averages  about  ninety-five;  breathing  twenty-eight,  and 
unsatisfactory;  says  it  does  him  no  good,  feels  as  though  he 
would  sufibcate;  much  worse  on  ascending  stairs;  not  much 
cough;  no  expectoration;  dull  pain  in  left  shoulder  blade; 
chest  measures  from  point  of  ensiform  cartilage  to  the  spinal 
column,  on  right  side  seventeen,  and  on  left  side  eighteen 
inches;  the  intercostal  spaces  are  marked  on  the  right  side 


MUceUaneous,  146 

but  effaced  on  the  left,  no  bulging;  can  only  expand  the 
chest  one-half  inch;  percussion  reveals  dullness  over  the  en- 
tire left  side  of  chest  even  to  the  triangular  space  above  the 
clavicle;  auscultation  reveals  entire  want  of  respiratory  mur- 
mur on  the  left  side  of  chest,  lung  resonance  and  respiratory 
murmur  natural,  or  increased,  on  the  right  side;  the  heart's 
impulse  is  felt  and  heard  distinctly  one-half  inch  below,  and 
a  little  to  the  right  of  right  nipple. 

I  diagnosed  chronic  pleurisy,  with    the    left  pleura  filled 
with  fluid  either  serum  or  pus,  and  advised  its  removal  by  the 
aspirator.     My  patient  wishing  consultation  before  operat- 
ing I  went  with  him  and  we  called  upon  three  of  the  most 
distinguished  medical  men.     One,  on  his  first  examination 
diagnosed  an  hypertrophied  lung,  and  on  a  second  examin- 
ation, an  intra-thoracic  tumor,  probably  partially  organized 
blood  in  the  pleural  sac.    Another,  diagnosed  a  badly  treated 
case  of  pneumonia    with    entire   obliteration   of  the  pleural 
cavity.     Held   that  if  there  was  pus  or  serum  in  the  pleural 
cavity,  which  he  thought  was  not  even  probable,  the  use  of 
the  aspirator  would  do   more  harm  than  good,  and  advised 
Lyco  30  or  200,  as  the   best    treatment.      The  third  doctor 
diagnosed,  not  much  the  matter,  nervousness. 

We  returned  to  Akron  without  operating,  the  doctors  hav- 
ing shaken  the  faith  of  my  patient  in  that  as  a  means  of  cure 
though  he  was  firm  in  the  opinion  that  my  diagnosis  was  cor- 
rect.    He  finally  decided  to  go  home  to  the  State  of  New 
York  to  stop  with  his  parents  and  have  the  operation  per- 
formed there  where  he  could  have  the  proper  care  after  the 
operation.  He  did  so,  and  Dr.  S.  T.  Condict,  of  Searsville 
N.  Y.,  operated,  removing  two  gallons  of  a  white  milky  look- 
ing pus.     The  patient  is  now  much  belter  in  every  respect 
and  hopes  to  get  the  use  of  the  lung  again  as  good  as  ever. 
The  heart  has  returned  to  its  proper  place  and  the  breathing 
is  almost  natural.  Does  any  one  believe  that  Lye,  30  or  200 
would  have  brought  about  the  absorption  of  so  much  pus? 
Mar-3 


14G  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


Characteristic  Symptcms. 

We  excerpt  the  following  from  Dr.  Hcring's  introduction 
to  the  first  volume  of  "The  Guiding  Symptoms/'  and  believe 
it  may  be  read  with  profit  by  many,  for  upon  this  point  is 
much  needless  confusion: 

As  so  many  peculiar  views  have  been  expressed  in  regard 
to  what  is  meant  by  a  characteristic,  a  few  words  on  the  sub- 
ject may  not  be  out  of  place.  Some  of  our  best  observers 
have  been  sneered  at  by  would-be  critics,  as  if  they  had  been 
guilty  of  manufacturing  characteristics  This  of  course 
proves  them  to  be  sadly  deficient  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
Organon.  Let  us  see  what  Hahnemann  says  there,  in  his 
masterly  advice  how  to  examine  the  sick. 

§  95.  In  chronic  diseases  the  investigation  of  all  symptoms 
should  be  conducted  as  carefully  and  circumftantially  as  pos- 
sible,  and  made  to  penetrate  the  minutest  details,  because  they 
are  most  peculiar  and  most  unlike  those  of  acute  affections, 
and  also  because  they  never  can  be  too  accurately  consid- 
ered for  the  purpose  of  successful  treatment.  Again,  chronic 
patients  are  so  inured  to  suflTering,  that  circumstances  how- 
ever characteristic  and  decisive  in  the  selection  of  the  remedy^ 
are  rarely,  if  at  all,  mentioned  by  them,  but  rather  considered 
as  a  part  of  their  unavoidable  condition.  It  rarely  occurs  to 
them  that  other  small  or  great  deviations  from  the  healthy 
condition,  might  be  connected  with  the  main  disease. 

g  loi.  A  physician  accustomed  to  exact  observation,  may 
approach  the  true  condition  of  an  epidemic  so  closely  that  he 
is  enabled  to  construe  a  characteristic  image  of  the  same,  and 
even  to  discover  tljp  appropriate  homcEOpathic  remedy. 

§  102.  By  writing  down  the  symptoms  of  several  cases  of 
this  kind,  the  sketch  of  the  disease  will  gradually  become 
more  complete;  without  being  enlarged  by  additional  phrases, 
it  will  be  more  closely  defined  (more  characteristic),  and  made 
to  embrace  more  of  the  peculiarity  of  such  collective  diseases. 
General  signs,  such  as  want  of  appetite,  sleeplessness,  etc., 
are    specified    and    defined.      More    prominent    and    special 


Miscellaneous,  147 

symptoms  will  be  made  conspicuous  by  proper  notation,  and 
constitute  the  characteristics  of  the  epidemic. 

§  104.  When  all  the  prominent  and  characteristic  symp- 
toms, collectively  formino^  an  image  of  a  disease,  have  been 
carefully  committed  to  writing,  the  most  difficult  part  of  the 
work  will  have  been  done. 

§  ^53*  The  searcii  for  a  remedy  consists  in  the  comparison 
of  the  totality  of  the  symptoms  (of  the  sick),  with  the  symp- 
toms of  our  proved  drugs.  In  makmg  this  comparison,  the 
more  prominent,  uncommon  and  peculiar  (characteristic)  fea- 
tures of  the  case,  are  cspecinlly  and  almost  exclusively  con- 
sidered and  noted; /or  these  in  particular^  should  bear  the 
closest  similitude  to  the  symptoms  of  the  desired  medicine,  if 
that  is  to  accomplish  the  cure.  More  general  and  indefinite 
symptoms,  such  as  want  of  appetite,  headache,  weakness, 
restless  sleep,  distress,  etc.,  unless  more  clearly  defined,  de- 
serve but  little  notice  on  account  of  their  vagueness. 

In  paragraphs  one  hundred  and  six^y-four,  one  hundred 
and  sixty-five  and  one  hundred  and  seventy -eight,  nearly  the 
same  is  repeated. 

For  the  benefit  of  all  who  may  have  an  opportunity  of 
comparing  the  master's  first  edition  of  1810,  we  quote  the 
sections  and  pages  where  he  used  the  word  "character- 
istic." Section  seventy-four,  page  seventy  three,  more 
fully  explained;  section  one  hundred  and  twenty- nine, 
page  one  hundred  and  eight;  section  one  hundred  and 
thirty- five,  page  one  hundred  and  fourteen;  section  one 
hundred  and  fifry-two,  page  one  hundred  and  twenty-two; 
section  one  hundred  and  sixty -nine,  page  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two;  section  one  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
page  one  hundred  and  fifty  one. 

Every  word  contained  in  his  masterly  advice  how  to  ex- 
amine the  sick,  was  new  and  unheard  of  in  the  history  of 
medical  science. 

According  to  this  practical  advice  of  Hahnemann,  we 
have  endeavored  to  find  out  the  characteristics  of  our  drugs. 

Phrases  of  "grand  starting-points"  and  "centres  of  action 
in  the  ganglionic  nerve-centres,"  are  vagaries  of  a  scientific 


148  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

What  are  the  ways  our  school  has  followed?  The  first  is, 
we  al'ow  the  possibility  that  symptoms  may  follow  when  a 
drug  is  taken  in  health,  and  that  these  symptoms  are  produced 
conjointly  by  the  drug  and  the  proven 

Could  Cinchona  bark  produce  altered  sensations  on  myself, 
if  I  took  it  now  in  health?  This  was  the  question  which  in- 
duced Hahnemann  to  make  his  first  proving,  in  1790.  The 
answer  was,  he  felt  a  group  of  symptoms  exactly  such  as  he 
had  when  he  suffered  from  intermittent  fever,  twenty  years 
before,  in  Siebenburgen.  Was  he  satisfied  with  this  obser- 
vation? Certainly  not.  He  repeated  his  experiment,  and 
he  repeated  it  several  times,  with  exactly  the  same  result.  "I 
stopped  taking  it,  and  got  well,*'  he  says. 

Throughout  all,  we  see  the  fine  result  of  the  thinking  les- 
sons given  Hahnemann  by  his  father,  when  a  boy. 

His  very  first  step  already  refuted  the  slander  which  was 
subsequently  fiung  at  our  school,  that  it  was  based  on  the 
conclusion:  post  hoc,  ergo  propter  hoc.  If  the  same  or  simi- 
lar symptoms  appeared  in  the  proving  of  a  drug  on  the 
healthy,  they  were  considered  as  having  been  probably  caused 
by  it,  and  the  oftener  the  symptoms  appeared  in  the  prov- 
ings,  the  greater  became  the  probability.  How  anxiously  the 
first  builders  of  our  materia  medica  looked  for  the  printing  of 
the  provings,  in  order  to  compare  their  own  with  the  symp- 
toms of  others,  deriving  enjoyment  from  each  confirmation. 

The  next  step  was  to  look  for  physiological  and  pathologi- 
cal corroborations.  But  all  this  was  only  considered  as  mag- 
nifying the  probability. 

The  next  step  was  to  give  a  drug  to  the  sick,  according  to 
the  symptoms  it  had  produced  on  the  healthy,  and  the  cures 
made  were  the  verifications. 

Finally  we  obtained  the  characteristic,  the  ripe  fruit 
hanging  upon  the  tree. 

We  never  selected  the  remedy  according  to  the  loose  gen- 
eralizations in  fashion  with  many,  and  considered  more  scien- 
tific. We  never  walked  on  pathological  stilts,  but  always 
took  the  symptom  as  a  reality,  on  the  one  side  observed  by 
the  prover,  and  on  the  other  side  observed  on  the  sick. 


JfiseeUaneoua. 


149 


appearance  which  every  tyro  can  manufacture  anew  accord 
ing  to  the  latest  fashion. 

The  definition  of  a  eharacteristie  being  "a  symptom  not 
found  under  more  than  one  remedy,"  is  quite  erroneous. 
Such, a  unicum  occuring  among  a  large  collection  of  symp- 
toms, should  be  looked  upon  with  suspicion.  On  the  con- 
trary, all  our  most  approved  characteristics,  as  they  have 
been  corroborated  time  and  time  again,  are  never  such  as  are 
found  in  one  medicine  alone« 

Many  years  ago,  for  the  benefit  of  the  students  at  Allen - 
town,  the  following  little  scheme  was  written  on  the  black- 
board in  the  lectures  on  materia  medica. 


Sensations. 


The  characteristic  may  be  found  in  one  or  more  of  these. 
Three  points  of  rest,  according  to  mathematics,  being  enough 
to  support  any  object,  we  may  assume  that  three  character- 
istics should  be  sufficient  to  make  a  cure  very  probable. 


»  »■ 


The  Motion  of  the  Brain.    By  J.  F.  EUom,  Forest ville,  N.  Y 

Before  I  pass^  to  the  consideration  of  the  moments  or  in- 
tervals of  motion  observed  by  the  two  brains  and  medulse, 


150  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

which  motion  is  called  animation  by  the  masses,  I  propose 
to  give  the  results  of  my  practical  observations  and  investi- 
gations in  the  laboratory,  and  first  prove  the  motion  of  this  vis- 
ens  by  experience.  It  is  very  poor  argument  at  this  day  of 
modern  research  to  treat  of  such  things  as  these  moments  or 
intervals  before  we  have  ascertained  their  existence,  nor  in- 
quire into  quality  before  we  are  certain  of  actuality.  The 
ancient  scientists  utterly  denied  the  existence  of  this  motion, 
as  also  do  many  of  the  scientists  at  this  late  day  and  age,  not- 
withstanding it  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  by  the  most 
brilliant  lights  of  the  nineteenth  century;  and  so  clear  is  the 
evidence  of  its  existence  that  a  person  who  doubts  it  at  the 
present  day  must  doubt  the  sense  of  taste  and  touch. 

Inasmuch  as  I  boldly  assert  the  existence  of  this  motion, 
and  that  too,  with  no  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  it  will 
be  requisite  merely  to  cite  proofs  without  entering  into  min- 
ute detail,  for  it  is  supposed  the  readers  of  this  journal  under- 
stand the  technical  phrases  necessary  to  a  suitable  discussion 
of  a  subject  of  this  kind. 

Thus,  having  opened  the  head  of  a  living  dog  a  systaltic 
motion  of  the  dura  mater  and  longitudinal  sinus,  analogous 
to  the  pulsation  of  the  heart,  which  was  quicker  than  usual, 
and  corresponding  with  it  in  point  of  time.  When  one  blade 
of  a  blunt  pair  of  shears  was  cautiouslessly  introduced  into 
the  aperture  made  into  the  membrane,  and  the  latter  was  slit 
open,  the  brain  covered  with  the  pia  mater  protruded  through 
the  aperture  its  motion  still  continuing  strong  to  the  touch. 
Afterwards  I  gently  smeared  the  dura  mater  over  with  a  few 
drops  of  Sulphuric  acid^  when  this  vibration  ceased  almost 
entirely,  or  at  least  the  vibration  was  very  obscure  and  insig- 
nificant, although  when  one  of  my  students  applied  the  finger 
the  pulse  of  the  brain  itself  was  perceptible.  I  now  drove  a 
probe  deeply  into  the  brain,  when  the  animal  manifested 
signs  of  great  pain;  and  when  the  blade  of  a  knife  was 
passed  right  through  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  skull,  horrible 
spasms  were  the  result.  Lastly,  in  thrusting  the  finger  into 
the  brain  I  observed  that  its  systole  and  diastole  were  carried 
on  in  spite  of  the  great  resistance  thus  opposed. 


Miscellaneous,  151 

Speaking  of  this  subject  Vieussens  asserts  that  the  whole 
mass  of  the  brain,  more  especially  where  it  is  some  distance 
from  the  bones  of  the  skull,  has  a  natuial  motion  of  intumes- 
cence and  detumescence,  and  proves  it  by  the  single  fact,  that 
when  he  opened  the  head  of  a  dog,  or  of  any  other  animal, 
traces  of  the  several  external  convolutions  of  the  brain  are 
found  accurately  and  deeply  engraved  upon  the  bones  of  the 
skull.  Such  traces  of  the  exterior  figure  of  the  convolutions 
of  the  brain  could  never  be  imprinted  upon  the  inner  surface 
of  the  skull,  if  the  brain  were  entirely  destitute  of  motion; 
for  no  one,  I  dare  say,  will  affirm,  that  the  dura  mater,  as  it 
lies  between  the  skull  and  the  brain  is  capable  of  producing 
depressions  in  the  skull. 

Whoever  wishes  to  be  assured  on  this  matter,  has  only  to 
inspect  and  consider  the  brain  of  a  child  newly  born,  for  the 
bones  being  exceedingly  soft,  by  placing  the  palm  of  the 
hand  upon  them,  a  strong  and  regular  motion  of  the  systole 
and  diastole  can  be  distinctly. felt.  But  if  we  are  anxious  to 
perceive  still  more  clearly  the  systole  and  diastole  of  the 
dura  mater  in  its  whole  extent,  we  may  do  so  in  wounds  of 
the  head  which  are  accompained  by  fracture  of  the  skull,  and 
penetrate  to  the  brain  (such  as  can  often  be  seen  in  city  hos- 
pitals), and  we  shall  find  that  the  entire  portion  of  the  dura 
mater  laid  bare  by  the  wound,  pulsates  equably  and  forcibly, 
and  not  only  in  those  channels  and  furrows  that  are  hollowed 
out  by  the  little  arteries  distributed  through  it;  as  would  be 
the  case  if  the  motion  of  the  dura  mater  depended  upon  these 
little  arteries;  supposing  which,  should  convulsive  motions 
supervene  from  the  wound,  we  should  be  quite  at  a  loss  to  ac- 
count for  the  strong  and  evident  pulsations  discernable 
throughout  the  dura  mater,  and  distinguished  by  its  own  pro- 
per intervals  and  spaces,  so  that  one  would  really  think  it 
was  the  heart  that  was  pulsating. 

Again,  Fantoni  says,  '^nothing  in  the  brain  is  more  conspic- 
uious,  than  its  alternate  swelling  and  subsiding,  or  dilation 
and  contraction;  these  motions  are  visible  in  the  wounds  o 
the  head  and  in  the  vivisection  of  brutes.'' 


152  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

''It  is  well  known  by  all  modern  experimenters,  that  in  liv- 
ing animals,  when  the  brain  is  wounded,  and  the  finger  thrust 
well  into  it,  a  very  strong  diastole  and  systole  of  its  sub- 
stance are  perceptible.  To  state  a  general  opinion,  not 
a  particle  of  the  brain  is  destitute  of  this  motion,  all  the 
glands,  and  all  the  little  tubes  are  enjoying  an  alternate  and 
regular  compression." 

I  need  not  quote  other  authorities  on  this  point  to  the  same 
effect,  drawn  from  living  subjects,  and  recorded  by  a  great 
number  of  celebrated  authors,  such  for  example,  asPachiona, 
vol.  xi,  p.  one  hundred  and  eighty.  Moyow,  p.  three  hund- 
red and  sixty  nine,  and  Bellina  p.  eight  hundred  and  forty. 
Opurcula  where  he  speaks  of  the  systaltic  motion  of  the 
brain,  and  the  natural  contractility  of  the  spinal  marrow.  For 
from  the  sitations  already  given  it  is  sufficiently  evident  that 
the  brain  has  an  alternate  motion  of  an  internal  kind;  in  other 
words  a  motion  arising  out  of  its  own  self;  also  that  its  entire 
surface,  namely  the  surrounding  membranes,  the  blood  ves- 
sels, and  also  the  septa  and  sinuses,  depend  upon  the  anina- 
tory  vibration  of  the  subjacent  or  interjacent  brain,  and  in  part 
also  the  dura  mater,  which  is  the  uniting  medium  between 
the  motions  of  the  brain  and  heart,  as  will  be  seen  in  sub- 
sequent articles  on  the  subject. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  it  is  an  extremely 
difficult  task  to  explore  accurately  in  living  subjects  the  dis- 
tinct intervals  of  the  elevation  of  the  brain;  for  in  order  to 
perceive  them,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  skull  must  (ifst 
be  raised;  the  dura  mater  which  adheres  to  the  skull  besides 
the  sutures,  must  then  be  separated  from,  and  the  matter  must 
be  divided,  in  order  to  open  a  passage  for  the  finger  to  the 
substance  of  the  brain  besides  other  obstacles  which  I  will 

mention  in  my  next. 

(to  be  continued.) 


Miscellaneous,  153 


Eahnemann  Medical  Society,  of  Barry  and  Eaton  counties, 

Michigan. 

This  young  but  vigorous  society,  held  its  regular  meeting 
in  the  parlors  of  the  Folett  House,  Vermontville,  Mich., 
October  14,  1879.  Afternoon  and  evening  sessions  were 
held,  the  President,  Dr.  C.  S.  Burton  in  the  chair.  Fifteen 
members  were  present,  and  the  time  was  pleasantly  and 
profitably  spent. 

A  uniform  fee  bill  was  adopted,  one  particular  of  which 
was,  that  night  calls  should  invariably  be  fifty  per  cent  more 
than  by  day. 

Dr.  F.  L.  Snell,  on  the  subject  "What  is  HomoBopathy," 
read  a  number  of  extracts  from  "Sharp's  Tracts,"  making 
remarks  on  the  same.  The  subject  was  then  prett}'  thor- 
oughly discussed  by  all  present,  and  as  was  to  be  expected, 
all  shades  of  opinions  were  held.  Dr.  Dever  uniformly  used 
the  single  remedy,  in  a  high  potency.  Dr.  C.  S.  Snell  be- 
lieved the  crude  drug  could  be  given  honiceopathically.  The 
President  summed  the  matter,  and  spoke  at  length  of  Hah- 
nemann and  his  theories,  and  of  his  own  thirty  years'  prac- 
tice. In  his  opinion  the  use  of  the  potencies  was  a  question 
of  judgment  and  experience.  He  had  had  fine  effects  from  the 
high,  fine  effects  from  the  low,  fine  effects  from  the  medium* 

Dr.  Barber  read  a  paper  on  "The  Advantages  of  Consul- 
tation." The  Doctor  claimed  and  proved,  that  consulting 
with  a  brother  homoeopathic  physician,  was  often  productive 
of  the  happiest  results;  but  the  attempt  to  counsel  with 
others  was  of  no  benefit  to  any  one. 

After  discussion,  the  following  resolution  was  proposed 
by  Dr.  Lathrop,  and  unanimously  adopted: 

Whereas,  we  believe  the  law  of  similia  sitnilibus  curantur 
to  be  the  only  law  of  cure;  therefore. 

Resolved^  That  we  consider  the  practice  of  holding  con- 
sultation with  any  but  homoeopathic  physicians  to  be  unpro^ 
fessional.— E.  F.  Grant,  M.  D.,  Secretary. 

t 


154  Cineinnati  Mtdical  Advance. 


FngTMnvo  ICddidno. 

PjiOF.  Wilson: — Allow  me  to  thank  you  for  the  pleasure 
1  enjoyed  last  evening,  in  listening  to  your  lecture  on  ^^Proba- 
bilities.'*  You  gave  us,  in  a  very  small  space  and  an  interesting 
arrangement,  much  very  useful  matter  for  our  consideration. 
I  was  glad,  of  course,  to  hear  you  unite  with  me  in  the  re- 
commendation to  students  of  the  study  of  medical  history,  as 
a  most  proper  preparation  for  the  attendance  on  set  scientific 
lectures  in  college.     Crit.  fifteen,  note. 

The  histoiy  of  medical  observations,  explorations  and  dis- 
coveries, is  to  the  student,  what  the  narratives  of  early  navi- 
gators of  the  ocean  are  to  the  commercial  men  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  They  point  out  to  their  successors  the  rocks,  shoals, 
whirlpools  and  quicksands,  whereon  or  in,  there  is  danger  of 
shipwreck,  and  carefully  map  out  the  few  narrow  channels 
of  safety  from  harm,  and  give  the  needed  supply  of  refresh- 
ments. It  was  to  give  to  the  young  student  a  firm  bank 
from  which  to  take  his  first  leap  into  the  troubled  waters  of 
contending  *^sects  and  writers,'^  that  I  gathered  up  specimens 
of  my  most  important  discoveries  of  the  past,  preserved  them 
under  the  head  of  "Criticisms  on  the  Popular  Medical  Sys- 
tems/' and  have  always  recommended  them  as  the  most  pro- 
fitable subjects  for  the  first  consideration  of  the  medical  stud- 
ent. 

To  your  position  that  medicine  is  progressing,  a  subject  of 
evolution,  I  must  demur  till  I  shall  learn  what  you  mean  by 
these  terms. 

If,  by  medicine  you  mean  discoveries  and  inventions  in  re- 
gard to  medicine,  we  »ire  progressing — evolving;  you  possibly 
know  our  progressioiiists  are  casting  away  errors  and 
abandoning  mischievous  or  useless  medication,  and  discover- 
ing and  adopting  better  principles  and  instituting  a  more  sen- 
sible, safer  and  eflfective  treatment,  you  are  right.  But,  if  you 
mean  by  medicine,  the  true  foundation  principles  of  its  sci- 
ence, and  the  practice  which  they  dictate,  they  are  not  yet 
evolved  by  the  allopathic,  nor  any  pathogenetic  cultivators. 


Miscellaneous.  155 

The  principles  of  medicine  are  the  laws  of  the  action  of 
the  brain  and  nerves,  and  the  heart  and  arteries  and  their  de- 
pendants, in  the  human  body;  and  the  direct  influence  of  ex- 
ternal agents  upon  this  vital  organization.  TLese  are  the 
same  that  they  were  in  the  first  human  body,  and  will  be  in 
the  last.  Men  may  and  should  evolute,  uncover  and  rightly 
use  and  aid  them,  for  the  benefit  of  themselves  and  the  rest 
of  the  mankind.  But,  when  medicine,  the  demonstrative 
science,  all  whose  processes  proceed  from  natural  principles, 
is  discovered,  **it  will  stand  a  tower  of  strength,  unharmed 
amidst  the  rude  shock  of  opposition's  bursting  wavfes  through 
all  succeeding  time." — Whiting. 

I  am  glad  to  see  that,  as  a  body  of  the  medical  profession, 
the  homoeopathists  are  in  "the  advance."  They  have  adopted 
the  doctrines  that  the  proper  test  of  the  remedies  for  disease 
are  not  chemical  analysis,  but  the  crucible  of  the  human  body; 
and  that  the  less  they  use  the  better,  of  agents  "in  their  na- 
ture inimical  to  the  human  constitution,  though  they  do  not 
always  enforce  these  golden  rules."  They  leave  here,  room 
for  further  "advance,"  which  I  rejoice  to  see  they  seem  will- 
ing to  make.  Yours  for  human  development  and  progress. — 
A.  Curtis,  M.  D. 


Professor  W.  E.  Woodyati 

Dr.  Woodyatt,  of  Chicago,  died  at  bis  residence,  on 
Fulton  street,  on  Saturday  morning,  after  a  short  illness.  His 
sickness  dates  only  from  Thursday  the  22d,  when  he  com- 
plained of  being  unwell,  and  of  a  severe  sore  throat,  which 
proved  to  result  from  a  quinsy,  which  broke  a  day  or  two 
afterward.  From  that  moment  malignani  diphtheria  set  in, 
resulting   in  his   death.     He  was  forewarned  on  Saturday 


156  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

morning  by  his  failing  strength  and  lessened  activity  of  the 
heart,  that  his  end  was  near  at  hand,  and  calling  his  wife 
and  children  about  him,  he  bade  them  an  affectionate  fare- 
well. The  deceased  was  thirty-three  years  old,  having  been 
born  in  Brantford,  Can.,  in  1847.  He  received  his  primary 
education  at  that  place,  and  in  1864  went  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
where  he  entered  upon  a  course  of  medical  studies  in  a  homoe- 
opathic institution  of  that  city.  Subsequently  he  went  to  New 
York,  where  he  made  a  vigilant  and  persistent  study  of  the 
eye,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Knapp,  an  eminent  ocu- 
list, which  branch  of  the  medical  service  became  a  specialty 
w^ith  him,  and  one  in  which  he  gained  an  extended  reputation. 
As  an  oculist,  probably,  few  have  achieved  greater  success 
at  his  age  than  he,  and  to  the  earnestness  and  close  attention 
which  he  gave  to  his  profession  is  due,  more  than  any  other 
cause,  his  untimely  death.  He  was  a  person  of  sterling  in- 
tegrity and  earnest  in  everythins^  he  undertook.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Chicago  Homoeopathic  College,  and  at 
his  death  was  a  member  of  faculty  of  that  institution. 

A  meeting  of  the  faculty  of  the  college  was  held  at  the 
the  college  building  last  evening,  to  take  action  respecting 
the  death  of  the  deceased.  Pi ofessot  Mitchell,  president  of 
the  college,  presided,  and  the  following  resolutions,  present- 
ed by  a  committee  consisting  of  Robert  A.  Tooker,  Julia 
Holmes  Smith,  and  Edwin  N.  Hale,  were  unanimously 
adopted : 

"Whereas,  The  Chicago  Homoeopathic  College  has  met 
with  the  loss  of  one  of  its  founders  and  most  efficient  workers; 
and 

"Whereas,  We  desire  to  publicly  testify  to  his  manifold 
virtues,  his  true,  genial  and  earnest  manhood;  therefore, 

^^Besolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Dr.  Woodysktt  the  medical 
profession  of  the  city  and  country  has  met  with  a  great  and 
irreparable  loss;  that  science  must  mourn  a  most  valuable  in- 
vestigator, and  truth  an  honest  defender. 

^^Besolved^  That  the  suflTering  and  needy  can  rarely  find  so 
kind  and  skillful  a  friend  and  surgeon,  and  that  the  bene- 
ficiaries of  the  college  must  share  our  grief. 


Miscellaneous.  157 

Besolved^  That  in  the  loss  of  our  beloved  colleaprue  we 
have  the  happy  memory  of  a  most  genial  companion,  an 
earnest  and  enthusiastic  co-laborer,  a  staunch  and  unflinch- 
ing friend  of  all  good,  a  physician  in  the  truest  and  best  sense 
of  the  word,  a  Christian  gentleman,  a  thoroughly  true  man. 

^^Hesolved,  That  the  one  consolation  in  this  our  hour  of 
deep  bereavement  is  in  the  blessed  recollections  of  the  life  of 
our  brother,  so  brief,  yet  so  rich  in  fruitage;  like  the  Christian 
philosopher,  he  met  the  king  of  terrors,  being  busied  when 
the  summons  came,  as  was  his  daily  wont  in  humane,  bene- 
ficent, public-spirited,  noble  actions. 

^^Besolved,  That  we  must  count  ourselves  richer  that  we 
have  the  rich  to  mourn. 

^^Hesolvedj  That  we  extend  to  the  bereaved  widow,  family 
and  friends  of  our  departed  brother  our  most  heartfelt  con- 
dolence, with   the  assurance  that  we  will  emulate  his  virtues 
and  revere  his  memery. 

''Ob  bad  he  lieved !    In  our  schoolbooks  we  say 
Of  those  that  held  their  heads  above  the  crowd. 
They  flourished  then,  or  then  but  life  in  him 
Could  scarce  be  said  to  flourish;  only  touched 
On  such  a  time  as  goes  before  the  leaf 
When  all  the  woods  stand  in  a  mist  of  green 
And  nothing  perfect/' 

— Tennywn, 


^QHl  M^Ut$%. 


Winter  and  its  Dangers.    By  Hamilton  Osgood,  M.  D.    American  Health 
Primen.     Lindsay  &  filakiston,  Philadelphia. 

We  have  read  this  little  book  with  great  pleasure,  for  the  gracefulnem 
and  enthusiasm  of  the  author  give  added  cbarms  to  a  subject  that  is  of 


158  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

itflelf  decidedly  intereHting.  The  special  dangers  of  winter  are  not  onljr 
clearly  pointed  out,  but  as  a  grand  peroration  the  writer  paints  in  fascin- 
ating colors  the  happiness  of  a  winter  properly  enjoyed.  Our  boy  nature 
returns  again  at  the  thought  of  sleigh  riding,  snow  balling  and  skating. 
We  have  no  doubt  they  are  dangerous  pleasures.  If  all  would  read  this 
little  book  and  follow  its  wise  counsels  the  dangers  of  winter  would  be 
almost  wanting.    For  sale  by  Robert  Clarke  &  Co.     Price  50  cents. 

The  Throat  and  the  Voice.  By  J.  Solis  Cohen,  M.  D.  American  Health 
Primers.     Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  Philadelphia. 

We  find  much  in  this  book  to  accept  and  commend  and  much  from 
which  we  must  dissent.  Part  I  upon  diseases  of  the  throat  and  their 
treatment  is  not  satisfactory,  either  in  pathology  or  treatment;  but 
Part  II|  which  treats  of  the  voice,  is  admirable.  This  number  should  not 
be  left  out  of  the  series,  for  it  will  repay  perusal,  showing  as  it  does  both 
what  should  and  should  not  be  done.  For  sale  by  Robert  Clarke  & 
Co.    Price  50  cents. 

Demonstrations  of  Anatomy,  being  a  guide  to  knowledge  of  the  human 
body  by  dissections.  By  Geo.  Viner  Ellis,  M.  D.  Two  hundred 
and  fifty-six  illustrations.     Henry  C.  I^ea,  Philadelphia. 

The  value  of  this  work  must  be  apparent,  from  the  fact  that  this  is  the 
eighth  edition,  and  that  opinion  more  than  confirmed  by  an  examination 
of  its  fair  pages.  Nothing  so  fine  has  fallen  under  our  observation.  The 
student  will  be  delighted  by  the  very  lucid  explanations  of  the  text  and 
the  clear  and  beautiful  cuts  which  in  profusion  abound  in  the  book.  We 
not  only  commend  the  work,  but  urge  it  upon  students  as  an  indispensable 
companion  of  their  studies  into  the  mysteries  and  facts  of  anatomy. 

A  System  of  Surgery.  By  Wm.  Tod  Helmuth,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Sur- 
gery in  the  New  York  Homceopathic  College,  etc.,  etc.  Third  edi- 
tion. Revised  and  enlarged.  Illustrated  with  five  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  wood  cuts.    Boericke  &  Tafel,  New  York. 

Said  a  distinguished  surgeon  to  us  a  few  moments  ago — himself  an 
author  of  surgical  works — "Dr.  Helmuth's  work  is  the  best  book  on  sur- 
gery tliat  has  ever  been  written."  If  that  is  so,  and  we  are  of  the  opinion 
the  statement  is  true,  what  then?  Shall  we  attempt  a  review  of  it?  To 
point  out  its  excellencies  would  be  to  quote  the  work  from  end  to  end. 
And  yet  it  has  its  defects.  What  work  of  man  has  not.  But  such  is  the 
nature  of  the  subject  that  no  man  can  write  upon  it  without  regretting  in 


Book  Notices.  169 

five  minutes  after  the  last  proof  is  read,  that  he  had  not  added  or  left  out 
something,  ^ow,  we  have  unmistakably  a  work  of  which  our  whole  pro. 
fession  may  well  be  proud.  And  since  the  author  and  publishers  ha  e 
done  so  much  to  make  this  treatise  unusually  attractive  and  valuable,  it 
needs  only  the  substantial  appreciation  of  the  profession  to  show  the 
world  how  much  Homoeopathy  can  do  for  surgery.  Helmuth's  work  will 
undoubtedly  be  the  text  book  for  all  our  students,  and  it  will  be  no  little 
satisfaction  for  them  to  find  «o  much  in  the  way  of  homoeopathic  thera- 
peutics. The  illustrations  are  very  complete,  and  add  much  to  the  beauty 
of  the  work.  Now  we  have  no  more  to  say  except  this,  donH  fail  to  get 
Helmuth. 


%mm\  %M%. 


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and  valuable  medical  works,  send  for  the  new  catalogue  just  out  by  Lind- 
say &  Blakiston,  of  Philadelphia.  A  postal  card  will  bring  a  copy. 
Money  is  well  invested  when  it  is  wisely  spent  for  good  books. 

Ann  Arbor,  February  20. 
Mr.  Editor: — Your  contributor,  '"W.  H.  T.,"  in  his  statements  in  your 
last  number  regarding  Prof.  Gatchell's  lecture,  was  mi8led  by  liis  inform- 
ant.    Prof  Qatchell  was  not  invited  to  lecture  by  the  old  school  students 
but  in  reply  to  an  old  school  professor's  strictures,  he  (fu2  deliver  a  brilliant 
and  highly  acceptable  lecture  before  the  homoeopathic  class  and  public 
upon  'The  Spread  of  HomoBopathy."  Of  this  we  are  numerously  informed 
by  parties  present  upon  the  occasion.     We  are  also  informed  that  Prof 
Gatchell  answered  promptly  and  properly  all  pertinent  questions  handed 
him  at  that  time.    FiatjwttUia. — Modoc. 

Errata,  --\llow  me  to  correct  several  typographical  errors  in  myshor^ 
article,  entitled :  What  is  the  Remedy  ?  Thus :  on  page  three  hundred 
and  fifty -three,  second  line  from  bottom,  read,  had  not  have;  page  three 
hundred  and  fifty-four,  third  line,  read,  peculiar  not  peeulair;  on  line  fifth 
read,  thU  ease  not  these  cases.  By  making  these  few  corrections  you  will 
greatly  oblige  mc.    Yours  fraternally,  E.  J.  Lee,  M.  D, 

Dr.  C.  S,  Johnson  wishes  to  exchange  his  location  in  Cleveland,  Ohio 
with  a  physician  practicing  in  a  smaller  city. 


160  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Db.  Haooabt,  of  Indianapolis,  is  down  on  vaccination,  and  is  writing 
up  his  views  in  the  papers.    We  are  inclined  to  join  him  in  the  crusade. 

Dr.  Breyfoole,  of  Louisville,  was  recently  thrown  out  of  his  buggj 
and  seriously  injured.    We  hope  he  is  much  better  ere  this. 

Prof.  H.  G.  Allen,  of  Ann  Arbor,  delivered  the  annual  address  before 
the  Alumni  Association  of  the  Cleveland  Homoeopathic  Hospital  College. 
His  subject  was  "Two  decades  of  college  work.'' 

Prof,  W.  H.  Woody att,  M.  D.,  of  Chicago,  recently  died  of  malig- 
nant diphtheria.  This  will  be  a  great  loss  to  the  profession  and  the 
school  with  which  he  was  connected. 

Dr.  J.  H.  fiuFFUM,  resident  surgeon  of  the  New  York  Ophthalmic  Hos- 
pital, has  accepted  the  position  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Prof.  Wood- 
yatt,  in  the  Chicago  Homoeopathic  College.  We  cordially  endorse  the 
appointment,  believing  that  the  college  has  found  an  admirable  man. 
Dr.  Buffum  removes  at  once  to  his  new  home. 

Dr.  Wm.  Owens,  Jr.,  has  left  Delhi,  a  suburb  of  Cincinnati,  for  South 
America,  to  enter  upon  the  active  duties  of  his  position  with  the  Antioquia 
Railroad  Company  of  the  United  States  of  Columbia.  The  field  vacated 
by  the  Doctor  is  unoccupied  by  a  homoeopathic  physician. 

The  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  Ohio  me^ts  May  11th  and  12thi 
1880,  in  Cincinnati.  The  profession  are  earnestly  invited  to  attend,  and 
present  their  productions.  Any  specially  interested,  can  communicate 
with  Dr.  J.  A.  Qann,  Secretary,  Wooster,  O. 

Dr.  J.  D.  Grabill,  Union  City,  Ind.,  reports  that  he  can  suggest  a 
number  of  good  openings  for  homoeopathic  physicians ;  address  him  as 
above  for  particulars. 

Dr.  W.  C.  Richardson  has  moved  his  office  to  721  Chestnut  streett 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

College  Commencements. — The  Boston  University  School  of  Medi- 
cine held  their  seventh  annual  commencement  March  dd,  1880. 

Dr.  H.  F.  Biqoar,  chairman,  has  sent  out  neat  invitations  to  the  meet- 
ing of  the  alumni  of  Cleveland  Homoeopathic  Hospital  College,  February 
24,  and  the  college  commencement  February  25, 1880. 

New  York,  February  20, 1880. 
The  position  of  resident  physician  of  the  Hahnemann  Hospital,  in  this 
city,  will  be  vacant  July  1st.  There  will  be  a  competitive  examination 
for  the  position  early  in  June.  The  doctor  will  receive  his  board,  lodging 
and  washing,  also  thirty  dollars  per  month.  Applicants  may  a^^dreBs 
John  H.  Thomfson,  M.  D.,  Secretary  of  Medical  Board,  36  East  30th  st., 
New  York. 


b 


T,  P.  WILSON,  M.  D.,  EaiTOH.  J.  P.  GEPPEKT,  M.D, 


•"  '-»■  ""■- 

™,c».„,  „, 

Vol 

L-MB  VIII. 

Cincinnati,  0.,  Apbil,  1880.           Nombbr  4, 

Adv.ii 

s  Co..  Publijher 

.,  3U5  Ra«  H..  Cindnnati,  O.    Subjcription  |S.  per  .nnotn. 

Tn-0  k'liv  Journals. — Straws  show  which  way  the  winiia  blow.  So 
do  mediiji,!  journals  show  the  currente  and  counter  currents  of  medi- 
cal progress.  The  stream  of  allopathic  historf  is  a  long  one,  reaching 
backward  over  two  thousand  years.  It  is  a  river  broad  and  deep, 
whose  currents  are  strangely  contradictory,  and  whose  waters  contin- 
ually cast  up  mire  and  dirt.  The  homuiopathic  stream  hosan  equally 
honorable  history,  "iit-n  ancient  as  the  sun,"  hut  a  pedigree  as  old  an 
lucUical  art.  These  streams  ran  as  one  until  the  commencement  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  latter  diverged  and  the  former 
held  its  way.  Since  then  they  have  been  recognized  as  rivals,  in 
striving  to  reach  the  goal  of  medical  perfection.  The  swift  steps  of 
the  one  and  the  halting  progress  of  the  other,  are  well  known  to  all. 
That  tliere  conid  be  a  middle  ground  upon  which  a  third  stream 
might  flow  seems  to  be  wholly  a  modern  idea.  That  middle  ground 
must  hold  the  comminjjied  waters  of  the  pnrtint  streams.  It  ia  as  if  ' 
one  had  said  that  in  astronomy  it  would  he  narrow  and  illiberal  to 
hold  to  either  the  Ptolemaic  or  (he  Copernican  system,  but  that  to 
blend  them  into  one  would  evince  a  lofty  scientific  knowledge.  That 
men  who  hold  practically  to  eclecticism  in  medicine,  should  have  en 
organ  In  which  to  illustrate  their  views,  seems  eminently  proper. 
"The  Physician's  and  Surxeon's  Investigator,"  published  at  Buffalo, 
Apr-i  161 


162  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

is  the  champion  of  this  modern  idea.  Its  motto,  ^^Spectemwr  agendo^^  is 
good.  It  does  not,  however,  apply  to  those  who  have  been  for  years 
on  the, ground,  and  looked  it  carefully  over  long,  long  ago.  The  in- 
spiring genius  of  this  journal,  Phop.  Wetmore,  woke  up  one  fine 
morning  from  his  allopathic  slumbers,  and  thought,  as  he  looked  to- 
ward the  homoeopathic  camp,  that  he  saw  men  as  trees,  walking. 
Plad  he  bathed  his  eyes  once  more  he  would  have  had  a  clearer 
vision.  As  it  is,  his  hemiopia  is  so  much  better  than  his  former 
blindness,  that  he  waits  not  for  a  more  perfect  cure,  but 

*^Hastes  to  tell  to  sinners  round, 
The  glorious  truth  which  he  has  found. ^* 

But  if  Wetmore  does  not  allow  himself  to  be  hopelessly  handicapped 
by  those  gentlemen,  who,  though  they  belong  to  the  homoeopathic 
school,  openly  contemn  the  homoeopathic  name,  he  will  yet  be  a 
leader  in  the  homoeopathic  school.  We  say  take  his  journal  and 
watch  its  progress  toward  the  light.  We  might  regret  the  establish- 
ment of  such  a  journal  on  many  grounds,  but  nature  is  compensating. 
Another  journal  is  in  the  field.  "The  Clinique,*'  of  Chicago,  is  a 
representative  of  genuine  Homoeopathy.  Now,  if  one  were  to  take 
the  P.  &  S.  Investigator,  by  all  means  let  them  take  the  Clinique  also. 
Both  are  welcome  to  our  table,  and  if  there  is  poison  in  either,  the 
other  will  surely  antidote  it.  Both  are  lively  and  readable,  and  we 
wish  them  success. 

Query. — "What  remedy  would  you  give  for  far-sightedness,  after 
diphtheria? — W.  T.  B."  We  answer,  there  can  be  no  remedy  for  such 
a  case  thus  stated.  That  would  be  putting  the  thing  upon  a  patholo- 
gical basis,  and  that  is,  and  Always  will  be,  absurd.  How,  let  us  ask, 
could  a  remedy  be  so  proven  that  it  would  be  a  similimum  to  such  a 
condition?  It  is  evidently  imposbible.  It  could  not,  therefore,  be 
treated  homeopath ically,  if  we  were  obliged  to  look  at  it  solely 
through  this  supposed  pathology.  The  relations  of  diphtheria  to  the 
case  may  be  important,  but  they  are  not  understood.  As  for  *'far- 
sightedness,"  we  are  in  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  employed. 
Does  the  querist  mean  hypermetropia  or  presbyopia?  In  either  case 
what  'would  the  fact  be  worth  without  a  knowledge  of  the  state  of  re- 
fraction? How  would  it  be  possible  for  us  to  prescribe  without  con- 
comitant symptoms?  We  can  not  answer  our  correspondent,  and  if 
any  one  of  our  readers  can,  let  him  speak  out. 

We  don't  often  strike  a  bonanza.  Here's  one,  however.  "The 
extravaganza  played  by  the  trancendentalists,  in  the  homoeopathic 
ranks,  has  been  wafted  into  etherial  nothingness,  and  there  remains 
the  material  with  which  to  fill  the  woof  of  science."  In  other  words, 
the  soul  has  fled  and  there  remains  the  corpus  delectif  about  which  the 
eagles  of  Buffalo  will  gaWjt*'*,  and  from  which  they  will  gorge  them- 


V. 


\  — 


Editorial.  163 

selves.  If  you  could  see  them  picking  their  teeth  after  the  repast 
you  would  know  to  a  certainty  that  they  had  been  sitting  at  no  Bar- 
mecide feast. 

Dr.  H.  M.  Paine,  of  Albany,  refuses  to  join  an  enterprise  because 
it  is  called  "homoeopathic."  He  complains  that  it  is  "sectarian." 
Isn't  it  about  time  he  took  his  leave  altogether,  and  quit  his  fooling 
round  Homoeopathy  any  longer?  It  is  distressing,  if  not  pain(e)ful, 
to  see  him  so  troubled  about  what  he  does  not  understand. 

Oh  ho!  now  we  have  it.  The  law  Similia  SimilibiLs  Ourantur  "is  simply 
a  guide  in  the  selection  of  the  remedy,  while  the  cure  per  se  must  ne- 
cessarily be  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  contraries."  This  brilliant 
idea  comes  from  the  Buffalo  "Investigator."  It  is  a  jewel  of  a  thought, 
for  don't  you  see,  it  makes  us  happy  all  round.  It  should  be  bottled 
and  labeled  soothing  syrup,  and  fed  to  persons  of  feeble  minds. 


Extracts  from  the  Preface,  and  chapter  on  Instruments,  of 
a  Treatise  upon  the  Medical  and  Surgical  Diseases  of 
Women,  (fully  illustrated),  with  their  HomcEopathic 
Treatment.  By  M.  M.  Eaton, 'M.  D„  President  of  the 
HomcBopathic  Medical  Society  of  Cincinnati,  etc..  etc. 
Soon  to  be  published. 

"From  the  Preface. — In  conformity  Jo  custom,  the  au- 
thor presents  some  of  the  reasons  which  have  induced  him  to 
present  to  the  homoeopathic  medical  profession,  and  homoeo- 
pathic medical  students,  a  work  on  the  Diseases  of  Women. 

First,  because  he  has  been  for  several  years  repeatedly 
urged  to  do  so,  by  prominent  homoeopathic  physicians  of 
several  states  including  representative  men  in  the  cities  of 
Chicago,  Boston,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  Loujsville  and 
Cincinnati. 

Secondly,  because  homoeopathic  medical  colleges  have  been 
obliged  torepommend,and  homoeopathic  physicians  and  stud- 
ents have  been  obliged  to  provide  themselves  with,  allopathic 


164  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

works  upon  these  diseases,  thereby  giving  a  certain  amount 
of  sanction  to  the  treatment  there  advocated,  and  causing  the 
use  (among  otherwise  good  homoeopathic  physicians)  of 
caustics,  scarifications,  etc.,  applied  to  the  uterus,  to  become 
so  common  among  them,  as  to  bring  a  blush  of  shame  to 
the  face  of  the  true  homoeopath. 

In  the  use  of  pessaries  and  drugs,  the  homoeopathic  profes- 
sion has  inadverdently  been  following  their  old  school  breth- 
ren's treatment,  because  they  have  been  obliged,  in  part,  to 
study  the  description,  etiology,  diagnosis,  pathology  and 
prognosis,  from  their  books. 

The  homoeopathic  books  which  we  have,  upon  the  "dis- 
eases of  women,"  though  written  by  gentlemen  of  high 
standing,  do  not  seem  to  meet  all  the  requirements  of  the 
profession,  though  excellent  in  themselves,  so  far  as  they  go. 

Thirdly,  because  it  seems  time  that  homceopathists  should 
have  complete  text  books  on  all  branches  of  medical  educa- 
tion.    (Not  only  one,  but  several.) 

The  large  increase  in  the  number  of  homoeopathic  physi- 
cians, from  year  to  year,  justifies  the  expectation,  that  ere 
long  we  may  rival  the  old  school  in  numbers,  as  we  now  do, 
in  the  intelligence  and  wealth  of  our  patrons. 

Fourthly,  because  homoeopathic  physicians  of  Illinois  and 
Ohio,  in  their  State  Societies,  and  of  the  North-west,  in  the 
Western  Academy,  have  honored  him  with  their  confidence, 
and  shown  their  respect,  by  giving  him  prominence  in  regard 
to  these  diseases;  and^  because  he  has  had  large  experience  in 
this  class  of  diseases  for  over  twenty  years,  in  hospital,  and 
private  practice,  (allopathic  and  homoeopathic). 

He  has  endeavored  to  make  this  work  as  complete  as  pos- 
sible. How  far  he  has  succeeded,  the  profession  must  judge. 
He  believes  the  works  upon  the  "Diseases  of  Women,"  by 
Thomas  and  Emmet,  of  the  old  school,  are  ordinarily  consid- 
ered complete;  but  he  finds  that  Prof.  Thomas*  omits  in  his 
index,  Lacerations  of  the  cervix  uteri,  and  Prof.  Emmetf 
omits    areolik    hyperplasia    of   the   uterus,    hydatids    of  the 

*Thoma8  on  r«  tease*  of  Women. 

tEmmet's  Pt  -•.jples^    i  i  Practice      Gyngtcology. 


Extracts.  165 

uterus,  rectocele,  sterility,  inflammation  of  the  uterus  in  all 
its  forms  (except  as  he  refers  to  congestive  hypertrophy) 
abortion,  pudendal  hemorrhage  and  pudendal  hematocele, 
and  both  Profs,  Thomas  and  Emmet  omit  hysteralgia,  puerpe- 
ral fever,  purperal  phlebitis,  mammary  abscess,  cervicitis, 
spmpathetic  affections  and  nymphomania,  as  well  as  puerperal 
mania. 

He  is  hopeful  that  this  work  will  not  he  found  less  com- 
plete. 

Neither  Dawson's  improved  Sim's  speculum,  nor  Wocher's 
bivalve  speculum,  is  mentioned  in  either  of  these  works,  or 
those  of  any  other  author  so  far  as  he  is  aware,  and  they  need 
but  to  be  seen  to  be  appreciated  as  decided  improvements. 
(See  chapter  on  instruments.)  His  own  improvement  of  the 
London  abdominal  supporter,  and  his  needle  holder,  and  wire 
holder,  and  twister  for  vesico-vaginal  fistulas,  have  not  here- 
tofore been  presented  to  the  profession.  He  has  spared  no 
pains,  or  expense,  to  have  his  illustrations  perfect  and  com- 
plete. In  this,  he  is  greatly  indebted,  to  Mr.  John  H.  Bogart, 
designer  and  engraver,  of  this  city.  He  has  not  attempted  to 
make  a  materia  medica;  but  has  named  such  remedies  as  he 
has  found  beneficial,  and  given  the  prominent  homcBOpathic 
indications  for  their  use,  in  each  disease." 

"Extract  from  chapter  on  Instruments. — The  use  of 
instruments  has  been  sadly  abused  by  the  profession,  in  the 
treatment  of  the  diseases  of  women,  to  the  extent  of  causing 
some  thoughtful  medical  gentlemen  to  condemn  their  use  in 
toto.  We  do  not  go  this  far,  and  still  we  are  free  to  condemn 
many  of  the  instruments  in  constant  use  by  some,  especially 
pessaries,  and  also  the  constant  use  of  the  speculum,  uterine 
dilators,  hysteria'omes,  etc.  These  instruments  are  occa- 
sionally useful;  but  probably  not  one-fourth  as  often  as  some 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  employing  them.  We  shall  present 
only  those  instruments,  in  this  work,  which  we  can  recom- 
mend, (about  seventy  in  number)  and  we  devote  one  chapter 
exclusively  to  their  consideration,  that  the  student  may  learn 
something  of  the  uses  and  advantages  of  them,  as  well  as  be 
cautioned  against  their  abuse.    There  is  no  work  now  pub- 


166  CinciimaCi  Medical  Advance. 

lishcd  (i8So)  which,  in  our  opinion,  is  fully  up  with  the 
times  in  the  matler  of  gynaecological  instruments.  This  is 
strikingly  evident  in  the  matter  of  speculums.  Cusco's  being 
the  best  bivalve  published,  and  Sim's  original  speculum 
being  the  best  one  presented  as  a  retracting  speculum.  All 
having  omitted  Dawson's  improved  Sim's  speculum.  See 
cut  No.  r. 


Dawson's  Improved  Sim's  Speculum. 

This  has  one  of  the  blades  slit  in  two,  and.  fixed  with  a 
screw,  so  tliey  may  be  separated,  which  is  a  great  improve- 
ment in  enabling  us  to  bring  into  view  the  wafls  of  the  va- 
gina, or  the  cervix  uteri.  If  ^ve  desire  to  use  the  instrument 
in  its  original  form,  we  have  but  to  screw  the  divided  blade 
together,  and  we  have  it.  This  instrument  we  ordinarily 
only  use  in  operations  for  vaginal  fistula;,  in  uterine  polypi; 
or,  lacerations  of  (lie  vagina,  or  cervix  uteri.  Whenever  we 
do  need  to  use  a  Sim's  speculum,  the  advantage  of  the 
divided  blade  is  obvious;  as  it  can  be  opened  or  closed  during 
the  examination,  or  operation,  at  our  pleasure. 

The  speculum  which  we  use  for  ordinary  vaginal  examina- 
tions, when  thev  appear  necessary,  and  for  bringing  the  os 
and  cervix  uteri  into  view  for  treatment,  is  the  bivalve  made 
by  M.  Wocher  &  Son,  of  this  city.     See  cut  No.  2. 

This  speculum  combines  the  advantage  of  Cusco's  bandies, 
Higbee's  screw    on  the  side,  and  Taylor's  blades,  with   the 


Wocher's  Speculum. 
wide  crest  on  the  upper  blade,  to  keep  the  flesh  and  hair  of 
the  labia  out  of  the  way. 

In  our  experience,  the  advantage  of  having  ihe  upper 
blade  shorter  than  Ihe  lower,  as  in  Taylor's  instruriient,  is 
very  great.  Taylor's  speculum  has  to  be  opened  with  the 
screw,  which  is  not  so  convenient  as  the  handles  of  Cusco's; 
but  Cusco's  blades  are  of  equal  length,  and  it  has  not  the 
.  wide  crest  on  the  upper  blade.  Wocher  seems,  in  his  instru- 
ment, to  have  combined  the  best  parts  of  all  the  others,  and 
left  out  their  objectionable  ones.  The  instruments  are  made 
of  three  sizes. 


Eaton's  Needle  Holder, 
In  addition  (o  the  straight  needle  holder  already  mentioned, 
for  sewing  up  longitudinal  lacerations  and  fistulieofthe  va- 
ginu,  the  gynaecologist  needs  an  instrument  for  placing  su- 
tures in  a  transverse  laceration  or  fistuls.  This  is  accom- 
plished with  my  needle  holder,  as  can  be  readily  seen  from 
the  cut.  It  enables  us  to  insert  the  needle  into  the  vaginal 
tissues  from  above,  downwards,  with  the  same  facility  with 


168  Cinctnnali  Medical  Advance. 

which  we  use  the  straight  holder,  in  stitching  from  side  to 
side,  for  which  purpose  my  holder  may  also  be  used,  by 
grasping  the  needle  further  down  on  the  blades. 

To  fasten  or  twist  the  wires  after  the  sutures  are  placed  in 

a  vaginal  lacerntiou,  or  either  form  of  vaginal  fistula,  we  use 

our  wire  holder  and  twister,  (see  cut  of  wire 

holder  and    twister).      Pass    the    ends  of  the 

^vire  through  the  two  holes  in  the  end  of  the 

holder,  make  traction  on  the  wires  with  one 

hand,  and  slide  the  instrument  up  to  the  lace- 

■     rated  tissues    with  the  other.     This  approxi- 

w     mates  their  edges.      We  then  give  the  instru- 

i£     menttwoor  three  turns  with  the  fingers  hold- 

i     ing  it,  and  tbe  wire  is  twisted  and  the  suture 

Q     secured.      Wc    now    slip    the  twister  off  the 

^    wires,  and  cut  them  with  the   long   scissors- 

^    This    instrument    makes  the   twisting    of  the 

g     wires  high  up  in  the  vagina  a  very  easy  opera- 

^    tion. 

X 

01        We  present  Palmer's  uterine  dilator,  not  to 
-     advocate  its   frequent  use,  but  because  rapid 
^     dilatation  of  the  cervical  caual  of  the  uterus 
•"     is  sometimes  necessary;  and  when  so,  we  pre- 
6     fcr  to  use  Palmer's  uterine  dilator.     With  it, 
<     we  can  make  the  dilatation  as  gradual  as  we 
please,  and  still,  with  the  aid  of  the   screw   in 
the  handle,  maintain  an  even  and  regular  ex- 
pansion, and  increase  or    diminish  it  at  will. 
The  blades,  which  are  inserted  into  the  os,  are 
slender  and  slightly  curved,  and  still   not  too 
pointed    nor  too    blunt    as    are    some    others. 
Rapid  dilatation  is  most  frequently  called  for  in  cases  where 
women  have  passed  a  piece  of  a  hard    rubber   probe,   or  a 
slick,  into  the  uterus  and    broken  it    off;  or  have  passed  in 
short  pieces  of  whale  bone  and  lost  hold  of  them.      I  have 
been  called  to  remove  foreign    substances  of  this    character 


Extracts.  169 

from  the  uterus  in  several  instances  where  dilatation  of  the 
OS  uteri  internum  as  well  as  externum,  had  to  be  accomplish- 
ed rapidly  to  sai'e  their  worthless  lives,  which  humanity  de- 
mands of  us  to  do. 

Occasionallv  its  use  facili- 
tates    the     getting     at    an 
internal     uterine     polypus, 
where  we  have  but  a  short 
time   at   command.      Very 
rapid  dilatation  is  in  most 
other    cases    objectionable, 
in  that  it  lacerates  the  tis- 
sues, and   ill   tbeir  healing 
causes  somewhat  of  a  cica- 
K  trix,  vsrhich  interferes  with 
H  the  relaxation  and  dilatation 
J  of   the   OS    in    labor  subse- 
O  quently,  and  may  cause  sle- 
g  nosis,  or  even  atresia  of  the 
5  cervical  canal,  and  prevent 
[3  imoregnation,  arresting  the 
•-'  menstrual  flow,  and  produc- 
'a  ifg    hematometra.      Hence 
"  whenever  rapid  dilatation  is 
J  used,  care  should  be  taken 
Oh  to  keep  up  some  degree  of 
expansion  till  the  tissues  are 
healed.      Passing   into   the 
cervix   every    two    days    a 
bougie  smeared  with  Vase- 
line  is  a  good    way  to   ac- 
complish this. 

In  operating  for  laceri-ted 
perineum  it  is  most  con- 
venient to  use  Peaslee's  im- 
proved perineum  needles  and  holder  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying cut,  whether  we  wish  to  use  the  quill  or  ordinary 
interrupted  suture. 


170 


Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 


The  needles  fasten  into  the  handle  with  a  thumb  screnr, 
and  the  eye  of  the  needle  is  near  the  point  as  is  shown  in 
the  cut.  This  is  much  more  convenient  than  having  the 
needle  screw  into  the  handle,  having  the  three  needles 
threaded  before  commencing  the  operation,  there  is  no 
delay  in  placing  the    sutures,  as  one  needle    can  be  taken 


Peaslee's  Improved  Perineum  Needles  avith  Handle. 

from  the  handle,  and  another  all  threaded  inserted  almost 
instantly.  In  an  emergency  the  largest  siaed,  curved  sur- 
geon's needles  may  be  used  to  place  interrupted  sutures  in 
the  lacerated  perineum;  but  the  regular  perineum  needle  is 
much  to  be  preferred  when  we  can  have  it,  and  in  placing 
the  quill  sutures  this,  or  a  similar  needle  is  absolutely  neces^ 


sarv. 


Aalinia  Mthit^. 


OrindoliSb  robusta.      Partial  proving  made  with  the  fluid  ex- 
tract,    (Parke,  Davis  &  Co.)      By  H.  R.  Arndt,  M.  D. 

April  27,  1879.  Eight-thirty  p.  m.  Took  five  drops. 
Wakened  in  the  night  with  a  terrible  distress  in  the  bladder 
-nri  .1  feeling  as  if   urine  must  be  voided  immediately;    urin- 


Materia  Mediea.  l71 

ation  was  exceedingly  painful  and  accompained  with  strain- 
ing; sharp,  cutting  pain  extending  the  whole  length  of  the 
urethra  and  from  the  bladder,  along  the  perineum  to  the  anus, 
with  a  beating  pain  in  the  perineum,  like  the  **]umping  tooth- 
ache." Walking  back  to  bed  I  find  that  every  step  hurts  in 
the  bladder. 

April  2Sth.  Eight  a.  m.  Took  twenty-five  drops.  Sore- 
ness in  the  bladder;  painful  micturition;  must  void  urine 
every  half  hour,  passing  small  amount  of  limpid,  watery 
urine,  with  a  most  painful  burning  in  the  urethra;  urination 
is  followed  by  a  severe  ache  and  great  soreness  in  the  bladder, 
which  continued  all  day  and  was  wors.e  immediately  after 
urinating;  the  soreness  is  so  severe  that  walking  is  uncomfor- 
table. Two  p.  m.  Took  fifty  drops.  Urinary  symptoms 
continue,  the  feeling  of  soreness  in  the  bladder  is  constant, 
and  every  step  taken  causes  a  sensation,  as  if  a  stone  were  in 
ths  bladder,  striking  against  the  tender  and  inflamed  surface. 
Six  o'clock  p.  m.  .  Have  had  some  oppressio:i  of  breathing 
and  a  feeling  of  pressure  near  the  heart. 

April  ?9th,  to  May  2d.  The  urinary  and  bladder  symp- 
toms have  continued,  lessening  slowly  in  severity  since  I 
took  the  last  dose;  the  tenderness  in  the  bladder,  especially 
upon  walking,  is  still  there;  there  has  been  and  is  now  ten- 
derness to  pressure. 

May  3d.  Ten  o'clock  p.  m.  Took  fifty  drops.  Four 
o'clock  p.  m.  Took  one  hundred  drops.  Eructations  of  gas; 
ringing  in  both  ears;  giddiness  upon  standing;  feeling  of  pres- 
sure in  the  region  of  the  heart;  feeling  is  if  the  muscles  of  the 
heart  lacked  sufficient  strength  to  take  care  of  the  blood  sent 
there;  pulse  full,  heavy,  irregular,  ninety-two. 

May  4th,  Eight- thirty  a.  m.  Took  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  drops.  Have  had  a  heavy,  unrefreshing  sleep; 
disturbed  by  dreams  about  my  heart.  Upon  rising,  dull  feel- 
ing in  the  head  and  giddiness;  the  latter  is  rapidly  increas- 
ing; very  severe  pressure  upon  the  chest;  tightness  around 
the  throat;  the  heart  feels  as  if  it  filled  the  whole  chest;  violent 
nose  bleed  at  eight-forty  a.  m.,  nine  a.  m;  nine-thirty 
a.  m.,  nine-forty-five  a.  m.,  bright  blood;   no  rehef  from  the 


172  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

nose-bleed.  Walked  to  the  livery  stable  at  ten  o'clock,  a.  m. 
Felt  as  if  drunk;  while  waiting  for  my  horse,  the  nose  again 
bled,  continuing  to  do  so  for  twenty  minutes;  blood  bright 
red;  great  fulness  in  the  cardiac  region.  Three  o'clock  p.  m* 
Took  one  hundred  and  fifty  drops.  The  fulness  of  the  heart 
has  become  exceedingly  oppressive  and  makes  me  feel 
deathly  faint  and  sick;  the  countenance  looks  pale;  it  seems 
to  me  as  if  I  must  die,  unless  this  fulness  in  the  cardiac  re- 
gion is  relieved;  do  not  wish  to  breath;  it  seems  as  if  there 
were  no  need  of  breathing;  the  bowels  have  also  felt  badly; 
have  had  four  passages  of  almost  black  stool;  at  first  one  large 
solid  lump,  which  is  expelled  with  difficulty,  followed  by 
soft,  mushy  stool;  bad  odor;  feelingof  apprehension;  I  know 
some  great  misfortune  is  in  store  for  me;  pulse  ninety-six. 
Ten  o'clock  p.  m.,  took  two  hundred  drops. 

May  5th.  Nothing  new;  all  the  symptoms  worse.  Ten 
o'clock  a.  m.  Pulse  more  natural,  viz:  light,  irregular  and 
eight-six;  cardiac  symptoms  are  exceedingly  severe;  bowels 
as  yesterday;    frequent  urination;    tenderness  in  the  bladder. 

May  6th.  Pulse  eighty-six;  symptoms  as  yesterday.  Can 
not  walk;  it  increases  the  trouble  with  the  heart,  causing 
great  distress.     Medicine  discontinued. 

The  urinary  symptoms  experienced  during  the  first  few 
days  were  very  severe.  I  never  had  any  urinary  or  bladder 
trouble  in  my  life;  nor  had  I  taken  cold  now.  I  imagined 
at  the  time  that  I  felt  much  as  patients  describe  symptoms  of 
severe  gonorrhoea. 

The  heart  symptoms  continued  for  nearly  four  weeks, 
growing  somewhat  lighter,  when  on  June  3d,  I  again  com- 
menced to  take  the  drug:,  bringing  on  an  immediate  aggrava- 
tion of  the  same  symptoms,  with  great  nervousness  and  fear  of 
death  from  organic  heart  trouble.  The  second  experiment 
was  an  exact  repetition  of  the  first,  both  as  tc  the  amount  of 
the  drug  taken  and  the  results  produced. 

I  have  been  troubled  with  functional  heart  trouble  of  a 
mild  form,  due,  I  presume,  to  the  use  of  tobacco  and  to  in- 
digestion.    My  pulse  is  always  rapid  and  somewhat  irregular. 


Materia  Medica.  173 

D.  T.  took  doses  of  ten,  fifty,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  drops  each,  on  the  evenings 
of  four  consecutive  days,  experiencing  no  symptoms,  except 
a  sharp  pain  in  the  left  temple  soon  after  taking  the  drug  and 
not  of  long  duration. 


-»  » 


Study  of  the  Pathogenesis  of  Aloohol,  with   reference  to 

Pathological  Changes  Induced  in  the  Organism.     By 
Wm.  Owens,  M.  D.,  Cincinnati,  O. 

This  substance  is  the  product  of  saccharine  fermentation 
separated  from  the  fluid  mass  by  distillation.  To  obtain  it 
of  sufficient  purity  for  homceopatUic  uses,  rectification  and 
redistillation  are  necessary.  Alcohol  is  a  colorless  fluid,  of 
slightly  pungent  odor,  and  somewhat  acrid,  burning  taste. 
It  is  highly  inflammable,  burns  with  a  pale,  blue  flame, 
and  yields  intense  heat.  It  evaporates  rapidly  in  the  open 
air,  and  has  never  been  frozen.  Its  density  is  eighty-six,  and 
retains  fourteen  per  cent,  of  water,  though  this  may  be  con- 
siderably reduced.  The  specific  gravity  of  eighty-six  per 
cent.  Alcohol  is  0.7938.  It  boils  at  one  hundreil  and  seventy- 
three  degrees  Fahrenheit.  It  coagulates  albumen  and  arrests 
and  prevents  the  decomposition  of  animal  substances.  It» 
chemical  symbol  is  2C6IIO.  It  dissolves  many  organic 
substance?,  such  as  some  of  the  volatile  and  fixed  oils,  resins, 
gums  and  gum  resins.  It  is  readily  detected  in  suspected 
liquids  by  its  peculiar  odor,  and  by  distilling  them  over  a 
solution  of  Carbonate  of  potash.  As  a  solvent  of  certain 
substances  it  is  quite  essential  to  the  pharmaceutist.  It 
mixes  with  water  in  all  proportions.  It  is  a  stimulant  to 
organic  life  in  small  doses,  and  narcotic  in  large  ones.  This 
fact  furnishes   us  with  the  key  to  its  pathogenesis.      As  a 


174  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

stimulant  it  is  central  in  its  effects,  irritating  the  solar  plexus 
and  through  this  plexus  the  vaso-motor  nerves,  and  the  gan- 
glionic masses  along  the  course  of  the  blood  vessels,  and 
within  the  substance  of  the  heart.  It  is  thus  capable  of  de- 
veloping the  most  intense  capillary  hyperemia  in  all  portions 
of  the  body,  causing  increased  functional  activity  even  to 
the  point  of  exhaustion  and  paralysis.  It  abstracts  moisture 
from  and  corrugates  the  epithelial  surfaces,  and  induces  a  su- 
perficial inflammation  of  the  sub-epithelial  tissues,  which,  if 
long  continued  or  often  repeated  applications  are  made,  be- 
come thickened  from  infiltration  and  hyperplasia,  followed  by 
condensation  of  tissue,  with  atrophy,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
liver,  cirrhosis. 

As  a  stimulant  in  moderate  quantities.  Alcohol  acting  upon 
the  vasomotor  nerves  and  their  glanglia,  forces  an  increased 
quantity  of  blood  into  the  arterioles  and  their  capillaries, 
which  if  long  continued  will  cause  a  permanent  dilatation 
of  these  vessels  with  attenuation  of  their  walls  and  stasis  of 
blood  within  them.  Thus  accumulation  of  blood  within  the 
vessels  and  sinuses  of  the  brain,  causes  fluxion  or  mechani- 
cal compression  of  the  neurine  substance,  and  thus  interferes 
with  its  functions.  The  ganglionic  cells  of  the  gray  matter 
of  the  brain  become  engorged,  and  not  un frequently  rup- 
tures take  place,  causing  an  apoplectic  condition  of  the 
cells,  when  all  generating  power  ceases,  or  becomes  greatly 
perverted. 

The  effect  of  the  smaller  portions  of  Alcohol  is  to  in- 
crease the  function  of  an  organ  or  part,  while  that  of 
larger  portion  speedily  exhausts  function  by  excessive  stimu- 
lation. The  serum  of  the  blood  readily  passes  through  the 
distended  and  attenuated  vascular  wall,  and  constitutes  what 
is  known  as  serous  apoplexy,  common  to  inebriates.  This 
serous  effusion  accumulates  within  the  subarachnoid  spaces, 
extending  downward  along  the  cord,  and  interferes  with  the 
powers  of  co-ordination  which  gives  rise  to  paralysis  agi- 
tans,  and  the  feeble,  tottering  gait,  the  trembling  hand, 
vacant  look,  feeble  mental  and  moral  condition  of  the  man  of 
many  cups.     Prolonged  cerebral  hyperemia  not  unfrequent- 


\ 


Materia  Medica,  175 

ly  results  in  rupture  of  some  of  the  cerebral  capillaries,  fol- 
lowed by  neuritis  affecting  the  neurine  substance,  with  soft- 
ening and  necrosis  of  the  brain,  loss  of  co-ordinating  power, 
loss  of  memory,  epilepsy  and  early  death. 

Increased  functional  activity  always  takes  place  at  the  ex- 
pense of  tissue,  consequently  the  elements  which  yield  the 
carbo-hydrates,  hydro-carbons  and  carbons  will  be  rapidly 
oxidized,  and  the  nitrogenous  elements  arrested  in  the  pro- 
cess of  change,  when  urea  and  carbonic  acid  will  be  dimin- 
ished in  the  excretions.  Repeated  irritations  of  the  follicles 
of  the  stomach  from  the  exhibition  of  Alcohol  causes  them 
to  yield  by  secretion  a  morbid  product,  and  we  have  the 
gastric  caturrh  of  the  habitual  drinker.  This  secretion  so 
covers  the  surface  of  the  stomach  that  its  functions  are 
greatly  interfered  with  in  the  process  of  digestion. 

In  the  presence  oi  Alcohol  the  gastric  juice,  whicii  is  pour- 
ed out  in  large  quantities,  is  modified,  and  its  properties  as  a 
ferment  destroyed  by  precipitation  of  the  pepsin  therein 
contained.  The  prolonged  use  of  Alcohol  produces  structu- 
ral changes  in  the  glands  of  the  stomach,  and  hyperplasia 
within  its  connective  tissue,  which  encroaching  upon  the 
glandular  structures  of  the  stomach,  causing  them  to  yield  a 
pathological  product  instead  of  their  normal  secretion.  Tl>e 
stirch.  sugar  and  fatty  matters  are  no  longer  modified  by  it, 
rtniUrin^  them  suitable  for  assimilation,  and  as  a  result 
Acetic,  Lactic  and  Butyric  acids  are  produced,  causing 
pyrosis,  acid  eructations,  flatulence  and  the  morning  retching 
i«nd  vomiting  of  the  toper. 

As  a  diffusible  stimulant  narcotic,  it  is  a  moDted  question 
as  to  whether  it  produces  its  effects  by  impressing  the  nerves 
or  through  tiie  medium  of  the  blood.  The  facts  atte^iding 
its  toxical  effects  would  seem  to  sustain  both  views  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  When  locally  applied  its  toxical  effects  are 
manifest  by  paralysing  the  cutaneous  neives,  with  the  re- 
sult of  relieving  pain,  and  at  the  same  time  inducing  increas- 
ed capillary  circulation  and  hyperemia,  and  even  inuberation 
from  inhaling  its  fumes.  While  on  the  other  hand  it  is  stren- 
uously maintained  that   considerable   quantities  of  it    have 


176  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance. 

been  found  in  the  blood  and  even  in  the  ventricles  of  the 
brain  and  other  organs  largely  supplied  with  blood.  In 
either  case  the  final  impression  seems  to  be  made  upon  the 
nerve  substance,  inducing  disturbance  of  the  functions  of  the 
brain,  and  which,  if  greatly  intensified,  terminates  in  their 
abrogation. 

The  hyperemia,  both  local  and  general,  which  Alcohol  in- 
duces, arises  from  its  irritating  effects  upon  the  solar  plexus, 
from  which  point  all  its  influence  is  transmitted  by  radiation 
as  it  were  through  the  vaso-motors  to  all  portions  of  the 
body,  reaching  the  heart  through'  its  sympathetic  filaments, 
and  the  ganglia  within  its  structure.  The  liver,  under  the 
irritating  influence  of  Alcohol^  from  the  formation  of  new^ 
connective  tissue  and  the  afflux  of  the  blood  thereto,  be- 
comes enlarged.  When  this  irritation  has  been  long  con- 
tinued, the  nerves  become  exhausted  and  paralyzed,  nutrition 
is  arrested,  and  atrophy  with  condensation  and  contraction 
of  the  connective  takes  place,  which  with  shrinkage  of  the 
hepatic  cells  gives  us  the  "hob  nail"  appearance  of  the  liver 
of  the  drunkard,  or  fatty  degeneration  of  the  blood  vessels, 
and  atheromatous  deposits  in  the  arteries.  •  Edema  of  the  legs, 
ascites  and  general  anasarca  usually  follow. 

As  a  result  of  the  hyperemias  induced  by  the  frequent  ex- 
hibition of  Alcohol,  we  have  for  a  limited  time  increased 
function  of  all  of  the  organs.  Increased  secretion  of  the 
mucous  and  serous  membranes,  and  of  all  of  the  secreting 
glands,  and  therefore  a  more  rapid  oxidisation  of  the  carbons, 
hydrocarbons  and  carbo-hydrates,  with  modification  of 
change  in  the  nitrogenous  elements.  Alcohol  also  causes 
excessive  "cerebral  activity,  which  becomes  irregular  and  per- 
verted to  a  most  extraordinary  degree;  perversions  of  intel- 
lect, taste,  smell,  hearing  and  sensation,  followed  by  exhaus- 
tion, melancholy,  suicidal  tendency,  mania,  etc.;  extreme  fe- 
rocity is  followed  by  stupidity,  relaxation  and  exhaustion  of 
nerve  power,  and  even  paralysis  of  the  vaso-motors;  relaxa- 
tion or  rupture  of  the  vascular  walls,  with  effusion  or  ap- 
oplectic extravasation.  Upon  the  eye,  if  frequently  repeated, 
we  find  a  chronic  hyperemia  of  the  conjunctiva,  or  if  it  be 


Materia  Medica,  177 

greatly  prolonged  we  will  see  permanent  dilatation  of  its 
capillaries  called  the  "blood  shot"  eye  of  the  toper.  This 
may  be  attended  with  more  .or  less  infiltration  of  the  sur- 
rounding tissues,  by  the  coloring  matter  of  the  blood  giving 
the  icteric  appearance  of  the  eye,  which  usually  accompanies 
this  condition.  Hyperemia  about  the  origin  of  the  optic 
nerve  causes  disturbed  vision;  the  party  sees  double,  sees 
animals,  reptiles,  spirits,  etc.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to 
hearing;  causing  illusions  of  this  sense;  illusions  of  smell 
and  taste  of  the  most  unnatural  and  extraordinary  character. 
Derangement  of  the  stomach  is  universal  in  the  habitual 
drinker;  nausea,  vomiting  and  large  accumulations  of  ca- 
tarrhal mucus  of  a  sour,  bitter,  salty  or  putrid  taste,  min- 
gled with  undigested  food  are  its  concomitants.  The  catarrh- 
al secretion  carries  with' it  the  epithelium,  leaving  the  mem- 
brane denuded,  irritable  and  highly  congested.  The  tongue 
looks  as  if  it  were  varnished;  the  papilla  are  enlarged,  red, 
and  irritable,  indicating  a  great  degree  of  gastric  irritation. 
The  breath  becomes  extremely  offensive,  partly  from  the 
evaporating  and  exhaled  Alcohol,  and  partly  from  decompos- 
ing mucus,  and  cast  off  epithelium.  In  most  cases  the  epi- 
gastrium becomes  exceedingly  sensitive  to  the  touch.  The 
appetite,  originally  good  or  fair,  now  diminishes  as  the 
taste  for  the  stimulant  is  indulged  in.  The  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  stomach  assumes  a  leaden  hue,  and  is  continu- 
ally covered  with  a  dense  viscid  mucus,  which,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent isolates  the  food  and  thus  delays  or  interferes  with  the 
process  of  digestion,  when  finally  atrophy  sets  in,  with  gen- 
eral emaciation  and  less  of  nerve  power.  The  thickened 
mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach  becomes  blanched,  cor- 
rugated and  studded  with  numerous  patches  of  diffuse  hem- 
orrhagic, stellated  spots,  and  the  whole  organ  becomes  re- 
duced to  less  than  one-half  of  its  usual  size. 

Alcohol  taken  freely  into  the  stomach  usually  passes  direct- 
ly into  the  circulation,  or  may  pass  through  the  pylorus  and 
carry  its  irritating  effects  into  the  duodenum,  and  establish 
here  a  catarrhal  condition,  which  by  continuity  of  surface  is 
extended  into  the  ductus  communis  choledichus,  to  the  hepatic 
Apr  2 


178  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

and  cystic  ducts,  and  into   those  organs    giving  rise  to  the 
icteric  or  bihoiis  appearance  of  the  skin. 

Large  quantities  of  undigested  food,  and  unassimilated 
bile,  are  washed  along  the  alimentary  canal  by  these  copious 
catarrhal  secretions  of  the  stomach,  liver  and  bowel  until 
they  reach  the  colon  where  they  undergo  further  fermenta- 
tion, giving  rise  to  colic,  flatulence  and  other  dyspeptic  af- 
fections of  the  drunkard.  The  small  inter.tines  also  become 
coated  with  this  viscid  mucus,  and  the  great  degree  of  irrita- 
ton  and  consequent  hyperemia,  cause  here  also  rupture  of  the 
capillaries  and  hemorrhagic  efl^usions  into  the  mucous  mem- 
branes, followed  by  softening  of  tissue  and  ulceration.  The 
small  bowel  being  in  some  cases  literallv  filled  with  bile  and 
undigested  food,  and  the  blood  which  returns  from  the  spleen, 
stomach,  liver  and  intestines  through  the  portal  vein  is  charged 
with  large  quantities  of  impurities,  carried  into  it  through  the 
veins  of  the  stomach  and  intestines  whicli  have  been  taken  up 
by  absorption  and  with  them  large  quimtities  of  alcoholic 
liqiioiR  which  are  also  carried  directly  into  the  liver  andothei 
portal  viscera,  giving  the  sense  of  repletion  and  abdominal 
plethora.  Often  repeated  this  condition  tends  to  establish  per- 
manent congestion  of  these  organs,  and  when  carried  too  far 
ends  in  ascites  of  the  habitual  drinker.  The  spleen  becomes 
swollen,  brittle  and  finally  softened.  Alcohol  may  cause  both 
acute  and  chronic  inflammations  of  the  kidneys,  and  give 
rise  to  both  albumen  urea  and  diabetes,  both  of  which  are 
intimately  associated  with  the  diseases  of  the  liver  and  drop- 
sical conditions  resulting  therefrom. 

Under  the  stimulating  influence  of  Alcohol  the  skin  be- 
comes moist,  soft  and  velvety  to  the  touch,  but  when  indulg- 
ed in  to  excess  this  condition  changes  to  that  of  a  dry,  hnrsh 
and  thickened  state,  with  a  dirty,  sallow  tinge  favoring  the 
evolution  of  acne,  eczema  and  various  other  forms  of  erup- 
tions. The  tissues  become  loaded  with  a  soft  grayish  fat, 
which  when  absorbed  leaves  a  watery  or  gelatinous  mass 
behind,  which  eventually  becomes  fluid  and  yields  the  asci- 
tes or  anasarca  of  the  drunkard. 


Hitt^nal  €Uitir$* 


Clinical  Cases. — Reported  by  May  Ho  wells,  M.  D. — 
Dysmbnohrhcea;  Leucorrhcea.  —  Kreosotum;  Aralia. — 
Patient  a  ruddy  blonde,  tall,  full  babit,  aet.  twenty-two,  un- 
married. Has  always  suffered  much  at  menstrual  period; 
and  for  many  years  has  been  troubled  wilh  profuse  leucorrhcea. 
Menses  too  early,  profuse  and  long  lasting,  color  dark  with 
very  fetid  odor;  marked  nausea  and  prostration  during  first 
two  days  with  heavy  pains  through  uterus  and  coccyx; 
leucorrhcea  of  a  yellow  white;  quite  thick,  very  foul  odor 
and  just  before  menses.  OaL  carb,  was  given  without  bene- 
fit; after  more  thorough  study  of  the  case,  Kreosotum  30th 
was  prescribed  on  Jan.  4th. 

Patient  reported  on  30th  of  the  month.  Menses  still  early 
and  profuse,  but  some  decrease  of  nausea  and  bad  odor.  Or- 
dered no  medicine  to  be  taken  until  within  ten  days  of  next 
menstrual  period,  the  same  drug  to  be  then  resumed.  Re- 
ported Feb.  2ist.  Menses  three  days  early,  decrease  of  quanti- 
ty of  pain  and  odor.  Prescribed  Kreosotum  200th,  to  be  taken 
every  other  day  through  the  month.  Patient  reported 
again  in  March.  Menses  one  day  early,  little  pain,  no 
nausea,  bad  odor  almost  gone  Kreosotum  500th,  once  per 
week.  Reported  May  ist.  Menses  normal;  but  still  no 
change  in  leucorrhcea,  which  troubled  her  very  much.  For 
this  condition  Aralia  rac,  was  given,  with  most  gratifying  re- 
sults; the  patient  having  now  been  perfectly  free  from  all 
menstrual  and  uterine  disorder  for  many  months. 

Cass  II.  —  Ovarian  Neuralgia.  —  Macrotine  ix, — 
Miss  C.  S.  aet.  twenty- three.  Face  pale,  hands  and  feet 
cold,  hand  tremulous;  complains  of  great  pain  and  soreness  in 
a  small  spot,  just  left  of  the  spine  in  lumbar  region;  this  pain 
frequently  passes  forward,  through  the  left  ovary  and  down 
the  thigh  to  the  knee;  severe  pain  in  head,  extending  from 
orbital  region  to  vertex;  no  appitite,  nausea  even  after  small 
quantity  of  food ;  is  losing  flesh  very  rapidly  and  feels  exhaust- 


180  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

ed,  and  very  irritable;  the  pain  in  the  back  is  intolerable  at 
night,  and  all  symptoms  increased  at  menstrual  period ;  menses 
regular  and  normal  in  appearance.  Examination  revealed 
marked  tenderness  of  left  ovary,  but  no  uterine  displacement. 
Cham.  200th  made  no  impression,  and  later  Actea  rac. 
was  used  with  same  result;  but  after  the  selection  of  Macro' 
tine  ix,  relief  was  obtained  in  less  than  forty -eight  hours. 
This  condition  not  being  permanent,  the  sixth  decimal  of 
same  drug  was  given,  and  patient  soon  restored  to  health, 
with  no  return  of  the  pain  even  at  menstrual  period. 

Case  III. — Chronic  Constipation. — Lack,  Tpth, — ^Miss 
N.  B.,  dark,  swarthy  complexion;  dull,  sluggish  temperament, 
has  suffered  from  constipation  for  fifteen  years.  Careful  in- 
quiry elicited  no  characterestic  symptom  except  "every 
thing  tastes  sour  to  me,  food  becomes  violently  acid  as  soon 
as  it  reaches  the  stomach."  Remembering  this  symptom  as 
marked  in  many  provings  of  Lack.,  I  gave  Lack,  ^^fh,  to  be 
taken  three  times  per  day  for  a  week.  At  the  end  of  the 
week,  patient  reported  bowels  regular.  Four  months  have 
now  passed  with  no  return  of  old  trouble. 

Case  IV. — Morning  Sickness. — Phos.  30th  — Mrs  M.  P., 
aet.  twenty-eight.  Has  had  four  children,  is  now  three  months 
pregnant;  suffers  every  morning  as  soon  as  she  rises  with  vio- 
lent vomiting.  During  pregnancy  is  never  able  to  drink  water, 
even  the  sight  of  it  causing  nausea  and  vomiting;  must  close 
her  eyes  while  bathing,  Phos.  30th,  was  prescribed  to  be 
taken  three  times  per  day.  After  four  days  patient  reported 
as* follows:  no  nausea  from  drinking,  no  vomiting  on  rising, 
and  no  discomfort  from  the  morning  ablutions.  Marked  im- 
provement was  noted  before  six  doses  of  the  remedy  had 
been  taken. 

Medical  Clinic.  Service  of  Prof.  Wilson.  Reported 
by  J.  C.  Wood,  M.  D.,  Assistant  to  the  Chair  of  Theory  and 
Practice,  Michigan  University. — Epileptiform  Convul- 
sions.— Phos.  acid  30. — Case  I. — Benj.  L.,  of  Charlotte, 
Mich.,  patient  of  Dr,  Rand.  About  eighteen  months  ago, 
this  gentleman,  previously  in  good  health  and  able  to  do  his 


General  Clinics.  181 

usual  hard  work  upon  the  farm,  began  to  complain  of  get- 
ting easily  tired.  A  moderate  amount  of  work  in  the  morn- 
ing would  so  exhaust  him  that  he  would  have  to  rest  or  lie 
down  the  remainder  of  the  day.  This  condition  gradually 
increased,  with  this  additional  symptom:  a  feeling  of  tight- 
ness or  compression  would  be  felt  over  the  whole  body, 
which  would  last  an  hour  or  less.  There  would  then  occur 
a  sensation  like  a  gradual  unwinding  of  a  bandage  that  had 
been  applied  to  every  part  of  his  body.  One  year  ago  he 
began  to  have  "spells"  in  which  partial  unconsciousness  en- 
sued. These  came  on  as  a  rule  in  the  night  and  caused  him 
to  sit  suddenly  upright  and  beat  with  his  right  hand.  After 
they  subsided  he  would  feel  greatly  prostrated.  A  few  times 
they  occurred  in  the  day  time  and  lasted  only  a  few  mom- 
ents. They  produced  at  all  times  a  bewildered  state  of 
mind.  Six  months  ago  he  had  a  severe  spasm  at  night,  and 
cramped,  and  frothed  at  the  mouth,  i.  Mental  symptoms: 
Memory  of  late  impaired;  can  not  recollect  easily  the  names 
of  those  with  whom  he  is  acquainted.  After  the  "spells"  he 
finds  it  diflicult  to  say  what  he  should;  often  he  says  the 
wrong  word  or  sentence.  2.  Chest:  No  cough,  but  palpita- 
tion of  the  heart  often;  heart  sounds  normal  but  feeble  and 
regular.  3.  Urine:  The  daily  amount  possibly  diminished, 
otherwise  supposed  to  be  normal.  (Note:  It  is  our  constant 
custom  to  have  the  urine  analyzed  in  all  doubtful  cases. 
This  patient  did  not  remain  in  the  city  and  we  lost  the  de- 
sired opportunity  to  make  the  test  which  we  desired.)  Our 
examination  elicited  no  other  symptoms,  except,  perhaps,  a 
tendency  to  coldness  of  the  hands  and  feet. 

Dia^.nosis:  For  nosological  arrangement  we  may  specify 
this  as  a  case  of  epileptiform  convulsions.  It  will  be  seen 
that  he  has  had  at  least  one  epileptic  seizure.  The  general 
uncertainity  as  to  the  character  and  seat  of  the  lesion  in  these 
cases  is  well  known  to  those  who  have  made  nervous  dis- 
eases a  study.  In  this  case  the  lesion  may  at  least  be  traced 
to  the  brain  substance,  on  account  of  the  disorder  of  intel- 
lection, and  we  may  now  perhaps  go  a  step  further  and  place 
it  in  the  frontal  lobe  (right  side?),  and  in  the  third  convolu- 


182  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Hon,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  seat  of  language.  The 
aphasic  condition  would  lead  us  to  this  conclusion  if  we 
understand  that  function  of  that  portion  of  the  brain. 

Treatment:  Phos.  acid  30,  three  doses  per  day.  Our  prog- 
nosis could  not  be  otherwise  than  unfavorable.  His  physician 
will  report  progress  in  a  couple  of  weeks. 

Membranous  Dysmenorrhcea. — Mrs.  M.,  aet.  twenty- 
four,  had  been  married  three  years,  no  children.  Menstru- 
ated too  often  and  altogether  too  long  and  too  much,  and 
usually  wound  up  with  a  great  deal  of  pain  and  discharge  of 
a  membranous  cast  of  the  uterus,  size  of  an  orange.  There 
is  nothing  new  that  I  have  to  report  concerning  this  case,  ex- 
cept the  remedy  that  cured  it,  and  the  manner  of  prepara- 
tion. After  having  exhausted  what  little  knowledge  I  then 
possessed  without  benefitting  her  but  slightly,  an  old  Dutch- 
man gave  her  a  small  bundle  of  Yarrow  and  ordered  a  de- 
coction to  be  made,  of  which  she  drank  freely  during  a  few 
days,  and  was  perfectly  well  afterwards  fc(r  £:>ar  months. 
She  saying  except  for  seeing  the  flow  she  would  not  know 
she  was  "unwell."  A  repetition  of  the  remedy  cured  her  and 
she  has  remained  well  ever  since,  a  period  of  five  years. 
Yaiv'ow  is  the  vulgar  name  for  Achillea  millefolium.  The 
remedies  I  prescribed  that  did  the  most  good  were  Thuja 
and  Xanthox. — J.  H.  Dix,  M.  D. 


Aytn  Arbor  Clinics.  Surgical  Clinic.  Service  of  Prof.  Frank- 
lin. Reported  by  Assistant  Surgeon  W.  R.  Wheeler, 
M.  D.  University  of  Michigan  Homoeopathic  Medi- 
cal Department. 

Case  I  — Naso  Pharyngeal  Fibroma. — Fibrous  Poly- 
pi.— Suffocative  Fibroid. — M.  B.,  aged  sixteen  years,  en- 


General  Cinics.  183 

tered  hospital  in  February,  for  surgical  treatment,  with  the  fol- 
lowing symptoms,  viz.:  voice  changed,  with  a  decided  nasal 
twang;  great  difficulty  in  respiration;  inability  to  breathe 
through  the  nose;  frequent  attacks  of  suffocation  when  lying 
down,  so  severe  that  his  parents  thought  he  would  die  in  each 
attack;  inability  to  perform  manual  labor;  frequent  attacks 
of  hemorrhage  at  night,  relieving  the  suffocation;  deglutition 
difficult;  respiration,  accompanied  with  a  snoring  sound.  Pa- 
tient possesses  good,  healthy  constitution  in  all  other  respects, 
and  is  rather  large  for  his  age. 

Upon  examining  the  nostrils  with  Duplay's  bivalve  specu- 
lum, the  patient  seated  before  a  strong  light,  I  could  distinctly 
see  a  larsre  reddish  tumor  bej'inninsr  about  an  inch  from  the 
external  nasal  orifice,  and  extending  backwards.  Upon  clos- 
ing the  mouth  and  making  a  forcible  expiration,  no  air  escaped 
through  the  nostrils.  This  attempt  forced  the  tumor  upwards, 
completely  filling  up  the  cavity.  Upon  looking  within  the 
mouth  I  found  the  soft  palate  projecting  forwards,  while  a 
large  tumor  was  distinctly  visibU%  and  extending  downwards 
towards  the  epiglottis.  The  tumor  felt  hard,  unyielding  and 
smooth,  and  all  the  pressure  I  could  make  upon  it  with  my 
finger  produced  no  impression  upon  the  n;ass.  It  was  too 
large,  too  red  and  firm,  for  a  polyp;  it  possessed  none  of  the 
characters  of  carcinoma  or  epithelioma;  no  ulceration  or  pain 
indicative  of  either  of  these  diseases;  it  was  diagnosed  a  huge 
fibroma.  I  may  remark,  that  in  all  malignant  growths  occu- 
pying the  natural  cavities  of  the  body,  there  is  no  pediculated 
base,  the  non-malignant  have  a  pedicle,  which  I  judged  to  be 
the  condition  of  the  case  before  me.  As  sufifocation  was 
continually  threatened,  I  revolved  in  my  mind  the  character* 
of  operation  to  be  performed,  and  upon  consultation  with  the 
fatlier  concluded  to  try  the  wire  ligature  or  ecraseur,  and 
strangulation  of  the  mass.  Nelaton's  operation  of  incision  of 
the  soft,  followed  by  resection  of  the  hard  pa*ate,  did  not 
seem  to  offer  much  encouragement,  because  of  the  extensive 
plane  of  implantation  which  I  believed  to  exist.  The  resec- 
tion of  the  upper  jaw  was  stoutly  resisted  by  both  father  and 
patient  and  I  settled  down  on  the  ecraseur  treatment,  prefer- 


184  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

ing  the  palliative  to  the  perilous  operation.  Assisted  by  Drs. 
Allen  and  Wheeler,  and  my  class  assistants,  Messrs.  Jackson, 
Tyler  and  Flandrean,  I  began  the  operation.  Fearing  the 
influence  of  an  anaesthetic,  I  placed  the  patient  on  a  strong 
chair,  before  a  window,  and  introduced  within  the  nostril  a 
double  copper  wire,  but  found  it  was  simply  impossible  to 
pass  it  either  over  or  under  the  growth,  the  wire  bending  up 
with  each  forcible  propulsion.  After  trying  several  expedi- 
ents, at  last  succeeded  in  passing,  with  much  difficulty,  Bel- 
logue's  sound  and  canula,  and  with  a  ligature  attached  to  the 
loop  of  a  double  wire  ligature  succeeded  in  drav/ing  it 
through  the  nose  and  beyond  the  tumor,  now  depressing  the 
noose  with  my  finger  within  the  mouth  and  pushing  it  under 
the  mass,  upwards  and  forwards,  anrl  at  the  same  time  mak- 
ing strong  traction  on  the  other  end,  I  engaged  it  firmly 
against  the  tumor,  and  making  it  fast  to  the  ecraseur,  which 
was  placed  within  the  nostril,  began  the  process  of  strangula- 
tion, and  within  three  days,  with  no  great  amount  of  pain, 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  its  base  of  attachment  cleanly 
cat  through,  and  with  considerable  force  I  dragged  the  hide- 
ous growth  from  the  cavity.  The  tumor,  when  removed,  al- 
though it  had  shrunk  considerably  measured  in  its  long  cir- 
cumference ten  inches,  in  its  short  circumference  six  inches, 
with  a  base  of  implantation  of  one  and  one-fourth  by  two 
and  a  half  inches,  being  the  largest  tumor  removed  entire 
from  that  cavity,  so  far  as  I  know  of,  A  peculiar  clinical 
feature  in  this  case  is,  that  this  tumor  is  essentially  a  disease 
of  youth,  and  attacks  boys  from  fifteen  to  twenty-one  years; 
girls,  as  a  rule,  being  exempt  from  these  formations.  Polyps 
*on  the  contrary,  according  to  my  experience,  are  more  fre- 
quent in  the  female  sex.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  dis- 
ease is  one  of  self-limitation,  and  disappears  without  treat- 
ment, at  maturity. 

"Reproductions,"  says  Gosselin,  "occur  in  spite  of  all  the 
care  which  has  been  taken  to  shave  oflf  the  surface  of  implan- 
tation, to  scrape  it  and  to  destroy  all  that  could  be  considered 
as  forming  part  of  the  tumor." 


General  Clinics,  185 

In  cases  such  as  this,  there  is  a  very  important  surgical 
question  to  be  settled.  Premising  that  no  operation  is  abso- 
lutely curative,  it  seems  that  palliation  is  the  proper  method 
to  be  pursued.  In  this  you  give  your  patient  first,  the  advan- 
tage of  not  risking  his  life  by  either  of  the  two  operations 
recommended,  Nelaton's  or  resection  of  the  upper  jaw;  sec- 
ond, you  do  not  mutilate  his  face  or  his  mouth,  or  subject 
hill,  to  the  mortification  of  a  nasal  twang  the  remainder  of  his 
life  and  all  the,  discomforts  of  a  permanent  communication 
between  the  cavities  of  the  mouth  and  nose. 

There  are  certain  peculiarities  in  this  case  that  lead  me  to 
believe  that  the  tendency  to  reproduction  can  be  cured  and 
those  are  the  conditions  immediately  connected  with  the  dis- 
eased mass  which  point  to  either  Teucrium  or  Kali  hichrom.  I 
•shall  give  to  this  patient  the  latter  remedy  although  I  believe 
the  former  is  best  adapted  as  a  rule  to  overcome  that  condition 
of  the  system  by  which  these  growths  are  generated.  But 
the  prominent  indications  for  Kali  hichrom,  consists  in  the 
continual*  throwing  oflTofthe  ropy,  tough  discharges  from  the 
nose;  the  tickling  that  is  felt  high  up  in  the  nostril;  the  thick, 
dark,  red  blood  that  escaped  from  the  nostrils  and  the 
fetid  smell,  and  the  illhumocand  indifiference  that  possesses 
the  patient. 

If  we  can  succeed  in  eradicating  the  cause  of  these  terrible 
diseases  by  our  remedies,  it  will  be  still  another  priceless  boon 
to  humanity,  and  Homoeopathy  will  be  accredited  with  having 
accomplished  more  than  the  best  directed  eflforts  of  all  the  sur- 
geons of  the  world  combined.  I  shall  watch  this  case  with 
much  interest  and  report  at  some  future  time  the  results,  and 
if  the  germ  of  reproduction  is  destroyed  we  shall  have  rend"- 
ered  our  patient  the  great  service  of  saving  his  life  without 
mutilation  or  life  long  discomfort. 

Case  II — Fracture  of  the  lower  third  of  the 
Femur. — W.  C.  was  presented  for  treatment  for  fracture  of 
the  femur,  low  down  and  just  above  the  knee  joint.  The 
patient  was  walking  along  the  slippery  pavement  in  Decem- 
ber last  when  he  slipped  and  fell  upon  his  sled;  could  not  rise 
after  the  accident  and  was  carried  to  his  bed  on  a  stretcher. 


186  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

You  see  how  the  shape  of  the  injured  limb  differs  from 
the  sound  one;  you  see  the  deformity  and  outward  rotation 
of  the  limb.  We  detect  by  sight  some  shortening,  but  let  us 
apply  the  test:  stretch  a  cord  from  one  iliac  spine  to  the  other 
and  observe  that  it  gives  an  oblique  direction  with  reference 
to  the  axis  of  the  body;  the  spine  on  the  injured  side  is  sensi- 
bly lower  and  shows  shortening.  Now  let  us  apply  the  cord 
from  the  ant.  sup.  spine  of  the  ilium  to  the  external  malleolus 
making  it  cut  the  external  tuberosity  of  the  femur  and  com- 
paring the  measurements  with  the  sound  limb  we  find  nearly 
an  inch  and  a  half  sh  )rtening,  then  measuring  both  limbs 
from  the  spine  of  the  ilium  to  the  internal  maleolus  and  the 
same  degree  of  shortening  prevails;  next  we  look  for  crepitus 
and  preternatural  mobility;  and  I  seize  the  heel  with  one  hand 
and'raise  the  leg,  my  other  hand  lying  transversely  across  the  • 
middle  third  of  the  thigh;  we  see  that  the  lower  part  of  the 
tiiigh  moves  with  the  leg,  the  upper  part  remaining  immov- 
able, the  hinge  or  center  of  movement  being  just  above  the 
knee  joint.  We  move  it  laterally  and  the  result  is  the  same; 
during  these  movements  we  detect  crepitus  and  a  closer  ex- 
amination of  the  bone  tells  us,  we  have  an  oblique  fracture  of 
the  shaft  in  the  lower  third  of  th^femur.  Let  us  now  examine 
the  knee  joint  which  seems  increased  in  size,  and  making 
direct  measurement  around  the  condyles  of  the  femur,  cutting 
the  center  of  the  patella  and  comparing  it  with  the  sound  side 
shows  an  increase  of  over  an  inch.  To  what  is  this  difference 
attributed?  Either  to  articular  lesion  due  to  a  traumatic  con- 
tusion of  the  knee,  or  effusion  within  its  cavity.  To  different- 
iate between  these  two  conditions,  I  grasp  both  sides  of  the 
knee  with  my  left  hand  above  the  patella  and  with  my  right 
a  little  below  the  patella  and  pressing  firmly  upon  its  center 
with  my  right  index  finger,  I  feel  my  other  fingers  raised  up 
and  alternating  the  pressure  it  is  very  evident  that  there  is  liq- 
uid within  the  joint  a  consecutive  arthritis  which  I  believe  to 
be  an  infiltration  of  blood  into  the  sub-synovial  connective 
tissue.  It  is  on  this  account,  that  patents  having  factures  near 
the  knee,  are  so  long  in  overcoming  the  rigidities  of  the  joint 
in  their  efforts  at  locomotion. 


General  Clinics.  187 

Prognosis. — The  prognosis  in  such  cases  is,  that  there  will 
be  a  little  shortening  and  that  this  shortening  will  be  some- 
what more  at  the  end  of  treatment  than  it  was  when  the  limb 
was  set.  This  is  unfortunately  the  rule  in  all  factures  of  the 
thiffh  in  the  adult. 

Treatment. — Extension  and  counter  extension,  making  and 
maintaining  reduction,  manipulation  and  correction  of  de- 
formity and  retention,  which  1  propose  to  do  by  placing  the 
patient's  limb  in  a  double  inclined  plane,  fastening  the  foot  to 
the  foot  piece  and  by  means  of  the  screw  keeping  up  the  exten- 
sive force  from  time  to  time  as  the  dressings  yield  to  force  or 
pressure.  The  apparatus  should  be  renewed  every  third  or 
fourth  day  for  the  first  two  weeks  and  at  each  time  the  limb 
should  be  carefully  measured,  the  shortening  overcome,  if  any 
exist,  after  that  every  eight  or  ten  days  will  be  sufficient.  As 
soon  as  all  inflammatory  action  has  passed  away  by  means  of 
internal  and  local  application  o(  Arnica  I  shall  give  Symphytum 
three  times  a  day  to  assist  the  healing  process  and  instead  of 
keeping  our  patient  seventy  or  eighty  days  before  he  begins 
to  exercise  as  is  the  rule,  in  the  old  school,  I  expect  to  find 
him  moving  about  in  less  than  forty  days.  About  the  thirtieth 
day,  I  propose  to  apply  the  plaster  bandage,  and  permit 
my  patient  crutch  exercise  at  or  about  the  fortieth  day,  and 
we  shall  await  the  result. 

Case  III. — Cleft  Palate. — M.  W.,  aet.  nine,  was  pre- 
sented for  treatment  and  a  surgical  operation  in  October.  Ex- 
amination showed  quite  a  severe  case  of  catarrh  with  a  large 
ulcer  occupying  the  posterior  nares.  The  operation  of  staph- 
ylorraphy  was  postponed  for  a  while  and  Kali  hi.  6,  given  in- 
ternally three  times  a  day.  The  surface  of  the  ulcer  to  be  spray- 
ed with  a  solution  of  Carbolic  acid  and  Calendula  morning  and 
evening.  In  tWD  weeks  the  patient  again  returned  with  the 
ulcer  healed  and  catarrhal  symptoms  much  improved.  I  have 
some  fears  that  the  catarrhal  inflammation  which  still  exists 
though  in  a  modified  form,  may  prevent  union  between  the 
flaps  and  render  the  operation  of  no  effect,  but  as  the  parents 
of  the  child  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  have  the  operation 
performed  it  was  undertaken  with   some   little    misgivings. 


188  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Placing  the  child  on  a  chair  before  a  strong  light  and  securing 
the  arms  by  a  napkin,  I  preceded  to  the  operation  without 
anaesthesia,  the  child  appreciating  the  actual  condition  of 
matters.  Placing  a  gag  in  the  mouth  the  edges  of  the  fissure 
were  vivified  on  either  side  with  a  blunt  pointed  bistoury,  the 
incisions  being  carried  from  below  upwards;  tV'e  extremity* 
of  the  bifid  uvula  being  held  down  by  a  rat  toothed  forceps; 
a  cork  screw  needle  was  used  to  pass  the  sutures,  beginning 
at  the  lowest  extremity  and  terminating  at  the  apex  of  the 
fissure.  Three  silver  wire  sutures  were  used  and  fastened 
with  perforated  shot  pressed  firmly  together  by  strong  pincers 
beginning  at  the  highest  and  clamping  downwards.  The 
operation  w^as  closed  by  Sedillot's  plan  of  making  an  incision 
along  the  posterior  edge  of  the  hard  palate  towards  the  free 
margin.  The  parts  were  now  cleansed  with  a  very  soft 
sponge  dipped  into  a  lotion  oi Staphysagria  nx\^  Carbolic  acid. 
The  same  lotion  was  ordered  to  spray  the  parts  twice  a  day 
and  liquid  food  ordered  for  the  first  five  days,  on  the  5th  day 
the  sutures  were  removed,  union  having  taken  place  perfectly. 
Case  IV. — Impermeable  Stricture  of  the  Urethra. 
— F.  W.,  aet.  thirty-nine,  entered  the  surgical  clinic  Oct.  30th, 
1878,  with  an  old  cartilaginous  stricture  of  nine  years  standing, 
caused  by  frequent  attacks  of  gonorrhoea  and  caustic  injec- 
tions. For  three  years  the  stream  has  been  getting  "small  by 
degrees  and  beautifully  less"  and  now  the  urine  passes  drop 
by  drop  (stillicidium  urinae).  Endeavored  to  pass  into  the  blad- 
der a  filiform  bougie  but  was  unable  to  effect  it.  Tried  my 
favorite  horse  hair  treatment  and  after  a  good  deal  of  coax- 
ing and  trying,  succeeded  in  passing  three  horse  hairs  which 
were  to  be  retained  till  the  patient  returned.  The  second 
day  after,  the  flow  of  urine  increased  in  quantity  and  the 
stream  increased  in  size  so  that  in  another  week  he  was  able 
to  pass  quite  a  small  stream.  Introduced  five  other  horse 
hairs  and  bade  the  patient  to  retain  them  and  return  on  the 
third  day.  The  stream  of  urine  gradually  increased 
and  at  this  time  I  was  able  to  pass  the  smallest  size  filiform 
bougie  and  the  patient  left  feeling  much  better.     The  third 


General  Clinics,  189 

day  thereafter  patient  complained  of  irritation  and  burning 
in  the  urethra  which  was  relieved  by  Canth,  3.  Each  suc- 
ceeding visit  the  size  of  the  bougie  was  increased,  and  in  six 
weeks  from  the  first  he  was  discharged  wearing  a  number  ten 
American  bougie,  with  the  admonition  that  he  must  occasion- 
ally introduce  the  bougie  to  prevent  the  return  of  the  stricture, 
he  was  discharged  as  cured.  The  remedies  employed  were 
Clematis  erecta^  GeUemium^  Eupator.  and  Sulph,  The  cure 
has  remained  prefect  to  the  present  time. 


iutllti^mmt* 


Asthonopia.     Sy  Prof.  T.  P.  Wilson,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Recent  advances  in  ophthalmology  have  90  largely  increased  our  pos- 
sesBions  of  principles  and  facts  that  we  find  many  new  subjects  springing 
into  unexpected  importance,  and  many  old  ones  proliferating,  as  it  were, 
into  such  manifold  forms  that  even  the  wisest  among  us  shrink  from  at- 
temptingi  upon  ordinary  occasions,  anything  like  comprehensive  discus- 
sions of  them. 

.  Asthenopia  is  not,  relatively  speaking,  a  new  subject.*  I  mean  the  term 
at  least,  was  early  employed  among  our  ophthalmologists,  and,  I  may  say, 
has  held  a  foremost  place  in  the  estimation  of  these  special  investigators. 

Of  late,  inquiry  has  been  greatly  stimulated  in  this  direction,  and  we  are 
to-day  in  posnesi»ion  of  facts  Shat  would  have  greatly  astonished  our  pre- 
decessors. 

I  propose,  however,  to  do  no  more  than  bring  forward  at  this  time,  a 
few  of  the  more  interesting  facts  connected  with  this  subject. 

I  desire  to  awaken  the  interest  of  the  general  practitioner  in  this  ques- 
tion, for  it  is  to  him  that  a  majority  of  these  cases  come  for  relief,  and 
nothing  but  a  special  study  will  enable  him  to  do  them  justice. 

Asthenopia,  as  a  term,  has  quite  lost  its  original  meaning.  To  the  early 
writers  it  meant  little  more  than  it  expresses,  namely,  weak  sight  \  but  to  vifi 


190  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

it  has  a  world  of  meaning,  and  now  includea  ro  many  important  pathologi- 
cal factB  and  phenomena  that  the  old  idea  of  weakness  in  the  vision  is 
almost  wliolly  lost  sight  of. 

Many  cases,  that  to  all  appearances  widely  differ  from  each  other,  are 
now  included  under  this  head.  Heretofore  they  would  have  been  differ- 
ently catalogued,  but  now  they  are  grouped  together,  from  the  simple  fact 
that  tliey  have  a  common  origin.  The  different  grades  of  asthenopia  pre- 
sent to  us  varied  and  unlike  symptoms,  but  they  all  have  a  basic  element 
in  common. 

I  propose,  now,  to  state  what  I  understand  to  be  the  pivotal  fact  around 
which  all  other  symptoms  are  grouped,  according  to  the  degree  of  the  case. 

Primarily,  all  cases  of  asthenopia  take  their  origin  in  the  attempt  tofixthe  sight 
upon  objects  near  the  eye. 

Beading,*  writing,  sewing  and  the  like  occupations,  call  forth  those 
symptoms  that  are  peculiarly  asthenopic.  To  my  mind  no  other  fact  is 
so  universal  to  all  forms  of  the  disease  as  this.  Guided  by  this  rule,  we 
can  scarcely  be  misled  in  our  investigation  of  even  the  most  severe  or  the 
most  peculiar  cases  of  asthenopia. 

Even  if  we  find  it  to  have  risen  to  such  a  severe  height  that  the  symp- 
toms no  longer  wait  on  the  action  of  the  eye,  but  are  present  constantly, 
still  the  fact  remains  that  originally  the  symptoms  appeared  only  when 
an  attempt  was  made  to  use  the  eyes  continuously  for  the  near  point. 

As  this  symptom  is  first  in  tiie  order  of  its  appearance,  so  for  a  greater 
or  less  length  of  time,  it  continues  to  be  the  only  symptom  manifested. 
And  since  for  this  we  are  prepared  to  offer  prompt  relief,  it  seems  a  pity, 
indeed,  that  this  warning  could  not  be  more  generally  heeded. 

For  this,  if  I  mistake  not,  the  general  practitioner  is  largely  at  fault. 
He  and  his  patients  alike,  indulge  in  unwarranted  prejudices.  Said  one 
of  these  gentlemen  to  me,  "I'll  agree  to  send  you  fifty  patients,  not  one  of 
whom,  I  believe,  need  glasses,  and  you  will  put  glasses  on  every  one  of 
them,  just  from  habit,"  I  said  in  reply,  "I'll  agree  to  send  you  fifty  pa- 
tients, ev^ry  one  of  whom,  I  know,  needs  gl asses,  and  you  will  not  put 
glasses  on  one  of  them,  just  from  ignorance." 

You  tell  your  patients  quite  too  often  that  they  better  not  wear  glasses, 
for  fear  it  might  be  an  injury  to  their  sight.  You  couH.  not  give  them 
more  injurious  advice. 

Asthenopia  is  not  always  cured  by  the  use  of  glasses,  nor  is  it  always 
relieved,  but,  as  a  rule,  both  results  speedily  follow  by  properly  adjusted 

spectacles. 

I  have,  however,  of  late,  ceased  to  wonder  at  the  dislike  people  have  to 
resorting  to  the  use  of  glasses.  In  a  village  of  considerable  size  and  im- 
portance, I  had  recently  occasion  to  make  the  run  of  the  jeweler's  shop,  in 
search  of  something  I  could  furnish  a  patient  in  that  line.    I  never  before 


Miscellaneous.  191 

had  8nch  a  privilege,  and  I  do  not  want  it  again.  I  can  not  now  recall 
what  I  found,  as  anything  but  a  sorry  accumulation  of  glass  ware.  As  for 
being  optical  lenses,  they  had  small  claim  to  the  honor.  And  1  noted  a 
peculiar  fact,  that  in  all  the  town  I  did  not  find  |on  sale  a  single  pair  of 
concave  glasses.  I  asked  each  dealer  why  this  was  so,  and  he  replied  he 
had  no  call  for  near  sighted  glasses. 

As  a  nation,  we  have  been  rapidly  getting  to  be  myopes — on  paper. 
Our  sennational  scriblers  have  clearly  proved,  by  statistics,  that  we  are 
all  becoming  near  sighted.  Well,  the  complaint  has  not  reached  the  rural 
districts  yet,  I  should  judge.  But  far  sighted  we  are,  and  out  of  this  far 
sighted ness  comes  the  bulk  of  our  asthenopic  cases.  And  for  these,  as  a 
rule,  convex  glasses  are  the  sovereign  remedy.  But  if  people  must  resort 
to  a  jeweler's  shop,  and  have  several  quarts  of  spectacles  placed  before 
them,  and  be  obliged  to  make  a  selection  out  of  them  as  their  fancy  or 
chance  may  dictate,  I  do  not  wonder  that  that  method  of  relief  is  put  off 
as  long  as  possible. 

As  this  paper  is  merely  a  study,  and  not  a  treatise,  I  may  be  pardoned 
for  repeating  what  I  wish  to  have  most  clearly  fixed  upon  your  minds. 

You  may  ask  me  to  define  asthenopia,  and  I  would  undoubtedly  hesitate 
to  make  the  attempt  if  obliged  to  frame  a  brief  definition.  Asthenopia  is 
many  things,  or  it  is  many  and  varied  symptoms  which  have  taken  long 
and  careful 'observation  to  detect  in  their  mutual  relation.  I  have  no  de- 
sire to  raise  any  of  the  many  mooted  questions  now  rife  among  specialists. 
Let  us  leave  them  to  settle  their  nicer  points  among  themselves,  while  we 
note  those  points  only  which  concern  us  as  general  practitioners  of  medi- 
cine. 

OKI  pLT^ons  and  young  persons,  do  not  certainly,  as  a  rule,  have  astheno- 
pia. A  debilitated  state  of  the  general  health  is  a  fruitful  cause  of  this 
affection.  Ladies — I  do  not  say  women — having  a  well  known  preemp- 
tion of  debility,  are  greatly  prone  to  it. 

Most  cases  will  be  found  to  have  reached  their  climax  through  almost 
imperceptible  degrees. 

Not  infrequently,  however,  we  find  the  attack  induced  with  remarkable 
suddenness. 

Cask  L — J.  K.,  aet.  thirty,  always  had  good  eyes,  and  used  them  con- 
stantly, as  draughtsman,  and  on  fine  mechanical  work.  A  few  weeks  ago 
he  rode  all  day  upon  the  cars,  from  Chicago  to  Cincinnati.  He  employed 
his  hours,  meantime,  diligently  reading.  Toward  night  his  eyes  began  to 
give  out  and  rapidly  grew  worse,  so  that  ere  he  reached  home  they  seemed 
to  him  to  twist  round  in  his  head,  producing  double  vision  and  vertigo. 
For  a  week  his  vision  remained  in  this  demoralized  condition,  attended 
with  severe  pain  in  the  eyes  and  head.  1  found  upon  examination,  great 
difficulty  in  fixing  for  a  near  point.  Upon  forcing  the  eyes  together  upon 
a  point  near  the  tip  of  the  nose,  one  of  them  would  swing  out  and  leave  its 


192  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

fellow  to  do  all  the  hard  work.  The  pain,  the  dread  of  light  and  the 
blurring  of  the  virion,  were  very  prominent.  And  all  this  was  induced  in 
a  single  day,  and  will  doubtless  last  many  months  before  complete  re- 
covery can  be  looked  for. 

In  mild  or  medium  grades  of  asthenopia  rest  gives  prompt  and  perfect 
relief ;  but  the  attack  is  renewed  at  once  if  the  eyes  are'  subjected  to  use 
again. 

In  the  severe  forms  there  is  nothing  gained  by  rest.  In  fact,  rest 
is  often  an  aggravation. 

Case  II. — M.  N.,  aet.  twenty-four,  book  keeper.  In  moderate  health. 
Been  gradually  getting  asthenopic  for  many  months — nearly  two  years. 
Pain  and  other  symptoms  heretofore  paroxysmal,  now  constant.  Worse  on 
Sundays  and  holidays.  Wakes  up  in  the  night,  with  pain  in  the  eyes.  No 
better  in  the  morningj  and  no  worse  at  night. 

As  a  rule,  asthenopia  has  more  or  less  photophobia.  But  this  is  not 
always  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  light. 

Case  III. — K  B.,  aet.  twenty-three,  teacher.  Mild  form  of  the  com- 
plaint, but  what  is  curious,  is  that  the  symptoms  are  all  aggravated  in 
twUightj  and  doudy  days. 

This  condition  which  we  are  considering,  is  very  productive  of  a  pecu- 
liar mental  state,  to  wit :  despondency.  The  chief  reason  of  this  lies  in 
the  patient's  apprehension  of  blindness.  This  fear  is  too  frequently  aug- 
mented by  the  uncertainties,  or  erroneous  diagnostic  views  of  iiis  or  her 
medical  adviser. 

Perhaps  no  complaint  is  more  frequently  mistaken  by  the  profession 
than  this.  To  the  solicitude  of  the  sufferer,  is  added  the  solicitude  of  the 
doctor,  who  fancies  he  sees  the  greatest  possible  danger  threatening  the 
patient.  Many  physicians  who  never  heard  of  asthenopia,  have  heard  of 
inflammations  of  the  retina  and  optic  nerve,  and  they  Jiave  a  vague  idea 
that  these  last  named  diseases  have,  characteristically,  the  symptoms  of 
photophobia  and.  pain.  The  reverse  of  this  is  true.  Neither  of  these 
symptoms  need  be  looked  for  in  inflammation  of  these  tissues. 

Asthenopia,  strictly  speaking,  is  not  a  disease.  It  is  a  group  of  symp- 
toms, and  when  these  are  concomitant  we  recognize  them  as  asthenopic. 
But  their  origin,  in  any  several  selected  cases,  may  be  very  diflerent. 

We  recognize  among  those  causes,  certain  conditions:  flrst,  of  the  re- 
tina ;  second,  of  the  lens ;  third,  of  the  cornea ;  fourth,  of  the  cilliary 
muscle;  fifth,  of  the  rectus  internus  or  extcrnus;  sixth,  of  the  eyeball, 
seventh,  of  the  ovaries  and  uterus  ;  eighth,  of  the  general  healtlj,  not  to 
speak  of  many  other  equally  potent  causes. 

To  go  back  now  to  our  pivotal  fact  again,  let  us  repeat:  all  oMhenopie 
symptoms  are  primarily  induced  by  using  the  vision  for  the  near  point.    The  patien  t 
can  not  sew,  or  read,  or  write,  etc.,  etc.,  without  bringing  on  certain  symp-  , 
toms.     Let  us  designate  a  few  of  them :  blurring  of  the  sight ;  pain  in  the 


Miscellaneous.  193 

eyeballs  and  head  ;  vertigo ;  nausea ;  eyes  become  bloodshot  or  watery ; 
feeling  of  sand  under  the  lids;  smarting  or  burning  of  lids. 

In  time,  these,  or  some  of  them  become  confirmed  and  constant,  and 
then  ensues  mental  depression. 

Now,  as  to  the  matter  of  diagnoflis,  it  would  be  a  gratification  to  every 
one  to  whom  sach  patients  apply,  to  be  able  to  detect  the  nature  of  the  dif- 
ficulty at  once. 

Case  I. — A.  Sw,  lady,  aet.  twenty-seven,  married;  two  children  ;  leucorr- 
hoea ;  obliged  to  sew  at  night.  Eyes  troubling  her  for  three  months,  now 
very  bad,  with  marked  asthenopic  symptoms.  '*Can  you  see  well  at  a  dis- 
tance?'' *'Yes,  and  with  ease."  *'When  you  first  look  at  reading  or  sew- 
ing, can  you  see  things  clearly  ?''  ''Only  for  a  moment,  and  then  every- 
thing becomes  indistinct,  and  if  I  persist,  then  pain  comes  en.''  On  this 
examination,  brief  ns  it  is,  we  might  safely  rest  our  diagnosis  of  asthenopia. 
Subsequent  treatment  would  undoubtedly  confirm  that  opinion. 

Casb  II. — R.  M.,  merchant,  aet.  forty -seven.  Can  not  see  to  read  eve- 
nings, without  great  trouble.  Asthenopic  symptoms,  induced  by  pro- 
longed use  of  the  eyes  at  any  time.  Eyes  often  bloodshot.  Far  sight  un- 
affected ;  both  eyes  equally  good.  Eyes  feel  well  and  strong  in  the  morn- 
ing, but  weak  and  easily  blurred  in  the  evening.  Here  we  have  a  clear 
case,  and  it  does  not  require  much  special  knowledge  to  recognize  it. 

I  have  no  desire  to  extend  therfe  cases,  many  of  which  are  easily  detected, 
and  they  form  the  bulk  of  all  such;  and  many  are  so  anomalous  as  to 
puzzle  the  most  careful  observer. 

The  treatment  of  asthenopia  covers  a  very  wide  range  of  knowledge,  and 
calls  for  the  most  skillful  use  of  agents. 

The  two  cases  I  have  just  cited,  the  first  depending  upon  naturally 
shallow  eyeballs,  (hypermetropia)  and  the  second  upon  a  lens  flattened 
by  nge  (presbyopia)  can  be  relieved  only  by  suitably  adjusted  convex 
glasses.  If  after  that,  symptoms  remain,  they  can  easily  be  removed  by 
medication. 

Other  cases  require  concave,  or,  perhaps,  cylindrical  glasses,  according 
to  the  refractive  state  of  the  eyes.  These  are  less  frequently  observed,  and 
should  be  referred  to  the  specialist. 

JEleetricUy  is  a  remedy  I  should  not  like  to  be  without,  in  treating  many 
of  these  cases.  Beard  and  Rockwell  relate  three  cases,  and  Butler,  in  his 
excellent  work,  quotes  one  of  the  three.  I  think  I  could  give  scores  of 
cases  both  relieved  and  cured  by  this  agent.  Its  immediate  efiect  on  se- 
vere cases  is  almost  magical.  The  effect  of  an  application  often  lasts  three 
or  four  days.  , 

As  to  our  materia  medica,  we  have  no  cause  to  complain  under  this  head, 
of  the  paucity  of  its  symptoms.    It  has  many  remedies,  rich  in  indications 
and  fruitful  of  desired  results. 
Apr  3 


194  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Natrum  mur.,  is  more  often  indicated  than  any  other  remedy.  It  is  es- 
pecially suitable  for  f  ales,  and  that,  in  part,  accounts  for  the  fact  just 
stated.  Symptoms — Redness  of  the  eyes,  with  lachrymation.  Vision 
weak  ;  can  not  read  or  sew  without  pain  in  eyeballs ;  itching  ;  burning  ; 
feeling  of  sand  in  the  eye.  Small  things  become  blurred.  If  to  these 
you  have  morning  aggravalion^  you  may  be  quite  sure  of  your  remedy. 

Ruia.  grav.y  stands  next  in  order  of  frequency.  Symptoms — Sensation  of 
heat  and  fire  in  the  eyes.  Eyes  easily  fatigued  by  reading.  Sharp,  biting 
pain,  with  itching  and  lachrymation.  Eyes  feel  strained;  dimness  of 
vision. 

Asthenopic  symptoms  with  dull  pain  intermitting,  and  a.m.  aggrava- 
tions, indicate  Natrum  mur.  Consequently  this  remedy  is  best  for  recent 
or  mild  cases. 

If  the  symptoms  are  continuous^  or  nearly  bo,  with  sharp  pains  and 
lachrymation  prominent,  RvJta,  grav.  is  sure  to  meet  them  best.  Hence  it 
is  for  long  standing  cases  the  better  of  the  two. 

Pkysostigma,  in  my  experience,  stands  next  in  order  of  frequency  of  in- 
dication. Symptoms — Drawing,  twisting  sensation  of  the  eyes ;  weakness 
of  the  rectus  internus,  with  double  vision  ;  headache  ;  dull  pain,  aching  in 
the  balls ;  short  sighted  ;  vision  indistinct.  This  is  the  remedy  for  astheno- 
pia in  near  sighted  people,  and  it  will,  in  my  experience^  reduce  the  ap- 
parent myopia,  as  well  as  control  the  symptoms  excited  by  it. 

Argentum  nit.  is  a  remedy  upon  which  we  can  rely  with  confidence,  and 
its  indications  are  pretty  well  marked.  Besides  general  asthenopic  symp- 
toms, it  has  marked  hypersemia  of  the  conjunctiva,  with  mucous  discharge 
and  redness  of  the  inner  canthi. 

Conium  i&  indicated  by  excessive  photophobia. 

AgaricuSy  by  twitching  of  the  lids.  Many  other  remedies  are  from  time 
to  time  called  into  use,  but  we  have  no  space  to  point  out  their  special 
indications. 

I  am  not  accustomed  to  give  these  reuiedies  in  attenuations  lower  than 
the  30th     I  beg  to  impress  upon  your  minds  the  following  facts  : 

Asthenopia  is  comparatively  easy  of  diagnosis. 

A  large  part — three-fourths  perhaps,  or  more,  require  to  have  glasses 
adjusted,  and  there  is  no  cure  without  attending  to  this  preliminary  step. 
A  good  knowledge  of  the  materia  medica,  or  a  ready  reference  to  it,  will 
give  the  needed  knowledge  as  to  the  proper  remedy  to  use. 


Miscellaneous,  195 


Tho  Death  of  Socrates.  A  Contribution  to  the  Pathogenesis 
of  Hemlock.  From  the  Horn.  Rundshau.  Translated 
by  O.  B.  ^ioss,  M,  D.,  Cleveland,  O.  > 

Plato  relates  the  death  of  the  great,  wise  man,  in  the  fol- 
lowing langunge: 

Crito  gave  a  sign  to  one  of  the  slaves  standing  near,  who 
immediately  went  out  and  after  some  time  came  in  with  the 
man,  who  should  administer  the  posion.  This  was  thorough- 
ly beaten  in  a  bowl,  and,  directly,  Socrates  cried  out:  "Very 
well,  my  friend,  what  must  I  do  now?" 

"Nothing  further,"  said  he,  "except  to  walk  a  little  after 
you  have  drank,  until  you  feel  a  weariness  in  the  limbs,  at 
which  event  you  can  lie  upon  your  bed;  the  poison  will  then 
operate  of  itself."  And  with  that  he  delivered  the  bowl  to 
him.  Socrates  took  it  with  the  greatest  firmness,  without 
any  excitation,  without  the  color  or  features  changing;  he 
only  appeared  unshaken  as  was  his  custom,  and  said:  "Tell 
me,  can  I  not  make  use  of  a  litlle  of  this  potion  for  a  lib- 
ation?'' 

"Socrates,"  answered  he,  "we  only  prepared  so  much  of  it 
as  is  necessary  for  drinking." 

"I  understand,"  said  Socrate?,"  "yet  it  is  at  least  permitted 
to  ofTcr  prayers  to  the  gc^ds,  in  order  that  they  bless  our 
journey.  Would  that  they  might  fulfil  my  wishes!"  After 
he  had  spoken  that  he  placed  the  bowl  to  his  lips  and  drank 
the  poison  with  wonderful  tranquility  and  mildness. 

However,  Socrates,  who  walked  back  and  torth,  thought 
that  he  felt  heaviness  in  the  limbs  and  laid  himself  upon  his 
back,  as  he  had  been  advised.  The  man  who  administered 
the  poison  now  approached,  and  after  he  had  observed  the 
feet  and  lower  limbs,  he  pinched  the  foot  violently  and  asked 
him,  if  he  felt  it.  "No,"  said  Socrates.  Then  he  pinched  his 
thigh,  ar.d  his  hand  passing  further  upwards,  proved  that 
the  body  was  cold  and  stiff,  and,  in  addition  to  that,  so  soon 
as  the  coldness  should  reach  the  heart,  Socrates  would  leave 
us.     Already  the  entire  lower  part  of  the  abdomen  had  be- 


196  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

come  cold.  Then  removing  the  coverings  he  said,  and 
these  were  his  last  words:  "Crito,  weowe  Aesculapius  a  cock; 
forget  not  to  pay  this  debt."  "It  shall  be  done,"  signified 
Crito,  "but  will  you  not  still  say  something  else  to  us?"  He 
made  no  reply,  and  a  short  time  after  that  he  made  a  con- 
vulsive movement.  At  that  the  man  uncovered  him  wholly; 
his  countenance  was  motionless.  Crito  observed  it  and  closed 
his  eyes. 


Is  It  an  Evil  to  be  Abolished  ? 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  September  i8,  1879. 

Dear  Doctor: — Why  do  you  not  protest  against  our 
medicines  being  put  into  every  drug  store  in  the  land?  If 
the  avarice  of  our  present  houses  can  not  be  otherwise 
checked,  let  us  call  a  convention,  and  stop  patronizing  every 
house  that  will,  for  a  few  dollars,  so  far  compromise  our 
cause.  Should  we  unite,  we  can  secure  one  house  who  will 
manufacture  and  keep  our  medicines  for  homoeopathic  phy- 
sicians.— Yours,  G.  N.  Brigham. 

Dear  Doctor: — Our  idea  upon  this  question  is  simply  this: 
commercial  matters  are  a  law  luito  themselves.  The  medi- 
cal  profession  could  not  if  it  would  control  the  market. 
There  may  be  abuses  in  this  department,  but  it  would  be  fu- 
tile for  the  doctors  to  attempt  to  abolish  them  by  a  general 
management  of  the  trade,  Our  advice  is  for  each  man  to 
patronize  the  best  houses,  and  the  poor  ones  will  die  out. 
We  can  not  help  it  if  drug  stores  keep  homcEopathic  medi- 
cines. It  does  not  seem  to  us  to  be  an  altogether  unhealthy 
state  of  affairs.  There  niay  be  objections  to  it,  but  a  conven- 
tion would  hardly  remedy  the  trouble. 


Miscellaneous,  197 


Comments  on  "Ten  Surgical  Cases."  By  j  G.  Gilchrist,  M.  D., 

Detroit,  Mich. 

In  the  December  number  of.  this  journal,  Dr.  Fahnestocle 
reports  ten  cases  occurring  in  surgical  practice,  and  in  tlje  suc- 
ceeding number,  some  comments  on  the  same.  4  Many 
thoughts  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  surgical  practitioner,  as 
these  two  papers  are  read,  and  as  omissions  occur  in  the  sec- . 
ond  paper  that  are  hardly  excusable,  I, ask  permission  to 
briefly  allude  to  them.  1 

In  Case  I,  on  page  three  hundred  and  sixty-four,  the  ex- 
pression is  used,  "thinking  that  if  the  felon  were  now  lanced 
it  ^vould  hasten  off  the  effects  of  the  Chloroform^  There  is 
probably  no  more  popular  error  than  this,  that  the  danger 
from  shock  is  less  than  the  danger  from  Chloroform  nar- 
cosis. Mr.  Lister,  in  Holmes'  System  of  Surgery,  conclu- 
sively shows  tl>at  the  cause  of  death  from  Chloroform  is 
oftener  from  insufficient  anaesfhesia,  than  gny^irect  effec}:  ot 
the  agent.  The  familiar  fact  is  cited  that  the  majority  ot 
deaths  occur  in  the  practice  of  dentists,  or  when  slight  opera- 
tions are  attempted,  and.  the  explanation  will  at  once  occur 
to  the  student  of  surgery.  Death  occurs,  under  such  circum- 
stances, from  respiratory  failure,  and  not  to  cardiac  paralysis, 
due  entirely  to  shock,  which  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  anaes- 
thetic condition  particularly  exposes  the  patient  to.  The  re- 
spiration, it  is  well  known,  is  maintained  by  the  combined 
agency  of  the  cerebro-spinal  axis,  and  the  ganglionic  system. 
The  effects  of  Chloroform  are  manifested  in  a  certain  order, 
viz:'  first,  suspension  of  sensory  phenomena,  and  later  reflex. 
With  pj*ofound  anaesthesia  all  apprehension  of  shock  may 
be  dismissed,  as  sensation  is  absolutely  extinguished;  with 
partial  ansesthesia,  not  only  will  pain  be  felt,  and  consequently 
shock  imminent,  but  the  diminished  nerve  action  greatly  ag- 
gravates the  danger;  at  the  same  time  it  increases  the  pre- 
sumption of  such  an  action.  So  true  is  this,  that  the  old 
theory  of  avoiding  anaesthesia  in  cases  of  cardiac  lesion,  is 
now  generally  rejected,  and  the  greatest  safety  of  such  pa- 


198  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tients  is  recognized  as  consisting  in  complete  anassthesia. 
While  the  causes  of  death  from  this  beneficent  agent  are 
known  to  be  four-fold,  viz:  apnoea,  from  exclusion  of  air; 
coma,  from  too  rapid  administration;  syncope,  from  an  over 
dose;  and  shock,  from  insufficient  anaesthesia.  It  is  admitted 
by  all  competent  to  form  an  opinion,  that  the  last  exposes  the 
patient  to  greater  danger  than  either  of  the  others.  A  caus- 
ary  examination  of  the  statistics  available,  will  amply  prove 
this  point.  From  these  considerations,  I  am  fully  warranted 
in  giving  a  warning  against  the  practice  alluded  to  in  the 
quotation,  aiid  assurethe  Doctor  that  he  gave  his  patient  a 
capital  opportunity  to  be  freed  from  all  pain  forever,  and 
committed  a  greater  error  than  Jie  did  when  he  lanced  the 
wrong  finger.  With  this  view  of  the  case,  I  heartily  endorse 
the  remark  of  the  Doctor,  (second  paper)  "no  one  should 
administer  an  ansesthetic  unless  thoroughly  conversant  with 
its  effects,  and  the  dangers  attending  its  use." 

In  commenting  on  Case  VI.,  the  writer  says,  "always 
operate  in  strangulated  hernia,  after  other  means  have  had 
a  fair  trial."  I  would  paraphrase  that  in  this  way;  "Always 
operate  upon  a  strangulated  hernia  before  other  means  have, 
etc."  This  may  startle  many  who  are  not  in  constant  surgi- 
cal practice,  but  in  addition  to  my  own  experience,  I  am 
happy  to  have  Mr.  Poland  (Holmes'  System  of  Surgery),  on 
my  side.  Statistics  given  by  this  author,  conclusively  show 
that  the  best  results,  not  only  as  to  mortality,  but  a  radical 
cure  of  the  hernia  as  well,  are  experienced  by  those  who 
make  herniotomy  the  first  resort.  The  cases  that  terminate 
disasterously  are  those  which  have  been  tortured  by  taxis, 
etc.,  and  handed  over  to  the  operator,  when  death  seems  im- 
minent. As  Poland  says,  more  die  from  the  neglect  of  the 
operation  than  its  performance.  Better  be  too  hasty  than  too 
slow.  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  performing  herniotomy 
sixty-four  times,  to  date;  my  failures  are  two,  as  to  continu- 
ance of  life.  To  what  do  I  attribute  this  success.?  To  early- 
operation  in  the  first  place,  and  to  homoeopathic  treatment  in 
the  second.  Remedies  alone  will  cure  many  a  case;  but,  alas, 
there  are  some  in  which  the   strangulation  is  likewise  incar- 


3fiscellaneou8.  1 99 

cerated  (by  plastic  adhesions),  when  they  must  fail.  I  prefer, 
therefore,  to  operate  when  my  patient  is  in  the  best  condition 
to  recover,  when  he  is  not  worn  out  by  pain,  and  the  local 
inflammation  made  more  intense.  By  early  operation,  in  ad- 
dition to  what  has  been  said,  we  have  this  advantage,  that 
the  process  of  cicatrization  often  produces  a  radical  cure  as 
well.  Unless  taxis  will  immediately  induce  improvement, 
say  in  five  minutes,  perform  herniotomy. 

While  the  other  cases  might  well  be  made  the  subject  for 
additional  comment,  these  two  present  the  most  salient 
points.  These  comments  are  not  offered  in  any  spirit  of  ill- 
nature,  or  to  appear  censorious,  but  simply  as  supplying 
something  overlooked  by  the  Doctor,  and  hence  necessary 
to  make  the  lesson  contained  in  his  instructive  papers  pro- 
perly available  to  those  needing  such  instruction. 


Conesponddnce. 

Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  Feb.  20, — A  few  days  ago  the  editors 
of  Michigan  visited  the  University,  and  at  ten-thirty  a.  m., 
entered  the  rooms  of  the  homoeopathic  department.  Prof, 
Wilson,  who  was  occupying  the*  platform  at  that  hour,  was 
delegated  to  give  an  address  of  welcome. 

Prof.  Wilson's  Speech. — Gentlemen  qf  the  Press:  In  be- 
half of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  the  University 
of  Michigan  I  am  glad  to  welcome  you  here  today.  If  you 
had  held  an  editorial  convention  here,  say  a  million  of  years 
ago,  you  would  have  found  the  scene  somewhat  encumbered 
with  material  in  the  process  of  construction.  You  would  not 
have  failed  to  notice  Silurian  seas,  Laurentian  rocks  and 
Jurassic  strata  in  confusion*mixed.  And  as  faithful  chronic- 
lers of  the  times,  you  would    have  reported  in  this  wise: 


200  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

"The  thing  is  interesting,  but  not  pronnising."  Coming  to-day 
again  and  looking  over  this  fair  earth  with  its  beautiful  hills 
and  valleys,  its  mountains,  its  rivers  and  its  oceans,  you 
would,  no  doubt,  as  most  editors  do,  hasten  to  retract  or 
modify  your  first  statement,  and  would  cable  your  numerous 
readers  to  this  effect:  "It  was  all  a  mistake.  The  thing  is  a 
success," 

The  application  of  this  is  obvious  to  all.  As  you  go  about 
our  premises  to-day,  stumbling:  over  piles  of  lumber  and  beds 
of  mortar,  and  it  may  be  thinking  "cuss  words"  as  you  tear 
your  unmentionables  on  projecting  nails,  and  soiling  your 
beaver  coats  with  omnipresent  plaster,  you  will  please  re- 
member that  "Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day." 

Remember  also,  gentlemen,  your  reputation  for  veracity 
and  for  prophetic  insight,  and  say  to  your  constituency: 
There's  a  giant  born  in  Ann  Arbor,  and  his  enemies  are 
trying  to  steal  his  swaddling  clothes  to  hide  their  nakedness 
in.  And  if  he  be  not  strangled  {?)  in  his  infancy  he  will  one^ 
day  "make  Rome  howl." 

Gentlemen,  you  see  we  are  building,  and  are  soon  to  set 
up  housekeeping  all  by  ourselves,  and  let  me  tell  you,  it  will 
be  on  a  new  and  improved  plan.  When  you  come  again,  as 
we  hope  you  will,  you  will  find  the  latch -string  hanging  out, 
the  kettle  boiling  on  the  stove,  and  the  table  set  for  you,  our 
honored  guests.  When  you  come  again,  if  our  hospital  is 
ever  done,  ''we  will  welcome  you  with  bloody  hands  to  a 
hospitable" — entertainment  by  way  of  a  few  ovariotomies  or 
amputations,  or  cataract  extractions,  or  whatever  may  please 
your  fancy  or  suit  your  taste. 

Gentlemen,  we  are  really  glad  to  see  you,  and  could  wish 
that  we  were  in  better  shape  to  "take  you  in."  And  let  me 
beg  of  you,  if  you  have  any  influence  with  the  man  in  the 
moon,  (and  we  know  you  have),  or  with  the  Chief-Justice  of 
the  United  States,  or  whomsoever  it  may  be  that  has  authority 
or  power,  that  ydu  will  use  your  all-powerful  pen  that  we 
may,  before  the  present  century  closes,  have  our  hospital 
finished. — Modus. 


Miscellaneous,  201 


DysmenorrhODa.     From  the  Allg,  Horn.  Zeitung.     Translated 
by  A.  McNeil,  M.  D.,  New  Albany,  Ind. 

During  the  autumn  of  1877  I  was  called  to  see  the  wife  of 
a  school  teacher.  She  was  forty-two  years  old,  looked 
healthy  and  strong,  and  was  trying  Homoeopathy  as  a  dernier 
resort.  She  complained  of  the  most  intolerable  pains,  which 
she  endured  before  and  during  her  periods.  Since  twelve 
years  ago,  when  she  had  her  last  child,  she  had  suffered  in 
this  way.  All  the  treatment  she  had  received,  including  the 
different  operations  to  which  she  had  submitted  at  the  hands 
of  specialists  had  proved  unavailing.  Her  last  labor  had 
been  extremely  difficult  and  was  pnly  completed  by  artificial 
ai'.l.  During  all  of  this  time,  she  felt  before  the  beginning 
of* menstruation,  a  general  physical  depression;  the  hands 
and  feet  were  heavy  as  lead,  flashes  of  heat  to  the  head  with 
^breaking  out  of  sweat;  her  appetite  had  so  decreased  that 
she  had  become  so  extremely  weak  that  she  was  compelled 
to  keep  her  bed.  These  symptoms  had  now  all  become 
worse  and  more  violent.  The  hardest  of  all  to  suffer  was  a 
pain  in  the  loins,  which  had  recently  set  in  so  that  she  must 
roll  up  pillows  to  press  upon.  These  pains  extended  from 
the  loins  to  the  thighs  on  one  side,  and  into  the  (lank  and 
region  of  the  womb  on  the  other.  They  were  contracting, 
burning,  spasmodically  tearing  and  often  dull,  pressing.  But 
now  the  real  agony  began.  The  pains  which  till  this  time 
had  been  paroxysmal,  had  yet  been  bearable,  but  as  the  flow 
approached  it  appeared  as  if  they  would  take  her  life,  so 
that  it  had  been  despaired  of,  and  her  husband,  on  the  ad- 
vice of  her  physicians  had  extreme  unction  administered. 
Below  the  umbilicus,  and  to  its  right  and  left  a  cutting  and 
tearing  began  that  made  her  double  up  like  a  worm,  a  kind 
of  colic  in  which  the  pains  became  so  bad  that  violent  vom- 
iting ensued  and  she  finally  lost  her  consciousness  and  un- 
derstanding. This  condition  lasted  till  the  flow  began,  how* 
ever  scanty  it  was.  The  pains  were  less  severe  when  the 
menses  were  more  profuse;  the  flow    then    was   mostly  in 


202  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

lumps.  On  the  third  day  of  menstruation  there'only  re" 
mained  some  pains  in  the  loins,  and  a  bruised  feeling  in  the 
extremities,  the  menses  ceased  on  this  the  third  day,  and  she 
felt  entirely  well  until  the  approach  of  her  next  period: 

Among  the  medicines  which  had  been  given  to  her  intern- 
ally by  the  physicians,  I  perceived  the  usual  narcotics  of 
Morphine,  etc,  and  besides  homoeopathic  vials  of  J^ux,  Cham. 
and  Ipecac,  none  of  which  had  done  more  than  to  ameliorate 
the  pains.  The  operations  performed  by  the  specialists  could 
not  have  been  anything  else  than  attempts  to  mechanically 
dilate  the  cervix. 

I  have  designated  her  case  dysmenorrhcea,  although  she 
frequently  and  emphatically  asseverated  that  her  trouble  arose 
during  her  last  labor,  and  she  thought  that  if  she  could  again 
become  pregnant  she  would  be  better,  so  that  I  may  say  that 
it  was,  in  a  certain  measure,  a  case  of  sterility  caused  by  ste- 
nosis of  the  cervix,  produced  by  her  long  continued  labor, 
which  was  completed  by  instruments.  Could  there  not  have 
been  injuries  to  the  parts  which  were  followed  by  exudation 
and  cicatrization,  which  narrowed  or  closed  the  cervix,  and 
thereby  caused  the  difficulty  in  expelling  the  menstrual 
blood? 

The  therapeutics,  however,  offered  more  difficulty.  I 
have  observed  the  advice  of  Prof.  Buchner,  and  I  hope  my 
kind  readers  will  bear  with  me  while  I  give  his  indications 
in  these  cases.  He  said  at  different  times:  "In  too  stormy 
menstruation  give  Aeon,;  in  spasmodic.  Atropine,  BeUad,^ 
Cham.,  Coccul.,  Cuprum:  accompanied  by  hyperaemia,  Bellad,; 
by  colic,  Atrop.;  when  convulsions  are  very  violent,  AS^ramou.; 
in  spasmodic  and  too  frequent.  Ipecac;  in  too  frequent 
menses  in  senemic  women,  Chinih,,  followed  by  some  of  the 
calcareous  preparations;  in  too  scanty  menses  of  aenemic 
women,  Puhat,,  Sepia.;  with  danger  of  suffocation  during 
menses.  Zinc.  The  action  of  the  calcareous  preparations  on 
the  uterus  and  ovaries,  is  more  beneficial  than  that  of  any 
other  remedies,  so  that  not  even  Platina  can  compete  with 
them.  We  use  different  forms  of  Calcarea^  according  to  the 
condition  of  the  patient,  the  Carbonica,  Acetica,  the  Phos- 


Miscellaneous,  203 

pkorica,  Muriatica,  Sulphurica,  Jodata,  Bromata^  etc.,  be- 
tween which  we  must  carefully  differentiate." 

The  remedy  which  I  gave  in  this  case  was  AU^opine 
sitlph.  3  cent.,  every  two  hours  half  a  drop.  I  chose  it  for  the 
following  reasons:  the  other  remedies  which  occurred  to  me 
were  Stramom.  and  Cuprum.  Chamom.,  as  I  have  above  men- 
tioned, is  only  indicated  in  the  lighter  spasms,  although  when 
accompanied  by  constant  labor  like  pains  from  the  loins  to 
the  hypogastrium,  with  slimy,  greenish  diarrhoea,  flatulence, 
etc.,  confirm  the  choice.  Belladonna  is  indicated  in  conges- 
tive, rheumatic  and  spasmodic  conditions,  and  it  also  has  the 
feeling  as  if  everything  would  fall  out  of  the  genitals,  which 
was  not  present  in  this  case.  Although  the  congestion  to 
the  head  deserved  consideration,  yet  I  thought  it  required  the 
alkaloid.  Jahr  recommends  Cocculus  and  Cuprum  very 
highly  when  the  menses  do  not  flow  normally,  with  colic. 
Moreover  in  oppression  or  spasm  of  the  chest,  with  groaning 
and  sighing,  Cocculus  is  indicated.  These  symptoms  were 
nrot  observed  in  this  case,  and  my  patient  could  not  be  said 
to  have  too  frequent  menses,  nor  to  be  anaemic.  The 
symptoms  of  the  case  showed  that  the  direct  cause  was  in 
the  uterus,  i.  c,  in  an  abnormal  closing  of  the  cervix,  spas- 
modic or  otherwise.  •  Prof.  Buchner  placed  Atropine  at  the 
head  of  remedies  for  spasm  of  the  cervix,  with  Stram.  along- 
side of  it  in  convulsions  with  screaming  (affection  of  the 
nervous  recurrens),  and  Cuprum  where  the  motor  nerves  are 
involved.  The  effect  of  the  Atropine  was  that  after  taking 
it  four  days  before  the  expected  period,  the  cramps  appeared 
but  were  extremely  slight,  a  mere  hint,  but  did  not  reach  an 
outbreak.  At  the  next  they  did  not  appear  at  all,  nor  have 
they  till  now  (a  year  and  a  half). 


204  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 


ComnidnGOniOIlt  ExorcisOS  of  Pulte  Medical  College. 

Despite  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  College  Hall,  on 
Walnut  street,  was  well  filled  upon  the  evening  of  March 
4th,  by  the  friends  of  PultJ  Homoeopathic  Med»cal  College, 
and  of  its  graduating  class  numbering  twenty-three,  and  it  is 
but  just  to  say  that  the  personal  appearance  of  the  young 
gentlemen  who  received  their  licenses  to  practice  was  most 
favorable. 

Tjie  exercises  were  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev,  John 
Gray,  who  invoked  the  divine  blessing  on  the  college,  its 
professors,  and  graduates.  The  prayer  was  followed  by  an 
address  by  Rev.  C.  W.  Wendte,  replete  with  good  advice  to 
the  young  gentlemen  about  to  enter  the  practice  of  one  of  the 
noblest  of  arts.  Then  came  the  presentation  of  prizes 
awarded  by  the  faculty  for  excellence  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  the  college.  The  prizes  were  awarded  by  Prof. 
J.  D.  Buck.  The  prizes  and  the  names  of  the  fortunate  re- 
cipients are  given  below: 

First  Faculty  prize — sixty-five  dollars,  awarded  to  C.  A. 
Oliver,  of  California. 

Second  Faculty  prize — thirty  dollars,  awarded  to  Wm.  C. 
Hastings,  of  Indiana. 

First  special  prize,  offered  by  Prof.  J,  D.  Buck,  for  best 
notes  and  examination  in  physiology — One  copy  of  Foster's 
Physiology,  awarded  to  Miss  Stella  Hunt,  an  undergraduate. 

Second  special  prize,  ofl'ered  by  Prof.  T.  P.  Wilson,  for 
best  notes  on  theory  and  practice — One  copv  each  of  Dun- 
ham's **Therapeutics,"  and  "Materia  Medica,"  awarded  to 
W.  I.  Lusk,  of  Michigan. 

Third  special  prize,  oflTered  by  Prof.  Wm,  Owens,  for  best 
report  of  his  clinical  lectures — One  copy  of  Aitken's  Science 
.and   Practice   of  Medicine;  awarded   to   M.   R.  French,    of 
Ohio. 

Fourth  special  prize,  offered  by  Prof.  D.  W.  Hartshorn, 
for  best  work  in  bandaging — One  copy  of  Helmuth's  Sur- 
gery; awarded  to  J.  A.  Utter,  of  Indiana. 


Miscellaneous,  205 

Fifth  spscial  prize,  offered  by  Medical  Advance  Publishing 
Company,  fot  best  report  of  ten  clinical  cases — Cash,  ten  dol- 
lars; awarded  to  J.  W.  Means,  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  degrees  were  then  conferred  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Epply, 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  in  a  brief  address,  the 
candidates  being  called  to  the  platform  and  the  diplomas 
delivered.  There  were  many  floral  favors  distributed  to  the 
graduates.  The  names  and  States  of  residents  of  the  class 
are  as  follows: 

J.  Andrews,  Ohio;  R.  S.  Brigham,  Ohio;  J.  T.  Ellis,  Ohio; 
M.  R.  French,  Ohio;  A.J.  Hammer,  Ohio;  Wm.  C.  Hastincrs/ 
Indiana,  L.  M.  Kimball,  New  Hampshire;  O.  Lang,  Michi- 
gan; J.  W.  Mea..s,  Pennsylvania;  S.J.Randall,  Wisconsin; 
J.  A.  Utter,  Indiana;  J.  B.  Wise,  Ohio;  N.  H,  Bailey,  Michi- 
gan; B.  I.  Bargee,  Ohio;  W.  H.  Enos,  Illinois,  T.  A.  Ham- 
mond, New  York;  M.  D.  Heath,  Pennsylvania;  O.  C.  Link, 
Indiana;  W.  I.  Lusk.  Michigan;  C.  A.  Oliver,  California; 
F.  D.  Sargent,  Colorado;  A.  H.  Vance,  Ohio. 

The  valedictory  address  was  delivered  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Has- 
tings, of  the  graduating  class,  who  took  the  second  faculty 
prize.  After  a  benediction,  the  class,  faculty,  and  a  few  in- 
vited guests  adjourned  to  Keppler's  restaurant,  where  an  ele- 
gant banquet  was  spread.  The  regular  toasts  of  the  evening 
were: 

1.  I'.i  memory  of  the  founder  of  Homoeopathy,  Dr.  Samuel 
Hahnemann.    Let  us  drink  this  toast  standing  and  in  silence. 

2.  The  Graduating  Cla«is  of  i88o.  May  Pulte's  latest 
brood  ever  recognize  the  sound  of  its  mother's  voice.  Re- 
sponse by  Dr.  A.  H.  Vance. 

The  Alumni — May  they  always  labor  for  the  prosperity  of 
their  Alma  Mater.     Response  by  Dr.  E.  E.  Loy. 

4.  The  Undergraduates — Within  an  oyster  shell  unoped 
the  purest  pearl  is  hidden.     Response  by  W,  C.  Young. 

5.  Women  as  Physicians — May  their  number  increase  and 
success  attend  their  noble  efforts.  Response  by  Miss  S.  C. 
O'Kcefe. 

6.  Inauguration  Day  (4th  of  March)— May  this  class, 
March  4th,  with  the  conviction  that  they  are  this  day  inau- 


206  Cincinnati  Medical  Advanct, 

gurated  into  the  noblest  work  of  life.     Response  by  Rev.  C. 
W.  Wendte. 

A  number  of  volunteer  toasts  were  offered,  and  the  guests 
departed,  well  pleased,  at  a  late  hour. 


-♦-•- 


m\  MMx.%1^. 


The  Homoeopathic   Law  of  Similarity.    By  Dr.  Von  Graavogl.     Tran^- 
lated  by  Geo.  E.  Shipman,  M.  D.,  Chicago. 

For  advanced  reailers,  and  those  well  up  in  science,  we  think  this  is  the 
best  exposition  of  the  horaceopathic  law  which  we  have  ever  seen.  It 
should  be  widely  distributed  among  students  and  scientific  men.  It  is  not 
easy  reading,  but  it  is  clear  and  convincing. 

Woods's  Library  of  Standard  Authors  for  1880. 

Our  readers  have  full  knowledge  of  the  extraordinary  plan  which  this 
house  carried  out  last  year,  in  giving  to  the  profession  a  series  of  works  at 
the  low  price  of  one  dollar  each.  There  was  issued  one  each  month,  mak- 
ing a  beautiful  anil  useful  library  of  remarkable  cheapness.  The  same 
house  now  offers  for  the  present  year  another  series,  somewhat  larger  and 
equally  cheap.  The  twelve  volumes,  of  four  thousand  octavo  pages,  may 
be  had  for  fifteen  dollars.  These  will  include  :  I.  Venereal  Diseases,  II. 
Continued  and  Periodical  Fevers,  III.  Foreign  Bodies  in  Surgical  Prac- 
tice, IV.  Foreign  Bodies  in  Surgical  Practice,  V.  Diseases  of  the  Ear,  VI, 
Physijal  Diagnosis,  VII.  Therapeutics,  VIII.  Therapeutics,  IX.  Thera- 
peutics, X.  Functional  Nervous  Diseases,  XI.  Minor  Surgery,  XII.  Dis- 
eases and  Deformities  of  the  Joint. 

Homoeopathy  Vind'cated.    A  Reply  to  Dr.  Joseph  Kidd's  "I^ws  of  Thera- 
peutics."     B};  E.  W.  Berridge,  M.  D.    Adam  Holden,  Liverpool. 

Some  time  since,  we  made  notice  of  Dr.  Kidd's  Book.  If  any  of  our 
readers  have  perused  it,  they  should  no"^  obtain  Dr.  Berridge's reply.  And 
whether  they  have  read  Kidd  or  not,  it  will  pay  to  read  this  ringing  little 
pamphlet,  for  it  strikes  home  with  great  force,  and  with  remarkable  clear. 


Book  Notices.  • 

ness  exposes  the  errors  of  the  man  who  seeks  to  revivify  the  dead  Galenic 
law  of  contraries,  and  place  it  on  a  par  with  nature's  therapeutic  law  of  simi- 
lia.  Dr.  Berridge  raust  pardon  our  delay  in  noticing  his  work.  We  have 
just  now  found  time  to  read  it,  and  the  foregoing  will  indicate  the  impres- 
sion it  has  made  upon  our  mind. 

Practical  Surgery,  including  surgjcal  dressings,  bandaging,  ligations  and 
amputations.  By  J.  Ewing  Mears,  M.  D.  Lindsay  <&  Blakiston, 
Philadelphia. 

By  hn  unfortunate  oversight  we  have  failed  to  give  this  work  an  earlier 
notice,  ^ye  do  so  now  with  special  pleasure,  believing  it  is  never  too  late 
too  mend  in  editorial  matters,  and  never  out  of  place  to  recommend  to  our 
readers  the  best  works  on  surgery.  This  work  comprises  only  two  hundred 
and  eighty  pages,  but  those  pages  are  well  supplied  with  just  such  informa- 
tion as  is  needed,  both  by  student  and  practitioner.  For  sale  by  Robert 
Clarke  &  Co. 


%hi%n'%  %Mt. 


Cincinnati,  March  18,  1880. 

Editor  Advaa'ce: — You  can  announce,  in  connection  with  the  coming 
meeting  of  the  Ohio  Homoeopathic  State  Medical  Society,  May  11th,  that 
we  have  a  written  agreement  with  the  "Gibson  House"  to  entertain  all 
physicians  in  attendance  on  the  next  meeting,  at  three  dollars  per  day 
(including  wife  and  children  at  same  rate).  By  writing  to  the  house  in 
April,  good  rooms  will  be  reserved.  The  railroads  will  all  give  excursion 
rates  on  account  of  the  May  festival,  which  commences  May  10th. — Re- 
spectfully, M.  M.  Eaton,  M.  D.,  Chairman  Committee  of  Arrangements 

W.  II.  Watson,  M.  D. — This  distinguished  gentleman  has  recently  been 
appointed  by  Governor  Cornell,  to  the  position  of  Surgeon  General  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  No  better  appointment  could  certainly  have  been 
made.  Dr.  Watson  is  well  known  to  the  profession,  and  we  share  in  the 
universal  pride  that  Homoeopathy  is  thus  fittingly  recognized  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  one  of  the  most  worthy  representatives. 

What  Science  Costs. — A  patient  recently  remarked  that  his  "old  doc 
tor"  never  had  any  trouble  in  telling  when  he  had  a  fever,  but  that  his 
"new  doctor"  couldn't  tell  anything   about  it  without  using  a  glass  tube. 


208  Cincinuati  Medical  Advance. 

His  inference  wa8  that  the  young  *uh  was  a  fool  to  the  old  man.    So  much 
for  medical  progress. 

Dr.  C.  C.  Olmsted  has  been  appointed  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
arrangements  at  Milwaukee,  and  will  answer  all  questions  and  requests 
that  may  be  sent  him,  in  regard  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  American  In- 
stitute of  Homoeopathy. 

The  Secretary  informs  us  that  the  15th  of  June  next,  is  the  time  ap- 
pointed for  the  meeting  of  the  Institute.  It  will  hold  its  sessions  on  the 
15th,  16th,  17th  and  18th. 

Thr  following  are  among  the  recent  commencement  exercises:  Hom- 
oeopathic Medical  Department,  Iowa,  March  2d.  Annual  Address  by  Hon. 
J.  F.  Wilson.    Class  Valedictory,  by  F.  Wm.  Winter. 

Homoeopathic  Hospital  College,  of  Cleveland,  Wednesday  evening,  Feb. 
25th. 

Pulte  Medical  College,  of  Cincinnati,  March  4th. 

Boston  University  School  of  Medicine,  March  3d.  Salutatory,  by  Miss 
Stella  Manning.    Valedictory,  by  Geo.  A.  Slocumb. 

Otis  Clapp  &  Sox,  Homoeopathic  Pharmaceutists,  of  Boston,  send  us  a 
beautiful  calender  for  1880.    Thanks. 

H.  R.  Arndt,  M.  D.— This  distinguished  gentleman  has  taken  the  edi- 
torial chair  in  the  '^Medical  Counsellor,"  of  Chicago.  The  retirement  of 
the  former  editor,  Dr.  Mills,  is  to  be  regretted,  for  he  showed  judgment 
and  tact,  and  was  always  true  to  his  principles.  Dr.  Arndt  will,  we  are 
sure,  fill  the  bill.  We  know  him  of  old,  and  believe  the  profession  will 
enjoy  his  management  of  the  ever  popular  "Counsellor." 

Dr.  R.  S.  Brigiiam,  formerly  of  Cincinnati,  has  located  at  New  Albany, 
Ind.,  taking  the  office  of  Dr.  J.  P.  Dake,  Jr. 

Dr.  M.  R.  French  has  located  in  Ne>^port,  Ky. 

# 

Dr.  O.  B.  Moss  has  moved  from  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  to  No.  385  Euclid 
avenue,  Cleveland,  O. 

Dr.  G.  R..  Davis,  of  Ironton,  has  located  in  Cincinnati. 

University  of  Michigan  Homosopathic  Medical  College.— Ann 
Arbor  Clinics,  March  13,  1880.— Services  Prof.  Wilson:  1,  strabismus;  2, 
atrophy  optic  nerve;  3,  chronic  gastritis;  4,  astigmatism ;  5,  epilepsy; 
6,  diabetes  mel. ;  7,  stricture  nasal  duct ;  8,  asthenopia,  from  myopic  astig- 
matism ;  9,  chronic  rheumatism;  10,  intermittent  fever;  11,  trauma  of  the 
eye;  12,  nasal  catarrh;  13,  chronic  bronchitis ;  14,  dyspepsia;  15,  prolifer- 
ous otitis;  16,  chronic  laryngitis;  17,  corneal  ulcer;  18,  chorea;  19,  epi- 
lepsy; 20,  tumor  of  the  lid;  21,  pannus;  22,  phthisis  pul.;  23,  otitis 
media  catarrhal.  Services  Prof.  Franklin:  24,  supernumerary  thumb; 
25,  mammary  tumor;  26,  mammary  tuniwr ;  27,  Potts  disease;  28, spinal 
curvature  ;  30,  stricture ;  31,  stricture  ;  32,  syphilis ;  83,  vesico- vaginal 
fistula ;  34,  goitre. 


b 


T,  P.  WILSON,  M.  D.,  Editok.  J,  P.  GEPPEKT,  M.  D.,  Ass'tEdi 


Vol 

UME  VIII. 

CiNCissATi,  0.,  May,  1880.             NuMBSB  5. 

Advak 

CECO..Publi.h 

er»,  306  Raw  K..  CincinnKi,  O.    SubKriptLon  W.  per  flnnum. 

TsB  Mo.n  lULB  FEAR  one  can  indulge  in  is  the  tear  that  truth  will 
be  lost  or  hopelessly  adultemted  with  error.  Once  this  was  possible 
now  it  is  iinpoesibte.  The  general  diffusion  of  Icnowlcdge  makes  it 
impossible.  When  books,  and  newspapers,  and  telegraphs  were  un- 
known, it  was  easy  for  fraud  and  lies  to  thrive,  and  error  not  only 
grew  but  dtfied  destruction.  All  this  has  changed  since  the  new 
agencies  of  civilization  have  been  introduced.  Do  lies  and  fraud 
still  survive  ?  Undoubtedly  they  do  ;  bat  be  must  be  hard  to  please 
who  wonld  indulge  in  peesimistic  views  of  the  world's  progress.  On 
all  hands,  and  with  accelerated  pace,  the  truth  ia  advancing.  Among 
the  many  forms  in  which  it  is  thus  going  forward  we  may.  rank  Hom- 
LEOpathy  as  not  the  least.  We  do  not  share  the  fear  whicli  some 
have,  for  its  salety.  We  do  not  look  upon  it  as  halting,  and  much 
less  do  we  suspect  it  of  standing  still.  A  writer  before  us  lamenls  its 
"tendency  to  wander  into  the  by  ways  of  empiricism,"  Good  friend, 
there  isn't  the  sligh  tent  danger  unless  the  by  ways  of  empiricism  are 
better  than  the  straight  road.  If  you  watch  individuals  you  see 
them  going  backward  and  forward.  If  you  watch  the  body  as  a 
whole  it  is  going  straight  ahead.  If  in  these  days  of  general  en- 
lightenment any  idea  or  principle  of  supposed  value  can  be  lost,  it 
ought  to  be  lost.  That  proves  it  to  not  have  enough  of  the  salt  of 
truth  in  it  to  save  it.  Can  the  world  forget  what  Homu^opsthy  has 
May-i  209 


210  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

done  for  it  ?  Can  you  hide  or  destroy  the  record  it  has  already 
made  ?  You  say  the  effort  is  heing  made  to  destroy  it.  Well,  how 
can  they  hope  to  succeed  ?  Its  friends  seem  disposed  to  take  good 
care  of  it.  They  are  abundantly  able  to  do  8o.  In  this  assurance 
let  us  then  rest  and  work. 


%\tm%  atiii  ^tuiitt. 


The  So-called  "Nosodes.'^  By  J.  G.  Gilchrist,  M.  D.  Read 
at  the  March  meeting  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  of  Michigan. 

At  various  times  in  the  history  of  medicine,  the  natural 
excreta  from  man  and  animals  have  been  standard  pharma- 
ceutical preparations,  even  enjoying  an  astonishing  reputa- 
tion among  the  most  learned  and  competent  of  the  faculty. 
At  times  some  desciple  of  Ga'en,  whose  vaulting  ambition 
spurned  the  clogs  and  fetters  his  brothers  and  the  traditions 
of  the  craft  sought  to  impose  upon  him,  would  further  en- 
rich the  armamentem  of  the  pharmaceutist  with  prepara- 
tions of  the  products  of  disease,  and  for  a  time  the  remedies 
would  be  "popular"  and  widely  used.  With  the  extensiou 
of  knowledge,  however,  these  disgusting,  and,  as  I  believe, 
dangerous  and  unscientific  agents  became  obsolete,  and  it 
was  reserved  for  the  followers  of  Hahnemann's  teachings  to 
reclothe  them  in  courtly  garments,  and  attempt  to  give  them 
a  scientific  value.  Nay,  the  -master  himself  left  us  his 
Psoricum^  and  it  were  well  had  the  list  never  been  enlarged. 
But  later,  some  who  fail  to  see  a  distinction  between  Isopa- 
thy  and  Homoeopathy,  have  multiplied  the  number  till  nearly 


Theory  and  Practice,  211 

every'  morbid  process  which  is  characterized  by  exudation 
or  altered  secretion  has  further  au^umented  our  already  too 
large  list.  Not  only  have  substances  of  constant  composi- 
tion been  potentized  and  proved,  but  even  those  which  vary 
with  each  individual,  and  at  different  times  of  day,  and  at 
different  seasons.  At  this  time  I  desire  to  attempt  two 
things,  viz:  show  the  unscientific  nature  of  the  practice  of 
prescribing  such  material,  and  show  the  danger  resulting 
to  the  victim  who  thoughtlessly  swallows  them. 

I.  It  would  seem  to  require  little  argument  to  show  the 
unscientific  nature  of  a  system  of  therapeutics  based  upon  a 
literal  observance  of  the  old  saw,  "a  hair  of  the  dog  that  bit 
you;"  and  particularly  should  this  be  the  case  if  the  asser- 
tions so  persistently  made  for  nearlv  a  century  past  are  true, 
that  the  law  of  similars  is  the  only  law  of  therapeutics.  Of 
this  latter  assertion  I  do  not  entertain  a  shadow  of  a  doubt; 
indeed  it  is  my  jealousy  for  the  good  name  of  the  system  of 
medicine  I  profess  that  prompts  me  to  protest  against  its  al- 
liance with  every  vagary  that  the  minds  of  visionaries  and 
misled  enthusiasts  can  conceive.  We  have  many  excellent 
men  in  our  ranks,  who  to  the  highest  professional  qualifica- 
tions and  grace,  add  the  singular  weakness,  for  so  it  appears 
to  me,  of  credibility  and  credulity,  more  particularly  when 
one  or  two  noted  names  are  loaned  to  bear  witness  to  some 
supposed  advancement  in  our  special  department  in  medical 
science.  One  objection,  therefore,  to  accepting  these  so- 
called  nosodes  as  reputable  members  of  our  materia  medica, 
is  the  very  fact  that  they  do  not  represent  similars;  they  are 
the  identical.  True  they  are  not  identical  with  reference  to 
causation,  but  effect.  However,  they  are,  in  a  certain  sense, 
far  removed  from  the  category  of  similars. 

One  distinguishing  feature  of  the  homoeopathic  school, 
particularly  sought  to  be  impressed  in  the  conceptions  of 
pathology  and  etiology  that  are  just  now  considered  to  be  a 
necessary  outgrowth  and  corollary  of  our  practice,  is  the 
doctrine  that  morbid  action  is  the  result  of  vital  perturba- 
tions, and  not,  in  a  wide  sense,  of  material  contagion.  We 
admit  that  the  infection  of  small  pox,  venereal,  and  other  con- 


212  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

tagious  and  infectious  diseases,  is  resident  in  material  sub- 
stances; admitted  from  a  consideration  of  cause  and  effect 
sojely,  not  from  actual  knowledge  of  the  agents  from 
physical  inspection,  for  their  presence  is  only  known  by 
their  effects.  But  this  admission  does  not  by  any  means  in- 
clude another,  that  the  results  of  this  contagion  are  identical 
with  the  original  cause.  Experiments  are  too  numerous  go- 
ing to  show  that  the  various  fungi,  spores  and  cryptogami,  are 
effects,  not  causes,  to  make  such  a  proposition  tenable.  The 
soil  must  be  suitable  to  the  conditions  of  life  before  the  seed 
can  grow;  and  the  presence  of  micrococci,  bacteria,  vibrioncs, 
etc.,  only  show  that  the  conditions  are  the  same  in  two  or 
more  individuals,  not  that  the  fungi  are  the  cause.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  yeast  plant,  the  plant  does  not  cause  the  fermen- 
tation, but  appears  because  of  it.  Now  if  this  means  any- 
thing, in  a  therapeutic  sense,  it  means  this:  that  our  concep- 
tions of  etiology  are  all  wrong,  and  disease  is  the  product  of 
material  contagion;  or,  that  the  application  of  these  pro- 
ducts of  disease  to  a  similarly  affeqted  individual  is  contrary 
to  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  Homoeopathy.  There  being, 
however,  every  reason  to  assume  that  disease  is  not  of  ma- 
terial origin,  the  consistent  homoeopath  must  decline  to  em- 
ploy as  curative  agents,  substances  that  are  only  supposed  to 
have  a  vital  relation  to  the  morbid  process  from  which  they 
are  derived,  at  least  until  they  have  been  thoroughly  proven; 
and  when  asked  to  prove  syphilis,  I  for  one,  politely  but 
firmly  ask  to  be  excused. 

Psoricuni,  I  believe,  has  been  regularly  proved,  and  it  may 
be  that  the  symptomatology  is  not  a  mere  compilation  of 
symptoms  observed  in  those  suffering  from  the  disease.  But 
even  if  this  is  true,  later  preparations  of  the  substance  have 
not  been  proved;  and  being  derived  from  a  different  indi- 
vidual from  Hahnemann's  first  specimen,  we  are  justified  in 
refusing  to  believe  that  the  material  is  identical  in  all  particu- 
lars. Furthermore,  take  a  preparation  of  supposed  syphi- 
litic virus  supplied  from  a  chancroidal  sore,  and  not  a  true 
chancre;  how  can  any  reasonable  man  believe  in  the  identity 
of  his  particular  preparation,  with  the  assumed  morbid  cop 


Theory  and  Practice,  213 

• 
dition.  Until  we  have  better  assurance  that  those  supplying 
us  with  these  preparations  are  competent  to  differentiate  be- 
tween syphilis  and  chancroid,  we  may  be  pardoned  for 
doubting  the  accuracy  of.  the  label  affixed  to  the  vial  we 
may  purchase.  I  admit  that  many  excellent  men  deny  the 
duality  of  venereal  contagion,  but  the  fact  remains  that  the 
manifestation  of  the  two  forms  of  venereal  ulcer  are  very 
dissimilar,  and  admitting  the  truth  of  the  isopatbic  doctrine, 
it  were  folly  to  attempt  the  cure  of  a  chancre  with  the  virus 
of  chancroid.  In  fact  we  know,  as  the  experiments  made 
by  the  adherents  of  syphilization  amply  verify,  that  one  has 
no  perceptible  effect  on  the  other;  the  two  conditions  often 
existing  and  running  their  respective  courses  side  by  side. 

Another  phase  of  the  subject,  of  even  greater  interest  and 
importance  must  now  claim  attention.  It  is  well  known  that 
the  active  principle  in  all  contagious  matter  derived  from  the 
living  body,  but  more  particularly  in  the  case  of  syphilis  or 
venereal  diseases  generally,  resides  in  the  pus  cell.  What 
this  agent  is,  material  or  gaseous,  no  man  can  tell.  The  mi- 
croscope and  the  most  delicate  tests  of  the  chemists  alike 
fail  to  detect  it.  Its  existence  can  only  be  demonstrated  by 
!ts  effects  when  brought  into  contact  with  the  living  human 
body,  under  conditions  favorable  to  absorption  and  develop- 
ment. In  some  of  them,  notably  in  the  case  of  variola, 
syphilis  and  possibly  scarlatina,  one  infection  secures  the 
person  from  subsequent  inoculation,  and  the  virus  can  be  in- 
troduced again  and  again,  without  manifesting  any  contag- 
ion whatever.  The  frequent  experience  is,  however,  that 
after  a  time,  of  indefinite  duration,  renewed  inocubility  oc- 
curs, but  this  is  only  after  the  lapse  of  years.  The  presump- 
tion is,  that  the  physical  expression  of  syphilis  is  the  same, 
whether  infection  be  the  result  of  \r\ocu\?iX\or\  per  via  naturalis 
or  the  introduction  through  the  mouth.  This  would  render 
it  physically  impossible  that  an  addition  of  the  poison,  in 
the  guise  of  a  medicine,  should  have  any  other  effecc  than  to 
add  to  the  quantity  already  in  the  body;  the  nature  of  the 
morbid  action  forbidding  hope  of  renewed  specific  action. 
When   we  take  other  forms  of  morbid  matter,  we  are  met 


214  Ctficinnati  Medical  Advance, 

by  a  more  potent  obstacle  to  their  general  employment,  and 
certainly  faith  in  their  potentiality,  in  the  feet  that  heat  and 
Alcohol  both  destroy  the  virulence  of  the  virus,  and  convert 
it  into  inert,  or  rather  ordinary  septic  material.  If  we  use 
sugar  of  milk  for  the  vehicle  of  attenuation,  the  heat  evolv- 
ed by  the  necessary  friction  destroys  its  specific  properties; 
if  the  heat  is  insufficient,  the  sugar  induces  fermentive 
changes,  and  whether  acid  or  alkaline,  it  is  alike  fatal  to  the 
vitality  of  our  virus.  If  we  avoid  the  danger,  therefore,  of 
introducing  a  horrible  virus  into  a  non-infected  body,  we 
run  into  another  of  introducing  septic  material.  This  will 
receive  attention,  however,  in  the  second  part  of  our  paper. 

Again  it  is  apparent,  that  if  a  single  pus  corpuscle  contains 
enough  infecting  material  to  inoculate  a  strong,  healthy  man, 
which  will  be  shown  later;  and  yet  this  amount  is  so  small 
that  no  tests  known  to  science  can  detect  it,  the  great  bulk 
of  our  first  preparation  must  be  the  pus  itself,  which  is  at 
once  converted  into  putrid  septic  material  at  the  first  process 
of  attenuation,  rendering  it  an  active,  morbific  agent,  with 
peculiar  and  distinctive  forms  of  action  on  living  tissue  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  othei  this  very  process  of  devitali- 
zation reacts  upon  the  vital  integrity  of  the  active  specific 
principle,  and  frequently  includes  in  the  destructive  action 
the  very  principle  we  seek  to  preserve.  Hence  it  can  be 
seen  that  unless  the  so  called  nosode  is  given  in  a  crude 
form,  and  fresh  from  the  parent  stock,  we  can  never  be  as- 
sured that  we  are  using  anything  but  minutely  divided  parti- 
cles of  septic  material. 

Finally,  under  this  head,  let  us  note  that  other  secretions, 
not  always  pathological  and  not  specific,  vary  in  diflferent 
individuals,  and  in  the  same  individual  at  diflferent  times  and 
seasons  and  under  diflferent  circumstances,  both  mental, 
physical,  and  purely  extrinsic.  Take  milk,  in  connection 
with  the  known  eflfects  of  mental  conditions  on  it.  When  a 
fit  of  anger  in  the  nursing  mother  alters  the  composition  of 
her  milk  to  such  an  extent  that  her  child  is  immediately  con- 
vulsed on  injesting  it,  can  any  method  of  examination  now 
known  ♦o  science  detect  and  describe  this  change?  No!  Yet 


Theory  and  Practice.  215 

we  are  asked  to  believe  that  milk  is  milk;  no  matter  what  the 
source  may  be,  the  habits,  constitution,  mental  or  physical  pe> 
culiarities  in  the  source  of  supply,  certain  medicinal  virtues, 
an  unerring  physiological  function  attaches  to  it,  and  a  patho- 
genesis exists  as  reliable  as  in  the  case  of  Belladonna  or  Aco- 
nite!  It  seems  like  science  gone  mad.  Does  it  make  no  differ- 
ence whether  the  cow  is  fed  on  swill  milk,  hay,  fresh  grass, 
garlic,  or  what  not,  in  estimating  the  therapeutic  value  of  a 
given  specimen,  or  determining  the  pathogenesis  of  the  article? 
With  every  new  preparation  from  the  crude  article  we 
would  need  a  new  proving,  and  the  destruction  of  the  pre- 
ceeding  records. 

Absurd  as  this  doctrine  is,  or  seems  to  be,  how  much  more 
so,  (if  there  is  any  truth  in  our  ideas  of  individuality  in 
symptoms  and  drugs),  how  much  greater  is  the  folly,  to  ex- 
pect that  a  single  attenuation  of  one  variety  of  leucorrhcea 
will  exercise  any  effect  on  a  patient  suffering  from  another. 
Take  the  discharge  from  endo-cervicitis,  label  it  Leucor^ 
rhoioin^  and  give  it  to  a  case  of  vaginal  catarrh  or  vulvitis, 
and  even  on  the  acceptation  of  the  vagary  of  isopathy,  ex- 
pect to  cure  our  patient!  Why,  the  two  conditions  are  in  no 
sense  identical.  To  make  our  remedy  of  any  value  what- 
ever, always  accepting  what  I  consider  an  utterly  untenable 
hypothesis,  each  specimen  of  leucorrhcea  must  have  a  sepa- 
rate proving,  (he  full  pathogenesis  printed  on  the  label,  or 
rather  in  a  book  to  accompany  the  vial,  and  while  it  would 
only  be  suitable  for  a  case  exactly  similar  in  every  minute 
particular,  (probably  occurring  once  in  ten  thousand  cases), 
the  accomplished  homoBopath  could  not  read  the  symptoms 
in  the  accompanying  manual  without  finding  a  perfect  pic- 
ture of  some  well  known  and  legitimate  remedy,  which 
would  cure  his  patient  in  half  the  time  it  would  take  to  read 
the  thousands  of  volumes  accompanying  the  thousands  of 
specimens  of  septic  material  dignified  by  the  high  sounding 
and  meaningless  title,  "nosodes,"  rendered  into  the  vernacu- 
lar, in  this  particular  instance,  "putrifying  vaginal  discharges," 
Every. individual  case  of  diarrhoea,  dysentery,  urinary  abnor- 
mality or  catarrhal  affection  would  require  only  one  of  the 


216  '      Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

thousands  of  preparations  of  the  class  or  type  to  which  the 
case  belongs;  and,  mirabile  dictu,  then  the  one  specimen 
would  be  that  which  the  patient  furnished  himself.  In  all 
probability  an  identical  case  would  never  fall  within  the  ob- 
servation of  the  same  practitioner,  and  the  labor,  and  time  re- 
quired to  "run  up"  this  precious  balm  of  Gilead,  would  be  all 
wasted,  as  he  could  have  cured  his  case  while  doing  it  with 
a  decent  remedy.  But  the  champion  of  the  nosodes  will  say: 
"We  do  not  need  such  an  exact  similimum  as  that!"  Very 
well,  then  in  what  respect  is  your  precious  system  superior 
to  the  ordinary  practice  of  the  consistent  homceopath?  The 
similar  remedy  will  more  surely  meet  the  indications  in  your 
case.  In  closing  this  portion  of  my  paper,  it  will  suffice  to 
call  attention  to  a  well  known  chemical  fact,  viz:  a  certain 
substance  is  composed  of  a  definite  and  certain  proportion  of 
atoms  of  primary  elements.  The  same  elements,  with 
nothing  added,  but  a  simple  reversal  or  change  in  the  pro- 
portions, will  give  us  another  substance,  perhaps  totally  un- 
like the  former.  In  the  face  of  this  will  any  man  venture 
the  assertion  that  diabetic  urine,  with  ten  per  cent  of  sugar, 
is  the  same  thing,  chemically,  therapeutically  or  vitally,  as  a 
specimen  containing  twenty  per  cent? 

Now,  therefore,  I  claim  that  the  nosode  hypothesis  is  emi- 
nently unscientific,  ergo  eminently  unhomceopathic,  and  this 
first  proposition  can  be  shown  from  the  following  summary: 

1.  The  remedy  is  not  the  disease,  but  a  product. 

2.  The  composition  of  the  agents  is  not  at  all  uniform, 
hence  there  can  be  no  definite  knowledge  of  its  action,  and, 
consequently,  no  reliable  pathogenesis, 

3.  Many  contagious  diseases  protect  the  individual  from 
subsequent  contagion;  hence  the  idem  can  have  no  effect. 

4.  Heat,  acids  and  decomposition  destroy  the  vitality  of 
specific  germs,  thus  forbidding  their  preparation  in  the  ordi- 
nary methods. 

5.  It  is  not  the  similar  but  the  idem,  making  it  particularly 
and  emphatically  unhomoeopathic. 

II.  Our  second  proposition  was,  that  the  use  of  specific 
virus  was  dangerous  to  the  victim  who  allowed  such  a  po- 


Theory  and  Practice.  217 

tent  poison  to  be  introduced  into  his  or  her  body.  For  obvious 
reasons  it  will  be  preferable  to  consider  the  virus  of  syphilis, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  an  agent  in  high  repute  with  the  believers 
in  the  "nosode"  doctrine,  and  is  used  more  frequently  than 
any  other.  Furthermore,  we  will  admit,  simply  for  the  sake 
of  argument,  that  the  other  agents  have  lost  their  specific 
characters,  and  are  really  nothing  else  than  septic  material, 
and  probably  in  such  small  quantities  that  no  effect  would 
follow  their  ingestion.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  probable 
that  syphilitic  virus  is  also  converted  into  the  same  thing,  but 
as  the  claims  set  up  for  its  therapeutic  use  are  based  on  the 
supposition  that  it  retains  its  syphilitic  properties  and  char- 
acter, it  will  be  proper  to  concede  the  assumption.  If  these 
agents  are  all  septic  material,  of  course  one  would  answer 
the  same  purpose  as  the  other,  and  this,  while  probable,  is  in- 
capable of  actual  demonstration. 

As  said  earlier,  the  virus  of  syphilis  resides  in  the  pus  cell. 
Numerous  experiments  made  by  Fournier,  Puch  and  others 
by  which  the  pus  has  been  filtered,  shows  that  the  liquor 
puris  has  no  inoculating  properties,  while  the  pus  corpuscle 
has;  also,  the  most  delicate  experiments  and  observations 
fail  to  detect  any  difference  in  syphilitic  pus  from  that  de- 
rived from  other  sources;  absolutely  nothing  is  known  of  the 
physical-  properties  of  the  infecting  principle.  Another  note- 
worthy fact  is,  that  the  quantity  of  pus  used  in  inoculation 
bears  no  relation  to  the  manifestation  of  syphilis;  the  symp- 
toms are  just  as  marked  and  malignant,  and  are  followed  by 
the  same  characters  and  degree  of  secondary  phenomena, 
when  a  single  drop  has  been  used,  as  an  appreciable  quantity. 
Nav  more!  Puch  has  shown,  that  a  single  pus  globule, 
microscopic  in  size  (from  one  three-thousandths  to  one 
four-thousandths  of  an  inch  in  diameter),  may  be  dis- 
solved in  two  ounces  of  water;  a  drop  of  the  solution  in- 
jected into  the  body  of  a  non-syphilitic  will  produce  a  chancre, 
as  well  marked,  running  through  the  same  course,  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  same  secondary  phenomena,  as  if  a  pint  had 
been  used.  Indeed,  it  appears  that  the  quantity  sufficient  for 
inoculation  is  always  small,  and  the  excess  is  innocuous  and 


218  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

thrown  oflT.  Here  we  have  a  force,  the  most  potent  of  any 
with  which  the  pathologist  is  familar;  one  whose  presence  or 
existence  can  only  be  detected  by  observing  its  effects  when 
brought  into  proper  relations  with  the  living  body,  not  syphi- 
litic itself;  a  force,  which,  in  spite  of  its  insignificant  propor- 
tions not  only  poisons  the  life  and  blood  of  the  individual 
who  has  been  brought  under  its  influence,  but  carries  its 
malignancy  into  the  heirs  of  his  body,  ruining  body  and  mind 
of  future  generations.  It  is  true  that  the  subsequent  mani- 
festations of  syphilis,  after  the  primary  lesion,  are  not  curried 
on  by  the  operations  of  a  still  finer  attenuation  of  the  ori- 
ginal particle  of  virus;  the  potency  is  magnified  by  the  vital 
change  wrought  in  the  germinal  elements,  with  which  it  is 
brought  into  contact;  indeed,  there  is  no  positive  proof  that 
the  virus  is  matter  even,  it  may  be  simple  force.  However 
this  may  be,  the  substance  of  which  the  medicinal  prepara- 
tion is  made  is  but  a  few  cells,  and  almost  the  entire  bulk  is 
composed  of  the  lymphoid  substance  forming  the  cell,  the 
active  specific  property,  as  regards  bulk,  weight,  visibility^ 
or  tangibility,  being  as  niL  Admitting,  simply  for  argument, 
that  the  pus  corpuscle  escapes  death  and  decomposition  dur- 
ing the  attenuating  process,  which  is  inconceivable,  (and  we 
know  this  change  in  it  will  kill  the  virus  it  contains),  the 
presumption  is  that  the  virus  is  already  in  a  condition  of  ul- 
timate divisibility,  and  is  utterly  unchanged  by  subsequent 
attempts  at  division.  On  the  other  hand,  if  it  is  matter  and 
not  a  mere  exhibition  of  force,  there  is  a  possibility  that  it 
will  be  lost  after  one  or  two  fillings  and  emptyings  of  the 
bottles.  There  is  excellent  reason  for  considering  that  the 
principle  remains  unchanged  during  all  the  attempts  at  at- 
tenuation, or  is  lost  at  some  stage  of  the  process. 

Now  from  a  consideration  of  the  fact  that  inoculation 
produces  the  same  effects,  whether  the  poison  is  introduced 
secundum  artem,  through  cutaneous  puncture,  or  by  absorp- 
tion in  the  mouth,  or  other  mucous  outlets,  there  can  be 
no  difference  in  the  manifestations  of  the  disease,  and  the 
future  life  of  the  individual,  his  heirs,  and  perhaps  remoter 
generations,  can  all  be  as  effectually   ruined  by   a   dose  of 


Theory  and  Practice,  219 

syphilitic  virus  administered  by  his  medical  attendant  as  if 
he  had  contracted  the  disease  from  the  most  abandoned  pros- 
titute. In  other  words,  however  the  poison  has  been  intro- 
duced, the  effects  are  the  same,  and  the  medical  practitioner, 
who,  taking  advantage  of  the  trust  reposed  in  him  by  his 
patient,  administers  an  agent  capable  of  such  disastrous 
consequences,  about  which  honest  thought  should  at  least 
give  rise  to  a  suspicion  of  its  power,  is  certainly  assuming  a 
responsibility  that  no  conjunction  of  circumstances  can  pos- 
sibly warrant. 

It  is  also  known  that  the  manifestations  of  syphilis  are 
equally  producible  in  all  tissues  of  the  body,  and  in  all  indi- 
viduals regardless  of  bodily  health  and  circumstances,  save 
alone  in  those  protected  by  an  already  existing  contagion. 
Not  only  are  all  normal  tissues  capable  of  absorbing  and  de- 
veloping the  virus,  but  pathological  tissues  and  neoplasmata 
are  equally  susceptible.  The  only  exception  to  this  is  in  the 
case  of  carcinoma,  between  which  and  syphilis  there  seems 
to  be  an  antagonism.  •  If  a  popular  theory  is  true,  that  can- 
cer is  a  late  phase  of  syphilitic  infection,  we  are  fully  justi- 
fied in  assuming  that  the  only  protection  from  this  fearful 
contagion  is  its  existence  in  the  exposed  individual.  The 
only  circumstance  that  adds  to  the  facility  of  inoculation, 
apart  from  the  potent  one,  viz:  an  abraded  surface,  is  feeb- 
leness of  body  or  exhaustion  from  morbid  action.  This  is 
the  condition  in  which  this  abominable  "nosode"  is  often 
used,  in  those  who  are  ill,  and  peculiarly  susceptible  to  mor- 
bific agencies. 

From  what  has  been  said  above,  the  conclusion  seems  to 
me  irresistible,  that  if  there  is  no  positive  certainity,  there  is 
much  room  for  a  suspicion  that  when  Syphilinum  is  admin* 
iatered  to  a  non-syphilitic,  he  is  in  imminent  danger  of  con- 
tracting the  most  loathsome  disease  in  the  whole  catalogue  of 
morbid  phenomena.  The  most  remote  possibility  of  such  an 
occurrence  should  utterly  forbid  any  resort  to  such  an  agent. 

Supposing  our  patient  has  syphilis,  we  can  hope  for  no 
action  from  a  dose  of  the  same  disease,  for  experiment  and 
analogy  equally  prove  that  no  effect  can  be  produced.      To 


220  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

give  it  under  those  circumstances  exhibits  a  want  of  scien- 
tific knowledge,  and  this  alone  should  operate  against  the 
reasoning  of  the  offender  receiving  the  attention  and  credit 
it  might  otherwise  command.  It  may  be  said  that  inasmuch 
as  Homoeopathy  does  not  credit  the  action  of  remedies  to 
the  operations  of  matter,  to  mechanical  or  material  agencies, 
so  the  high  attenuations  of  the  agent  ordinarily  used  should 
remove  it  from  the  category  in  which  the  materialistic  doc- 
trine above  noted  would  place  it.  Observe:  There  is  no 
evidence  that  the  syphilitic  virus  is  anything  more  than  an 
exhibition  of  force;  it  is,  as  far  as  our  means  for  observation 
and  experiment  go,  in  the  same  condition  that  all  our  med- 
ical agents  are  when  prepared  in  attenuated  forms,  viz:  ab- 
solutely without  physical  evidence  of  medicinal  substances, 
and  only  to  be  differentiated  by  an  observation  of  their  ef- 
fects when  used  in  a  proper  manner,  and  on  suitable  oc- 
casions. I  will  appeal  to  all  who  hear  me,  if  they,  or  any 
one  of  whom  they  have  knowledge,  can  distinguish  between 
a  dilution  in  the  30th  attenuation  of  BelL,  and  a  similar  one 
of  Aeon,  except  from  witnessing  its  effects.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  know  that  many  medicinal  substances  may  be 
traced  up  into  the  9th  or  nth  attenuation,  when  all  appear- 
ance of  drug  presence  is  lost.  Now  the  original  crude  syph- 
ilitic virus  is  physically  in  the  same  condition  as  the  12th  of 
other  drugs,  and  who  dares  affirm  there  is  any  matter  in  it! 

It  is  with  a  poison  that  has  filled  countless  graves  that  we 
are  ignorantly  playing;  with  a  force  that  has  decimated  na- 
tions, depopulated  whole  districts,  filled  hospitals  with  hope- 
less invalids,  asylums  with  millions  of  insane;  brought  woe 
and  desolation  into  multitudes  of  homes,  and  even  filled  our 
prisons  with  criminals;  corrupting  the  pure  fountain  of 
youth,  and  poisoning  the  springs  of  moral  and  intellectu«l 
life,  that  we  are  heedlessly  using  under  the  specious  guise  of 
a  "messenger  of  healing."  Literally  we  have  "stolen  the 
livery  of  heaven  to  cloth  the  devil  in,"  and  I  trust  we  may 
never  have  our  crime  brought  home  to  us,  and  made  to  ex- 
piate our  offences  at  the  bar  of  popular  judgment.  My  hope 
is  that  when  we  have  thought  that  SyphiUnum  was  prescrib- 


Theory  and  Practice.  221 

ed,  we  were  actually  dealing  with  the  n^ortal  remains  of  a 
former  leucocyte,  who  had  yielded  up  his  life  to  the  heat  of 
trituration  and  the  Alcohol  of  dilution,  fitting  agents  of  pun- 
ishment sent  by  the  father  of  sin  to  recall  to  him  the  vile 
spirit  he  had  planted  in  the  innocent  bioplast. 

Seriously,  however,  we  may  sum  up  the  dangers  of  the 
practice  in  a  few  words: 

The  syphilitic  virus  is  capable  of  inducing  specific  con- 
tagion in  the  \try  smallest  proportions. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  quantity  resident  in  the  orig- 
inal pus  cell  has  been  reduced. 

That  when  given  to  a  non  syphilitic  we  run  the  same  dan- 
ger of  inoculating  our  patient  with  syphilis  as*  if  we  took 
him  to  a  brothel  and  furnished  sexual  commerce  with  a  pros- 
titute known  to  be  sufferlnor  from  the  disease. 


-♦■»- 


Puerperal  Peritonitis  or  Ketritis,    ^y  C.  L.  Hart,  M.  D.^ 

Omaha,  Neb.     Part  I.     Pathology. 

Of  the  real  nature  of  puerperal  peritonitis,  en*,  as  I  believe^ 
more  correctly,  puerperal  metro-peritonitis — for  I  doubt  the 
frequent  occun'ence  of  puerperal  peritonitis  j?e7*  re;  withourt: 
accompanying  inflammation*  of  some  adjacent  organ — but 
little  is  known. 

As  peritonitis,  during  the  puerperal  state,  mnst,  of  neces^ 
sity,  be  a  sequence  of  a  traumatic  lesion  of  the  mucous  sur^ 
face  qf  the  uterine  walls,  it  is  but  reasonable  to  infer  the  co- 
existence of  a  metritis;  besides,  in  soirre  cases,  post-mortems 
strongly  support  this  position. 

With  our  present  knowledge  of  pathdog}',  the  etiology  of 
this  disease  is  shrouded  in  obscurity.  Many  patboFogists^ 
take  the  position  that  puerperal  peritonitis  or  metritis  i»  but 


222  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

a  species  of  toxemia,  i.  e.,  a  pyemia  or  septicemia.  A  morbific 
element  entering  the  circulation  from  the  decomposition 
going  on  in  the  uterine  cavity.  Byford  calls  it  an  "all- per- 
vading, incomprehensible,  subtle,  deadly  influence."  Dr. 
Churchill  says,  "The  real  nature  of  this  disease,  I  believe,  no 
pathologist  has  yet  discovered."  'Another  class  of  patholo- 
gists believe  it  induced  by  the  absorption  of  septic  fluids,  or 
the  introduction  of  shreds  of  fibrous  debris  into  the  circula- 
tion from  the  uterine  sinuses,  lodging  in  the  capillaries  of 
some  of  the  vital  organs,  and  there  rekindling  a  new  disease. 
That  this  gives  rise  to  some  of  the  complications  found  in 
some  cases,  is  probably  true,  but  to  my  mind  it  seems  hardly 
reasonable  that  this  alone  should  account  for  all  the  fatality 
and  extreme  contagiousness  that  characterizes  some  epidemics 
of  this  disease. 

There  seems  to  coexist  another  element,  the  nature  of 
which  is  at  present  unknown,  closely  simulating  erysipelas 
or  malignant  scarlatina,  in  its  virulence  and  fatality,  as  well 
as  the  character  of  the  symptoms  which  mark  its  presence. 

The  coexistence  in  the  same  community,  of  both  erysipelas 
and  the  puerperal  disease,  as  well  as  the  close  similarity  of 
the  characteristic  symptoms  of  each  would  give  additional 
weight  to  this  opinion. 

Another  strongly  conlirmatory  evidence  is  furnished  to  the 
mind  of  the  homoeopathic  pathologist  by  the.  fact  that  the 
same  class  of  remedies  are  so  strongly  indicated  in  both  dis- 
eases. 

The  term  homoeopathic  pathologist  may  seem  somewhat 
paradoxical  to  those  who  suppose  homoeopaths  are  not 
pathologists,  but  this  slander  upon  Homoeopathy  I  shall  re- 
fute, for  I  hold  that  intelligent  homoeopaths  are  pre-eminently 
pathologists — they  are  not  content  with  that  degree  of  patho- 
logy that  shall  enable  them  to  grossly  classify  diseases,  to 
view  diseases  only  generically;  but  they  push  their  patholo- 
gical investigations  until  they  shall  be  able  to  divide  and  sub- 
divide the  genera  into  species,  varieties  and  individual  cases, 
and  upon  this  latter  division  base  their  prescriptions;  and 
without  losing  sight  of  those  pathognomonic  symptoms  which 


Theory  and  Practice.  223 

enable  the  physician  to  name  the  class  to  which  the  disease 
belongs,  they  endeavor  to  give  due  weight  to  each  subjective 
and  objective  symptom  and  prescribe  from  the  taut  ensemble 
of  that  individual  case,  and  its  semblance  to  the  pathogenesis 
of  some  known  remedy. 

What  does  the  vaunting  self-styled  pathologist  know  of 
disease,  save  so  far  as  the  subjective  and  objective  symptoms 
of  his  cases  reveal  it?  And  if  he  ignore  the  pathogenesis  of 
a  drug  (which  is  but  a  carefully  written  record  of  its  physio- 
logical action,  what  guide  has  he  for  the  selection  of  his 
remedy  but  blind  empiricism? 

I^ow  valuable  that  would  be  in  the  different  epidemics 
during  a  series  of  years,  or  through  successive  generations, 
may  be  readily*  inferred  from  the  language  of  the  great 
English  physician,  S^'denham,  who  says,  "The  remedy  which 
would  cure  a  patient  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  will  kill 
him,  perhaps,  at  the  close." 

"When  a  frefih  form  of  an  epidemic,"  says  Sydenham,  "sets 
in,  I  am  in  a  quandary,  and  am  puzzled  to  think  how  I  can 
give  relief."  "It  is  more  than  I  can  do,"  says  he,  "to  avoid 
risking  the  lives  of  one  or  two  of  the  first  who  apply  to  me 
as  patients.''  How  strongly  this  language  contrasts  with  the 
words  of  Hahnemann,  in  1S30,  upon  theappro^lch  of  cholera 
into  Europe,  where,  as  quoted  by  Dr.  Dake,  "he  collected  the 
symptoms  given,  one  by  one,  till  the  image  of  the  hideous 
monster  stood  up  before  him  in  living  reality."  Then  under 
the  guidance  of  that  natural  law  that  he  had  been  permitted 
to  discover,  with  a  knowledge  of  drugs  such  as  no  other  man 
ever  possessed,  he  soon  arrived  at  Cuprum^  Camphor,  and 
Veratrumy  and  wrote  them  down  as  the  best  remedies  for 
cholera  long  before  the  disease  made  its  appearance. 

And  every  homoeopath  within  the  sound  of  my  voice, 
doubtlessly  believes  that  the  law  which  enabled  Hahnemann 
to  select  the  remedies  that  have  been  used  in  cholera  with 
such  signal  success  for  nearly  fifty  years,  is  as  immutable  as 
the  law  of  gravitation,  or  any  of  nature's  laws.  But,  gentle- 
men, I  am  digressing  from  my  subject. 


224  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Much  confusion  appears  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  patholo- 
gists as  to  the  true  nature  of  this  disease.  Some  cases  seem 
to  spend  their  force  upon  the  serous  membranes  of  the  abdo- 
men, but  slightly  implicating  the  uterus  or  any  other  organs. 
Other  cases  apparently  owe  their  origin  to  a  metritis  of  phle- 
bitis, with  the  occurrence  of  emboli  or  thrombi  in  some  vital 
organ,  giving  rise  to  most  serious  and  fatal  complications. 
In  still  other  cases  the  absorption  of  septic  matter  from  the 
lesions  in  the  uterine  walls,  induce  pyemic  and  septicemic 
conditions  of  an  alarming  character.  Referring  to  the  toxemic 
origin  of  the  disease,  Byford  says,  "I  can  not  refrain  from  re- 
marking, in  this  connection,  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  com- 
bination of  this  toxemia,  with  the  dangerous  inflammations 
of  the  uterus  and  peritoneum,  has  formed  the  true  nature  of 
some  of  the  most  appallingly  fatal  epidemics  on  record;  and 
that  it  is  for  the  want  of  the  philosophical  contemplation  of 
this  mixed  or  complicated  variety  that  has  given  origin  to  so 
much  acrimonious,  and,  in  many  instances,  unprofitable  de- 
bate, as  to  the  nature  of  puerperal  fever.  Unattended  by 
toxemia,  the  inflammations  of  the  puerperal  state  are  not  es- 
sentially different  from  the  same  diseases  occurring  in  the 
same  organs  at  other  times." 

Habitat  and  season  of  year  when  most  prevalent. — Byford 
says,  "We  have  the  same  forms,  same  grades,  and  same 
deadly  epidemic  on  the  prairies  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and 
in  the  north-western  portion  of  this  continent,  where  marsh 
miasm  can  not  exist,  as  are  found  in  the  hospitals  of  London 
or  Paris.  The  disease  prevails  most  frequently  in  fall  or 
winter,  especially  the  latter."  Dr.  Churchill  says,"  "All  the 
fac  s  in  our  possession  show  very  conclusively  that  the  same 
seasons  give  rise  to  erysipelas,  typhus  fever  and  puerperal 
fever;  that  these  prevail  epidemicall3'  at  the  same  time,  and, 
as  epidemics  take  on  the  same  type,  and  appear  capable,  the 
one  of  giving  rise  to  the  other."  He  further  says,  "If  we  ex- 
amine the  history  of  the  several  epidemics  of  erysipelas  that 
have  prevailed  in  various  portions  of  this  country,  we  shall 
iind  that  a  certain  morbific  condition  of  the  atmosphere  may 
occur;  which,  while  it  produces  in  some  of  those  subjected 


Theory  and  Practice,  225 

to  its  influence,  an  erysipelatous  affection  of  the  skin,  in 
others  it  gives  rise  to  inflammations  of  the  mouth  or  fauces; 
or  of  the  lungs,  or  plura;  in  others  it  induced  peritonitis,  and 
in  pregnant  and  parturient  females  it  gave  rise  to  puerperal 
fever." 

In  the  terrible  epidemic,  that  prevailed  near  Harristown, 
Pa.,  in  the  autumn  of  1847,  "old  and  young,  male  and  female, 
fell  before  it,"  says  Dr.  Corson,  **and  yet  there  seemed  to  be 
one  class  it  preferred.  The  mother,  as  she  lay  helpless  and 
exhausted  from  the  labor  and  agony  endured  in  giving  birth 
to  her  child,  was  marked  as  a  victim.  The  deadly  poison 
was  infused  into  her  veins,  and,  in  many  instances,  a  few 
hours  sealed  her  doom,  I  lost  more  puerperal  women  during 
this  epidemic  than  for  twenty  years  before."  This  epidemic 
produced  in  one  class  of  patients  well  marked  erysipelas,  in 
another,  inflammation  of  the  mucous  membrane  Hr^ng  the  fau- 
ces and  nasal  cavities;  in  a  third  class,  difl\ise  inflammation 
of  the  serous  tissues.  In  females,  the  serous  tissues,  and  in 
males  the  mucus  and  dermoid  tissue  were  most  affected. 

In  the  winter  and  spring  of  185 1-2,  the  erysipelas  prevailed 
as  an  epidemic  in  Montgomery  county.  Pa.  **Tlie  disease," 
says  Dr.  Vanbuskirk,  "firbt  attacked  the  throat  and  afterward 
the  surface  of  the  body.  In  females  it  was  especially  liable 
to  attack  the  peritoneum  and  one  or  other  of  the  serous  tis- 
sues in  the  male.  In  some  cases  symptoms  of  arachnitis,  fol- 
lowed by  coma,  presented  themselves.  Many  cases  of  puer- 
peral fever  occurred  during  the  prevalence  of  erysipelas, 
and  these  cases  of  puerperal  fever  were  confined  to  the  same 
localities."  Speaking  of  this  epidemic  Dr.  Geiger  remarked: 
'*It  spared  neither  age,  sex  nor  condition;  it  marked  the  par- 
turient woman  as  its  special  victim.  Not  a  single  woman, 
living  within  the  range  of  the  disease  who  was  delivered 
during  itb  prevalence  escaped  an  attack." 

Morbid  anatamy: — ^The  peritoneum  may  in  some  few  cases 
exhibit  no  signs  of  inflammation;  but  generally  it  is  found 
more  or  less  vascular,  especially  that  portion  of  it  covering 
the  uterus.  Dr.  R.  Lee  has  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  puer- 
peral peritonitis  commences  in  the  peritoneal  covering  of 
May-2 


226  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

the  uterus,  and  extends  from  thence  with  more  or  less  rapid- 
ity, according  to  the  seventy  of  the  attack  to  the  whole  peri- 
toneum. In  some  cases  the  inflammation  is  confined  to  uterus 
and  it  is  generally  most  severe  in  this  situation,  or  in  the 
parls  immediately  surrounding  that  organ,  even  when  it  has 
extended  to  other  organs  and  effected  them  most  severely, 
the  peritoneum  of  the  uterus  invariably  exhibits  signs  of  re- 
cent inflammation.  The  uterus  seems  always  to  suffer  in  the 
greatest  degree.  Dr.  Collins  mentions  seven  cases  in  which 
fluid  was  found  in  the  thoracic  cavities,  similar  in  appearance 
to  that  met  in  the  abdomen.  The  ovaries  in  many  cases  had 
suffered  much  in  structure  from  the  effect  of  inflammation, 
being  generally  much  enlarged  and  so  softened  in  texture  as 
to  be  broken  in  pieces  by  the  least  pressure. 

Differential  Diagnosis. — From  after  pains  or  hysteralgia  by 
these  affections  occurring  sooner  after  delivery  and  diminish- 
ing'on  the  second  or  third  day,  about  the  time  puerperal 
fever  sets  m,  after  pains  are  accompanied  by  a  perceptible 
contraction  of  the  uterus,  which  is  absent  in  puerperal  fever. 
The  pulse  is  sometimes  accelerated  by  after  pains,  but  is 
seldom  steady  in  its  frequency;  in  puerperal  fever  it  never 
falls  below  its  frequency  at  first,  but  generally  increases. 
The  constitutional  disturbance  is  incomparably  greater  in 
puerperal  peritonitis  and  increases,  while  in  hysteralgia,  etc., 
it  decreases. 

From  intestinal  irritation  by  the  more  marked  evidence  of 
gastric  and  intestinal  disorders  in  the  latter.  In  intestinal 
disorders  the  tongue  is  more  heavily  loaded,  there  is  flatu- 
lence, nausea  and  vomiting  constipation,  or  diarrhoea.  The 
abdominal  pain  is  diffused  and  does  not  radiate  from  the 
uterus  as  in  puerperal  peritonitis;  neither  is  the  uterus  en- 
larged or  tender.  The  abdomen  may  be  enlarged  and  tense 
if  there  be  much  generation  of  gas,  but  percussion  will  at 
once  distinguish  it  from  the  enlargement  by  the  effusion  of 
serum;  it  is  rarely  very  tender  on  pressure,  and  gentle  friction 
affords  relief.  The  lowering  of  the  pulse,  the  secretion  of 
milk,  and  the  healthy  character  of  the  lochia  will  readily  dis- 
tinguish it.    From  ephemeral  fever  or  weid.  The  shorter  dura- 


Theory  and  Practice,  227 

tion,  more  rapid  decline  and  much  less  constitutional  symp- 
toms, will  aickthe  diagnosis.  Weid  has  far  more  abdominal 
tenderness  and  the  breasts  remain  distended  with  milk. 

Prognosis. — Dr.  Hulme  declares  it  to  be  as  bad  as  the 
plague;  Dr.  Leake  lost  thirteen  out  of  nineteen;  Dr.  Armstrong 
lost  four  out  of  forty-four;  Dr.  W.  Hunter  lost  thirty-one  out 
of  thirty-two;  Dr.  Lee  lost  forty  out  of  one  hundred;  Dr. 
Clarke  lost  twenty-one  out  of  twenty-eight;  Dr.  Collins  lost 
fifty-six  out  of  eighty  eight;  Dr.  Gordon  lost  twenty-eight 
out  of  seventy  seven;  Dr.  Furgeson  lost  sixty-eight  out  of 
two  hundred  and  five;  Dr.  Campbell  lost  twenty-two  out  of 
seventy-nine. 

Symptoms. — Dr.  Copland  describes  the  symptoms  as  fol- 
lows: **The  earliest  indications  of  the  impending  mischief  is 
the  great  rapidity,  softness  and  weakness  of  the  pulse,  ofien 
attended  by  pain  and  tenderness  at  the  epigastrium,  by  sick- 
ness and  vomiting,  followed  by  general  distension  and  pains 
darting  through  the  abdomen.  But  in  the  majority  of  the 
cases  there  are  neither  chills  nor  rigors;  in  a  few  a  feeling  ot 
coldness  only.  In  this  state  of  the  disease  the  patient  soon 
becomes  despondent,  predicts  her  death,  is  afterward  apathetic, 
and  makes  little  or  no  inquiry  for  her  infant.  The  ab- 
dominal pain  and  distension  are  sudden  and  quick  in  their 
action.  The  tongue  is  from  the  commencement,  flabby, 
broad  and  slimy,  or  covered  by  a  mucous  or  creamy  coating. 
The  pulse  is  usually  from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one 
hundred  and  forty,  or  upwards;  fluent,  soft,  etc.,  and  the 
general  surface  presents  a  livid  or  dirty,  or  dusky  hue,  and 
is  covered  with  a  clammy  or  offensive  perspiration;  the  coun- 
tenance is  pale  and  inexpressive,  unless  there  is  pam  when 
it  becomes  anxious;  the  mind  is  but  little  disturbed  beyond  a 
state  of  complete  apathy. 

However  the  disease  may  commence  and  however  slight 
and  few  the  local  symptoms  may  appear  to  the  experienced 
eye,  they  are  always  most  formidable,  and  generally  run  a 
rapid  course.  The  fever  has  a  low  typhoid  character;  the 
patient  is  nervous,  depressed  and  fearful;  the  pulse  is  soft, 
small  and  increasing  in  rapidity;  the  respiration  quick,  hur- 


228  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

ried,  high  and  often  panting;  the  abdomen  in  many  cases 
swollen,  tympanitic  and  painful;  abdominal  tenderness 
sometimes  is  general,  at  other  times  more  local  and  circum- 
scribed; the  lochia  is  sometimes  entirely  arrested,  at  other 
times  only  diminished  in  quantity,  but  generally  changed  in 
quality,  with  a  fetid  odor;  the  milk  suppressed  in  the  worse 
cases  and  the  urine  diminished.  In  most  cases  the  natural 
affections  of  a  mother  seem  perfectly  quiescent,  the  patient 
rarely  asking  for  or  manifesting  any  interest  in  her  child 
after  disease  sets  in.  From  comparison  of  a  large  number 
of  cases  in  different  epidemics  described  by  various  authors, 
no  absolute  regularity  of  symptoms  will  be  found,  but  they 
will  vary  according  to  individual  peculiarities,  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  epidemic  which  differs  in  different  cities  and 
each  year. 

Period  of  Invasion. — From  a  few  hours  after  delivery  to 
three  or  four  days,  thoagh  usuallv  the  second  day,  and  proves 
fatal  in  from  a  few  hours  to  four  or  five  days,  usually  from 
third  to  fifth  day. 


Puerperal  Metritis,     By  S.  Mills  Fowler,  M.  D.,  Dubuque, 
Iowa. 

Dr.  Dayfoot's  report  of  a  case  in  the  February  number  of 
the  Advance,  and  the  editorial  comment  at  the  end,  leads 
me  to  report  a  case  not  long  since  discharged. 

Mrs.  S.,  a  delicate,  frail  little  lady,  the  youngest  of  a  family 
of  ten,  and  thus  born  of  parents  well  advanced  in  years,  was 
married  the  loth  of  last  May,  and  very  soon  after  became 
pregnant. 

I  first  saw  her  in  November  last  and  prescribed  for  some 
ailment  incident  to  her  condition,  and  from  that  day  to  the 
present  she  has  required  almost  constant  attendance. 


Theory  aad  Practice.  229 

From  her  personal  history  and  the  history  of  her  family,  I 
felt  very  anxi9us  about  her  from  the  first,  and  frankly  told 
the  friends  that  I  feared  she  would  not  live  through,  or  far 
beyond  her  confinement. 

Jan.  2 1st  I  was  called,  to  account  for  a  profuse  flow  of 
water.  It  did  not  come  in  a  *'gush,"  but  a  constant,  steady 
flowing.  While  sitting  a  few  minutes,  her  clothes  would  "be 
soaked  through."  Patient  supposed  it  to  be  urine,  yet  "it  did 
not  smell  like  it."     She  feared  she  had  "lost  her  control." 

I  prescribed,  and  directed  her  to  keep  very  quiet  in  a  re- 
cumbent posture. 

The  mother  asked,  "Do  you  think  she  is  going  to  be  sick?" 
I  thought  "possibly."  "Why!  her  time  isn't  up  for  a  month 
yet."  I  remarked  that  it  was  very  unfortunate;  eight  months' 
babies  seldom  live,  and  it  is  an  exceedingly  trying  time  for 
the  mother.  Under  the  circumstances  we  must  fear  the 
worst,  but  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  prevent. 

At  eleven  p.  m.  I  was  there  again,  and  found  the  patient 
in  active  labor.  There  was  nothing  unusual  about  this,  and 
a  male  child  was  born  about  six  a.  m.,  the  following  morning. 

Jan.  22d.  (No  ansesthetic  used).  Placenta  was  slow  in 
coming,  and  required  some  little  manipulation  to  effect  its 
removal.  Patient  was  immediately  covered  warmly,  and 
directed  to  keep  perfectly  quiet  till  I  called  again,  which  I 
did  about  ten  a.  m.  Found  her  comfortable;  no  pain;  had 
rested  well  and  slept  over  an  hour.  I  then  carefully  removed 
the  soiled  cloths  and  applied  the  "binder."  When  about 
taking  my  leave,  I  was  asked  by  an  attendant,  if  they  could 
not  "change  her  bed  a  little,  so  as  to  make  her  more  com- 
fortable?" 

I  have  severely  censured  myself  for  the  answer  I  made, 

"Yes,  after  she  has  rested  well  for  a  few  hours,  by  having 
the  room  well  warmed  and  the  bedding  thoroughly  aired, 
etc.,"  and  proceeded  to  give  careful  instructions  how  it  should 
be  accomplished. 

I  feel  that  if  they  had  not  gone  beyond  my  directions  all 
would  have  been  well.  But  what  did  they  do?  Not  only 
was   everything   on    the  bed   changed,  but  every  stitch  of 


230  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

clothing  on  the  patient,  even  to  the  flannel  vest  came  oflf,  and 
others  put  on.  When  I  called  again,  about  ten  p.  m.,  I  found 
she  (the  patient)  had  had  a  severe  chill,  and  was  now  in  a 
"raging  fever,"  Pulse  one  hundred  and  fifty-five;  tempera- 
ture one  hundred  and  four  and  a  half  degrees;  headache; 
lochia  scanty;  abdomen  somewhat  bloated,  but  no  particular 
tenderness.     Gave  Aco.  2,  Verat  v,  2. 

Next  morning  at  seven  o'clock,  no  improvement.  Same  at 
ten  a.  m.  and  at  two  p.  m.,  with  tendency  to  delirium.  At  four 
p.  m.  called  with  counsel.  Same  remedies  continued,  but  in 
the  tincture.  At  eleven  p.  m.,  pulse  one  hundred  and  sixty; 
temperature  one  hundred  and  six;  delirium  increased;  coun- 
sel suggested  that  we  substitute  Bhtis.  rad,  tinCy  for  Aco,^ 
which  was  accordingly  done. 

At  parting,  after  leaving  the  house,  counsel  said  that  he  re- 
garded the  case  as  entirely  hopeless,  but  advised  the  Verat.v. 
to  be  continued  by  all  means.  "It  was  a  precious  remedy; 
had  served  him  handsomely  in  such  cases,  etc.,  etc."  He 
would  "call  with  me  again  in  the  morning,  if  I  wished." 
Under  this  treatment  patient  kept  growing  worse  as  fast  as 
possible.  Incessant  talkings,  with  most  vivid  imaginings; 
sees  all  sorts  of  things,  and  hears  all  sorts  of  noises;  is  travel- 
ing, walking,  at  parties,  making  calls,  etc.;  complete  insom- 
nia; eyes  bright,  almost  sparkhng;  pupils  dilated,  but  respond 
to  bright  light;  cheeks  flushed,  tongue  dry,  dark,  almost 
purple,  ;ind  inability  to  protrude  it;  it  catches  against  the 
lower  teeth  and  she  can't  get  it  out;  very  deaf;  abdomen 
bloated  largely,  tympanitic,  not  sensitive,  but  on  pressure  im- 
parts a  heavy,  doughy  feel;  lochia  very  dark  and  scanty,  with 
an  intolerable  fetor;  urine  suppressed;  bowels  locked;  pulse 
weak,  thready,  very  small,  can  scarcely  count  them,  but 
above  one  hundred  and  seventy;  temperature  one  hundred 
and  seven.  Morning  of  fifth  day  the  above  symptoms  were 
recorded,  and  I  gave  Lack.  18;  some  improvement  in  three 
hours.  Lack.  200;  improvement  more  rapid  and  more 
noticeable.  Lack.  2m;  still  more  rapid  improvement.  The 
morning  of  the  sixth  day  gave  Lack.  20m,  w'hich  was  follow- 
ed by  still  more  rapid  strides  in  the    right  direction.      The 


Theory  and  Practice,  231 

next  morning,  seventh,  found  a  fine  milliary  eruption  very 
thick  over  chest,  abdomen,  thighs,  arms  and  hands.  The 
morning  of  the  tenth  day  a  crop  of  small,  red  pimples  ap- 
peared on  the  forehead  and  over  the  scalp;  these  developed 
a  pustule  exactly  resembling  small  pox.  The  eruption  grad- 
ually subsided,  followed  by  desquamation.  As  the  pustules 
matured  and  crusts  formed,  six  or  seven  large  sub-cutaneous 
abscesses  formed,  two  on  the  right  thigh,  one  on  left  buttock, 
one  on  back  at  waist  line,  one  on  side  of  neck,  and  two  on 
the  head,  which  were  lanced  and  discharged  copiously  a 
laudable  pus.  The  child,  without  doubt,  was  born  at  the 
eighth  month  and  has  given  us  not  a  little  trouble,  but  is  still 
alive,  and  now  bids  fair  to  "make  a  live  of  it." 

Mr.  S.  was  just  in  to  report,  and  says  the  bov  is  very  much 
better  to-day.  Wife  was  dressed  and  sat  up  over  two  hours 
this  afternoon.  This  patient  has  spent  her  time  the  past 
three  years  journeying  from  place  to  place  in  search  of  health. 


Eot  Baths  in  T3rpllOid  Pever.      Translated  by  S.  L.,  from  A. 
H.  Z.,  No.  vi,  1880. 

Drs.  Siegrist  and  Bruckner,  in  Basle,  Switzerland,  used  for 
the  last  two  years  hot  baths  of  28  to  30  R.  (95  to  100  F.)  in 
typhoid  fevers,  and  prefer  them  to  the  usual  methods  of  cool 
baths  and  cold  packs,  as  the  latter  especially  in  complications 
with  chest  affections  often  does  harm.  Any  one  who  once 
tried  hot  baths  will  never  return  ^o  the  cold  ones.  The  bene- 
fits of  hot  baths  are:  i.  They  are  far  more  agreeable  to  the 
patient;  they  often  ask  to  have  more  hot  water  added  the 
higher  the  temperature  of  their  body  is.  As  soon  as,  e.  g.,  the 
temperature  of -the  blood  is  not  over  forty  C,  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  bath  must  be  nearly  the  same,  then  only,  the  pa- 


232  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

tient  feels  comforfable  in  his  bath,  and  after  fifteen  to  twenty 
minutes  the  water  in  the  tub  will  be  found  of  the  same  tem* 
peratuie.  2.  The  cooling  of  the  body  sets  in  only  after  the 
bath,  but  continues  a  great  deal  longer  than  after  the  cold 
bath,  which  momentarily  cools  the  body  far  more  effectively 
but  causes  also  a  far  more  intensive  reaction,  so  that  the 
cold  baths  must  be  more  frequently  repeated.  After  the  hot 
bath  the  patient  is  enveloped  in  a  dry  sheet,  and  after  being 
brought  to  bed  without  being  dried  off,  must  remain  there 
well  covered.  Only  the  feet  must  be  well  dried  and  guarded 
against  catching  cold.  The  patients  usually  fall  into  a  quiet 
sleep,  and  the  skin  remains  cool  for  many  hours.  3.  This 
mild  and  still  effective  treatment  saves  the  vitalit}'  of  the  pa- 
tient, and  the  whole  course  of  the  disease  is  shortened  and 
rendered  more  mild  thereby. 


^$mml  €liKk$. 


Clinics  from  S.  H.  Jackson,  M.  D.,  Boston,  Mass. — 
Case  No.  755.  Mrs.  B.,  aet,  twenty-two,  cephalalgia,  from 
childhood,  commencing  in  the  eyes,  from  thence  to  nape  of 
neck,  then  over  the  whole  head;  aggravated  when  rising  in 
the  morning,  increasing  until  night;  especially  worse-at  six, 
and  twelve  p.  m.,  at  which  times,  if  l3'ing,  she  must  rise  and 
walk  the  room;  during  this  time  vomiting,  then  the 
headache  gradually  ceases;  worse  from  eating,  ascending 
and  noise;  cries  with  the  pain;  feet  cold;  craves  meat 
and  sweets;  walking  seems  to  jar  the  brain;  never 
since  childhood  has  she  been  free  from  these  for  an  entire 
week;  always  had  it  at  menstrual  periods.     Her  family  phy- 


General  Clinics,  233 

sician,  a  homoeopath,  has  always  known  her,  having  been 
present  at  her  birth;  he  has  told  her  it  was  hereditary  and 
could  never  be  cured.  I  therefore  concluded  that  I  had  a 
hard  case  to  treat  and  must  look  further  for  characteristic 
symptoms  and  treat  her  constitutionally,  but  was  unable  to 
find  any  disturbance  except  of  the  bowels  which  were  con- 
stipated before  the  headaches,  with  burning  and  itching  of 
the  parts  after  stool,  with  a  large  accumulation  of  feces,  re- 
quiring considerable  exertion  to  expel  them,  which  aggra- 
vates the  headache;  the  parts  felt  better  from  cold  applica- 
tions.    Alumina  met  cm.;  Plac.  pills  to  follow.     Oct.  i6th. 

Nov,  24th,  I  again  sawr  her.  She  reported,  has  not  had 
one  headache,  bowels  regular  and  feels  well  in  every  respect. 
Placebo,  with  instructions  to  report  in  a  month.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  she  reported  still  well  and  was  discharged 
cured. 

Case  No.  81^. — Dec.  ijth.  Mr.  P.,  aet.  twenty-three; 
syphilitic  ulcers  in  mouth.  Twenty  months  ago  had  primary 
chancre,  was  treated  by  caustic  applications,  following  which 
the  disease  of  buccal  cavity  commenced.  Again  treated  by 
local  applications.  Ulcers  are  now  on  internal  surface  of  lips, 
tip  and  sides  of  tongue  and  roof  of  mouth;  ptyalism;  burning 
sensation;  worse  in  bed;  saliva  stains  yellow;  pains  are  of  a 
pricking,  stabbing  nature.  Nitric  acid  icm  on  tongue;  Sac 
lac  pills  to  follow.  Dec.  loth,  slight  improvement.  Sac  lac. 
to  report  in  a  month.  Last  of  January  met  him  on  the 
street,  when  he  reported  himself  well.  Discharged  cured  of 
his  folly. 

Case  No.  816. — Dec.  6th.  Mr.  M.,  aet.  thirty-two.  Chancre 
on  end  of  prepuce;  on  upper  surface;  phymosis  great;  yellow- 
ish-green discharge;  burning  during  micturition.  Contracted 
this  chancre  three  weeks  ago;  had  been  using  some  kind  of 
salve  locally.  Swelling  in  groins,  worse  in  left,  Merc,  cor. 
icm,  dry  on  tongue.  Dec.  loth,  better;  Sac  lac.  This  per- 
son being  intemperate  I  had  him  come  in  often,  and  gave 
him  Sac  lac,  each  time.  Jan.  29th,  reported  himself;  found 
the  swelling  in  the  groin  had  disappeared;  the  chancre  was 
cured  but  there  was  a  contraction  of  the  prepuce,  for  which 


234  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

I  blamed  the  use  of  the  local  application;  advised  an  opera- 
tion.    Have  not  since  seen  him. 

Case  No.  903. — Dec.  nth.  Mr.  G.,  aet.  twenty-five- 
Phymosis,  oedema,  chancre  on  entire  end  of  prepuce;  phag- 
denic,  lardaceous  base,  elevated  edge.  Merc,  icm  on 
tongue.  Dec.  19th,  much  better.  Sac  lac.  Feb.  2d,  hardly 
any  signs  of  disease.  Sac  lac,  with  instructions  to  report 
later.     Have  not  seen  him  since. 

Case  No.  4. — Jan.  ist.  Mrs.  P.,  aet.  forty-five.  This  per- 
son sent  for  medicine,  as  she  was  sufi'ering  with  sharp,  stitch- 
ing pains  in  the  left  che»t  and  shoulders;  aggravated  by 
moving  arms,  breathing;  thirst  for  much  cold  water.  Sent 
Bry.  icwi,  powder,  with  Sac  lac.  pills  to  follow.  Jan.  5th  she 
came  in  and  reported  that  she  was  greatly  relieved  of  the 
pains,  and  had  a  constant  discharge  of  water  from  the  rectum; 
she  has  ascites,  very  marked;  should  judge  she  weighed  two 
hundred  or  more.  Sac  lac.  She  came  in  three  or  four  times 
later  reporting  improvement.  Jan.  20th,  Bry.  icm,  one  pow- 
der. Feb.  19th,  said  she  had  taken  in  her  clothes  four 
inches,  as  they  were  so  loose.  Still  under  Sac  lac.  and  still 
improving. 

Ingrowing  Toe  Nail. — The  ordinary  treatment  of  this 
painful  trouble  is  still  persisted  in  by  our  old  school  brethren 
in  the  removal  of  tlie  nail,  as  they  say  nothing  else  can  be 
done.  A  young  man  came  to  me  after  applying  to  some  of 
the  best  physicians  in  our  place  of  the  old  school,  who  in- 
formed him  that  the  removal  of  the  nail  was  the  only  way  it 
could  be  cured.  Upon  examination  I  found  the  nail  callous 
and  the  parts  contiguous  to  it  very  sensitive  and  highly  in- 
flamed. I  had  him  soak  the  toe  in  warm  water* until  the 
nail  became  soft,  and  then  gently  scraped  it  thin,  and  in  the 
middle  of  it  almost  to  the  quick,  and  then  cut  the  nail  quarter 
moon  shape,  leaving  the  edges.  I  then  pressed  cotton  under 
the  edges  so  as  to  draw  the  nail  out  of  the  ulcer,  and  ap- 
plied to  the  ulcer  and  inflamed  parts,  equal  parts  of  Thuja 
and  Glycerine.  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  inside  of  a 
week  great  improvement,  and  in  about  three  weeks  the  toe 


•  General  Clinics,  235 

was  entirely  well.  I  gave  no  internal  treatment  as  I  believe 
in  this  case  it  was  a  local  disense,  caused  probably  from 
wearing  tight  shoes  across  the  toes,  as  the  second  toe  lapped 
over  the  large  one  and  was  pressin<j  against  it.  I  placed 
cotton  between  the  large  and  second  toe,  and  ordered  wider 
shoes.  The  patient -now  walks  with  great  comfort.  This 
case  gave  Homoeopathy  a  lift. — W,  T.  Bruce,  M.  D. 


Ann  AxbOT  Clinics,    Medical  and  Gynaecological  Department. 
Service  of  Prof.  Allen. 

Miss  Ida  Monroe,  aet.  twenty-six,  resident  of  Hespeler, 
Mich.,  black  hair  and  eyes,  a  decided  brunette,  appeared  at 
homoeopathic  clinic  Feb.  14,  1880,  and  gave  the  following 
history  of  her  case:  Came  to  the  other  hospital  Feb.  22,  1879, 
and  remained  under  treatment  until  May  19,  when  she  re- 
turned home  without  receiving  much  benefit.  Becoming 
again  worse  in  the  autumn,  she  came  back  to  the  hospital 
Nov.  10,  1879,  ^"^  remained  until  Feb,  11,  when  she  was 
assured  "nothing  more  could  be  done  for  her."  The  only 
relief  she  experienced  while  under  this  treatment  was  during 
the  suppuration  process  after  the  application,  Dec.  3,  of  the 
actual  cautery,  but  as  soon  as  that  was  completed  her  pain 
returned  with  increased  violence.  Her  mother  died  at  forty- 
two  of  phthisis,  of  which  her  brother  has  now  premonitory 
symptoms;  father  and  rest  of  famil}-  healthy.  She  has 
never  enjoyed  good  health;  present  troubles  date  from  an 
attack  of  acUte  rheumatism  eight  years  ago,  since  which 
time  has  had  a  constant,  aching,  throbbing  pain  in  pelvis  and 
both  hips,  at  times  extending  up  the  spine,  at  times  down  the 
limbs;  pain  very  much  aggravated  at  night,  during  menstrual 
nisus,   and    at   the  approach  of  a  storm,  or  during  rough 


236  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

8torray  weather.  This  pain  gradually  left  the  hips  and  made 
its  appearance  in  right  knee,  right  spine  of  tibia,  and  on  inside 
of  right  foot  through  bones  of  tarsus  and  malleoli,  (it  was  on 
internal  side  of  right  foot  below  the  malleolus  that  the  cau- 
tery was  applied)  increasing  in  severity  to  such  an  extent- 
as  not  only  to  deprive  her  of  sleep  at  night,  but  prevent  her 
from  walking,  and  necessitate  three  years  ago  the  use  of  a 
crutch,  which  she  has  been  compelled  to  use  ever  since. 
Limbs  and  extremities  are  now  very  weak,  but  no  wasting 
of  muscles  of  right  limb  could  be  detected.  Some  pain  in 
chest  on  deep  inspiration,  but  auscultation  and  percussion 
reveal  no  abnormal  sounds.  Pulse  and  temperature  normal; 
menses  every  two  weeks,  too  profuse,  and  last  six  or  seven 
days,  terminating  in  a  thick,  creamy,  offensive  leucorrhoea, 
which  continues  until  next  period,  and  is  very  exhausting. 
Appetite  fair,  bowels  regular,  but  pain  prevents  her  from 
getting  more  than  an  hour  or  two  of  troubled  sleep  at  night; 
she  can  scarcely  remember  when  she  has  had  a  good  night's 
rest;  suffers  much  from  nervous  headache;  pains  of  a  dart- 
ing, shooting  charactei  in  forehead,  temples,  occiput;  worse 
after  menses;  severe  pressing  pain  in  eyes  and  orbit,  worse 
after  menses;  crushing  pain  through  sacro-iliac  articulation, 
worse  during  and  after  menses.  When  pain  in  head,  spine 
and  pelvis  is  severe,  her  foot  is  much  better,  and  her  g-e^eral 
health  is  much  better  since  the  pain  in  foot  and  leg  has  been 
so  constant. 

Diagnosis:  Constitutional  dyscrasia;  Hahnemann's  psora. 
Prognosis  guarded.  Cal,  carb,  200  every  mornmg  for  a 
week. 

Feb.  28,  Feels  better  in  some  respects,  has  had  less  pain  in 
foot  and  sleeps  better  at  night.     Sac.  lac.  every  morning. 

March  6.  Improving;  better  in  every  way;  can  walk  a 
little  without  her  crutch,  and  feels  much  encouraged.  Sac, 
lac.  continued,  after  one  dose  of  Cal.  carb.  "higfi." 

March  13.  Walked  in  without  her  crutch;  has  had  but 
little  pain  past  week  and  that  mostly  in  knee;  foot  compara- 
tively free;  sleeps  much  better  and  feels  better  in  every  way. 
Sac,  lac.  continued. 


General  Clinics.  237 

March  20.  About  the  same  as  last  week,  but  complains  of 
a  thick,  yellowish,  brownish,  and  terribly  offensive  leucorr- 
hoBa  which  annoys  her  constantly.  Psorinum  '*high,"  one 
powder  and  Sac.  lac.  night  on  retiring,  for  a  week. 

March  31.  Leucorrhoea  much  more  bearable  in  odor,  and 
less  in  quantity;  pain  all  greatly  lessened,  and  menses  at  last 
period  only  lasted  four  days;  feels  stronger  and  better  in 
every  way;  does  not  use  her  crutch  much  about  the  house. 
Passive  motion  of  the  muscles  of  right  limb  ordered,  the 
manipulating  to  be  done  by  an  attendant  night  and  morn- 
ihg.    Psorin.  one  dose.     Sac,  lac.  continued  as  before. 

April  10.  Walked  in  from  her  carriage  and  around  am- 
phitheatre without  her  crutch;  no  pain  in  foot,  limb  or  hip; 
leucorrhoea  greatly  improved;  no  odor  for  a  week;  last  men- 
strual period  at  four  weeks  (less  two  days)  not  so  profuse; 
lasted  four  days,  and  "feels  better  than  at  any  time  since  she 
can  remember."  So  much  better  allowed  to  go  home  under 
treatment. 


♦  ♦ 


lli$r(I[att$Qa$. 


A  Typical  Case,  Vxth  Bemarks.     By  Geo.  Lee,  M.  D.,  Fre- 

mont,  O.     Read  before  the  Homoeopathic  Alumni  As< 
sociation  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  February  24th,  1880. 

1. 
The  train  paused  at  the  depot  of  a  small  provincial  town , 
The  time  was  late  in  winter,  when  the  earth  was  bare  and  brown  ; 
Not  yet  from  pond  and  river  had  Jack  Frost  withdrawn  his  sheen, 
Not  yet  the  oaks  and  maples  had  put  on  their  April  Green. 


238  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

2. 

Forth  stepped  a  youth.     His  overcoat  possessed  a  seedy  air, 
A  sort  of  well  brushed  shabbioess  that  indicated  wear, 
While  from  his  red  right  hand,  devoid  of  glove,  hung  low 
An  old  and  bulging  satchel,  valise  or  portmanteau. 

3. 
He  would  not  take  a  carriage,  he  declined  the  omnibus, 
The  drivers,  soUa  vocCj  said,  *'Some  impecunious  cuss  I" 
He  calmly  took  his  bearings  and  then  walked  into  the  town. 
Where  in  a  cheap  hotel,  at  last,  he  set  his  satchel  down. 

4. 
A  few  days  later  there  appeared  in  that  sequestered  place, 
A  gilt-edged  shingle,  carrying  these  words  upon  its  face :  « 

''John  Brown,  M.  D.,''  in  letters  scrolled  and  curving  like  a  snath. 
While  beneath  them,  in  bright  colors,  flamed  the  legend — Homoeopath. 

6. 
That  week  the  county  patrons  of  the  Statesman  and  the  Guardj 
Spied,  in  the  local  columns,  an  inexpensive  card. 
Which  said  that  the  subscriber  was  a  doctor  and  would  come 
To  any  one  afflicted  with  a  fever  or  sore  thumb. 

6. 
It  caused  a  little  ripple — this  announcement — ^and  made  talk, 
By  no  means  an  excitement  though,  and  nothing  like  a  shock  ; 
For  every  year  a  doctor  more  or  less  would  come  to  stay, 
But,  six  months  later,  Arab  like,  would  coyly  steal  away. 

7.    » 
Well,  Brown  had  days  of  waiting,  days  of  ennui,  days  of  wrath  ; 
He  found  the  native  prejudice  against  a  Homoeopath. 
And  when  he  walked  along  the  street,  in  scant  and  seedy  guise. 
He  fancied  that  the  people  looked  suspicion  from  their  eyes. 

8. 
The  old  established  doctors,  like  the  drug  stores  and  the  bank, 
Were  honored  institutions,  and  with  them  he  could  not  rank. 
They  passed  the  stranger  coldly  when  they  met  him,  and  in  turn 
He  mustered  all  his  courage  and  affected  unconcern. 


Miscellaneaus.  239 

9. 

But  thanks  to  grinding  poverty,  that  leveler  of  men, 
Oar  hero  was  rewarded  with  a  patient  now  and  then ; 
And  out  of  their  extremity  and  his  there  slowly  grew 
The  outlines  of  a  prestige  that  was  better  than  he  knew. 

10. 
For  men  are  bound  together  in  a  brotherhood  that  is 
Born  of  our  common  fatl^erhood  in  Qod — we  all  are  His. 
And  though  we  fence  ourselves  about  with  walls  of  wealth  and  pride, 
We  can  not  feel  indifferent  to  what  occurs  outside. 

11. 
And  though  we  hug  a  prejudice  'gainst  things  in  the  abstract, 
Of  which  we  know  but  little  ;  some  interesting  fact. 
Some  concrete  evidence  borne  in  to  mankind's  innate  sense 
Of  what  is  true  and  worthy,  slowly  weakens  our  defeuRe. 

12. 
Once,  looking  at  the  game  of  life,  one  said  :  '*  I  must  confess, 
Nothing  is  so  successful,  in  the  long  run,  as  success." 
'Tis  so ;  and  when  our  doctor  cured  with  manifested  skill, 
it  could  not  be  but  some  folks  would  forgive  his  little  pill. 

13.    ■ 
Men  said,  "  What  is  it,  think  you,  that  keeps  Brown  upon  his  (eet? 
He  has  no  wealthy  patrons  his  great  merits  to  repeat ; 
He  has  no  rich  relations  here  to  boost  him  up  the  tree. 
And  no  one  ever  heard  him  brag  about  his  pedigree.'' 

14. 
Well,  in  natrum  rcruniy  no  reflecting  man  could  doubt 
There  were  substantial  reasons  why  he  did  not  peter  out ; 
And  now  and  then  some  kindly  man  he'd  wrought  a  cure  upon, 
Would  say,  "I  think  you'll  make  it  here  if  only  you'll  hold  on." 

16. 
He  held,  and  for  a  snapper  to  this  instructive  tale, 
I^ll  add  enough  of  romance  to  prevent  it  seeming  stale, 
A  feast  of  reason  only,  this  occasion  shall  not  be ; 
A  little  flow  of  soul  thrown  in,  will  make  the  feast  agree. 


240  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

16. 
The  old  established  merchant  had  a  daughter,  very  fair, 
Just  budding  into  womanhood.    She  had  long  golden  hair, 
And  teeth  of  ivory,  and  eyes  of  that  celestial  blue, 
Murillo  gives  the  Virgin  when  her  destiny  she  knew. 

17. 
But  sickness  came  upon  her,  and  the  faithful  calomel 
Refused  to  work  within  her  any  salutary  s^ell. 
"Spiritus  mindererV^  was  unable  to  control 
The  fever,  ditto  "Quinio,"  do  ''NUrum"  by  the  bowl. 

18. 
The  doctor  called  a  council — each  man  could  diagnose 
The  trouble  with  precision,  and  could  recommend  the  dose. 
But  they  did  not  help  the  patient,  and  with  hot,  relentless  breath. 
The  fever  held  within  her  frame  a  revelry  with  death. 

19. 
Then  up  stepped  Kate  O'Brien,  the  domestic,  and  she  said : 
^'Shure,  Misther  Dives,  if  ye  plase,  an'  Stella  be  not  dead, 
I'll  fetch  the  young  physician,  who  last  winter  raised  my  Tim ; 
By  the  howly  saints  and  Vargin,  I've  a  dale  of  faith  in  him." 

20. 
Old  Dives  answered  sadly,  from  his  seat  beside  the  bed. 
Not  lifting  from  his  nerveless  hand  his  white  grief-stricken  head, 
''You  may  bring  your  doctor,  Katie,  but  I  have  no  faith  that  he. 
Or  any  other  man,  can  give  my  darling  back  to  me." 

21, 
Brown's  opportunity  had  come.    He  felt  it.     Without  fuss 
Or  pomp  of  astute  learning,  he  displayed  six  drops  of  *^£Au«" 
'*In  half  a  glass  of  water,"  and  "one  teaspoonful  of  that, 
He  gave,  with  brief  directions,  and  then  gently  found  his  hat. 

22. 

Need  I  complete  the  story?    Your  fancy  had  outrun 

The  slow  feet  of  my  metre,  ere  I  scarcely  had  begun. 

You  know  that  she  recovered,  and  that  Brown,  for  his  reward, 

With  all  that  hair  and  ivory,  got  the  best  gift  of  the  Lord. 


Miscellaneous,  241 

23. 
You  know,  that  from  this  time,  he  had  a  better  vantage  stand, 
A  better  chance  to  show  the  world  the  truth  he  held  in  hand. 
You  know  that  he  succeeded  in  the  main,  but  now  and  then, 
Was  beaten  by  that  spectre  whose  pale  horse  treads  down  all  men. 

24. 
You  all  have  seen  the  mother  who  had  pinned  her  faith  to  you, 
And,  howe'er  sick  her  child,  believed  that  you  could  pull  him  through. 
You've  seen  the  sad  reproachful ness  that  came  into  her  eyel^ 
When  in  spite  of  all  your  effort,  death  snatched  away  the  prize. 

25. 
Brown  sometimes  met  this  mother — sometimes  he  heard  her  say : 
'Perhaps  it  had  been  better  to  have  kept  the  good  old  way. 
Those  little  doses — I  don't  know — ^it  may  be  something  strong 
Would  have  overcome  the  fever — I  fear  that  we  did  wrong."  • 

26. 
It  wrung  his  heart ;  but  well  he  knew  that  in  the  face  of  death, 
To  go  into  an  argument  is  worse  than  wasting  breath.  [wreck, 

Enough — that  when   great    tempests  rage  some  ship  may  chance  to 
Though  a  competent  commander  and  crew  be  on  the  deck. 

27. 
His  vindication  came  with  time;  for,  as  the  years  roll'd  by, 
Statistics  told  the  story,  and  these  figures  did  not  lie. 
His  wife,  her  father's  money,  helped  him  greatly  I  confess. 
But  under  all,  the  secret  of  his  progress  was — success. 

28. 
I  tell  you,  men  and  brethren,  this :   Truth  is  a  mighty  tool. 
The  man  who  would  deride  it  is  a  rascal  or  a  fool ; 
While  he  who  loves  and  uses  it  with  manly  Saxon  grit, 
Is  one  who  helps  his  neighbor,  and  obeys  the  Infinite. 

29. 
Our  tiny  Homoeopathic  pill  is  like  Christ's  mustard  seed  ; 
It  was,  in  its  beginning,  insignificant  indeed, 
But  its  root  is  striking  deep,  and  itij  trunk  is  growing  strong, 
And  the  shadow  of  its  branches  yearly  soothes  a  greater  throng. 

May  "3 


242  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance, 


Champlain  Valley  Eomoeopatliic  Medical  Society. 

Tuesday,  Feb.  24th,  the  Champlain  Valley  Homoeopathic 
Medical  Society  met  at-the  Addison  House,  Middlebury,  Vt. 
The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  ten-thirty  a.  m.,  Dr. 
Arthur,  of  Vergennes,  in  the  chair. 

Recognizing  the  increasing  prevalence  and  terrible  fatality 
of  diphtiveria,  and  appreciating  that  the  most  skillful  and 
scientific  treatment  has  done  comparatively  so  little  to  meet 
and  conquer  this  dreaded  foe  to  life,  it  had  been  appointed 
as  the  subject  for  discussion.  The  preliminary  business, 
election  of  new  members,  etc.,  having  been  briefly  dispatched, 
papers  on  the  subject  were  first  called  for.  Dr.  Smith,  of 
Addison,  read  an  interesting  paper,  giving  in  detail  several 
unusual  cases.  One  case  following  a  wound  from  a  pitch- 
fork, disease  first  showing  itself  in  wound,  afterwards  affect- 
ing patient  constitutionally,  developing  finally  in  the  throat. 
Called  attention  to  the  peculiar  track  of  the  disease.  Com- 
mencing on  the  old  turnpike,  a  high  and  clay  road  from  Ver- 
gennes to  Bridgeport,  and  following  road  for  five  or  more 
miles.  He  recognized  the  three  general  forms,  catarrhal, 
croupous  and  septic;  considered  treatment  of  little  avail  in 
latter  form,  but  depended  largely  on  prophylactic  or  preven- 
tive treatment,  free  use  of  disinfectants,  etc.;  thought  if 
disease  could  not  be  arrested  its  severity  could  be  greatly 
mitigated  by  such  measures.  Dr,  Arthur,  of  Vcrprennes, 
had  a  carefully  prepared  paper  giving  a  large  number  of 
cases  occurring  within  his  ride,  which  he  and  other  local 
physicians  were  called  on  to  treat,  the  statistics  showing 
rate  of  mortality  to  be  frightful  under  any  and  all  treatment. 
In  one  location  of  not  half  a  mHe  radius,  out  of  thirty-five 
cases  there  were  twenty-six  deaths.  Considered  Eucalyptus 
globulus  the  best  antiseptic  he  had  ever  used;  applied  as  a 
gargle  it  would  destroy  the  disgusting  penetrating  odor 
almost  entirel}',  seemed  particularly  grateful  to  patients.  As 
a  disinfectant  he  considered  Chlorine  gas,  as  obtained  from 
the  simple  process  in  its  productions  from   Manganese  and 


Miscellaneous,  243 

Salt  prepared  in  the  chamber  which  it  is  desired  to  be  disin- 
fected, would  do  the   work  more  surely  than  anything  else. 
He  quoted  experiments  made  in  Bellevuc  Hospital  in  award 
impregnated  with  diphtheria,   where   every  patient  placed 
there  came  down  with  the  disease,  and  after  repeated  failures 
with  almost  everything  else,  Chlorine  gas  was  used  success- 
fully.    Spoke  of  using  it  thoroughly  in  Reform  School  after 
first  case,  and  this  in   connection   with  Siilpho'  carbolate  of 
soda  internally,  confined  the  disease  to  very  narrow  limits. 
Out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  children  but  twenty  had 
the  disease,  with  but  three  or  four  deaths.     Always  individ- 
ualized his  cases,  and  gave  indicated  remedies,  not  believing 
any  specific  would  ever  be    found    to  cure  all  cases.     Dr. 
Hamilton,  of  Brandon,  considered  heat  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant prophylactics,  neutralizing  as  it  does  cold  or  mois- 
ture.    Never  found  anything  like  Turpentine  to  deodorize  a 
house  after  death  of  a  case.     Where  the  house  was   impreg- 
nated with  the  horrible  odor,  clinging  for  weeks,  after  every 
thing   had  been   tried,  a   thorough  painting  in  the  infected 
chamber,  rendered  the  house  perfectly  sweet.     Considered 
Sugar,  used  locally,  one  of  the  best  remedies  to  cut  and  dis- 
solve membrane.     Did  not  consider  one    time  of  tlie  year 
more   favorable   to   propagation    of    disease   than    another, 
thought  between  fifteen  and  twenty-five  years  of  age  the 
greatest  mortality  occurs.     Used  the  usual  remedies,  Phyto- 
laca,  Mercurius  proty  biniodide,  Sepia,  Lachesis,  Aconite  and 
Belladonna,  as  indicated,  and  spoke  very  highly  of  Salicylic 
acid.     Dr.  Ockford,  of  Burlington,  read  an  interesting  paper 
on  the  cause  and  prevention   of  diphtheria.     He   went  into 
hygienic  matters  very  thoroughly,  reviewing  the  most  com- 
mon causes  in  our  defective  drainage  system,  accumulation 
of  iilth  in  places  where  th^  ought  not,  bad  water   closets, 
careless  decomposition  of  vegetable  matter  in  our  cellars,  etc., 
etc.,  and  showing  that  only  when  we  had  succeeded  in  cor- 
recting these  evils  and  abuses,  would  we  succeed  in  rooting 
out  this  dreaded  disease.  Dr.  Wyman,  of  Manchester,  asked, 
if  it  were  possible  to  keep  a  patient  mostly  on  face,  the  dis- 
charge  or    exudations    from    throat    not    being  swallowed, 


244  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

* 

would  the  constitutional  symptoms  be  mitigated  in  severity? 
A  majority  of  the  members  thought  it  would  be  utterly  im- 
possible to  do  this.  Dr.  Wyman's  favorite  gargle  consisted 
of  one  part  Alcohol,  one  part  Glycerine,  and  one  of  water, 
this  in  as  much  hot  water.  Dr.  Woodhouse,  of  Rutland,  en- 
courages patients  to  take  all  nutriment  they  will  possibly 
bear,  and  sometimes  a  little  more.  Believes  in  disinfectants, 
but  thinks  we  sometimes  overdo  the  thing,  and  infect,  instead 
of  disinfect.  Pure  air  and  good  fires  are  great  helps.  He 
uses  as  a  gargle.  Bichromate  of  potassa,  depending  almost 
entirely  on  it  locally,  and  having  the  greatest  faith  in  its  vir- 
tues. Always  suits  temperature  of  gargle  to  wishes  of  pa- 
tient, sometimes  using  hot,  and  again  ice  cold.  Dr.  Halsey 
reported  an  almost  singular  immunity  from  diphtheria,  in 
Middlebury*  during  the  past  four  years,  agreed  however 
with  Dr.  Wyman  as  to  the  value  of  Bichromate,  in  throat 
troubles  with  ulceration  having  a  diphtheric  tendency. 
Learned  its  value  from  his  preceptor.  Dr.  Verdi,  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  while  studying  there,  and  had  used  it  with  the 
best  success  ever  since.  Used  it  in  hot  water,  in  most  cases, 
and  frequently  combined  with  Alcohol.  Dr.  Halsey  also 
showed  to  the  society  an  interesting  pathological  specimen, 
curious  from  its  rarity. 

An  interesting  discussion  followed  as  to  the  degree  in 
which  diphtheria  is  contajjious,  or  infectious,  if  at  all.  Dr. 
Sanborn,  of  New  Haven,  said  while  he  deemed  the  disease 
infectious  in  the  highest  degree,  being  communicated  by 
touch,  or  direct  contact  with  patient,  he  did  not  consider  it 
contagious  in  the  sense  of  small  pox,  measles,  etc.;  that 
where  the  disease  developed  in  other  families,  having  had 
communication  with  infected  houses  or  not,  that  diligent 
search  would  probably  develop  the  cause  of  these  new 
cases,  arising  in  their  own  locality;  that  where  the  disease 
went  through  a  family,  the  causes  which  produced  it  in  one, 
were  still  at  work,  and  might  produce  it  in  the  rest,  as  is 
frequently  the  case  in  typhoid  form.  A  straight  allopathic 
bolus  of — well  anything  hard  to  swallow,  could  not  have 
produced   more  disturbance.     Cases  without  number  were 


Miscellaneous,  245 

cited  by  different  physicians  to  prove  to  the  contrary  of  this 
theory,  and  to  leave  no  doubt  of  the  contagiousness  of  the 
disease.  Dr.  Sparhawk,  of  Burlington,  gave  a  detailed  ac- 
count of  quite  a  number  of  cases  coming  within  his  know- 
ledge and  treatment,  cases  occurring  after  a  funeral  of  a 
diphtheric  case,  but  none  persons  who  had  attended  funeral, 
or  in  any  family  of  such.  Dr.  Sanborn  thought  the  cases  an 
excellent  argument  in  support  of  his  theory.  Many  cases 
were  cited  by  physicians  present,  where  the  contagion  was 
directly  traceable  to  some  article  of  clothing  used  near  or  by 
the  patient,  or  in  which  disease  was  carried  to  an  uninfected 
locality  by  the  nurse,  or  person  having  otherwise  come  into 
contact  with  disease.  Perhaps  the  most  noticeable  case  was 
mentioned  by  Dr.  Arthur.  A  servant  employed  in  a  house 
where  several  cases  occured,  some  of  which  proved  fatal, 
left  and  went  into  another  family  some  miles  from  the  first 
place.  This  whole  family  were  stricken  with  disease,  two 
dying.  The  girl  changed  four  times,  the  last  place  being  in  a 
different  town,  and  in  every  place  the  disease  was  communi- 
cated, proving  fatal  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  every  family. 
Summing  up  the  arguments,  it  was  understood  as  the  views 

• 

of  the  society,  that  inasmuch  as  it  is  an  indisputable  fact,  that 
the  poisonous  germs  of  the  disease  (be  they  the  same  nature 
as  the  bacteria  found  in  the  membrane  or  not)  insinuate 
themselves  in  the  clothing  of  persons  much  employed  about 
the  sick,  and  that,  as  neither  boiling  nor  freezing  will  destroy 
the  infection  of  such  clothing,  it  becomes  our  duty  as  physi- 
cians, to  warn  our  patients  and  the  public  generally,  against 
the  indiscriminate  visiting  often  allowed;  against  public 
funerals  of  persons  dying  with  disease;  advising  as  strict  a 
quarantine  as  possible  in  every  case,  and  the  greatest  care  to 
be  exercised  by  those  employed  in  caring  for  sick  in  regard 
to  their  clothing,  either  changing  it  when  going  out,  or  being 
thoroughly  disinfected  with  Chlorine  gas.  Nor  need  these 
precautions  interfere  in  any  degree  with  proper  care  of  sick, 
but  simply  to  prevent  the  disease  spreading  unnecessarily. 

Meeting  then  adjourned  until  the  first  Tuesday  in  May, 
which  being  the  regular  annual  meeting,  will  be  held  in 
Middlebury. — F.  W.  Halsky,  M,  D.,  Sec'y  pro  tern. 


246  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 


Cntler's  Sutiire  Cutter  and  Forceps. 

Surgeons  have  always  had  more  or  less  trouble  in  remov- 
ing the  sutures  after  operations  for  lacerated  vagina  and 
vaginal  fistulas.  Heretofore  it  has  been  customary  to  use  a 
pair  of  scissors  and  a  pair  of  forceps,  and  sometimes  a  director 
for  this  purpose,  but  this  has  always  caused  much  waste  of 
time  to  the  surgeon,  and  more  or  less  suffering  to  the  patient, 
and  the  surgeon  is  liable  to  lacerate  the  parts  with  the  sharp 
points  of  the  scissors,  and  even  after  the  suture  is  found  and 
after  some  delay  divided,  he  has  to  remove  the  scissors,  intro- 
duce the  forceps,  and  again  delay  is  caused  by  his  seeking  to 
grasp  the  divided  suture. 

A  short  time  since  while  assisting  a  surgeon  to  remove  the 
sutures  from  a  patient  who  hnd  been  operated  upon  a  few 
days  before  for  lacerated  vagina,  and  noticing  the  length  of 
time  employed,  and  the  trouble  caused  in  removing  these 
sutures,  it  occurred  to  me  that  an  instrument  might  be  de- 
vised to  take  the  place  of  those  now  in  use,  and  one  that 
would  require  much  less  vexation  and  loss  of  time.  After 
some  little  time  and  thought,  I  succeeded  in  devising  the  in- 
strument shown  in  the  cut  below,  which  was  made  by  M. 
Wocher  &  Son.,  instrument  makers,  Cincinnati. 


Cutler's  Suture  Cutter  and  Forceps. 

As  will  be  seen,  at  the  end  of  the  lower  blade  is  a  probe 
point  which  projects  beyond  the  upper  blade,  this  being  flat 


Miscellaneous,  247 

on  the  end.  The  handles  are  seven  inches  long,  from  the  end 
to  the  joint  The  blades  curved  are  one  inch  from  the  joint 
to  the  probe  point,  and  the  points  three-eighths  of  an  inch 
long.  On  one  side  of  the  lower  blade  the  edge  forms  a  right 
angle,  the  upper  blade  having  a  cutting  projection  upon  the 
corresponding  side,  which  passes  by  the  lower  blade  when 
closed,  thus  cutting  the  suture  and  holding  one  end  (irmly. 

In  using  the  instrument  to  remove  the  sutures  after  an 
operation  for  lacerated  vagina,  you  hold  it  in  the  right  hand 
like  a  writing  pen,  between  the  thumb  and  first  two  fingers; 
you  will  then  introduce  the  instrument  closed,  using  a  finger 
of  the  left  hand  as  a  director,  with  the  lower  blade  against 
the  posterior  wall  of  the  va<;ina;  you  now  follow. the  course 
of  the  vagina  until  you  reach  the  suture,  which  was  placed 
highest  in  the  vagina;  this  will  readily  be  determined  by 
feeling  it  with  the  probe  point;  you  now  press  this  point 
under  the  suture  until  it  is  stopped  by  the  flat,  blunt  end  of 
the  upper  blade,  then  open  the  instrument  and  press  the 
lower  blade  under  the  suture,  this  brings  it  (the  suture) 
under  the  cutter;  you  then  grasp  the  instrument  as  you  would 
a  pair  of  scissors,  and  press  the  blades  together,  this  cuts  the 
suture,  and  one  end  is  held  firmly  by  the  forceps;  you  now 
gently  remove  the  suture  as  you  would  do  with  any  other 
forceps,  and  proceed  to  remove  the  next  suture  in  the  same 
manner. — W.  P.  Cutler. 


DowUng  on  Bangs  &  Co.     By  Fingal  Hapgood,  M.  D. 

I  am  very  much  interested  in  a  lecture,  ostensibly  on  Pul- 
monary Phthisis,  by  Prof,  Dow  ling,  of  New  York.  (See 
American  Observer,  March,  1880.)  His  exordium  is  resplen- 
dent with  personal  charms  so  far  as  "Bangs"  is  concerned. 


248  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  the  lecture  is  a  bang  up  thing  of  its 
kind.  Just  listen  to  the  good  Professor  as  he  sails  into  phthi- 
sis, with  Bnngs  &  Co.'s  flag  at  the  foremast 

"I  shall  bring  before  you,  to-day,  gentlemen,  a  few  cases  of 
pulmonary  consumption,  (especially  Bangs  &  Co,)  or  as  it  is 
more  commonly  called,  pulmonary  phthisis.  Of  course,  in 
the  short  time  which  is  alloted  to  us  for  this  medical  clinic,  it 
will  be  impossible  forme  to  [say  all  I  would  like  to  of  Bangs  & 
Co.,  or]  make  a  thorough  examination  of  these  cases.  The 
examination  has  been  made  by  my  interne.  Dr.  Bangs,  in 
whose  ability  I  have  the  utmost  confidence.  If  I  were  in 
doubt  myself,  to-day,  as  to  the  condition  of  my  own  lungs  or 
heart,  I  think,  for  an  accurate  diagnosis,  I  would  as  soon 
come  to  one  of  the  internes  of  this  hospital  as  to  any  person 
with  whom  I  am  acquainted.  For  nearly  twelve  months 
they  have  been  constantly  in  the  wards  making  daily  exami- 
nations of  doubtful  cases,  consulting  over  them  until  they 
have  arrived  almost  at  a  state  of  perfection,  in  being  able  to 
detect,  by  inspection,  mensuration,  percussion  and  ausculta- 
tion, at  least  as  far  as  diseases  of  the  pulmonary  and  circula- 
tory organs  are  concerned,  any  departure  from  the  normal 
standard  of  health." 

Now  if  I  we:e  a  college  professor,  and  had  an  interne,  I 
would  go  Brother  Dowling  just  a  little  better,  or  know  the 
reason  why.  In  this  statement.  Bangs  is  himself  well  pro- 
vided for,  but  the  "Co."  are  delicately  hidden  from  view. 
Bangs  may  blush,  but  the  "Co."  not  being  named  right  out, 
may  not  suffer  "any  departure  from  the  normal  standard." 
"Nearly  twelve  months"  gives  an  air  of  ease  and  scientific 
carelessness  to  the  statement;  as  much  as  to  say,  "more  or 
less  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence."  Why,  indeed,  should  it? 
since  in  that  short  time.  Bangs  &  Co.  "have  arrived  almost  at 
a  state  of  perfection." 

This  is  a  remarkable  development  of  abilities,  I  dare  say 
they  were  geniuses  when  they  started  in.  If  Dowling  him- 
self were  a  victim,  he  "would  as  soon  come  to  one  (which 
one?)  of  the  internes  (Bangs  &  Co.)  of  this  hospital,  as  to  any 
person  with  whom  I  am  acquainted."     As  to  Dowling's  ac- 


Miscellaneptis,  249 

quaintance,  it  is  just  possible  it  may  be  specially  limited,  and 
that  will  let  Bangs  &  Co.  out  easily.  It  will  not  be  over- 
looked, that  Bangs  &  Co. — certainly  Bangs — are  internes 
under  the  Professor  who  says  all  these  nice  things.  The 
glory  of  Bangs  &  Co.  is  a  borrowed  light.  It  is'as  if  the  sun 
had  said,  "Behold  the  brightness  of  my  planets!"  And  if 
Bangs  &  Co.  shine  with  so  much  brilliancy,  the  light  of  the 
central  luminary  must  be  ineffable.  And  then,  Bang^  &  Co. 
have  been  constantly  consulting  over  these  cases.  This  is 
something  unheard  of  in  hospital  practice.  Do  Bangs  &  Co. 
sleep  together?  Do  they  eat  and  drink  together?  We  want 
the  bottom  facts,  else  how  can  we  get  on  properly  with  the 
subject  of  "Pulmonary  Phthisis?"  When  I  get  to  be  a  college 
professor  and  have  internes,  I  promise  you  they  shall  have 
arrived  not  almost,  but  altogether  at  the  state  of  perfection, 
and  that  in  about  ten  or  eleven  months.  Dowling  need  have 
no  fear  of  the  state  of  his  heart.  Our  diagnosis  (and  we  are 
good  at  the  business)  is,  that  the  Professor's  heart  is  set  on 
Bangs  &  Co.  This  seems  to  be  a  departure  from  the  normal 
standard,  for  I  do  not  remember  to  have  ever  seen  so  much 
Bangs  &  Co.  mixed  up  with  consumption  before. 

P.  S.     Yet  lackest  thou  one  thing,  O  Bangs  &  Co.!     Go, 
sell  all  thou  hast  and  learn  the  art  of  palpation. 


» » 


Editor  Medical  Advance: — The  personal  controversy 
that  is  raging  in  and  out  of  our  journals  is  positively  sicken- 
ing. That  men  calling  themselves  gentlemen  could  lend 
themselves  to  such  foolish  and  hurtful  business  is  past  my 
comprehension.  Now,  Sir,  I  speak  only  for  myself.  My 
list  of  journals  is  reasonably  large.  I  take  them  for  what 
good  there  is  in  them.  I  now  give  them  notice,  one  and  all, 
that  on  and  after  this  date  when  any  one  of  them  admits  ob- 


250  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

jectional  personal  matter,  such  as  has  disgraced  the  pages  of 
some  of  them,  off  it  goes  from  my  list  and  will  be  sent  back 
to  the  publisher  whether  the  volume  is  out  or  not.  My  time 
will  be  up  when  they  allow  their  contributors  to  descend  to 
the  dirty  business  of  defaming  their  neighbors. — Nuf  Sed. 


AnsVkr  to  Long  Island  M.  D. — "What  is  it?  What  it 
is,  I  can  not  say,  but  I  can  tell  you  what  I  would  do.  Give 
patijnt  lod,  ammonium  ^x  four  powdersa  day,  for  one  month; 
then  Apis,  mel,  ^x  the  next  month ;  then  Berheris  aquifolium  2x 
the  following  month,  and  in  this  order  repeat  the  three  reme- 
dies month  after  month  until  there  is  a  change  in  patient 
sufficient  to  warrant  the  selection  of  new  ones,  or  be  able  to 
find  a  similia,  or  discover  which  of  these  three  remedies  did 
the  most  good.   lod.  amm.  is  a  wonderfnl  remedy. — D.  A.  H. 


^oa|  MMt$%* 


Therapeutic  Materia  Medica.    By  H.  C.  Jessen,  M.  D.    Chicago:  Halaey 
Brothers.    Cloth  $4.00. 

The  first  impression  which  a  student,  or  an  opponent  of  our  school,  re- 
ceives in  his  efforts  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  oar  materia  medica,  is  the 
perplexing  similarity  in  the  array  of  symptoms  presented  by  each  drug  ; 
and  a  very  cursory  inspection  only  reassures  him  in  his  former  convic- 
tions,  that  "nearly  all  drugs  act  alike."  This  was  the  impression  a 
stranger  received  when  he  visited  Philadelphia,  during  the  Exposition, 
that  "all  the  blocks  were  alike,''  and  it  was  only  after  a  residence  of  sev- 
eral days  that  he  was  able  to  distinguish  the  finer  points  of  difference  be- 
tween them  by  other  means  than  the  numbers;  and  the  longer  he  re- 


Book  Koiices.  251 

mained  the  broader  became  the  distinction,  which,  at  first,  he  was  totally 
incapable  of  comprehending.  This  is  preeminently  the  case  in  the  study 
of  the  symptoms  of  drug  provings ;  the  closer  we  examine  a  drug,  the 
clearer  do  we  see  its  individuality;  and,  to  a  great  extent,  this  is  true  in 
the  examination  of  a  patient ;  an  imperfect  or  careless  examination  is 
often  the  stepping-stone  to  a  generalizing  practice.  From  this  we  learn 
the  necessity  of  a  iharp  and  keen  individtudiiaHon  of  those  finer  points  of 
distinction  between  remedies,  which  was  the  secret  of  Hahnemann's  suc- 
cess, and  will  always  remain  the  key  to  scientific  medicine. 

To  this  task  Dr.  Jessen  has  addressed  himself,  and  compares  the  chief 
symptoms  of  two  hundred  and  sixteen  of  the  principal  remedies.  His 
plan  is  not  so  clear  and  practical  as  Johnson's,  and  more  nearly  resembles 
the  Comparative  Materia  Medica,  of  Br.  Qross,  except  that  he  arranges 
them  under  their  respective  rubrics,  and  brings  more  remedies  under  the 
eye  at  the  same  time.  His  comparisons  deal  with  the  broader  character- 
istics of  a  drug ;  while  Dr.  Gross  pays  much  more  care  to  the  finer  points 
of  difierence. 

The  last  rubric,  '^Special  Remarks,*'  which  contains  the  aggravations 
and  ameliorations  right  and  left  sides  of  the  body,  is  alone  worth  all  the 
cost  of  the  book.  The  book  will  materially  aid  the  careful  student,  and 
should  find  a  place  in  every  well  selected  library. — H.  C.  A. 

Gilchrist's  Surgical  Therapeutics.    Chicago:  Duncan  Bros. 

This  is  the  third  edition  of  the  first  work  on  surgical  therapeutics  in  our 
school,  entirely  rewritten  and  brought  down  to  date,  enriched  by  the  clini- 
cal and  therapeutical  researches  of  a  hard  student. 

The  chapters  on  "Tamors,"  "Diseases  of  the  Nerves,"  and  especially 
that  on  the  "Genito-urinary  diseases,"  are  exhaustive  in  their  remedial 
indications,  and  invaluable  to  the  practitioner  removed  from  easy  access 
to  surgical  consultations.  No  homoeopathic  sui^geon  who  has  in  view  the 
highest  aim  of  his  profession — conservative  surgery — can  afford  to  do 
without  it,  as  a  frequent  reference  to  its  pages  will  enable  him  to  ewe 
many  mrgical  (ftMosea,  which  at  most  can  only  be  palliated  by  operative 
means.  And  if  some  of  our  surgeons,  but  particularly  our  general  practi- 
tioners, would  rely  more  on  these,  their  surgical  therapeutics,  and  less  on 
the  scalpel,  it  would  be  better  for  both  their  reputation  and  the  welfare 
of  their  patients.  Why  should  it  be  a  recognized  fact  that  our  surgeons 
are,  as  a  rule,  the  crudest  dosers  in  our  school? 

The  two  stars  on  the  back  indicate  more  volumes  to  come;  and  we 
trust  the  publishers  will  not  delay  in  bringing  them  out. — H.  C.  A. 


252  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Text  Book  of  Materia  Medlca.  By  A.  C.  Cowperthwaite,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D., 
Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in  the  State  University  of  Iowa.  Chi- 
cago :  Duncan  Bros.,  Publishers. 

When  Prof.  Cowperthwaite  undertook  to  condense  our  materia  medica, 
he  undertook  a  most  difficult  and  arduous  task,  because  voluminous  as  it 
has  become  in  the  last  few  years,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  determine 
what  limb  may  be  lopped  off  with  impunity  without  marring,  or  at  least 
endangering,  the  usefulness  of  the  remaining  branches.  The  branch  is  as 
essential  to  the  complete  life  and  vigor  of  the  tree  as  the  root,  and  it  is  a 
very  serious  question,  a  question  of  vitality,  whether  the  tree  can  be 
either  improved  or  perfected  by  the  application  of  any  arbitrary  rule  of 
convenience  in  pruning.  Has  our  materia  medica  ever  been  improved  by 
the  lopping  process  ?  Symptoms  of  minor  importance  to  one,  may  be  the 
chief  reliance  of  another.  But  the  author  only  claims  for  this  a  *Text- 
book"  of  "characteristic'*  symptoms,  in  which  particular  it  is  superior  to 
anything. we  have,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  contains  more  reliable 
facts  and  less  theory,  while  the  bracketed  comparisons  are  a  wonderful 
aid  to  the  student,  in  memorizing  or  ''looking  up"  a  difficult  case.  We 
can  never  have  too  much  materia  medica  of  this  kind,  which  leads  to  a 
sharper  individualization  of  our  different  remedies,  and  renders  their  ac- 
quisition more  easily  attainable.  We  heartily  commend  the  work.  But 
what  shall  we  say  of  the  dress  in  which  it  appears?  The  proof-reading, 
both  of  "Cowperthwaite"  and  "Gilchrist,"  must  have  been  entrusted  to 
some  member  of  the  staff  unacquainted  with  technical  terms,  as  the 
"printer's  errors"  could  never  have  escaped  the  watchful  vigilance  of  the 
argus-eyed  editor  of  the  "Medical  Investigator ;"  or  else  he  was  on  "his 
tour  among  the  medical  colleges"  while  these  two  works  were  passing 
through  the  press.  The  mechanical  execution  is  not  up  to  the  general 
reputation  of  Chicago  as  a  publishing  centre. — H.  C.  A. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Ohio  Institution  for  the 
Ed  ucation  of  the  Blind.    ]  879. 

For  this  interesting  volume  we  are  indebted  to  the  physician  of  the  in- 
stitution. He  is  a  warm  personal  friend  of  ours,  and  has  been  for  years  a 
recognized  member  of  the  homoeopathic  medical  school.  Dr.  Flowers  has 
been  in  charge  of  this  institution  about  two  years.  He  reports:  "The  in- 
stitution  has  been  blessed  with  good  health,  with  the  exception  of  the 
month  of  December,  when  there  were  eight  cases  of  typhoid  fever.  One 
malignant  case  was  fatal.  Considering  the  feeble  constitution  of  the 
blind,  their  health  is  above  the  average."  This,  we  agree,  is  a  good  show- 
ing for  two  hundred  and  forty-three  pupils,  a  small  portion  of  whom. 


Book  Notices,  253 

however,  were  probably  on  the  sick  list.  As  the  report  of  the  Huperintend- 
ent  Ir  very  full  in  the  matter  of  disbursements,  we  turn  with  some  good 
degree  of  interest  to  the  hospital  stores,  and,  to  our  amazement,  we  make 
out  the  following: 

Amiea,  (tincture  probably),  $5.50;  CaMor  ml,  (two  gallons  and  jug^ 
$2.36;  Wkeder'%  rfizir,*  (quantity  not  stated),  $47.50;  Medicines,  (sun- 
dries from  drug  store),  $15.95 ;  Opium  tincture,  $1.25 ;  Pills,  (^utnio,  ecUKar- 
ticy  etc.),  $27.25  ;  Prescriptions,  fsent  to  drug  stored,  $21.65;  Bromide  of 
chiorcdy  $8.75;  Paregoric,  $8.20;  RochcUe  mlts,  $4.40;  St,  Jacob's  oil,  50c.  ; 
Stfrup  squiUa,  $2.10 ;  Syrup  ipecac,  $2.25 ;  Fenton's  sanapariUa,  $2.00 ; 
Alcoholic  liquors,  $14.25. 

The  total  amount  charged  to  medical  stores,  of  which  the  foregoing  is  a 
part,  is  about  two  hundred  and  seven  dollars  and  eighty  cents.  And  ail 
this  in  the  year  1879.  Our  object  in  calling  attention  to  this  is  to  show 
Dr,  Flowers  how  badly  he  is  being  imposed  on.  It  is  simply  impossible 
that  these  things  are  being  used  by  his  order  or  with  his  knowledge.  Dr. 
Flowers  is  a  homoeopathic  practitioner,  and  could  make  no  use  of  such 
articles.  An  allopath  might  and  would,  but  a  homoeopath  never.  One 
would  think  constipation  a  raging  epidemic  to  look  at  the  CasUnr  oil,  RochcUe 
salts  and  Cathartic  pUls,  that  have  been  apparently  poured  down  the  throats 
of  the  poor  blind  children.  Paregoric,  eight  dollars  and  twenty  cents 
worth  1  There  is  no  evidence  in  the  exhibit  that  any  homoeopatoeic  medi- 
cine was  used  in  the  institution,  and  so  we  conclude  that  this  shows  what 
Dr.  Flowers'  predecessor  used,  and  he  was  not  a  homoeopath.  We  hope 
Dr.  Flowers  will  see  to  it  next  year  that  his  enemies  do  not  play  such  a 
trick  on  him  again.  If  it  were  true  it  would  make  us  blush  to  the  tips 
of  our  fingers  and  toes. 

The  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  April  presents  the  reader  with  a 
large  amount  of  valuable  and  interesting  matter.  Our  readers  can  not  af- 
ford to  miss  it.  On  our  recommendation  don't  fail  to  subscribe  for  this 
most  excellent  journal.  Price  $5.00  a  year.  D.  Appleton  <&  Co.,  New 
York. 

Annals  of  The  British  IIomceopathic  Society  and  of  the  London 
Homoeopathic  Hospital,  February,  1880.  This  volume  is  full  of  interest- 
ing matter.  It  contains  "History  of  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society,  by 
Dr.  Hughes,"  "Colic  and  the  conditions  which  simulate  it,  by  Dr,  Blake,'' 
"Alcohol  in  Disease,  by  Dr.  Ker,"  "Fibroid  Tumors  of  the  Uterus,  by 
Dr.  Carfrae,"  "Skin  Diseases,  by  Dr.  Blockley,"  "Cases  by  Dr.  Turkey," 
and  "An  afternoon's  work  in  the  Women's  Out  Patient  Department,  by 
Dr.  Carfrae."  Also  it  contains  a  beautiful  likeness  of  Dr.  Frederick  T. 
Quinn,  for  which  especially  we  shall  prize  this  number. 

*\Vc  are  not  certain  t)iat  this  is  a  medicine. 


254  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Transactions  Tenth  Annual  Session  Homceofathic  Medical  So- 
ciety OF  Michigan.  Vol.  I.  No.  1.  This  seems  to  be  the  first  attempt 
on  the  part  of  this  society  to  publish  its  proceedings.  It  is  a  very  credita- 
ble beginning.  The  book  is  well  printed,  and  the  whole  gotten  up  in  good 
taste,  thanks  to  the  care  of  the  secretary,  Dr.  House.  We  hope  the  series 
may  receive  a  substantial  addition  each  year.  The  doctors  of  Michigan 
owe  it  to  themselves  to  keep  up  the  work  so  well  begun. 

New  Journals. — The  Physician's  and  Surgeon's  Investigator,  a 
monthly  journal  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  profession.  *  Edited  by 
the  Faculty  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Buffalo.  $1.00 
a  year.         • 

The  Cltniqub;,  a  monthly  abstract  of  the  clinics  and  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Clinical  Society  of  the  Hahnemann  Hospital  of  Chicago.  $1.00  a 
year. 

The  London  Lancet,  a  journal  of  British  and  foreign  medicine,  phy- 
siology, surgery,  chemistry,  criticism,  li^rature  and  news.  Beprint  by 
the  Industrial  Publication  Co.,  14  Dey  street,  New  York.    $5.00  a  year 

Clinical  Assistant.  By  R.  W.  Nelson,  M.  D.  Duncan  Bros.,  Chi- 
cago. This  little  book  is  a  very  handy  little  thing  to  have  in  one's  pocket. 
It  is  as  good  almost  as  a  consulting  doctor,  when  you  have  a  hard  case 
and  would  like  a  valnabfe  hint.  The  busy  doctor  will  be  greatly  helped 
by  consulting  it.    Price  $1.00. 

Art  of  Propagation  is  a  highly  illustrated  practical  work  on  the 
rapid  increase  and  multiplication  of  stock.  Published  by  Jenkins'  Grape 
and  Seedling  Nursery,  Winona,  Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio.  Price  prepaid  by 
mail,  50  cents.    Catalogue  free.    Agents  Wanted.    Address  as  above. 


%ii%n*%  %Mt. 


A  CORRESPONDENT  of  ours  is  Very  indignant  over  Prof.  Eisner's  vivisec- 
tion of  a  dog,  as  related  in  our  last.  That  such  experiments  do  not  aid 
our  therapeutics  we  quite  agree.  To  vivisection  properly  conducted  we 
do  not  object.  With  the  advertisements  of  this  journal,  of  which  our 
friend  complains,  the  editor  has  nothing  to  do.  Please  address  the  pub- 
lisher on  the  subject. 

A  Michigan  doctor  informed  a  patient  that  "both  his  livere  were  af- 
fected."— Ex,     Our  colleagues  at  Ann  Arbor  should  be  more  careful. — 


Book  Notices.  256 

Hah,  Monthly.  Hepatic  organs  are  numerous  and  often  duplicated  in 
Michigan.  It  takes  a  Philadelphia  doctor,  however,  to  demonRtrate  a 
total  want  of  a  cardiac  organ,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  above  heartless 
remark. 

Our  friends  and  contributors  must  have  patience.  They  shall  all  be 
heard  in  good  time. 

Bureau  of  PjEDOLOGY-T-The  bureau  of  piedology  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Homoeopathy,  has  selected  the  '^Diseases  of  the  digestive  appara- 
tus,''  for  papers  and  discussions,  at  the  meeting  in  Milwaukee  next  June, 
under  the  following  arrangement,  viz :  W.  H.  Jenney,  M.  D.,  Kansas  City, 
Mo.,  Chairman — Acute  gastritis,  jauses,  anatomical  characteristics  and 
diagnosis.  W.  Edmonds,  M.  D. — Prevention  and  treatment  of  same. 
J.  C.  Sanders,  M.  D. — Stomatitis,  causes,  diagnosis  and  anatomical  char- 
acteristics. A.  M.  Cushing,  M.  D. — 1  reatment  and  prevention  of  same. 
K.  J.  McClatchey,  M.  D. — Grastromalacia,  anatomical  characteristics, 
causes  and  diagnosis.  W.  Danforth,  M.  D. — Prevention  and  treatment  of 
same.  T.  C.  Duncan,  M.  D. — ^Tiirush,  anatomical  characteristics,  causes, 
diagnosis  and  treatment.  S.  P.  Hedges,  M.  D. — ^Gangrene  of  the  mouth, 
anatomical  characteristics,  diagnosis,  causes,  prevention  and  treatment. 
Mary  A.  B.  Woods,  M.  D. — Dietetic  rules  to  be  observed  in  the  treatment 
of  diseases  of  the  digestive  organs. 

Beport  of  Homoeopathic  Hospital  of  San  Jose.  The  February  number 
of  El  Oriterio  Medico^  published  at  Madrid,  Spain,  contains  a  full  and  very 
interesting  account  of  the  hospital  at  San  Jose,  for  1879.  Total  number 
of  patients,  three  hundred  and  thirty-two;  total  number  cured,  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-two;  total  number  died,  sixteen ;  mortality  four  and 
eight-tenths  per  cent.  There  were  also  treated  as  out  patients  five  thousand 
four  hundred  and  forty-nine,  with  thirty-two  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
eighteen  prescriptions.  This  is  a  good  showing  for  one  city  in  Spain.  The 
journal  in  question  shows  the  homoeopathic  profession  in  that  country  to 
be  thoroughly  alive. 

Drt.  Chas.  Hoyt  has  settled  in  ChilUcothe,  O.     He  is  sure  to  win. 

Dr.  Alfred  K.  Hills  removed  to  465  Fifth  Avenue ;  Dr.  G.  8  Norton, 
to  36  W.  27th,  New  York.    Dr.  A.  A.  Whipple  to  Quincy,  111. 

Dr.  O.  C.  Link  has  just  been  elected  physician  to  Jasper  county,  Ind. 
This  will  give  the  poor  some  taste  of  genuine  Homoeopathy. 

Dr.  H.  C  Allen,  the  well  known  author  of  the  Hom,  Therapeutics  of 
Fever  and  Ague,  has  been  elected  to  the  lectureship  of  Diseases  of  Women 
and  Children,  in  the  Homoeopathic  Department  of   Michigan  Univeiaity. 

Died. — Abigal,  the  beloved  wife  of  Dr.  P.  B.  Hoyt,  of  Paris,  111.,  March 
25,  1880.  Our  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Hoyt  led  us  greatly  to  admire 
her  character.     Her  death  seems  to  be  a  great  loss. 

Married.— Dr.  H.  K.  Harker  and  Miss  Nettie  E.  Williams,  at  Lebanon 
O.,  Marsh  18.    The  Doctor  will  take  his  fair  bride  to  his  home. 


256  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

The  Western  Academy  of  Homoeopathy  will  meet  at  MinneapoliB  this 
year,  June  9,  10  and  11,  in  joint  Bession,  with  the  Minnesota  State  So- 
ciety. Reduced  rates,  etc.,  announced  later. — C.  H.  Goodmak,  M.  D., 
General  Secretary^  St.  Louis. 

I2SDIANA  Institute  of  Homceopathy. — Dear  Doctor: — The  fourteenth 
annual  session  of  the  Indiana  Institute  of  Homoeopathy  will  be  held  in 
the  parlors  of  Plymouth  Church,  at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  May  25th  and 
26th,  1880.  You  are  earnestly  invited  to  attend  this  meeting  and  present 
a  paper  on  medicine,  or  surgery,  or  report  cases  from  practice.  The  Insti- 
tute needs  your  best  counsel  and  most  hearty  co-operation  in  its  work  of 
advancing  the  true  practice  of  medicine  in  Indiana. — Moses  T.  Bun- 
NELS,  M.  D. 

The  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  June  15, 
16, 17  and  18.  We  hope  the  West  will  honor  its  privileges  by  turning  out  to 
this  convention  en  masse. 

The  eleventh  annual  meeting  of  the  Hahnemann  Medical  Association, 
of  Iowa,  will  be  held  May  26th  and  27th,  at  Waterloo,  Iowa.  A  good 
and  instructive  meeting  is  promised. — E.  A.  Guilbert,  M.  D.,  Secretary, 
Dubuque,  Iowa. 

Change  of  Date. — The  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of 
Ohio  will  be  held  in  Cincinnati  on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday,  May  18th 
and  19th,  1880,  (instead  of  May  11th  and  12th,  as  before  announced). 
All  Railroads  entering  Cincinnati  will  i^sue  tickets  at  excursion  rates  on 
the  above  dates.  The  session  promises  to  be  unusually  profitable.  The 
annual  circulars  will  be   issued   soon. — ^J.  A.  Gann,  M.  D.,  Secretary. 

The  eleventh  annual  session  of  the  Homoeopathic  Society  of  the  State 
of  Michigan  will  be  held  in  the  City  of  Jackson,  on  Tuesday  and  Wednes- 
day, May  18th  and  19th,  1880.  An  unusually  interesting  meeting  is  ex- 
pected.—R.  B.  House,  M.  D.,  Secretary. 

The  Montgomery  Co.  Horn.  Med.  Society  meets  at  Dayton,  O.,  May 
6th. — J.  K.  Webster,  Sec. 

Prof.  T.  P.  Wilson,  at  the  Centenary  Channing  Celebration,  at  Ann 
Arbor,  with  his  usually  advanced  ideas  surprised  his  audience  by  the 
address  he  gave  them. 

Notice  to  Students. — A  few  scholarships  in  good  homoeopathic  col- 
leges can  be  secured  on  favorable  terms  by  addressing  J.  P.  G.,  Medical 
Advance,  305  Race  street,  Cincinnati,  O. 

We  have  been  informed  that  good  openings  for  homoeopathic  physicians 
are  at  the  following  places :  Springport,  Mich.,  and  Jackson,  Concord  co., 
Mich. 

Eppingham,  III.,  April  8, 1880. — Ed.  Advance: — Please  announce  in 
your  journal,  that  I  want  a  good  physician  to  take  my  practice  here,  as  I 
am  going  to  leave.     For  particulars  address,  J.  W.  IIuffaker,  M.  D. 


!^P 


T.  P.  WILSON,  M.  D„  EoiTOB.  J.  P.  GEPPKHT.M.D..  Ass't  Editi 


'"  '"*■  ■«"- 

™""-" 

,o. 

VOLUMK  VIII. 

Cincinnati,  O.,  Jons,  1880. 

NCMBBB  6. 

Adv*iice  Co.,  Publishe 

r.,3C6B.i:f5t..Cindnn»U,0.    SBbscriptic 

.nB.[«rann«.n. 

The  American  Inbtitutb  of  Houceopathy  meets  on  Ihe  15th  of 
June  ftt  Milwaukee,  Wis.  This  is  the  lirst  time  the  Institute  has  ap- 
pointed its  meetinn  ao  far  west  for  years,  and  that  the  West  may 
apprcciate  its  opportunity  we  hope  to  see  a  full  representation  from 
each  Btate.  All  those  intending  to  start  from  Cincinnati  or  vicinity 
are  requested  to  communicate  with  us  at  Cincinnati. 

THti  Milwaukee  agony  is  in  one  sense  over.  The  final  report  of 
the  committee  lies  before  us,  and  we  can  not  find  that  anybody  or 
anything  has  been  damped  thereby.  For  this  we  are  devoutly 
thankful.  It  is  not  likely  the  experiment  will  be  repeated.  It  did 
not  pay  eo  richly  as  was  expected.  The  originators  are  themselves, 
without  doubt,  satisfied  that  the  plan  proposed  is  not  the  best  way 
to  find  out  if  there  is  or  is  not  anything  in  the  Habnemannian  SOths. 
And  so  the  chapter  in  one  respect  ends.  But  tbe  investigation,  or 
the  controversy  nhich  grew  out  of  it,  has  given  a  new  impetus  to 
the  question  commonly  known  as  "dynamization."  First,  is  there 
anything  medicinal  in  the  high  attenuations  ?  Secondly,  if  there  is 
then  is  it  the  original  force  or  substance  retained,  or  is  it  a  new  or 
modiBcd  force  that  is  developed  by  attenuation  7  Into  the  action  of 
the  high  pol«ccies  the  profession  has  been  made  to  look  as  it 
never  looked  before.  For  this  we  have  to  thank  the  Milwaukee 
Academy  of  Medicine.  We  do  not  care  to  enquire  into  the  motives 
June- 1  257 


258  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

that  gave  origin  to  the  '^Milwaukee  test."  It  might  not  stand  severe 
scrutiny.  But  we  are  thankful  all  the  same,  and  believe  the  cause 
of  medical  science  will  be  greatly  advanced  through  its  endeavors. 

Our  School. — "  We  desire  to  say  to  our  contemporary  that  we 
understand  our  school  to  cover  the  whole  field  of  medical  practice 
including  Homceopathy.^'    This  precious  morsel  of  wisdom  comes  from 
the  editor  of  a  homcBopathic  (?)  journal.     In  the  same  number  the 
journal  is  highly  endorsed  by  a  state  society  member  in  a  speech  as 
"the  best  homoeopathic  paper  we  have."  To  all  this  we  do  not  object, 
except  as  it  is  misleading.    Both  gentlemen  might  easily  be  presumed 
to  speak  for  the  homoeopathic  school,  but  that  they  do  not  is  readily 
seen.    The  value  of  the  editor's  statement  depends  upon  what  *'our 
school"  means.     That  it  does  not  mean  the  homoeopathic  school  is 
evident  enough,  for  it  includes  Homoeopathy.     Nothing  can  include 
itself,  and  something  more.     "Our  school"  must,  therefore,  be  the 
allopathic,  or  the  eclectic,  or  some  nondescript  not  yet  baptized.    As 
the  editor  in  the  article  referred  to  is  making  a  special  plea  for  the 
use  of  "regular"  measures,  '^Quinin^f  Marpkinej  etc.,"  in  the  treatment 
of  disease,  he  can  be  easily  designated,  though  he  falsely  fly  what- 
ever flag  he  may.    We  have  a  neighbor  who  calls  himself  "a  physi- 
cian," and  he  gives  the  public  to  understand  that  he  covers  "the 
whole  field  of  practice,  including,  of  course,  Homoeopathy."     He 
gives  "sugar  pills"  or  "the  regular  system,"  just  as  the  case  seems 
to  require,  or  his  patients  may  wish.     Generally  his  patients  decide 
the  question  as  to  the  mode  of  treatment.    This  man   is  a  saint  in 
"our  school,"  and  while  he  prides  himself  upon  his  catholicity  and 
consequent  freedom  from  "narrow  views"  and  "exclusive  systems," 
his  more  intimate  acquaintances  say  that,  while  he  attempts  to  prac- 
tice all  systems,  he  understands  none.    The  fact  is,  those  who  do  not 
understand  Homoeopathy,  including  our  neighbor,  "the  physician," 
and  the  editor  aforesaid  of  the  so-called  homoeopathic  journal,  are 
always  wanting  something  to  fill  the  void    they  feel.      That  they 
supply  that  want  from  the  "regular  system"  is  not  the  fault  of  the 
homoeopathic  school,  but  is  due  to  their  own   misfortune,   and  it 
would  only  increase  the  calamity  to  have  such  false  views  accepted 
as  true  by  any  in  search  of  the  truth.      Homoeopathy,  is  not  so  un- 
derstood nor  taught  by  those  who  believe  in  it  and  faithfully  practice 
it.    It  is  the  antithesis  of  Allophthy,  and  always  will  be,  and  it 
makes  no  fellowship  with  eclecticism.     It  follows  the  one  law  and 
abides  in  its  strength  by  that. 


i^]^$at{g  atti  §iiu%itt. 


Thd  Thirtieth  Potency,      By   Dr.    Lorbacher,  Editor  A.  H, 
M.  Zeitung.     Translated  by  S,  L. 

Let  me  run  the  gauntlet  to  be  considered  by  some  physi- 
cians an  unscientific  man,  a  bad  observer,  full  of  notions,  etc., 
as  it  seems  the  order  of  the  day  with  so  many,  if  one  dares 
to  speak  about  the  action  of  the  thirtieth  potency. 

Results  were  not  as  favorable  as  desired  when  we  pres- 
cribed Phosphorus  in  the  fourth  potency  in  chronic  pulmon- 
ary affections,  as  catarrhs,  suppurative  sequelas  after  pneu- 
monia or  acquired  tuberculosis.  We  therefore  tried  Phos.  in 
the  thirtieth  potency  and  in  rare  doses.  We  knew  very  well 
that  a  perfect  cure  might  be  impossible,  and  we  intended 
only  to  retard  the  development  of  the  morbid  process  and  to 
make  our  patient  easy. 

Case  I.  M.  D,,  American,  aet.  nineteen  years,  tall  stature, 
with  decidedly  hectic  habitus,  but  no  hereditary  disposition, 
cnnie  under  treatment  April  8th,  1878.  He  had  taken  cold 
durmg  January.  Physical  examination  revealed  a  pulmonary 
catarrh  on  the  rjght  side,  spreading  over  the  greater  part  of 
the  upper  lobe;  the  cough  was  mostly  dry,  only  in  the  morn- 
ing copious,  greenish-yellow  expectoration;  worse  in  the 
fresh  air;  the  expectoration  had  been  several  times  tinged 
with  blood;  breathing  difficult,  especially  in  walking  and  as- 
cending stairs,  accompanied  by  an  oppressing,  sometimes 
slightly  lancinating  pain  in  the  affected  part;  for  the  last  two 
weeks  fever  in  the  evening;  profuse  nightsweats  weakened 
the  patient;  inappetency  and  all  roborantea  failed  to  keep  up 
the  strength  of  the  patient;  bowels  rather  diarrhoeic,  acne. 
He  received  Phos, -pellets  m  powders,  to  take  one  every  other 
evening.  This  medication  was  continued  till  the  middle 
of  June.  Amelioration  set  in  after  the  first  few  powdert, 
and  steadily  progressed,  so  that  most  careful  physical  exam- 


260  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance^ 

ination  fails  now  to  reveal  any  abnormity,  and  notwith- 
standing that  he  goes  out  in  this  hard  winter  whenever  he 
chooses,  no  relapse  has  taken  place. 

Case  II.  G.  E.,  aet.  thirty-four  years,  machinist,  healthy, 
strong,  without  any  hereditary  disposition,  very  temperate, 
took  cold  about  four  months  ago.  He  then  probably  suffer- 
ed from  a  left  sided  pleuritic  process,  and  some  exudation 
still  remained.  He  came  under  treatment  January,  1879,  and 
I  found  the  man  emaciated,  chest  sunken  in,  without  strength 
or  appetite;  tendency  to  diarrhoea;  profuse  nights weats,  and 
suffering  from  a  continuous  cough,  worse  in  the  morning, 
with  copious,  purulent  expectoration.  Physical  examination 
revealed  on  the  left  thorax  a  place  of  the  size  of  the  palm  of 
the  hand,  where  the  percussion  sound  was  dull;  on  another 
place,  tympanitic,  weak,  hardly  audible  respiratory  murmur, 
consonant,  rattling  murmurs,  and  in  one  place  bronchial  breath- 
ing, so  that  the  presence  of  acquired  tuberculosis  could  well 
be  made;  high  fever,  temperature  above  thirty-nine  C, 
threatened  to  consume  the  remaining  strength  of  the  patient. 
Prognosis  unfavorable.  After  a  short  use  of  Bryonia^  third 
potency,  with  only  transient  amelioration,  he  received  glob- 
ules of  Phos,  30th,  a  dose  every  other  night.  After  six  weeks 
the  cough  and  expectoration  had  gradually  decreased,  fever 
and  nightsweats  had  disappeared,  appetite  returned  and  the 
patient  felt  able  enough  to  do  some  light  work.  Physical  ex- 
amination showed  a  considerable  decrease  of  the  dulness 
and  of  the  rales;  respiration  more  easy;  an  ulcer  in  his  lung 
was  still  present,  lind  as  he  caught  cold  several  times  in  his 
labors,  exacerbations  could  hardly  be  avoided,  which  were 
usually  removed  by  Phoa^  30,  in  addition  to  Bry,^  China,  CaL 
carh.^  and  Sulph.,  so  that  he  only  rarely  had  to  stop  work. 
Although  not  cured,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  remedy 
prevented  a  further  development  of  the  disease,  and  it  would 
be  nonsense  to  ascribe  the  improvement  perhaps  to  a  more 
roborating  diet,  or  to  atmospheric  changes. 

Case  III.  P.  Schl,  aet.  thirty -one  years,foreman  ina  factory, 
who  lost  father  and  brother  from  tuberculosis  pulmonum, 
hence  hereditarily  affected  as  his   whole  habitus  manifested; 


i 


Theory  and  Practice.  261 

snflTered  for  the  last  four  years  from  morbid  symptoms,  which 
clearly  demonstrated  a  development  of  that  disease,  as  hem- 
optysis, labored  breathing^,  short  and  dry  cough.  Septem- 
ber, 1878,  he  came  under  my  treatment  after  a  preceeding, 
not  very  profuse  hemoptysis,  which  stopped  him  from  work- 
ing. He  had  taken  Aeon,  and  Bry,  in  alternation,  according 
to  the  prescription  of  his  family  physician.  I  found  a  small 
and  somewhat  emaciated  person,  with  somewhat  depressed, 
flat  anterior  surface  of  the  thorax;  dulness  on  percussion; 
the  defective  expansion  during  inspiration,  the  abnormal  re- 
spiratory murmur  satisfiictorily  demonstrated  the  presence  of 
a  tubercular  infiltration  in  the  left  upper  lobe  of  the  lungs. 
There  was  also  pretty  severe  dyspnoea  when  mounting  stairs; 
short,  dry  cough;  only  towards  morning  some  expectoration 
with  pus  granules;  nightsvveats,  and  slight  fever;  no  appe- 
tite; tendency  to  constipation;  he  also  suffered  from  taenia. 
After  perfect  removal  of  the  hemoptyses,  he  received,  Sep- 
tember 28th,  the  first  vial  of  Phos,  30th,  to  take  a  dose  every 
other  evening,  which  was  continued  to  the  middle  of  Novem- 
ber, when  he  stopped  the  treatment,  because  he  felt  so  much 
relieved  from  all  his  ailments.  •  January,  1879,  he  reported 
continued  progress,  and  his  ability  to  attend  uninterruptedly  . 
to  his  labors,  and  physical  examination  afHrmed  his  state- 
ment He  received  another  portion  of  Phos,  30th.  October, 
1879,  he  reappeared  on  account  of  a  slight  hemoptoe,  which 
was  quickly  removed  by  Am,  3,  and  then  Phos,  continued, 
which  again  reduced  his  ailments  to  a  minimum.  Repeated 
examinations  up  to  date  prove  that  during  the  whole  year 
the  disease  did  not  progress,  notwithstanding  irregular  diet 
and  hard  labor. 

One  might  hear  that  such  intervals  in  the  development  of 
tuberculosis  happen  without  the  intervention  of  remedial 
measures.  But  when  they  appear  so  rapidly  and  decidedly, 
as  in  this  case,  some  participation  in  the  improvement  must 
be  allowed  to  the  treatment.  I  forgot  to  mention  that  in  this 
patient  the  swelling  of  the  sternal  margin  of  the  Hrst  rib, 
so  often  observed  in  tuberculous  patients  (Grauvogl)  was 
eminently  present. 


262  Cincinnati  Jfedieai  Advance. 

I  could  add  many  more  cases  to  the  three  heretofore  men- 
tioned, but  I  fear  to  become  tedious.  Though  the  effects  of 
the  thirtieth  potency  of  Phosphorvs  may  not  always  be  so 
rapid  and  decisive,  still  I  am  fully  convinced  that  Phes,  in 
the  thirtieth  potency  is  the  renf>edy  which  promises  most  in 
these  diseases;  though  in  many  cases  Sulphttr,  Oalcarea  or 
other  remedies  may  be  more  strictly  indicated  and  applied. 
I  felt  already  for  along  time  that  a  sojourn  in  Merean, Nigga, 
Mentone,  (Aiken,  in  S.  C,  Ashville,  in  N.  C,  Colorado), has 
no  better  effect.  Those  who  can  afford  it  may  travel  from 
home,  but  let  us  be  satisfied  that  we  can  equally  alleviate  the 
sufferings  of  our  poor  patients  by  the  remedy. 

Another  diseased  state  where  Phoa^  and  again  in  the 
thirtieth  potency,  acts  so  satisfactorily,  is  in  the  chronic 
gastric  catarrh,  and  the  ulcus  ventriculi,  as  long  as  its  edges 
do  not  show  the  scirrhous  character.  Characteristic  symp- 
toms are  the  burning  pain,  the  aggravation,  the  immediate 
vomiting  after  warm  food  or  drinks,  whereas  the  use  of 
cold  food  often  ameliorates.  Too  often  such  cases  come 
under  treatment  when  already  greatly  emaciated. 

Case  IV.  A.  G.,  aet  forty-one  years,  mason.  Never  sick 
till  three  years  ago  the  disease  began,  and  so  far  steadily  pro- 
gressed. From  simple,  slight  pressure  in  the  gastric  region 
after  eating,  with  eructations  and  ascidity,  it  has  steadily 
reached  its  present  state  in  spite  of  all  treatment.  He  is 
emaciated,  sallow,  complains  of  steady  burning  pain,  aggra- 
vated from  ever  so  small  a  quantity  of  food,  and  whicti  only 
diminishes  after  vomiting  all  the  food  he  took;  the  vomited 
matter  sometimes  contained  streaks  of  blood;  fresh  milk  and 
cold  water  were  most  easily  digested;  constipation;  inap- 
petency;  slight  attacks  of  hectic  fever  and  oadema  puden. 
Examination  revealed  a  hard,  very  sensitive  spot  on  the  an- 
terior portion  of  the  stomach.  Ars.  6th,  three  drops  thrice 
daily,  steadily  given  for  six  weeks  failed  to  bring  any  relief, 
and  we  changed  therefore  to  Phos.  30th,  at  first  a  dose  daily, 
then  every  second  or  third  day.  After  two  weeks  a  decided 
diminution  of  all  pains,  as  well  as  of  the  vomiting  could  be 
demonstrated.      After  five  weeks  no  pain,  no  vomiting,  no 


Theory  aad  Practice,  263 

other  morbid  symptoms.  Six  months  after  beginning  treat- 
ment the  patient  was  discharged  cured,  and  has  remained  so 
after  a  year  and  a  half. 

Spontaneous  cures  of  gastric  ulcers  happen,  we  know 
that;  but  when  the  improvement  is  so  decided  and  continues 
uninterruptedly,  it  would  be  wrong  not  to  ascribe  the  benefit 
to  this  thirtieth  potency  of  Phosphorus^ 


Dr.  Lippe's  "Fatal  Errors."     By   D.   Haggart,   M.    D.,    In- 
dianapolis. 

It  may  possibly  seem  presumptuous  in  one  of  my  years  to 
undertake  the  work  of  scrutinizing  and  analysing  the  article 
entitled  "Fatal  Errors"  contributed  to  the  March  number  of 
the  Medical  AdiVANce  by  Dr.  Ad.  Lippe,  but  when  old 
and  experienced  practitioners  are  both  illogical  and  unreas- 
onable, I,  from  a  high  sense  of  duty,  enter  my  protest,  and 
consequently  offev  no  apology  for  being  a  younger  man  in 
the  profession. 

The  Doctor  manifests  considerable  complacency  in  the  out- 
set, and  no  small  degree  of  self-assurance  in  asserting  that  it 
is  a  "fatal  error"  to  declare  that  the  efficacy  of  the  thirtieth 
potency  as  a  curative  or  sick  making  agent  is  nn  "open 
question,"  and  that  a  scientific  experiment  at  this  day  is  not 
a  necessity  in  solving  this  question,  which  has  been  fully 
settled  half  a  century  ago.  No  doubt  this  question  has  been 
settled  in  the  minds  of  some  of  our  venerable  brethren — 
they  may  have  even  convinced  themselves  so  thoroughly 
that  the  matter  now  appears  to  them  a  truth  incontrovertible. 
But  unfortunately  for  aged  therories,  young  skeptics  always 
insist  upon  practical  demonstrations,  and  are  not  willing  to 
accept  anything  upon  mere  assertion.    The  whole  tendency 


264  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

of  the  age  is  toward  investigation  If  we  accept  without 
experiment  the  teachings  of  our  fathers,  advancement  comes 
to  a  "dead  halt"  in  medicine  and  in  all  other  things  as  well. 
Nothing  aside  from  a  self-evident  truth,  which  we  all  know 
is  susceptible  of  no  proof  whatever,  can  be  "fully  settled" 
universally.  A  few,  or  if  need  be,  a  number  of  persons 
may  satisfy  themselves  of  the  truth  of  questionable  problems 
similar  to  the  one  under  discussion,  and  yet  the  truth  in  such 
cases  can  not  be  made  clear  universally;  consequently  that 
which  can  not  be  shown  to  be  true  universally,  can  not  by 
any  means  be  classed  among  the  "settled  questions"  of  the 
ages.  If  we  accept  the  idea  suggested  Ijy  Dr.  Lippe  of  the 
immutability  of  the  documentary  evidence  of  homoeopath- 
icians,  we  may  just  as  well  "stop  right  here."  Who  have 
the  whole  truth  (and  more)  done  up  in  these  writings? 
Consequently  he  who  proposes  to  go  one  step  further  is  a 
heretic  and  "perverter"  of  the  healing  art.  In  short,  such 
doctrine  means  just  this,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  pro* 
gression  in  Homoeopathy,  and  you,  Mr.  Editor,  have  mis- 
named your  journal  when  you  called  it  Medical  Advance. 
The  sapient  author  of  "Fatal  Errors"  asserts  most  positively 
that  the  thirtieth  potency  is  a  curative  or  sick  making  agent. 
The  thirtieth  potency  of  what?  Are  all  remedies  possessed 
of  an  identity  of  force  at  the  thirtieth?  ,Are  Sac  lac,  and 
Arsen.  equally  sick  making  at  the  thirtieth?  It  may  appear 
to  be  all  well  enough  to  pooh!  pooh!  in  answer  to  such 
queries,  and  to  affirm  that  "this  is  not  an  open  question,  and 
that  a  scientific  experiment  at  this  day  is  not  a  necessity," 
but  there  are  honest  doctors  in  the  profession,  true  homoeo- 
paths in  the  highest  sense  of  che  term  Homoeopathy,  who 
differ,  without  asking  leave  to  do  so,  from  Dr.  Lippe  when 
he  makes  such  assertions  as  these. 

How  has  this  question  been  settled,  under  what  circum- 
stances has  it  been  settled,  and  is  the  documentary  evidence 
all  sufficient  to  satisfy  investigating  minds?  If  Hahnemann 
was  the  Omega  as  well  as  the  Alpha  of  Homoeopathy,  then 
this  question  has  been  settled  beyond  appeal.  The  history 
of  all  the  ages  tells  us  that  the  discoverers  of  new  laws  and 


Theory  and  Practice,  265 

new  truths  have  only  seen  the  beginning  of  a  work  that  suc- 
ceeding generations  have  carried  on  into  fuller  development. 
The  Doctor  attempts  to  furnish  no  proofs  of  his  assertions 
further  than  the  statement  regarding  the  success  of  the  pio- 
neers of  Homoeopathy  in  this  country  fifty  years  ago.  Now 
the  incredulous  raise  the  question  right  here,  was  it  the 
thirtieth  potency  that  affected  the  cures,  or  was  it  the  cessa- 
tion of  old  school  empiricism  that  made  such  wonderful 
changes?  We  all  know  that  no  medicine  at  all  was  a  thous- 
and fold  preferable  to  the  heroic  artd  fatal  practice  of  Al- 
lopathy of  that  period,  consequently  this  statement  is  not  di- 
rect and  positive  proof  of  the  curative  powers  of  the  thirtieth 
potency  by  any  means.  The  Doctor  is  arbitrary  in  asserting 
that  those  who  propose  to  make  convincing  experiments 
testing  the  truth  of  this  question  '^have  no  case  and  that  the 
matter  has  been  settled  forever."  If  this  be  true  and  the 
Doctor  is  honestly  convinced  in  his  own  mind  that  the  cura- 
tive power  of  tne  thirtieth  is  a  fixed  and  settled  fact,  why 
need  he  manifest  anxiety  and  a  desire  to  forestall  further  ex- 
periments? If  he  is  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  entire 
immutability  of  the  documentary  evidence,  why  need  he  re- 
prove those  who  propose  to  test  this  evidence,  and  add  to 
the  documentary,  accumulative  ewdence  if  nothing  more? 
He  of  course  has  no  fear  that  the  truth  will  come  out  of  the 
test  unshaken,  and  all  the  clearer  and  brighter  on  account  of 
the  experiments  honestly  proposed.  It  is  no  indication  of 
ignorance  when  individuals  differ  from  us  upon  important 
questions,  as  the  Doctor  asserts,  but  on  the  contrary  it  is 
rather  an  evidence  of  thoughtfulness,  hence  the  charges  of 
ignorance  of  the  history  of  Homoeopathy,  and  of  the  Ma- 
teria Medica  and  Chronic  Diseases  of  Hahnemann  is  only  an 
imperious  way  of  waving  the  logic  of  the  issue.  Instead  of 
frowning  upon  the  proposition  of  Dr.  Lewis  Sherman,  the 
Doctor  should  rejoice  over  an  opportunity  of  making  such  a 
wide  spread  demonstration  of  the  great  truth  of  which  he 
has  so  long  been  firmly  and  positively  convinced. 

In  regard  to  the  "evidence,"  the  Doctor  inquires  what  evi- 
dence can  be  offered  to  show  that  an  improbability  exists  of 


266  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

the  therapeutic  action  of  tie  thirtieth  potency?  This  is  just 
the  question  the  Milwaukee  School  of  Medicine  proposes  to 
solve  by  a  scientific  and  intelligent  experiment,  and  instead 
of  it  being  on  the  witness  stand  of  the  medical  world,  it  is 
the  ".documentary  evidence"  that  is  now  to  testify,  and  it  is 
proposed  that  it  shall  be  put  through  an  ordeal  of  cross 
questioning  that  will  elucidate  the  whole  truth,  and  until  the 
evidence  of  the  investigating  committee  is  in,  it  is  out  of  the 
logical  order  of  all  evidence  to  call  for  the  proofs.  Asser- 
tions are  not  always  truths,  and  the  evidence  in  support  of 
them,  whether  documentary  or  otherwise,  to  stand  investi- 
gation must  be  very  positive  and  unmistakably  convincing. 
No  court  will  take  cognizance  of  evidence  other  than  this. 
Besides  believers  in  supposed  or  asserted  fallacies  are  not 
bound  to  prove  these  supposed  fallacies  either  false  or  true. 
This  is  the  province  of  those  who  originate  and  promulgate 
them.  What  men  declare  emphatically  to  be  true,  they  are 
bound  to  furnish  unmistakable  evidence  to  substantiate!  The 
idea  advanced  by  the  Doctor  that  "documentary  evidence  is 
positive,"  is  preposterous  in  the  extreme,  most  especially  so 
when  applied  to  the  theorizing  and  experimentation  of 
doctors  one  hundred  ago. 

Nothing  is  positive  in  the  developments  of  science,  es- 
pecially medical  science,  but  that  which  has  been  demon- 
strated and  applied  universally. 

But  further  investigation  in  this  matter  says  the  Doctor, 
"must  end  in  a  farce,"  So  said  the  revilers  and  persecutors 
of  Hahnemann  when  he  first  stepped  upon  the  threshold  of 
the  new  era  of  medicine  and  pushed  open  the  door  leading 
into  a  vast,  wide  realm  of  medical  progress  and  development. 
Ought  we  now,  while  Homoeopathy  is  still  in  its  infancy,  to 
listen  to  such  demands  for  muzzling  investigation?  Is  it  not 
a  "fatal  error"  for  an  avowed  champion  of  a  great  medical 
reform  to  attempt  to  muzzle  all  individual  thinkers  of  the 
profession,  lower  their  status  as  men,  and  brand  them  eclec- 
tics now  and  forever,  because,  forsooth,  they  possess  reason- 
ing ability  sufficient  to  desire  to  know  as  much  as  men 
knew  a  century  ago.     The  surest  way  to  establish  the  fact 


Theory  and  Practice,  267 

that  the  great  law  of  medicine  discovered  by  Hahnemann 
was  not  a  true  one,  is  to  demonstrate  the  impossibility  of 
building  upon  it  new  developments.  For  out  of  the  discov- 
ery and  applications  of  true  laws  from  time  immemorial  have 
grown  the  progress,  advancements  and  developments  of  the 
world. 

It  is,  has  ever  been,  that  only  when  the  truthfulness  of  the 
evidence  given  in  support  of  a  theory  or  dogma  is  somewhat 
doubtful,  that  opposition  to  investigation  has  been  brought 
forward;  consequently  the  only  logical  conclusion  we  can 
arrive  at,  considering  the  denunciations  against  those  who 
propose  to  investigate,  is  that  there  are  doubts,  even  in  the 
minds  of  the  bravest  defenders,  of  the  efficacy  of  the  cura- 
tive or  sick  making  power  of  the  thirtieth  potency!  Let  our 
venerated  colleague  come  to  Indiana,  grow  up  with  the 
doctors,  and  the  ^'ager"  will  soon  knock  the  bottom  out  of 
his  thirtieth  potency,  and  he  will  come  out  a  wiser  man,  and 
his  last  days  will  prove  to  be  the  most  useful  to  Homosopathy . 


-»-•- 


"  Wabash  Ague."    (A  New  Species.)    By  H.  C.  Allen,  M.  D. 

In  the  March  number  of  The  Homoeopath,  Dr.  Taylor,  of 
Crawfordsville,  Ind.,  president  of  the  State  Society,  gives, 
in  a  very  racy  article,  his  treatment  of  "Wabash  Ague."  He 
says,  "I  am  often  called  upon  to  smile  aloud  while  perusing 
some  Eastern  man's  ideas  of  treatment  orintermittents." 
Query:  What  will  the  "other  fellows"  (including  the  Eastern 
man  above  referred  lo)  do  when  they  read  Dr.  Taylor's 
treatment?  "Of  course  he  (the  eastern  man)  never  saw  an 
intermittent — a  real  ague."  Dr.  Ta}  lor  seems  to  doubt  that 
"jir«.  30,  Fids,  30,  Nat  m.  200"  ever  cured  "a  real  ague," 
except  by  accident.      The   allopath  and   eclectic  doubt  that 


268  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

remedies  in  these  attenuations   ever    cured    "ague"    or   any 
other  disease.     First  symptom  that  Dr.  Taylor  is  not  a  hom- 
oeopath.      The    insinuation    that   no    man    in    Indiana    or 
out  of  Indiana  who  individualizes   his    cases   and    uses    the 
single  remedy  and  potentized  drug,  ever  saw  a  case  of  "real 
ague,"  or  ever  cured  one  if  he  did  see  it  (except  Dr.  T,  of  the 
Wabash)  will  certainly  be  news  to  such  men  as  Drs.  Baer, 
McNeil,  Runnels,  Haynes,  Berurenter,  Eggert,  Fisher,  and 
many  others  who  have  labored  in  that  state  for  years,  and 
now  to  find  that  they  have  been  laboring  under  a  delusion, 
that  the  cases  they  have   reported  cured   were  not  cases  of 
"real  ague"  will  be  a  mortification.       What  becomes  of  this 
disease  producing  ague  generating  "Wabash"  after  it  leaves 
Crawfordsville  "on  its  way  to   the  sea?"     How  does  it  get 
into  Crawfordsville  without  leaving  a  little  "real  ague"  in  its 
wake  for  some  other   man   to  wrestle  with?     What  would 
become  of  Dr.  Taylor's  ague  practice  were  it  not  for  this 
muddy   "Wabash"  and   its  tributaries?       The  second   hand 
subterfuge  that  "Wabash  ague"  differs  from   that  found  on 
the  "classic  Maumee,"  the  "treacherous  Miami,"  or  the  "slug- 
gish Rouge,"  is  but  a  miserable  excuse  for  routine  empiri- 
cism, unworthy  any  man  who  claims  to  be  guided  by  a  law 
of  cure  in  the  selection  of  his   remedies.     Tiiis  attempt   to 
make  the  kind  of  ague  the  scape  goat  for  lack  of  knowledge 
of  the  materia  medica,   and  non-adherence  to  the  principles 
of  the  school  of  medicine  we  profess  to  practice  (in  the  treat- 
ment of  ague)  is  only  an  excuse,  to  escape  the  labor  of  look- 
ing up  the  case.     Is  it  the   same  with  diphtheria  "on  the 
Wabash?"     Does  Dr.  Taylor  and  those  who  treat  ague  with 
Quinine  and  Ohinoidine  ever  individualize  any  case  of  ague? 
If  they  can,  they  never  report  any  such  cases,  that  the  pro- 
fession may  judge  whether  it  be  the  Doctor  or  the  ague  that 
is  at  fault. 

Here  is  a  "specimen  brick"  which  would  appear  to  require 
an  explanation  of  some  kind:  "As  »a  matter  of  fact  the  pro- 
per indications  for  high  dilutions  are  hard  to  get  on  the  Wa- 
bash." Who  ever  heard  of  a  homcEopath  trying  to  get  "in- 
dications for  high  dilutions"  anywhere  in   the   "wide,    wide 


Theory  and  Practice,  269 

world"  except  "on  the  Wabash?"  The  homoeopath  looks 
for  "indications"  for  his  remedy,  not  for  the  dilution,  either 
high  or  low.  In  the  following  eight  cases,  given  as  samples 
I  presume  of  what  is  found  "on  the  Wabash,"  not  a  single 
"indication"  is  given  for  the  selection  of  Chinoidine  or 
any  other  remedy  in  the  materia  medica  that  would  be  a 
guide  for  Dr,  Taylor  or  any  other  man  in  the  treatment  of 
this  affection  in  the  future.  In  the  second  case  the  approach 
to  a  symptom  "bloodless  eyes,  and  legs  swollen"  is  common 
to  Ars.,  Sup.j  Apis.^'^hina^  Ferr,  and  a  great  many  others. 

I  give  the  cases  to  show  what  can  be  done  "on  the  Wa- 
bash;" how  instructive  a  lesson  is  given  as  a  substitute  for 
"indications  for  high  dilutions  " 

"Joe.  D.,  act.  eighteen;  quartan  ague  for  four  years.  Geo. 
M.,  aet.  twenty- four;  ague  two  years;  bloodless  eyes,  and 
legs  swollen.  John  T.,  aet.  forty;  tertian  ague  one  year. 
James  D.,  aet.  thirty-eight;  quartan  ague  sixteen  months. 
W.  J.  McC,  aet  forty-two;  quartan  three  weeks.  Wife,  aet. 
thirty -six;  quartan  two  years.  D.  A.  B.,  aet  thirty;  quoti- 
dian six  months;  tertian  three  months;  quartan  six  months. 
J,  N.  M.,  aet.  forty-six;  quartan  three  years.  J.  D.,  aet.  filty ; 
quartan  three  years." 

All  these  cases  were  promptly  cured  (?)  by  Chinoidine, 
and  what  is  equally  gratifying  to  every  homoeopath,  quantity 
is  made  to  take  the  place  of  quality.  The  lesson  is  whole- 
sale, as  out  of  eight  hundred  and  ten  cases  of  "Wabash 
ague"  occurring  in  Dr.  Taylor's  practice  in  eight  years,  seven 
hundred  and  ninety  were  cured  (?)  by  Chinoidine,  leaving 
only  twenty  cases  for  all  the  rest  of  the  materia  medica,  and 
of  these  twenty  Araenic  had  fourteen.  Wonderfal  record, 
in  that  it  was  ever  made  or  preserved  for  future  reference. 
Fortunate  Homoeopathy  in  having  found  such  a  champion 
*'on  the  Wabash." 

I  venture  the  opinion  (but  I  may  be  mistaken)  that  Dr. 
Taylor  would  treat  "ague"  in  the  same  way  on  the  Hudson 
or  anywhere  else.  Given  a  case  of  ague,  Chinoidine  is  the 
remedy.  And  I  also  venture  the  opinion  that  symptoms  or 
indications  are  quite  as  numerous,  that  a  case  is  just  as  easily 


2«0  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

individualized  and  Is  just  as  amenable  to  the  single  remedv 
potentized,  "on  the  Wabash"  as  on  any  other  river  in 
America. 

In  other  words  the  kind  of  ague  has  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
the  doctor  everything. 

And  here  is  the  Doctor's  admission  that  I  am  correct; 
the  whole  question  in  a  nut  shell:  "Your  regular  cures  a  re- 
cent case  with  Quinine.  I  cure  recent  and  clironic  with 
Chinoidine.^''  "The  regular  makes  their  heads  hum  with 
Quinine,     Chinoidine  does  not." 

The  difference  between  Dr.  Taylor  and  a  "regular"  con- 
sists in  making  or  not  making  "their  heads  hum;"  the  ex- 
act difference  between  Allopathy  and  eclecticism.  The 
principle  is  the  same  in  each  case.  But  where  does  Dr. 
Taylor's  law  of  cure  come  in?  Where  is  the  proving  of 
Chinoidine,  our  only  guide  for  selecting  the  remedy  "on  the 
Wabash"  or  anywhere  else,  for  ague,  diphtheria  or  any  dis- 
ease, acute  or  chronic?  It  is  a  poor  Homoeopathy  that  pres- 
cribes for  the  name  of  the  disease;  Homoeopathy  only  in 
name,  not  in  fact. 

But  into  what  constant  trouble  this  routine  empiricism 
leads  us  when  applied  to  some  acute  disease,  as  diphtheria, 
where  immediate  danger  is  much  greater  than  in  ague.  The 
principle  is  the  same,  the  mode  of  selecting  the  remedy  the 
same,  when  Dr.  Taylor  extols  the  virtues  of  Potassa  chlorate 
in  malignant  diphtheria  as  a  specific  for  a  name;  and  here 
it  becomes  a  matter  of  serious  consideration  both  to  the 
Doctor  and  to  his  patients  whether  he  adopt  a  generalizing 
practice,  or  adhere  to  his  law  of  cure  and  individualize  each 
case.  The  Eclectic  and  Allopath  do  nothing  but  generalize: 
can  we  not  with  our  law  of  cure  which  we  profess  to  follow 
do  something  better  than  imitate  the  mongrel  practice  of  the 
other  schools?  The  difference  between  the  schools  of  prac- 
tice is  not  alone  in  the  quantity  of  medicine  given — not  in 
the  attenuation  whether  high  or  low — so  much  as  in  the 
strict  individualization  of  each  case.  This  is  the  key  stone 
of  the  homoeopathic  arch  so  strenuously  maintained  by  Hah- 
nemann, and  of  which  Dr.  Taylor  says:  "I  take  no  account 


Theory  and  Practice,  271 

of  accessory  or  concomitant  symptoms.  They  amount  to 
little  on  a  Wabash  ague."  What  would  they  amount  to  in 
ague,  diphtheria,  scarlet  fever  or  pneumonia  if  **taken  no  ac- 
count of?"  All  that  is  necessary  is  to  name  it  ague  or  diph- 
theria, give  the  "ethereal  solution  of  Chinoidine^^  or  Potassd 
chlorate  and  the  thing  is  done;  treat  the  diagnosis;  the  symp- 
toms, and  the  expression  of  disease,  "amount  to  little."  It  is 
this  mistaken  idea,  both  of  the  theory,  the  spirit  and  the 
practice  of  the  law  of  cure,  that  "has  gotten  Homoeopathy 
more  falls  than  favors,  more  blows  than  blessings."  He  may, 
if  he  will,  select  his  remedy  with  almost  mathematical  cer- 
tainty, but  not  after  Dr.  Taylor's  empiric  method,  for  the 
hoiVioeopath  never  "tries  many  remedies;"  never  searches 
after  "indications  for  high  dilutions." 

But  the  Doctor  has  learned  one  thing,  very  important  in 
the  treatment  of  intormittents.  After  "breaking  up"  the 
chills  "the  remedy  must  be  given  three  or  four  times  a  day, 
for  three  weeks,  in  acute  cases;"  and  in  chronic  cases,  "iftiie 
fever  had  lasted  two  years,  it  must  be  given  for  three  months 
after  recovery."(?)  Patients  must  be  very  persistent,  verv 
obedient,  very  trusting,  to  take  a  dose  bitter  enough  "to  stop 
a  candidate  from  shaking"  for  three  months  after  recovery,(?) 
Somewhat  difficult  to  tell  whether  the  remedy  be  not  worse 
than  the  disease  and  quite  as  difficult  to  get  rid  of;  in  fact, 
would  it  not  be  much  easier  for  the  patient  to  shake  off  "a 
candidate"  than  a  Doctor  armed  with  such  a  remedy.   , 

The  following  case,  reported  by  S.  E.  Burchfield,  junior 
in  tlie  Homoeopathic  Department,  University  of  Michigan,  is 
given  as  a  sample  of  what  is  done  in  Michigan,  not  very 
"East"  of  the  latitude  of  the  "Wabash:" 

"Mrs.  Godden,  aet.  thirty,  living  in  lower  town,  near  the 
river,  came  to  homoeopathic  clinic,  March  13,  1880,  sufTering 
with  chills  and  fever,  tertian  type,  for  nearly  two  weeks;  had 
a  slight  chill  the  previous  morning  about  eight  o'clock,  last- 
ing half  an  hour,  followed  by  a  severe  one  from  eleven  to 
twelve  o'clock  the  same  day;  chill  commenced  in  the  back, 
with  severe  backache;  bone  pains  in  extremities,  aching  all 
over,  accompanied  by  some  thirst,  nausea  and  vomiting;  ex- 


272  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

ternal  heat  docs  not  mitigate  the  chill;  chill  lasted  ab6ut  two 
hours  and  was  the  most  severe  one  she  had  ever  had;  head- 
ache begins  during  chill;  during  the  heat,  less  thirst,  but 
drinking  relieves;  bone  pains  continue;  headache  incieased, 
and  is  very  severe;  heat  nearly  all  the  time,  which  is  followed 
by  profuse  drenching  sweat,  which  relieves  bone  pains  and 
headache;  hydroa  on  the  lips, 

Eup.  per/.,  Tgn.  and  Nat  mur,  were  compared,  but  the 
type,  the  time  of  the  chill,  the  backache  during  ;he  chill, 
the  vomiting  during  chill  (not  bitter),  the  severe  headache 
(luring  heat,  relief  of  headache  and  bone  pains  by  the  profuse 
sweat,  and  the  hydroa,  all  indicated  NaL  m.  as  covering  the 
totality  of  the  symptoms.  Nat.  m.  ccl  one  dose  was  given, 
and  no  return  of  chills  to  date,  May  ist." 


♦  ♦■ 


Puerperal  Peritonitis  or  Metritis.    By  C,  L,  Hart,  M.  D., 

Omaha,  Nebraska.     Part  II.     Treatment. 

Dr.  F.  Churchill  says,  "If  by  the  treatment  of  low  puerpe- 
ral fever,  we  are  supposed  to  mean  such  remedies  as  afford  a 
reasonable  hope  of  cure  in  the  majority  of  cases,  I  must 
frankly  confess  that  I  know  of  no  such  remedies."  Among  the 
leading  therapeutic  measures  in  the  allopathic  school  are 
bleeding,  especially  for  the  asthenic  form,  leeching,  blisters, 
emetics;  Calomel  with  or  without  Opium;  Camphor^  Quinine^ 
Capsicum,  Turpentine,  etc.,  and  Veratrum  vir,  was  used  by  a 
New  York  physician  with  some  success. 

Dr.  Gooch  suggests  a  copious  bleeding  to  decide  the  best 
mode  of  treatment. 

If  bleeding  does  manifest  good  it  is  to  determine  our  course 
in  favor  of  most  vigorous  antiphlogistics;  if  not,  this  must  be 
abandoned  for  an  opposite  course  of  treatment.     Even  under 


Theory  and  Practice.  273 

the  old  school  treatment  this  would  seem  a  hazardous  experi- 
ment, for  if  the  case  should  be  of  an  asthenic  type  the  single 
bleeding  might  be  sufficient  to  sacrifice  the  life  of  the  patient. 
The  stimulating  or  supporting  treatment  is  Quinine^  Wine^ 
Brandy^  Carb.  ammon.,  Camphor^  Cantharis,  Capsicum^ 
Opium,  Turpentine^  etc. 

Dr.  A.  Clarke,  of  New  York,  recommends  massive  doses 
of  Opium,  three  or  four  grains,  or  from  one  to  one  and  one- 
third  grains  oi  Morphine  every  hour. 

Dr.  Fordyce  Barker  commends  highly  Veratritm  vir.,  in 
doses  of  four  to  ten  drops  of  mother  tincture  every  hour, 
until  the  pulse  is  normal  in  frequency. 

From  the  above  we  see  the  same  confliction  of  opinion  in 
this  disease  as  is  so  manifest  in  the  treatment  of  most  diseases, 
the  one  class  advocating  the  most  active  antiphlof^istic  treat- 
ment, copious  bleeding,  liberal  purgation  and  free  emesis; 
another  class  condemning  the  antiphlogistic,  and  as  warmly 
advocating  the  tonic  or  sustaining  mode  of  treatment.  This 
is  the  legitimate  outgrowth  of  a  treatment  without  a  thera- 
peutic law — like  a  mariner  at  sea,  without  compass  he  has 
no  guide. 

In  the  homoeopathic  school  the  practitioner  must  be  guided 
by  our  therapeutic  law,  carefully  consider  the  epidemic  reme- 
dies, and  then  be  led  by  the  objective  and  subjective  symp- 
toms of  each  individual  case,  not  losing  sight  of  constitutional 
or  temperamental  indications. 

Following,  you  will  find  some  of  our  leadinj^  remedies, 
with  their  special  indications: 

Aconite, — Is  useful  where  there  is  a  real  synochal  fever;  a 
hard^  full  rapid  pulse;  hot,  dry  skin;  intense  thirst;  sharp, 
shooting  pains  in  the  whole  abdomen,  which  is  very  tender 
to  touch. 

Apis  m, — Stinging,  thrusting  pains,  similar  to  those  arising 
from  the  sting  of  a  bee;  absence  of  thirst;  urine  scanty; 
dyspnoea. 

Ars,  alb. — Burning,  throbbing,  lancinating  pains,  burning 
like  fire;  she  is  sure  she  will  die;  great  restlessness  and  an- 
guish, with  fear  of  death;  thirst  for  frequent  sips  of  water, 
I       .  June-2 


27-4  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

only  a  little  at  a  time;  cold  water  aggravates  her  symploms; 
she  wants  more  cover  over  her;  w^ants  to  be  wrapped  up. 

Belladonna. — ^The  pains  come  on  suddenly  and  cease  as 
quickly  alter  continuing  a  longer  or  shorter  time, or  there  are 
clutching  pains,  as  from  clawing  with  the  nails;  pressure  as 
if  all  the  parts  would  issue  through  the  vulva;  throbbing 
headache,  with  heat  and  redness  of  the  face  and  eyes,  and 
throbbing  of  the  carotids;  involuntary  flow  of  urine;  furious 
delirium;  the  milk  or  lochia  suppressed  or  very  olTensive;  the 
parts  very  sensitive;  she  can  not  bear  the  least  motion  or  jar 
of  the  bed. 

Bryonia. — The  least  motion  aggravates  her  sufferings;  her 
head  aches  as  if  it  would  split;  raising  up  in  bed  causes  nau- 
sea and  fainting;  the  lips  are  parched  and  dry;  mouth  dry, 
and  very  thirsty  for  large  draughts  of  water;  constipation, 
tlie  stool  being  hard  and  dry,  as  if  burnt.  A  dry  cough  or 
stitching  pains  would  be  further  indications  for  Bryonia. 

Cal.  carh. — This  remedy  will  sometimes  be  found  indicated 
in  persons  of  a  leuco-phlegmatic  temperament,  with  cold, 
d;imp  feet;  the  head  and  upper  part  of  the  body  is  in  a  pro- 
fuse perspiration;  thy'st  for  coM  water;  constant  aching  in 
the  vagina;  aggravation  at  night;  pulse  tremulous  or  full 
and  accelerated;  stitches  in  the  neck  of  the  uterus;  the  his- 
tory of  her  case  shows  that  her  menses  have  been  too  piofuse, 
or  returned  too  often. 

Cantharia. — Frequent  and  almost  constant  desi:e  to  urinate, 
ineff'ectual  or  with  cutting  or  burning  pain,  passing  only  a 
few  drops  at  a  time,  which  are  mixed  with  blood;  burning 
in  the  uterine  regions.  The  urinary  symptoms  are  of  the 
greatest  importance  in  determining  the  selection  of  this 
remedy, 

Carh.  an. — In  chronic  or  sub -acute  cases  of  metritis,  with 
painful  pressure  in  the  loins,  groins  and  thiofhS;  great  sense 
of  soreness  in  the  pit  of  the  stomach;  general  sense  of  lassi- 
tude. 

Oarho  veg. — Much  soreness  about  the  vulva,  with  aphtha; 
Aching  or  pinching  in  the  iliac  regions;  languor,  weariness 
and  physical   depression  toward   noon,    with    faintness  and 


Theory  and  Practice,  275 

hunger;   flatulence,  by  emission  of  flatus;  she  wants  to  be 
fanned. 

Chamomilla, — In  cases  which  come  on  in  connection  with 
a  fit  of  passion;  heat  all  over,  with  thirst  and  redness  of  the 
face — one  side  of  the  face  red  and  the  other  pale;  great  im- 
patience; she  can  hardly  restrain  herself  and  tre;it  persons 
with  civility;  urine  abundant  and  light  colored. 

China, — The  disease  has  supervened  upon  great  loss  of 
blood;  she  suflTers  from  distension  and  oppression  of  the  ab- 
ilomen,  which  is  not  relieved  by  eructations;  much  rin;<ing 
in  the  ears;  the  suffering  is  aggravated  by  the  least  lonch, 
painless  diarrhoea. 

Cocculus  ind, — Much  paralytic  pain  in  the  back,  and  para- 
lysis in  the  lower  extremities;  sensation  as  of  sharp  stones  in 
the  abdomen,  upon  motion;  head  and  face  hot,  and  feet  cold; 
pulse  hard  and  small;  metallic  taste  in  the  mouth;  intense 
thirst  or  aversion  to  drink;  shivering  over  the  mammae. 

Coffea. — In  ca-^es  induced  by  great  joy.  She  seems  in  a 
state  of  ecstacy,  and  is  very  sensitive  to  contact, 

Colocynthis, — When  induced  by  violent  indignation,  severe 
colicy  pains,  causing  her  to  bend  double,  with  great  restless- 
ness; cutting  pain,  as  from  knives  in  the  bowels,  with  great 
distress;  distension  of  the  abdomen;  diarrhoea,  which  is  ag- 
gravated by  everything  eaten  or  drank;  feeling  in  the  whole 
abdomen  as  if  the  intestines  were  being  squeezed  between 
stones;  full,  quick  pulse;  great  thirst;  bitter  taste  in  the 
mouth. 

Conium  mac. — Burning,  sore,  aching  sensation  in  the 
uterus;  the  urine  intermits  in  flow;  much  vertigo,  particularly 
on  turning  in  bed;  she  usually  has  a  bitter  taste  in  her  mouth, 
with  ihirst;  the  pulse  is  unequal,  some  pulsations  are  smaller 
than  others;  the  pulse  is  also  irregular,  sometimes  beats 
slower  and  sometimes  faster. 

('reosotum. — Stitches  in  the  vagina  proceeding  from  the 
abdomen,  causing  her  to  start  at  every  pain;  putrid,  acrid, 
corrosive  discharge;  a  low  form  of  fever;  putrid  fever. 


276  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Crocus  sat — Black,  stringy  discharge  from  the  uterus;  roll- 
ing and  bounding  in  the  abdomen,  as  from  a  foetus;  stitches 
in  t^^e  abdomen  arresting  respiration. 

Ferrum^ — Fiery,  red  face;  the  bowels  feel  sore  on  touching 
them,  as  if  they  had  been  bruised  or  weakened  by  cathartics. 

Graphites, — Particularly  when  the  ovaries  are  affected; 
eruptions  or  tetters,  with  a  glutinous  exudation  on  various 
parts  of  the  body,  or  a  tendency  to  obesit}'. 

Hepar  sulph. — When  there  is  a  tendency  to  perspiration, 
with  burning,  throbbing  pains  and  chillness, 

Syoscyamus, — Especially  when  induced  by  emotional  dis- 
turbances; if  there  appeared  spasmodic  symptoms;  jerking 
of  the  extremities  face  and  eyelids.  In  cases  which  fall  into 
a  typhoid  state  with  delirium,  the  patient  throws  off  the  bed- 
clothes; she  wishes  to  be  naked. 

Ignatia. — Cramps,  with  lancinations;  the  pams  are  aggra- 
vated or  renewed,  particularly  by  touching  the  parts;  the 
woman  is  apparently  full  of  suppressed  grief;  there  is  sorrow 
and  sighing;  an  empty  feeling  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach. 

//>ecac.^— The  patient -suffers  with  a  continued  nausea;  every 
movement  is  attended  with  a  cutting  pain,  almost  constant, 
running  from  left  to  right;  pain  about  the  umbilicus,  extend- 
ing toward  uterus;  a  continual  discharge  of  bright,  red  blood 
from  the  uterus;  rapid  pulse;  with  or  without  thirst. 

lodium, — Acute  pain  in  the  mammse,  developed  by  inflam- 
mation of  the  uterus;  the  mammae  also  become  very  sore;  a 
low  cachectic  state  of  the  system,  with  feeble  pulse. 

Kali  carb, — Intense  thirst  continually;  very  rapid  pulse; 
distressing  cutting,  shooting,  darting,  stitching  pains  all  over 
the  abdomen;  the  stitch  pains  are  in  ascendency;  the  more 
completely  the  stitching  pains  seem  to  predominate  the  more 
certainly  will  Kali  c.  oe  the  appropriate  remedy. 

Lachesis, — She  can  not  bear  any  pressure,  even  the  clothes, 
over  the  uterine  region;  she  wishes  frequently  to  lift  them, 
not  that  the  abdomen  is  so  very  tender,  but  that  the  clothes 
cause  an  uneasiness;  a  sensation  as  if  the  pains  were  ascend- 
ing toward  the  chest.  This  remedy  is  especially  indicated 
near  the  critical  age.     The  pains  in  the  uterine  regions  in- 


Theory  and  Practice.  277 

crease  until  relieved  by  a  flow  of  blood  from  the  vagina;  not 
long  afterward  the  same  symptoms  are  repeated  themselves; 
aggravation  of  the  suflfering  after  every  sleep,  by  day  or 
night. 

Lycopodium. — Cutting  pains  across  the  abdomen  from 
right  to  left;  much  working  and  rumbling  in  the  abdomen, 
particularly  in  the  left  hypochondrium;'  red  sand  in  the 
urine;  much  pain  in  the  back  previous  to  the  flow  of  urine; 
dryness  in  the  vagina;  discharge  of  wind  from  the  vagina. 

Jlfa<gr/i.  wwr.  -Hysterical  complaints  and  spasmodic  turns; 
uterine  spasms  extending  to  the  thighs;  constipation  of  large 
difficult  stools,  which  crumble  as  they  pass. 

Mercuriu^, — Lancinating,  burning  or  pressing  pains;  much 
perspiration,  which,  however,  aflfords  no  relief;  moist  white 
coating  on  the  tongue,  accompanied  with  intense  thirst; 
symptoms  aggravated  at  night. 

Nux  vom. — This  remedy  is  very  frequently  indicated. 
Pain,  as  if  bruised,  in  the  neck  of  the  uterus;  frequent  desire 
to  urinate,  with  pain;  scalding  and  burning;  frequent  and 
ineffectual  desire  to  defecate,  or  passing  a  small  quantity  of 
feces  at  each  attempt;  much  pain  in  the  small  of  the  back, 
which  is  aggravated  by  attempting  to  turn  in  bed;  heaviness 
and  burning  in  the  abdomen;  much  pain  in  the  forehead, 
above  the  eyes,  and  fainting  spells;  the  symptoms  are  aggra- 
vated about  four  a.  m.;  she  is  despondent,  sleepless,  or  dreams 
frightful  dreams. 

Opium. — In  cases  originating  in  fright,  the  fear  of  the  fright 
strll  remaining.  Flushed  face,  with  soporous  delirium;  in  her 
lucid  moments  she  complains  of  the  sheets  being  too  hot  for 
her;  she  is  sleepy,  but  can  not  sleep;  coldness  of  the  extremi- 
ties; discharge  of  fetid  matter  from  the  uterus. 

Phos,  acid, — In  cases  of  great  debility,  with  great  indiffer- 
ence to  all  about  her;  meteoristic  distension  of  the  uterus; 
slow  fever. 

Pulsatilla, — In  mild,  yielding,  tearful  temperaments;  semi- 
lateral  headache;  bad  taste  in  the  mouth;  nothing  tastes 
good;  absence  of  thirst;  nightly  diarrhoea;  scanty  urine. 


278  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Bhus,  tox. — Particularly  after  confinement.  Aggravation 
at  night;  particularly  after  midnight;  restlessness;  she  can 
not  lie  still,  but  must  change  her  position,  which  relieves  for 
a  momfent;  slow  fever  and  dry  tongue;  powerlessness  of  the 
lower  extremities;  she  can  hardly  draw  them  up. 

Sahina. — Especially  after  confinement  or  miscarriage; 
pain  extending  from  the  sacrum  or  lumbar  regions  to  the 
pubes;  severe  stitching  in  the  vagina,  from  before  backward; 
frequent  urging  to  stool;  liquid  stool,  followed  by  hard  stool. 

Secale  corn, — When  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  putrefac- 
tion; the  inflammation  seems  to  be  caused  by  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  lochia;  discharge  of  a  thick,  black  blood,  a  kind 
of  sanies,  with  tingling  in  the  legs,  and  great  debility. 

Sepia. — Burning,  shooting  and  stitching  pains  in  the  neck 
of  the  uterus;  a  constant  sense  of  pressure  into  the  vagina; 
she  feels  she  must  cross  her  legs  to  prevent  a  protrusion;  a 
painful  stiffness  in  the  uterine  region;  sense  of  weight  in  the 
anus;  putrid  urine,  depositing  a  clay-lrke  sediment,  which 
is  difficult  to  remove;  icy  coldness  of  the  feet;  a  great  sense 
of  emptiness  in  the  pit  of  the  stomach. 

Stramonium, — The  face  is  bloated  with  blood;  she  awakes 
with  a  shrinking  look,  as  if  afraid  of  the  first  object  she  sees; 
she  desires  light  and  company;  she  is  disposed  to  talk  con- 
tinually; strange  fancies  enter  her  mind;  she  imagines  all  sorts 
of  absurd  things,  that  the  bed  is  full  of  creases,  or  that  she  is 
double,  or  lying  crosswise,  etc.,  etc.;  the  head  is  frequently 
jerked  from  the  pillow,  and  then  falls  back. 

Sulphur. — The  vulva  seems  much  inclined  to  be  excoriated 
early  in  the  attack;  frequent  flushes  of  heat  pass  off  in  a 
little  moisture  and  faintness;  feet  cold  or  with  burning  soles, 
so  that  she  wishes  to  find  a  cold  place  for  them,  or  to  put 
them  out  of  bed;  sense  of  heat  in  the  crown  of  the  head;  she 
feels  suffocated;  she  wants  the  doors  and  windows  open; 
very  light  sleep,  she  wakes  very  frequently;  weak,  faint 
spells  occurring  frequently  during  the  day,  after  having  im- 
proved under  other  remedies  she  gets  worse  again  until  she 
receives  a  dose  of  Sulphur;  she  feels  unusually  faint,  with 
strong  craving  for  nourishment  from  eleven  to  twelve  a.  m. 


%$mml  €Iittir$. 


Clinical  Cases. — Case  I.  Toothache. — Silicea, — In 
May,  1879,  a  lady  was  suddenly  attacked,  while  eating, 
with  pain  in  a  right  lower  molar;  the  tooth  then  became  so 
sensitive  that  she  could  not  bite  with  it.  Her  dentist  removed 
the  filling,  with  only  temporary  relief  from  the  introduction 
of  Creosote.  There  was  swelling  of  the  gum  and  much  sen- 
sitiveness of  the  tooth  to  touch,  with  inability  to  eat  with  that 
side  of  the  mouth,  and  shooting  in  the  lower  jaw.  The  last 
symptom  led  to  the  selection  of  Silicea^  a  dose  of  which,  in 
Fincke's  nine  hundredth  potency,  was  in  a  few  minutes  fol- 
lowed by  relief,  which  soon  became  complete.  Some  days 
after,  there  was  a  slight  return  of  the  pain;  it  vanished 
quickly  and  permanently  after  taking  ^/7/cea  45m.  F.  The 
tooth  has  since  been  filled  again. 

Another  lady,'  a  friend  of  the  former,  who  had  no  faith  in 
the  reality  of  a  homoeopathic  cure,  assured  her  of  a  return  of 
the  trouble.  A  few  months  later,  calling  to  see  another  patient 
where  the  latter  lady  lived,  I  found  the  latter  in  bed  from  a 
very  painful  swelled  face;  in  connection  with  a  left  lower  de- 
cayed molar  there  was  the  same  pain,  shooting  in  the  lower 
jaw.  She  had  been  using  mustard  and  hot  applications 
without  any  relief,  and  was  quite  willing  for  me  to  prescribe 
8iUcea\  this  time  Swan's  cm.,  was  given.  In  a  short  time 
she  was  able  to  leave  the  bed  and  come  to  the  table,  and  in  a 
few  hours  became,  and  remained,  free  from  the  pain. 

Case  II.  Hoarseness.  —Carbo  veg, — Involuntary  prov- 
ing. Mrs.  R.,  for  hoarseness,  worse  from  speaking,  tension 
in  trachea  and  rawness  on  speaking,  received  Carbo  veg.  cpo, 
Fincke,  one  powder.  In  about  ten  minutes  she  felt  heat  in 
throat,  neck,  nape  of  neck  and  upper  part  of  chest,  as  from 
strong  wine,  lasting  about  five  minutes,  and  soon  followed 
with  relief  of  all  the  other  symptoms. 

Case  III.  Amenorrhcea. — Cough. — Pulsatilla, — Nov. 
10,  1879.     Miss ,  house  servant;  has  had  a  bad  cold  for 


280  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

three  or  four  weeks,  with  cough;  worse  in  morning,  on  rising, 
and  from  exertion;  comes  from  tickMng  in  chest,  with  thick, 
yellow-green,  bitter  expectoration,  and  pain  in  chest;  has 
missed  menses  for  two  mouths;  has  always  been  irregular; 
menses  usually  scanty,  blackish,  preceded  by  slight  pressing 
in  lower  abdomen,  and  attended,  the  first  day,  with  dull  pain 
over  eyes;  has  a  stitch  on  lower  left  side  on  taking  deep 
breath,  or  from  sweeping;  a  little  dizziness  on  stooping;  her 
sister,  father  and  mother's  sister  died  of  .consumption.  Has 
also  bad  headache  all  time;  worse  toward  evening  and  in 
warm  room;  better  in  the  cold  and  in  open  air.  Pulsatilla 
mm  y  Swan,  one  dose. 

Nov.  15.  Cough  nearly  gone;  painless;  expectoration  less, 
tastes  better;  all  other  symptoms  better;  no  medicine.  I  did 
not  see  her  again;  two  months  later  her  mistress  told  me  she 
was  well  and  regular. 

Case  IV.  Pain  in  Chest. — Dulcamara. — Dec.  28^  1S79. 
A  colored  woman  had  for  several  weeks  a  sticking  pain  in 
right  chest,  going  from  near  the  third  rib  and  sternum  to  the 
inferior  angle  of  the  scapula;  worse  about  noon  and  on  lift- 
ing anything  heavy.  Dulcamara  900,  (Fincke)  two  powders, 
one  evening  and  morning,  were  given,  and  the  pain  left  the 
next  day,  without  return  for  two  months,  when  it  again  as 
quickly  disappeared  under  the  same  remedy  and  potency, — 
Edward  Rushmore,  M.  D.,  Plainfield,  N.  J. 

Tape  Worm. — Kali  carb.  6x — Mrs,  P.,  aet.  sixty;  nervo- 
bilious,  active,  bright  temperament.  She  had  taken  Cucur- 
hita  pepo,  K0US80,  active  violent  cathartics,  etc.,  for  its  re- 
moval, but  segments  were  frequently  passed  for  years.  There 
were  few  symptoms  to  be  obtained,  viz;  cramping  in  abdo- 
men, and  pronounced  vertigo  on  rising  from  bed  or  from 
stooping  posture.  Gave  patient  one  ounce  Kali  car6. 6x*, 
which  she  took  for  three  months  and  now  reports  she  passes 
no  segments  of  worm,  and  after  other  efforts  to  discover  seg- 
ments, has  failed  to  find  any.     The  following  is  her  letter: 

Sandusky,  April  2, 1880. — Dr.  Buck: — Dear  Sir:  I  have 
now  taken  all  the  powders  sent  by  you,  watching  myself 


General  Clinics,  281 

carefully  during  the  time.  I  could  feel  the  dizziness  and  all 
other  symptoms  of  my  trouble  growing  less  and  less.  My 
other  deliveries  have  been  three  months  between,  and  when 
that  time  was  up  I  concluded  to  test  the  thing,  and  knowing 
Pumpkin  seeds  to  be  about  as  good  as  anything  and  could  do 
no  harm,  I  peeled  two  hundred  seeds,  ground  the  peels  and 
mixed  with  honey,  took  two  hundred  more,  split  them  in  two 
and  made  a  good  cup  of  tea,  went  to  bed  without  supper, 
and  in  the  morning,  on  an  empty  stomach,  took  the  mixture 
of  peels  and  honey;  through  the  day  amused  myself  eating 
the  meats  taken  from  the  seeds.  During  the  day  I  took  a 
small  piece  of  cracker,  nothing  more,  and  on  going  to  bed, 
drank  the  Pumpkin  seed  tea.  In  the  morning  before  break- 
fast took  two  tablespoonfuls  of  Castor  oil,  which  operated 
well,  and  there  were  no  signs  of  worms  of  any  kind,  no  odor 
of  one.  I  have  always  noticed  a  peculiar  odor  each  time  be- 
fore, now  I  am  thinking  it  is  eradicated,  and  will  go  on  my 
way  rejoicing.  I  wish  I  could  thank  you  in  person.  Respect- 
fully yours,  Mrs.  A,  H.  P. 


CSlixiical  Cases  of  Eye  and  Ear  Diseases.    Reported  from 

Dr.  Wilson's  Clinic. 

Case  XIV. — Ulcer  of  the  Cornea. — This  little  patient,  Miss  Sophy 
Brown,  is  only  fiye  years  old,  and  is  in  a  very  bad  way  with  her  right  eye. 
Her  light  hair  and  fair  skin  show  her  to  have  a  constitutional  tendency 
to  scrofula.  This  scrofulous  cachexia,  though  not  marked  by  sores  upon 
her  body,  is  revealed  to  the  physician's  eye  by  slight  but  very  certain  pe- 
culiarities. Until  quite  recently  Miss  Sophy  has  been  in  good  health, 
and  enjoyed  good  eyesight.  Her  father  recently  died  of  consumption. 
This  is  an  important  fact.  Her  mother,  who  brings  her  here,  is  in  good 
health.  This  is  her  only  child.  Two  weeks  ago  Sophy  had  several  red 
spots  appear  on  her  eye  balls.    Her  mother  described  very  accurately  the 


282  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

appearance  of  the  inflammation.  She  said  the  apots  were  whitish,  or  only 
slightly  red,  and  around  them  were  clustered  blood  vessels  which  were 
very  red.  Other  portions  of  the  eye  ball,  she  said,  were  white,  and  tha^ 
made  the  eye  look  spotted  or  streaked.  This  continued  several  days  and 
did  not  afford  much  trouble.  Then  there  came  upon  the  cornea  of  the 
right  eye  a  similar  spot.  This  caused  her  pain  and  dread  of  light.  The 
mother  became  alarmed  and  sent  for  a  physician.  He  came  and  examined 
the  case,  but  what  his  opinion  of  it  was  is  not  known.  Among  other 
things,  he  ordered  a  wash  to  be  dropped  into  Sophy's  eyes  three  times  a 
day,  and  each  time  it  was  applied  it  gave  her  great  pain.  We  have  no 
difficulty  in  determining  the  nature  of  the  wash,  for  the  mother  calls  our 
attention  to  her  handkerchief,  which  is  stained  over  with  the  characteristic 
spots  made  by  Nitrate  of  silver. 

We  now  make  an  examination  of  the  eye,  and  find :  left  eye.  three  or 
four  phlyctenulee  on  the  conjunctiva.  These  are  the  congested  points 
above  referred  to.  Kight  eye  uncovered  v^ith  difficulty  ;  so  much  pain  isT 
caused  by  exposure  to  the  light.  The  cornea  of  the  eye  is  nearly  covered 
by  an  ulcor.  The  outer  surface  is  eaten  off  or  sloughed  away  over  more 
than  half  its  extent.  The  anxious  mother  asks,  "Can  the  eyes  be  saved?'* 
The  left  eye  can  soon  be  cured,  but  the  right  eye  is  hopelessly  injured.  It 
will  heal  up,  but  there  will  doubtless  be  a  scar  upon  the  sight.  It  is  hard 
to  say  such  things  to  a  mother  whose  only  child  is  a  patient  in  the  case. 
It  falls  with  crushing  weight  upon  her  hope  and  happiness.  She  is,  how- 
ever, gratified  to  know  that  her  child  can  have  relief  from  the  torture  she 
has  endured  so  many  days  and  nights.  We  note  the  discharge  is  muco* 
purulent.  The  pains  are  much  worse  at  night.  Instillations  of  Atropine,  four 
grains  to  the  ounce,  are  ordered  to  be  applied  every  one  or  two  hours.  J/er- 
curivscor.  30  to  be  given  internally  every  two  hours.  Hot  fomentations  are 
to  be  put  on  the  right  eye  every  one  or  two  hours,  or  as  often  as  the  pain 
seems  to  demand  it.    The  eye  is  to  be  kept  lightly  bandaged. 

The  eflect  was,  immediate  relief  of  the  pain  and  causing  the  child  to 
sleep.     But  it  will  take  many  days  to  accomplish  a  cure  of  this  case. 

The  gentleman  who  first  had  charge  of  Sophy,  is  a  very  intelligent  gen- 
eral practitioner,  but  he  does  not  profess  to  understand  diseases  of  the  eye. 
There  are  many  doctors  who  are  in  a  similar  condition,  and  they  think 
they  know  that  tiitrale  of  silver  is  the  best  thing  to  put  into  inflamed  eyes. 
They  can  not  distinguish  between  this  and  that  form  of  inflammation,  but 
when  they  see  that  the  eye  looks  red  they  do  not  fail  to  put  in  or  order  to 
be  put  in,  Nitrate  of  silver^  and  they  are  not  always  careful  how  strong  they 
make  it.  The  result  is,  many  eyes  are  ruined.  What  would  have  soon 
gotten  well  if  left  alone  is  made  a  thousand  fold  worse.  A  small,  simple 
ulcer  of  the  cornea  that  gives  but  little  pain  and  might  be  easily  cured, 
will,  if  treated  to  repeated  doses  of  Nitraife  of  silver,  become  a  spreading  and 
painful  ulcer,  and  in  the  «nd  destroy  or  greatly  injure  the  sight.     '*Look 


General  Clinics.  283 

before  vou  leap"  is  good  advice,  and  in  cases  like  tliis,  oaeans  look  care- 
fully at  the  eye  before  you  order  'l^iiraie  of  silver^  and  avoid  it  when  there 
are  ulcers  on  the  cornea. 

We  can  not  be  sure  that  Sophy's  eye  trouble  was  caused  in  this  way,  but 
the  histor^r  of  the  case  points  strongly  in  that  direction. 

This  patient  continued  under  treatment  for  several  weeks,  and  finally 
recovered,  with  comparatively  little  blemish  to  the  eye. 

Case  XV. — Glaucoma  cured  by  Sclerotomy. — Loss  of  Si6ht. — 
Mrs.  Jane  Davis,  aet.  fifty-two,  presents  herself  for  examination.  She  re- 
lutes  the  following  sad  story  :  In  February  last  she  began  to  have  trouble 
with  her  right  eye  in  seeing  distinctly.  Previous  to  this,  and  for  a  month 
or  two,  she  had  experienced  severe  pain  in  and  about  her  right  eye  ball. 
She  then  applied  for  help  to  a  doctor  who  claimed  to  be  an  oculist.  He 
examined  the  eyes,  gave  no  opinion  of  the  case,  but  gave  her  medicine  to 
take.  After  this  she  visited  another  professed  oculist,  who,  after  hearing 
her  history,  applied  Atropine^  and  dilated  the  eye  so  that  he  could  look 
into  the  eye  with  an  ophthalmoscope.-  From  neither  of  these  gentlemen 
did  she  get  any  idea  of  the  nature  of  her  malady.  She  returned  to  the 
first  named  gentleman,  and  continued  to  visit  his  office  twice  a  week  for  a 
space  of  three  months.  Meantime  her  sight  rapidly  disappeared  in  the 
right  eye,  and  the  left  became  affected  in  the  same  way.  At  last  she  was 
informed  by  the  doctor  that  nothing  could  be  done  for  tier  as  she  had  ap- 
plied to  him  ''too  late/'  and  this,  notwithstanding  she  could  see  to  read 
ordinary  print  with  both  eyes  when  she  first  placed  herself  under  his  care. 
She  also  informs  us  that  during  all  this  time  the  pain  in  her  eyes  extend- 
ing into  her  forehead  and  face  continued,  and  was  at  times  very  excruciat- 
ing. This,  the  doctor  told  her,  was  "neuralgia."  Inasmuch  as  he  could 
do  no  more  for  her,  and,  indeed,  had  so  far  done  nothing  for  her,  she  left 
him  and  came  to  Dr.  Wilson  for  consultation.  Examination  showed  all 
sense  of  sight  gone  from  right  eye,  and  the  ball  hard  and  the  pupil 
widely  dilated.  In  the  left  eye  the  condition  was  nearly  as  bad,  there 
being  only  an  ability  to  distinguisli  light  from  darkness.  Her  case  was  at 
once  pronounced  glaucoma^  and  no  hope  existing  of  a  restoration  of  sight. 
The  efiect  of  this  knowledge  was  very  depressing,  but  she  bore  up  under  it 
bravely.  She  begged  to  be  at  least  relieved  of  the  pain,  which  had  become 
almost  unendurable.  The  doctor  placed  her  in  the  operating  chair,  and 
with  a  narrow,  cataract  knife  made  a  simple  sclerotomy  by  passing  the 
point  of  the  knife  into  the  anterior  chamber,  through  the  sclerotic  coat,  and 
passing  the  point  out  on  the  opposite  side  at  a  corresponding  distance  from 
the  edge  of  the  cornea,  and  then  carefully  brought  the  knife  out  so  as  to 
cut  a  slit  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long.  This  was  accomplished 
without  the  use  of  Chloroform^  and  with  comparatively  little  pain.  The 
result  was  an  almost  immediate  cessation  of  pain  upon  that  side.    Nor 


284  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

has  it  returned  since.  In  biz  weeks  after  the  other  eye  was  operated  on  in 
the  same  manner  and  with  a  like  result.  Three  months  have  passed  and 
she  has  been  entirely  free,  all  that  time,  from  suffering.  Nor  is  it  at  aU 
likely  she  will  suffer  a  return  of  it.  In  less  than  a  minute's  time  the  in- 
flammatory condition  was  thus  arrested,  and  without  material  pain  to  the 
patient.  Her  gratitude  for  the  relief  afforded  was  boundless.  So  far  as 
facts  show  in  the  history  of  her  case,  had  Bhe  had  this  operation  performed 
in  February  last,  simple  as  it  is,  it  is  probable  she  would  have  been  saved 
six  months  of  suffering  and  retained  her  sight.  Unlike  this  patient,  there 
are  many  who  have  a  like  complaint  and  who  go  blind  from  sheer  neglect. 
They  have  a  needless  fear  of  the  operation,  and  are  often  wrongly  advised 
by  injudicious  friends,  and  they  apply  for  help  when  it  is  indeed  too  late. 
But  it  sometimes  happens  that  doctors  take  a  case  of  this  kind  which  they 
do  not  understand  and  treat  it  every  way  but  the  right  one,  and  the  disease 
goes  on  until  the  patient  is  hopelessly  blind. 

Glaucoma  is  sometimes  very  inpiduous  and  escapes  only  the  most  trained 
observation,  but  even  when  it  should  be  easily  recognized  from  its  symp- 
toms, it  is  mistakenly  treated  for  neuralgia  or  some  other  disease,  until 
the  day  for  help  is  passed.  Glaucoma  is  always  destructive  of  sight  if 
not  arrested.  That  treatment,  according  to  the  homoeopathic  law,  and 
without  an  operation,  is  possible,  we  have  abundant  proof.  But 
when  an  operation  is  inevitable,  the  sooner  it  is  done  the  better.  Now 
that  sclerotomy  has  taken  the  place  of  other  and  more  painful  procedures, 
there  is  all  the  more  reason  why  patients  should  not  avoid  seeking  relief 
through  fear.  In  all  doubtful  cases  the  general  practitioner  will  best  con- 
sult his  own  interest  and  the  welfare  of  his  patient  by  obtaining  the  judg- 
ment of  a  skillful  specialist.  In  conclusion,  we  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  in  all  cases  of  suspected  glaucoma  Atropine  should  not  be  put  into  the 
eye.    It  will  increase  the  trouble  and  make  it  perhaps  incurable. 


iu%ll%Xi%m%. 


The  Allgemeine  Med.  Central  Zeitung,  March  6th,  1880, 
contains  an  article  by  Dr.  H.  Struve  on  the  cause  of  diph- 
theritis  and  croii-p,  wherein  he  says  that   the  accompanying 


Miscellaneous.  285 

fever  runs  the  same  typical  course  as  .malaria  fever,  and 
hence  Quinine  his  remedy.  An  involuntary  vaccination  vsrith 
a  diphtheritic  membrane  on  a  burn  in  his  hand  caused,  after 
thirty-six  hours,  a  severe  intermittent  fever,  with  diphther- 
itic deposit  on  the  wound.  A  second  voluntary  vaccina- 
tion with  diphtheritic  membrane  five  years  after  the  first 
totally  failed,  but  he  took  for  two  days  immediately  after 
the  vaccination,  three  Quinine  powder. 

Numerous  cases  are  on  record,  where  from  vaccination  by 
vaccine  from  children  suffering  from  malaria  the  malaria 
poison  was  also  carried  along,  and  just  such  cases  brought 
vaccination  into  bad  repute,  inasmuch  as  on  one  side  twa 
morbific  causes,  instead  of  one,  acted  on  the  organism,  and  on 
the  other  side,  in  consequence  of  the  malaria  infection,  the 
power  of  resistance  was  diminished  and  the  action  of  vac- 
cination more  severe  than  usual. 

May  we  ask  the  question,  whether  the  germ  theory  gains 
here  new  proof  that  these  germs,  invincible  though  they  are, 
even  to  the  strongest  microscope,  can  be  inoculated,  that  they 
are  the  cause,  and  their  multiplication  the  effect  of  the  pro- 
cess of  fermentation.  Cases  and  facts  multiply  on  all  hands, 
that  our  knowledge  of  disease  producing  agents  as  well  as  of 
diaease  removing  agents,  is  still  very  limited.  Would  it  not 
be'better  to  wait  yet,  to  follow  patiently  all  scientific  investi- 
gations now  going  on  (just  look  at  Edison,  at  Crook  and 
others)  and  we  are  sure  that  each  and  all  of  them  will  aid  us 
finally  in  elucidating  the  mysteries,  which  yet  seem  to  involve 
the  action  of  high  potencies.  Why  deny  the  facts,  because 
we  yet  can  not  explain  them,  and  the  cry  "post  hoc  is  not 
propter  hoc"  may  as  well  be  applied  to  physicians  using  low 
potencies  exclusively,  as  well  as  to  those  using  the  middle 
and  higher  ones.  It  is  easy  to  cry  "fruits  of  imagination  and 
of  fraud,"  but  rather  doubtful  whether  the  proofs  will  be 
forthcoming. — S.  Lilibnthal. 


286  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 


Group  Kfferentially  Conddered. 

An  article  upon  this  subject  by  Allen  Mott  King,  M.  D., 
of  St.  John,  N.  B.,  appeared  in  the  December  number  of  the 
HomcEopathic  Times.  The  presumption  is  that  Dr.  King  is 
a  homoeopath,  but  he  would  never  be  accused  of  it  had  the 
article  in  question  found  its  way  into  the  Medical  Record  in- 
stead of  a  homoeoppthic  journal. 

The  editor  of  the  Times  must  have  been  absent  when  it 
was  *'set  up"  for  that  journal,  but  how  it  came  to  escape  the 
vigilance  of  the  able  editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Clinical  Review 
and  find  its  way  into  the  Januaiy  number  of  that  staunch 
homoeopathic  paper  is  a  mystery.  Think  of  a  professed 
follower  of  Hahnemann  closing  the  treatment  of  croup  and 
diphtheria  with  such  a  wail  as  this:  "A  specific  remedy  for 
diphtheria  has  yet  to  be  discovered,  and  the  physician  who 
shall  discover  it  will  be  considered  one  of  mankind's  greatest 
benefactors."  The  treatment  is  also  a  fair  sample  of  what 
might  be  expected  from  a  man  in  search  of  "a  specific"  for 
the  name  of  a  disease.  He  recommends  Chloral  hydrate  be- 
cause "Dr.  John  Barclay  mentions  several  cases  where  all 
chances  of  recovery  seemed  removed,  that  were  saved  by 
the  administration  of  ChloraV^  That  is  certainly  a  ver}' 
scientific  reason  for  its  homoeopathic  exhibition  in  croup; 
where,  in  its  pathogenesis  of  ten  pages  there  is  not  a  croup 
symptom  to  be  found. 

He  says:  "Some  years  ago  I  flattered  myself  that,  with  the 
Biniodide  of  Mercury  and  Permangate  of  potassa^  the  one 
internally  (which  one?)  the  other  applied  to  the  throat  local- 
ly, I  could  cure  most  any  case  of  diphtheria  or  diphtheritic 
croup,  but  a  more  extensive  experience  has  since  convinced 
me  of  the  folly  of  my  confidence."  Also:  "The  literature 
of  diphtheria  is  wonderfully  voluminous,  and  as  wonderfully 
useless  when  put  to  the  test,  and  we  feel  surprised  that 
scientific  men  have  been  rash  enough  to  rush  into  print  to 
advocate  remedies  that  are  in  most  cases  worse  than  useless, 
as  precious  time  is  lost  in  trying  them,"      The  Doctor  even 


Miscellaneous.  287 

went  so  far  as  as  to  "give  Lac  can.  cm  and  im  a  fair  trial  in 
several  of  my  worst  cases,"  and  "I  obtained  the  medicine 
and  full  directions  from  Dr.  Swan  himself,"  but,  allopathic 
like,  he  does  not  give  an  indication  for  its  use,  or  a  symptom 
of  his  patient  by  which  the  profession  may  be  able  te  de- 
termine whether  he  had  a  case  of  croup  or  of  Bright's  disease 
to  treat  or  what  was  the  cause  of  his  failure.  I  venture  to 
say  that  Dr.  Swan  never  prescribed  Lac  can.  or  any  other 
remedy  in  that  way.  The  Doctor  is  evidently  unacquainted 
with  the  Alpha  of  the  science  he  professes  to  practice. 
The  literature  of  the  treatment  of  croup  and  diphtheria  is 
wonderfully  complete,  not  "useless,"  and  if  the  Doctor  will 
study  carefully  Hahnemann's  Organon,  Hering's  Materia 
Medica,  Johnson's  Key,  Dunham's  Lectures  and  Lilien- 
thal's  Therapeutics,  he  will  learn  not  only  how  to  treat  these 
diseases  successfully,  (homoeopathically)  but  all  others.  He 
will  then  be  able  to  select  his  remedy  without  "losing  prec- 
ious time  in  trying,"  which  a  homoeopath  should  never  do. — 
H.  C.  A. 


Michigaii  University  Daiication  of  the  New  Homoeopathic 

Hospital,  March  12,  1880. 

The  new  homoeopathic  hospital  and  amphitheatre  were 
dedicated  with  public  exercises,  which  were  held  in  the  am- 
phitheatre. There  was  a  large  number  of  persons  present 
to  witness  the  opening  exercises,  and  among  the  homoeo- 
pathic physicians  in  attendance  from  different  parts  of  the 
state  were  the  following:  Drs.  Eldredge,  of  Flint;  Hyde,  of 
Eaton  Rapids;  Sawyer,  of  Monroe;  McQiiire,  of  Detroit; 
Jevvett,  of  Adrian;  Fowle,  of  Moscow;  Pattison,  of  Ypsi- 
lanti;    Noyes,  of  North    Adams;   Allen,   of   Portland,   and 


288  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

others.  President  Angell,  Mayoi  Smith,  members  of  the 
homoeopathic  faculty,  and  numerous  others  were  present. 
Music  was  discoursed  by  the  city  band,  and  at  eight  o'clock 
Dr.  Franklin  introduced  Rev.  Wyllys  Hall,  who  delivered 
the  opening  prayer. 

Dr.  Franklin,  dean  of  the  department,  then  in  behalf  of 
the  faculty,  and  friends  of  Homoeopathy  in  the  cit}',  bade 
the  audience  a  hearty  welcome.  Many  had  come  from  a 
distance  to  attend  these  exercises,  and  the  dean  welcomed 
them  here  to  see  the  position  that  the  department  of  Hom- 
oeopathy had  attained  in  the  first  five  years  of  its  existence 
here,  and  alluded  with  satisfaction  to  the  progress  made  by 
Homoeopatby  throughout  the  country.  Animated  by  the 
conditions  of  its  success,  conscious  of  its  superior  efficacy 
in  the  cure  of  diseases  everywhere,  the  people  of  the  state 
in  legislature  assembled  in  1855  first  engrafted  upon  the  Uni- 
versity  of  Michigan  the  principles  and  therapeutics  of 
Homoeopathy,  but  it  was  not  until  after  a  contest  of  twenty 
years  that  Homoeopathy  found  its  place  on  the  campus.  In 
1875  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Jones  and  John  C.  Morgan,  two  prom- 
inent members  of  our  school,  were  appointed  as  professors  in 
this  school,  and  the  former  remains  in  the  faculty  to-day,  having 
passed  triumphantly  through  without  a  scar,  the  battles  and 
sieges  of  the  opposition — a  living  monument  of  heroism  in 
the  cause  of  Homoeopathy  and  truth.  The  evidence  that 
Homoeopathy  had  taken  a  permanent  position  in  the  Uni- 
versity was  their  new  buildings  erected  as  important  aids 
for  obtaining  a  thorough  medical  education.  Our  depart- 
ment has  never  been  placed  on  an  equality  with  the  other 
school,  and  it  is  an  open  question  for  future  legislation  and 
an  impartial  regency  to  decide  whether  or  not  it  shall  be 
sustained  in  the  future  in  all  respects.  He  believed  that  the 
time  was  not  far  distant  when  the  homoeopathic  school  would 
reflect  as  much  credit  on  the  university  as  any  of  its  other 
departments.  But  we  need  more  material  for  our  surgical, 
for  our  eye  and  ear  clinics,  material  for  medical  and  obstetri- 
cal departments,  and  for  these  practical  aids  we  look  to  the 
profession  in  this  and  contiguous  states.     It  is  true  our  clinic 


Miscellaneous,  289 

is  daily  increasing,  and  even  now  outnumbers  those  of  tJie 
opposite  school.  Here  many  have  found  relief  from  their  ilia 
ofter  having  been  subjected  to  the  nauseous  do^es  of  the 
other  department  without  permanent  benefit — tnumpiis  due 
to  our  superior  and  health  giving  therapeutics.  This  de- 
partment can  be  made  a  bright  and  shining  lij^ht  that  shall 
send  its  cheering  ray  of  hope  to  every  portion  of  the  earth 
where  disease  lingers  and  pestilence  destroys. 

Dr.  S.  A.  Jones  was  then  introduced  by  Dr.  Franklin  and 
delivered  a  very  able  and  interesting  address.  After  an  in- 
troduction alluding  to  the  new  responsibilities  and  duties, 
the  speaker  said: 

These  state  hospitals  do  not  much  resemble  the  first  en- 
dowed hospital — that  of  the  Emperor  Alexius — of  which 
we  have  authentic  record. 

This  was  as  it  should  be,  the  state  the  founder  and  patron 
of  the  hospital,  having  its  usefulness  augmented   by   private 
benefactions. 
,      When  such  foundings  and   such  endowments    are  left  to 
private  charity  the  state  is  remiss. 

These  hospitals,  the  only  state  establishment  of  their  kind 
within  its  borders,  compare  poorly  with  that  built  by 
Alexius  not  only  in  size.  The  worthiest  one  of  God's  poor 
may  knock  at  our  door  and  knock  in  vain.  There  is  no 
place  provided  for  him  in  this  thin  charity  of  the  common- 
wealth. 

If  not  a  niggardly,  it  is  indeed  a  shortsighted  mistake. 
As  they  stand  to-day  these  hospitals  have  been  built  chiefly 
to  further  the  interests  of  medicine  and  surgery  in  the  Uni- 
versity. Without  them  the  teacher  discharges  but  the  lesser 
half  of  his  duties;  the  student  loses  the  larger  half  of  his 
needful  opportunities.  The  curtailment  of  the  teacher's 
usefulness  is  the  more  quickly  perceived,  and  the  more 
keenly  felt  by  the  most  earnest  and  the  most  prom- 
ising students,  and  as  a  consequence  they  are  tempted  to 
complete  elsewhere  a  course  begun  here,  or  they  spend  else- 
where a  post  graduate  year  to  supplement  the  clinical  poverty 
of  mere  didactic  teaching, 
June.3 


290  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

Since  the  college  has  been  founded  a  per  centage  of  its 
every  junior  class  has  been  deflected  in  this  way, and  we  must 
look  to  this  hospital  to  arrest  such  depletion.  To  that  end 
we  urge  the  removal  of  every  obstacle  to  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  hospital  material. 

It  must  not  be  concluded  that  for  all  these  years  we  have 
been  without  clinical  material. 

As  a  means  of  supplying  the  hospital  demand  for  material 
the  speaker  suggested  that  the  state  provide  free  beds,  suita- 
bly guarding  an  abuse  of  its  charity,  and  that  those  who 
languish  in  the  poor  houses  of  the  state  be  sent  hither  at  the 
expense  of  the  county  from  which  they  coiT.e;  or  else  that 
such  parties  be  sent  here  at  the  expense  of  providing  for 
them  assessed  upon  the  county  furnishing  them. 

The  present  system  of  charity  retains  these  unfortunates 
in  a  county  house  where  they  are  only  a  worthless  and  cost- 
ly incjumbrance,  depriving  the  hospital  of  them,  where  they 
could  be  of  use  for  clinical  demonstration.  The  expense  of 
keeping  them  will  be  about  the  same,  while  in  the  one  place  % 
they  are  useless,  though  they  can  be  of  benefit  in  the  other. 
Why  will  not  the  state  put  them  where  they  can  be  utilized? 
Put  them  where  the  full  meed  of  charity  is  awarded;  where 
the  claims  of  charity  are  met,  and  where  even  then  science 
can  reap  a  rich  harvest.  At  present  all  that  pathological  an- 
atomy could  gain  from  these  cases  is  lost,  and  that  loss  falls 
heavily  upon  the  medical  schools  of  their  University.  It  is  a 
needless  waste  of  some  of  the  most  valuable  material;  a  loss  that 
books  and  didactic  teaching  can  not  make  up  to  the  student. 
It  might  also  tend  to  make  the  grave  more  of  a  place  of  rest 
that  it  is  said  to  be  in  Michigan.  Moreover,  many  of  these  now 
helpless  consumers  of  the  public  moneys  could,  through  such 
able  medical  ministrations,  be  returned  as  helpful  producers 

enriching  instead  of  impoverishing  the  state.     It  is  certain 

that  in  such  places  many  a  curable  chronic  disease  is  utterly 
neglected,   and  the  unfortunate  victim  left  an   unnecessary 
burden   upon   the    people.      Every    consideration  of  an  en- 
lightened character,  of  sound  political  economy,  and  of  the 

educational  interests  fostered  by  the  state  urge  the  propriety 


Miscellaneous.  291 

of  utilizing  this  material,  and  I  beseech  of  you,  within  3'our 
several  influence,  to  move  in  this  matter. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  sole  source  of  supply.  Within 
the  boundaries  of  this  state  are  many  needing  the  ministra- 
tions of  these  hospitals  who  could  pay  their  way  to  its  doors 
but  can  not  sustain  themselves  in  its  beds.  They  were  honest, 
honorable,  self-sustaining  citizens  while  health  and  strength 
were  theirs,  and  while  in  possession  of  these  they  discharged 
their  duty  to  the  state;  in  their  misfortune  the  state  has  made 
but  slender  and  inadequate  provision  for  the  affliction  which 
has  deprived  them  of  usefulness.  The  doors  of  these  hos- 
pitals are  virtually  closed  against  them. 

This  most  worthy  and  deserving  class  of  citizens  should 
be  provided  for  by  the  state,  and  that  not  meatily.  The  offi- 
cers of  these  hospitals  should  have  pow^er  to  admit  such  to 
free  beds  at  discretion. 

We  are  left  then  to  those  who  can  pay  for  their  beds  as 
our  sole  resource.  This  secure's  the  ministrations  of  salaried 
officeis  of  the  state  for  those  not  citizens  of  the  state  who 
can  pay  for  a  bed.  The  state  virtually  bestows  its  munifi- 
cence upon  the  stranger  and  witholds  it  from  its  own.  The 
rule  should  rather  be,  every  bed  free  to  the  appropriate  ap- 
plicant; pay  beds  to  be  occupied  when  there  is  no  other  ap- 
plicant; because  our  present  accommodations  will  meet  the 
demands  of  only  pure  charity. 

With  the  earnest  support  of  the  profession*  in  the  state, 
the  need  for  ampler  accommodations  could  soon  be  demon- 
strated. 

There  is  also  another  class  in  behalf  of  which  a  voice 
should  be  raised.  It  comprises  the  pariahs  against  whom 
society  shuts  its  doors  and  hardens  its  heart.  It  consists  of 
those  whom  women  condem,  whom  Christ  forgave  and  will 
forgive  forever.  Catholic  Europe  carefully  provides  for  them; 
what  will  Puritan  America  do? 

A  lying-in  hospital  for  these  were  indeed  a  Christian 
charity.  An  open  door  for  her  who  trusted  in  man's  faith; 
a  place  of  refuge  for  her  who  fell  through  trustfulness.    Her 


292  Cincinnati  Medical  Adaance. 

awful  fall,  her  heartfelt  misery,  her  utter  friendlessness,  her 
sore  need  the  only  sesame. 

We  must  take  this  world  as  it  is,  not  as  it  should  be;  we 
must  meet  it  as  it  is,  not  as  it  should  be,  and  happily,  some 
day  it  will  change  the  should  be  for  the  is — but  never,  never, 
never,  if  there  is  one  single  abyss  of  human  misery  which 
human  compassion  has  not  fathomed. 

Prof.  Jones  closed  his  address  by  adverting  to  the  oppor- 
tunities offered  to  students  in  the  hospital,  and  to  the  respon- 
sibilities devolving  upon  the  faculty. 

Dr.  I.  N.  Eldredge,  of  Flint,  who  began  the  practice  in 
this  state  in  1847,  when  there  were  but  five  homGeopathic 
physicians  in  Michigan,  was  next  introduced,  and  his  address 
was  devoted  mainly  to  a  review  of  the  history  of  the  contest 
which  preceded  the  establishment  of  the  homoeopathic  col- 
lege. He  recalled  the  year  1855  when  the  legislature  pro- 
vided for  the  appointment  of  two  homoeopathic  professors* 
whom  the  regents  failed  to  appoint,  which  failure  led  to  a 
litigation  in  the  courts  in  which  the  regents  were  beaten. 
He  then  detailed  the  subsequent  history  of  the  contest  down 
to  1S75,  when  the  college  was  founded,  and  alluded  with 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  to  the  completion  of  the  hospital, 
and  the  present  permanent  position  which  the  homoeopathic 
college  had  attained  upon  the  campus. 

Dr.  A.  I.  Sawyer,  of  Monroe,  was  then  called  for  and  made 
a  few  congratulatory  remarks,  alluding  to  the  advance  which 
Homoeopathy  had  made  during  the  past  generation  in  this 
and  neighboring  states. 

President  Angell,  in  response  to  several  calls,  came  for 
ward.  He  was  glad  that  Dr.  Jones  had  selected  the  subject 
he  did  for  his  inaugural  address.  He  was  fully  in  union 
with  the  professor,  on  his  recommendations  in  regard  to  free 
beds  and  county  house  patients.  He  had  often  thought  what 
a  fine  place  Mayor  Smith's  plat  of  land  southeast  of  the 
campus  would  make  for  a  large  state  hospital,  and  had  no 
doubt  the  Mayor  would  some  day  present  it  to  the  Universi- 
ty for  that  purpose. 


Miscellaneous,  29'^ 


Toncological  Effects  of  Morphia  Sulphate. 

The  writer,  influenced  by  the  desire  to  experience  '*the 
gorgeous  imaginations  and  intense  feelings  of  happiness  pro- 
duced by  Opium,  *  *"  referred  to  by  Herbert  Spencer,  in 
his  treatise  entitled  First  Principles,  of  the  series  of  writings 
comprised  in  his  Synthetic  Philosophy,  took  at  eleven  p.  m. 
one  grain  of  Morphia  sulphate^  and  retired,  expecting  a  very 
pleasant  sensation  for  at  least  the  time  during  his  usual  sleep- 
ing hours.  During  the  night  there  was  not  a  period  of  an 
hour's  duration  in  which  there  was  quiet  sleep  or  uncon- 
sciousness. The  night  was  passed  in  a  semi-unconscious 
state  during  part  of  the  night,  and  a  strong  desire  to  pass  into 
oblivion.  In  the  morning,  between  five  and  six  o'clock, 
usual  time  of  rising,  endeavored  to  get  up,  but  an  extreme 
degree  of  nausea  and  vertigo  prevented  standing,  and  was 
compelled  to  resume  the  decubitus  state.  There  was  a  very 
bitter  taste  in  the  mouth,  and  severe  frontal  and  vertical 
headache,  with  retching.  After  a  short  time  took  few  drops 
Belladonna  in  water;  this  was  immediately  followed  by 
emission,  and  quieting  of  the  stomach  was  only  secured  by 
the  recumbent  posture.  Again  tried  to  take  Belladonna,  with 
the  previous  results  repeated.  About  nine  a.  m.  took  a  cup 
of  coffee,  seasoned;  this  was  also  emitted,  and  quiet  was  re- 
stored by  keeping  in  recumbent  posture.  About  ten  a.  m. 
called  for  cup  of  strong  coffee,  unseasoned.  This  was  the 
only  substance  that  the  stomach  tolerated,  and  seemed  to 
waken  the  system  from  its  abnormal  condition,  and  enabled 
the  prover  to  assume  the  erect  position  without  violent  retch- 
ing or  vomiting.  During  most  of  the  time  there  was  imper- 
fect vision,  want  of  co-ordination,  and  a  strong  desire  to  ob- 
tain a  release  from  the  living  state  or  to  die.  The  thought 
presents  itself  in  this  case,  that  patients  suffering  the  effects 
of  Opium  may  do  better  if  they  are  not  whipped,  dragged  and 
compellerl  to  consume  their  energies  in  useless  physical  exer- 
tion. Would  it  not  be  better  to  allow  all  the  energy  the  system 
possesses  to  be  employed  in  the  correction  of,  or  antagonism 


294  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

to,  the  depressing  state  brought  about  by  this  agent?  During 
the  afternoon  the  prover  was  about  his  usual  business,  and 
thinks  had  he  received  the  treatment  recommended,  his  con- 
dition would  not  have  permitted  as  easy  a  recovery. — P. 


» ♦ 


HomcBopatliio  Medical  Society  of  Ohio.    Sixteenth  Session. 

This  body  assembled  in  Pulte  Medical  College,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  May  i8,  1880,  with  Dr.  E.  P.  Gaylord,  President,  in  the 
chair,  and  Dr.  J.  A.  Gann,  Secretary,  at  the  table. 

The  meetings  were  characterized  by  a  highly  intelligent 
treatment  of  all  subjects  presented,  and  a  gentlemanly  and 
courteous  bearing  of  the  members  toward  each  other.  One 
looked  in  vain  for  the  exhibitions  of  any  ill  feeling  engen- 
dered by  ouside  relations  that  so  frequently  are  brought  for- 
ward in  state  and  local  meetings  of  medical  conventions. 
This  meeting  of  the  Ohio  Society  reminded  us  of  the  Ameri- 
can Institute's  deliberations,  which  are  characterized  bv  re- 
spect  and  consideration  of  the  views  presented  by  its  mem- 
bers. 

During  the  sessions  the  subject  of  potency  slumbered,  and  it 
is  well  that  no  one  disturbed  it.  The  subjects  evoking  special 
discussion  were  those  of  a  scientific  and  practical  nature,  such 
as  physiology,  pathology,  therapeutics,  sanitary  science  and 
hygiene.  No  mention  of  the  uncertain  entity,  dynamization, 
was  made.  The  addition  to  membership  was  quite  gratify- 
ing; among  others,  we  are  glad  to  notice  two  ladies,  Drs. 
May  Howells  and  Ellen  Kirk,  of  Cincinnati. 

The  welcoming  address  was  made  by  Dr.  Buck,  followed 
by  the  opening  discourse,  entitled.  Progress  of  Science  and 
Medicine,  which  was  an  able  effort,  displaying  a  familiarity 
with  what  physicians  should  cultivate.  After  these  addresses 
the  society  entered  upon  the  regular  bureau  work. 


Miscellaneous,  295 

•  • 

During  the  convention  the  society  partook  of  the  hospitali- 
ties of  the  city  physicians,  a  banquet,  at  the  Highland  House. 
On  this  occasion  toasts  and  responses  were  offered,  Dr.  Eaton 
acting  as  toast  master.  The  first  toast,  Hahnemann,  the  as- 
semblage arose  and  stood  in  silence.  Our  Medical  Societies, 
response  by  Dr.  Gaylord;  The  Ladies,  by  Dr.  Geppert;  Cin- 
cinnati, by  Dr.  Owens;  Medical  Success,  by  Dr.  Parmalee; 
Our  Medical  Colleges,  by  Dr.  Gann. 

The  following  officers  and  chairmen  of  bureaus  were  elected 
and  appointed  for  1881 :  President,  H.  M.  Logee,  Oxford;  Vice- 
Presidents,  first,  M.  H.  Parmalee,  Toledo;  second,  G.  W. 
Moore,  Springfield;  Secretary,  H.  E.  Beebe,  Sidney.  Treas- 
urer, J.  C.  Sanders,  Cleveland.  Dr.  B.  F.  Lukens,  was  ap- 
pointed Chairman  Bureau  of  Gynaecology;  M.  H,  Parma- 
lee, Surgery;  J.  D.  Buck,  Physiology  and  Pathology;  H.  H. 
Baxter,  Materia  Medica;  J.  P.  Geppert,  Sanitary  Science; 
W.  T.  Rowsey,  Clinical  Medicine;  S.  R.  Beckwith,  Insanity; 
J.  C.  Sanders,  Obstetrics;  G.  C.  McDermott,  Ophthalmology; 
J.  R.  Flowers,  Legislation.  Drs.  Owens,  Beebe  and  Geppert 
were  appointed  on  the  Publishing  Committee,  and  the  Society 
expressed  its  desire  that  the  Advance  be  made  the  medium 
of  publication.  The  Society  passed  a  resolution  requesting 
the  State  Legislature  to  pass  a  Board  of  Health  bill. 


-•-♦- 


Scientific  Medicine  (?)  niurtrated.    By  Ah  Sam,  M.  D. 

CoNRAD^Away !  Yon  are  an  asa ;  7011  are  an  ass. 

DoQBEBBY — Dost  thou  not  suspect  my  place  ?  Dost  thoa  not  suspeot 
my  years  ?  O  that  he  were  here  to  write  me  down  an  ass  !  But,  masters, 
remember  that  I  am  an  ass,  though  it  be  not  written  down  yet ;  forget  not 
that  I  am  an  ass  *  *  I  am  a  wise  fellow,  and  which  is  more,  an 
officer;  and  which  is  more,  a  householder  *  *  and  one  that 
knows  the  law  ;  go  to  *  *  O,  that  I  had  been  writ  do'wn  an  ass! 
— Mveh  Ado  About  Nothing, 

Before  us  lies  a  recent  lecture  upon  a  rare  form  of  disease 
of  which  the  lecturer  heard  something  in  his  recent  journey 


296  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance. 

in  Europe.  He  does  not  claim  to  ever  have  seen  a  case  of 
the  kind,  but  he  has  read  about  it,  and  conversed  with  an 
Italian  physician  who  claims  to  have  seen  something  of  the 
sort.  This  fact  is  remarkable,  since  the  lecturer  offers  a  new 
and  improved  (?)  method  of  treatment.  And  the  curious 
part  of  it  is,  that  the  reason  why  he  offers  a  new  mode  of 
cure  is  because  themethods  heretofore  followed  have  proven 
failures.  Anything  for  a  change  under  such  circumstances 
would  seem  to  be  allowable.  But  the  lecturer  belongs  to  a 
school  of  medicine  which  first  of  all,  and  all  the  time,  boasts 
of  its  great  antiquity.  Its  second  and  greatest  virture  is  its 
scientific  accuracy.  It  is,  in  its  own  eyes,  nothing,  if  not 
scientific.  But  it  would  seem  that  this  virtue,  great  as  it  is, 
is  of  very  recent  date.  It  would  be  an  ungracious  task  to 
show  how  far  short  of  their  pretentions  these  gentlemen 
fall.  In  the  lecture  before  us,  the  learned  gentleman  has 
shown  a  curious  willingness  to  place  his  progenitors  upon 
the  record  in  anything  but  a  favorable  light.  Compared 
with  the  gentleman  himself,  his  professional  ancestors  must 
have  been  sorry  asses  indeed.  Now  to  the  proof.  The  sub- 
ject in  question  was  a  peculiar  form  of  fever — no  matter 
what.  Passing  over  the  exhaustive  pathology  of  the  disease 
we  come  to  the  treatment,  first  considered  historically.  "The 
treatment/'  he  asserts,  "has  been  various."  We  would  re- 
mark right  here  that  this  has  been  the  case  with  all  diseases 
treated  by  this  school.  The  statement  was,  therefore,  super- 
fluous. But  he  goes  on  to  say:  "Different  remedies  have 
been  favored  at  one  time  and  condemned  at  another."  There 
was  no  need  of  such  a  humiliating  confession.  It  is  a  well 
understood  fact  that  this  school  has  spent  its  history  in  adopt- 
ing and  rejecting,  without  ever  yet  permanently  fixing,  upon 
a  remedy  for  any  disease.  It  would  n't  be  scientific,  you 
know,  for  a  doctor  of  that  school  to  know  just  what  to  do  in 
a  given  case.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  "the  success  of  medi- 
cation in  England"  with  this  disease,  "was  so  doubtful,  that 
the  expectant  method  came  to  be  adopted."  He  does  n't 
say  what  that  first  method  was,  but  we  know  what  it  was. 
Venesection    and    Calomel   were    the  agents    used,  and  he 


Miscellaneous,  297 

should  have  said,  that  "the  method  proved  so  decidedly  de- 
structive th  it  the  doctors,  not  knowing  what  else  to  do,  con- 
cluded to  do  nothing."  The  learned  gentleman  does  not  say 
if  this  latter  method  proved  successful  or  not.  But  inasmuch 
as  it  did  not  accord  with  the  doctor's  business,  the  "diapho- 
retic" method  was  employed,  viz:  "wannest  rooms  and  closest 
coverings."  But  he  says  it  was  followed  by  such  results, 
that  it  had  to  be  abandoned.  He  says  it  was  carried  to  such 
an  excess  that  it  caused  "a  reaction."  That  is  a  delicate  way 
to  put  it.  After  that  "bleeding  was  vigorously  used,  but, 
though  the  symptoms  were  temporarily  relieved  by  it,  the 
depression  that  followed  was  attended  by  consequences 
which  led  to  its  abandonment."  All  this  was  rather  dis- 
couraging, but  the  gentlemen  were  not  in  the  least  discourag- 
ed. Why  should  they  since  it  was  all  guess  work  anyhow, 
and  the  next  time  they  might  have  better  luck. ^  '  So  "anti- 
spasmodics and  various  nervines  were  often  used,  with  re- 
lief, doubtless,  but  without  much  effect  upon  the  results  of 
the  disease."  Foiled  again.  After  that,  "diuresis"  was  em- 
ployed. Result  not  stated,  but  practice  not  continued. 
Reason  obvious.  "Several  active  drugs,  as  CoiTosive  sublim'- 
ate,  free  quantities  of  Chlorine  water  and  other  antiseptic 
agents  have  been  used  during  the  last  thirty  years  but  with- 
out such  effects  as  to  establish  their  efficacy  or  determine 
any  question  positively  as  to  their  value."  Meantime,  let  us 
ask,  what  were  the  patients  doing,  and  how  did  they  thrive 
under  such  scientific  (!)  failures  to  treat  their  disease?  Then 
^^Ipecacuanha,  from  thirty  to  forty  grains  in  three  doses  each, 
repeated  at  short  intervals  to  secure  an  emetic  effect,  has 
been  praised  as  exceedingly  useful;  but  its  extraordinary  al- 
leged efficacy  has  not  been  demonstrated."  Too  bad,  isn't 
it?  "Diaphoresis,"  "antispadmodics,"  "diuresis,"  and  "eme- 
sis,"  together  with  their  aiders  and  abettors,  all  hors  de  com- 
bat! Had  some  one  at  the  time  and  on  the  spot  suggested 
a  better  way,  he  would  have  been  snuffed  out  as  "irregular." 
The  learned  lecturer,  in  unconscious  ignorance  of  the  »ad 
spectacle  which  he  is  making  of  his  friends,  goes  on  to  en- 
umerate a  score  of  othjr  drugs,  but  he  gives  to  none  of  them 


298  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

any  appreciable  value.      In  fact,  he  disposes  of  them  quite 
summarily  by  offering  to  the  world  "a  better  way."      How 
e'er  he  came  to  know  it  seems  of  little  consequence.      He 
probably  "evolved  it  out  of  his  inner  consciousness."      He 
gives  us  neither  fact  nor  philosophy  to  support   his  recom- 
mendations.    Why  should  he?     Is  he  not  a  college  professor? 
Besides,   who   can    prove    his   statements   to    be    not   true? 
Clearly  nobody,  unless  they  should    happen  to  try  what  he 
recommends.     This  is  not  likely  unless  the  disease  makes  its 
appearance  in  this  country.     His   sovereign  remedy  is  Qui- 
nine.   He  is  emphatic  upon  the  dose.    "He  insists  upon  large 
doses,"  whatever  that  may   mean,  for   he  does  not  mention 
quantity  or  frequency.     It  might  be  tried,  you  know,  and  it 
might  prove  a  failure;  but  what  of  that?      Before  the  failure 
could  become  known,  the  learned   lecturer  would  have  en- 
joyed a   professional   reputation   upon  the    strength    of  his 
teachings,  and  maybe  have  been  sleeping  with    his  fathers 
many  years.     What  would  he  care  if  some  of  his  successors 
to   his    learned    professorship,   and    standing   in    his  shoes, 
should  make  his  follies  a   subject   of  their  lectures?      Two 
rather  funny  things  are  to  be  found  in  the  journal  in  which 
appears  this  learned  lecture.     By  way  of  conclusion  the  gen- 
tleman  says:    "Since  the  foregoing  article  was  written,  I  . 
have  received,  in  answer  to  inquiries,  a  letter  from  Dr.   P., 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  reputable  physicians  in  Italy,  in 
which  he  questions  the  existence  of  miliary  fever  as  a  dis- 
tinct disease."      So  it  appears  the  learned  gentleman  has  at- 
tempted to  cook  his  hare  before  he  caught  it.      After  all,  it 
is  doubtful  if  the  disease  exists.      Well,  that  is  richness.    In 
another  article  on   "Amblyopia  from   ^tmne,"  we  are  told 
that  "injurious  results  to  the  eyes  may  follow  the  use  of  ex- 
cessively large  doses  of  Quinine.'^     Several  cases  are  report- 
ed of  persons  going  blind  and  deaf  from  its  use.      And   all 
this  from  a  medical  school   claiming  to   be   scientific.     The 
gentleman  has  made  it  plain  that  their  past  has  proved  to  be 
a  failure.      What   their   future  is  to  be  needs  no  prophetic 
eye  to  see. 


Miscellaneous,  299 


The  International  Eomodopathic  Conyention. 

It  has  been  definitely  settled  that  the  next  convention  will 
be  held  in  London,  in  i8Si.  The  time  will  be  duly  announced. 
The  committee  having  in  charge  the  arrangements,  have  pre- 
sented the  following  **scheme:" 

^^i.  That  the  Convention  shall  assemble  in  London  at  such 
time  and  during  such  number  of  days  as  may  hereafter  be 
determined. 

'*2.  That  this  meeting  take  the  place  of  the  Annual 
British  Homoeopathic  Congress,  and  that  its  officers  be 
elected  at  the  Congress  of  the  preceding  year;  the  Conven- 
tion itself  being  at  liberty  to  elect  honorary  vice-presidents 
from  those  foreign  guests  and  others  whom  it  desires  to 
honor. 

"3  That  the  expenses  of  the  meeting  be  met  by  a  subscrip- 
tion from  the  homoeopathic  practitioners  of  Great  Britain; 
the  approximate  amount  to  be  expected  from  each  to  be  named 
as  the  time  draws  near. 

"4.  Th.it  the  expenses  of  printing  the  transactions  be  de- 
frayed by  a  subscription  from  all  who  desire  to  possess  a  copy 
of  the  volume. 

^'5.  That  the  Convention  shall  be  opened  to  all  medical 
men  qualified  to  practice  in  their  own  coimtry. 

^'6.  That  all  who  attend  shall  present  to  the  Secretary 
their  names  and  addresses,  and  a  statement  of  their  qualifica- 
tions; and,  if  unknown  to  the  officers  of  the  Convention,  shall 
be  introduced  by  some  one  known  to  them,  or  shall  bring 
letters  credential  from  some  homoeopathic  society,  or  other 
recognized  representative  of  the  system. 

"(a.)  That  members  of  the  Convention,  as  above  charac- 
terized, shall  be  at  liberty  to  introduce  visitors  to  the  meetings 
at  their  discretion. 

"7.  That  the  committee  be  authorized  to  enter  into  com- 
munication with  physicians  at  home  and  abroad  to  obtain — 

"(a.)  A  report  from  each  country  supplementary  to  those 
presented  at  the  Convention  of  1876,  recounting  everything 


300  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

cf  interest  in  connection  ^yith  HomoBopathy  which  has  oc- 
curred within  its  sphere  since  the  last  reports  were  drawn  up. 

"(6.)  Essays  upon  the  various  branches  of  homoeopathic 
theory  and  practice,  for  discussion  at  the  meetings,  and  pub- 
lication in  the  transactions;  the  physicians  to  be  applied  to 
for  the  latter  purpose  being  those  named  in  the  accompany- 
ing schedule. 

"8!  That  all  essays  must  be  sent  in  by  January  ist,  iSSi, 
and  shall  then  be  submitted  to  a  committee  of  censors  for  ap- 
proval as  suitable  for  their  purpose. 

"9.  That  the  approved  essays  shall  be  printed  beforehend, 
and  distributed  to  the  members  of  the  Convention,  instead  of 
being  read  at  the  meetings. 

"10.  That  for  discussion  the  essays  shall  be  presented 
singly  or  in  groups,  according  to  their  subject  matter,  a  brief 
analysis  of  each  being  given  from  the  chair. 

"i  I.  That  a  member  of  the  Convention  (or  two,  where  two 
classes  of  opinion  exist  on  the  subject,  as  in  the  question  of 
the  dose)  be  appointed  some  time  before  the  meeting  to  open 
the  debate,  fifteen  minutes  being  allowed  for  such  purpose, 
and  that  then  the  essay,  or  group  of  essays,  be  at  once 
opened  for  discussion,  ten  minutes  being  the  time  allotted  to 
each  speaker. 

"12.  That  the  order  of  the  essays  be  determined  by  the 
importance  and  interest  of  their  subject  matter,  so  that, 
should  the  time  of  the  meeting  expire  before  all  are  discussed, 
less  loss  will  have  been  sustained. 

"13.  That  the  Chairman  shall  have  liberty,  if  he  sees  that 
an  essay  is  being  debated  at  such  length  as  to  threaten  to  ex- 
clude later  subjects  of  importance,  to  close  its  discussion. 

"14.  That  the  authors  of  the  essays  debated,  if  present, 
shall  have  the  right  of  saying  the  last  word  before  the  subject 
is  dismissed. 

*'i5.  That,  as  at  the  first  convention,  the  subjects  of  the 
essays  and  discussions  shall  be — 

"(a.)     The  Institutes  of  Homoeopathy. 
"(6.)     Materia  Medica. 
^'(c.)     Practical  Medicine. 


i 


Book  Notices.  301 

"((?.)     Surgical  Therapeutics,  including  diseases  of 

the  eye  and  ear. 
"(e.)     Gynaecology." 
At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  committee,  it  was  deter- 
mined that  the  gathering  shall  be  known  as  the  "International 
Homoeopatlvic  Convention." 

All  communications  to  be  addressed  to  the  Secretary,  Dr. 
Hughes,  Brighton,  Eng. — Monthly  Horn,  Review. 


^m\  ^0lii!($. 


The  American  Journal  of  Electrology  and  Neurology.    John  Butler,JM.  D., 
Editor.     Boericke  &  Tafel,  Publighers. 

The  April  No.  seems  well  filled  with  valuable  matter.  We  Hay  "seems," 
for  we  have  not  read  the  whole  of  it,  and  what  we  have  read  is  so  spurious 
that  we  would  not  like  to  endorse  it,  even  if  a  homoeopathic  professor 
edits  it  and  a  homoeopathic  house  publishes  it.  In  the  application  of 
electricity  we  might  doubtless  learn  something  of  value,  but  in  therapeu- 
tics the  editor,  or  his  "devil,"  is  sadly  demoralized.  "The  *bigh  deluded' 
practitioners"  is  a  funny  phrase,  but  the  editor  does  not  wisely  in  admit- 
ting it  to  his  columns.  Here's  a  bit  of  wisdom  worthy  the  page  of  an  allo- 
pathic journal :  "We  have  seen  cases  of  cerebral  and  spinal  anscmia  much 
benefited  by  the  use  of  Tokay  wine.  Half  a  wine  glassful  three  times  a  day, 
of  Reich's  importation,  will  be  found  a  valuable  prescription  in  many 
ca$>es."  And  here  is  another,  taken  out  of  an  allopathic  journal  where  it 
had  better  been  left:  "Dr.  Whittnker,  in  the  Cincinnati  Lancet  and  Clinic, 
reports  good  results  from  the  use  of  hypodermic  injections  of  Ether  in 
SciaticaJ^  Such  statements  are  neither  new  nor  valuable.  If  thev  are 
followed  by  practitioners,  so  much  the  worse  for  their  patients.  If  the 
editor  will  stick  to  his  electricity  he  may  do  well  enough.  His  empirical 
recommendations  are  out  of  place. 


302  Cincinnati  Medical  Advance, 

Lai^ngeal  PhthisiSt    A  paper  read  before  the  New  York  State  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society.    By  Chas.  E.  Jones,  M.  D.     Albany,  1879. 

We  recognize  in  this  paper  a  very  able  production,  and  one  that  might 
be  studied  with  profit  by  all.  The  author,  to  our  mind,  unfortunately 
leaves  an  open  door  to  empiricism  by  his  quasi  endorsement  of  almost  all 
the  "regular"  methods  of  local  treatment  of  the  larynx.  He  had  better 
have  kept  the  door  wholly  shut,  and  relied  upon  strictly  homoeopathic 
treatment.  If  allopathic  empirical  methods  are  allowable  there,  then  they 
are  allowable  elsewhere,  and  for  all  we  can  see  everywhere,  and  what  then 
becomes  of  the  science  of  therapeutics? 

Diphtheriat     By  Wm.  Morgan,  M.  D.      Homoeopathic  Publishing  Co., 
London. 

This  is  presumably  a  homoeopathic  treatise,  so  far  as  therapeutics  is 
concerned.  The  facts,  however,  do  not  bear  out  the  supposition.  It  is 
actually  a  system  of  treatment  that  may  be  described  as  about  'alf  and 
'alf.  The  writer  is  strong  on  topical  applications,  and  his  logic  is  of  the 
usual  order.  He  says,  after  mentioning  and  summarily  throwing  over- 
board pretty  much  everything  recommended  by  other  people,  *'The 
Hydrochloric  acidf  however,  to  my  mind,  stands  foremost  in  the  ranks  of 
topical  remedies.  It  was  the  first  that  I  selected  on  my  acquaintance  with 
diphtheria,  in  1859.  It  has  since  been  used  by  a  large  number  of  allo- 
pathic and  homoeopathic  [! !]  physicians  in  this  and  other  countries.  It  is 
one  of  the  chief  remedies  recommended  in  Ziemssen's  great  work  on  the 
Practice  of  Medicine,  and  in  a  strongly  written  article  on  diphtheria,  by 
Dr.  Hcslop,  which  appeared  in  the  Medical  Times  for  May,  1862.  He 
did  not  lose  a  case  out  of  a  large  number  after  adopting  the  Hydrochloric 
aeid.^^  Still  we  are  in  doubt  as  to  the  value  of  this  famous  remedy  until 
we  can  look  into  Dr.  Morgan's  mind.  That  must  be  an  important  factor, 
for  he  sets  it  up  himself  as  a  sort  of  standard  from  which  to  calculate.  To 
Dr.  Morgan's  ^^mind"  Hgdrochhric  acid  stands  foremost.  So  it  appears,  it 
stands  to  several  allopathic  minds,  but  we  know  how  untrustworthy  they 
are.  What  they  kiss  to-day  they  kick  to-morrow.  **Ziem89en,'*  "Heslop" 
and  ^The  Medical  Times"  are  all  made  of  treacherous  quicksand,  but 
Morgan  is  a  homoeopath  (?)  you  know,  and  knows  what  he  is  talking 
about.  His  "mind"  settles  it  when  he  wants  a  remedy.  What  a  pity  he 
had  not  given  the  sage  of  Costhen  just  a  piece  of  his  mind,  as  it  would 
have  saved  all  this  trouble  in  proving  the  materia  medica.  Dr.  Morgan 
thinks  Hahnemann  a  big  man,  for  he  discovered  that  Asiatic  cholera  can 
be  cured  by  Camphor ^  Cuprum  or  Veratrumj  and  intimates  that  he — Morgan 
— ^might  attain  to  immortality  on  the  ground  of  his — Morgan 's-^isco very 
that  diphtheria  can  be  cured  by  BtUadomuj^  Mercuriw  soL  asd  Hydrochloric 
add.    But  blef«  you,  **or"  and  '*and"  make  all  the  difference  in  the  world. 


Book  Notices,  303 

Hahnemann  gave  his  remedies  separately  and  only  when  indicated,  while 
Morgan  gives  his  remedies  all  together,  or  what  is  equivalent  to  it ;  and 
if  he  thinks  he  can  deceive  us  into  accepting  such  a  proceedure  as  in  any 
sense  scientific,  or  holding  any  relation  to  anything  Hahnemann  ever 
taught  or  practiced,  he  deceives  himself.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  condemn 
it  in  toto.  « 

Photographic  Illustrations  of  Skin  Diseases.    By  Geo.  Henry  Fox,  M.  D. 
E.  B.  Treat,  New  York. 

Parts  7,  8,  9  and  10  are  just  received.  The  preceding  numbers  we  have 
already  noticed.  We  can  but  admire  the  enterprise  of  the  publisher  in 
getting  out  such  a  splendid  and  yet  comparatively  cheap  work.  The 
numbers  all  together  and  bound,  will  make  an  incomparable  volume  on 
skin  diseases.  In  the  parts  before  us  we  have  fine  illustrations  of  lupus 
vulgaris,  lupus  erythematosus,  epithelioma  superficial,  epithelioma 
rodens,  epithelioma,  trichophytosis  capitis,  trichophytosis  corporis,  lichen 
planus,  lichen  ruber,  kerion,  lepra  maculosa,  molluscum,  erythema  mul 
tiform,  phtheiriasis  capitis,  phtheiriasis  corporis,  scabies,  porrigo.  We 
have  only  admiration  and  commendatory  words  for  the  work. 

A  Warning  Voice  to  the  Young.      By  H.  B.  Van  Norman,  M.  D.,  Cleve- 
land, O.    Pp.  20. 

The  author  of  this  excellent  little  pamphlet  has  done  society  a  valuable 

service  by  presenting  a  plain  and  forcible  statement  of  the  evils  of  self- 

abuHO.    The  existence  of  this  crime  is  undeniably  wide  spread.    But  as  it 

is  essentially  a  secret  vice,  it  exists  and  does  its  awful  work  where,  least  of 

all,  it  is  suspected.    There  is  no  surer  antidote  or  certain  cure,  than  to 

disseminate  such  an  appeal  as  this.    It  might  with  benefit  be  scattered 

along  all  paths  where  the  feet  of  the  young  are  wont  to  tread  ;  and  .there 

would  be  many  a  silent  thanksgiving  from  the  hearts  of  those  kept  by  it 

from  the  path  of  destruction.   Physicians  in  want  of  such  a  work  to  quietly 

drop  into  the  hands  of  youthful  sufferers,  could  do  no  better  than  send  to 

Dr.  Van  Norman  for  a  copy  of  his  excellent  little  pamphlet.      Price  25 
cents. 

Received. 

Lunacy  Beform.  A  letter  to  Dr.  E.  Seguin.  By  Dr.  Von  den  Steinen. 
G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York. 

London  Lancet,  for  May,  1880.  Reprint  by  Industrial  Publication 
Co.,  New  York.    $5.00  a  year. 

Wood's  Medical  Library  for  1880.  1.  Hand-Book  of  Physical 
Diagnosis.  By  Dr.  Paul  Guttmann.  2.  Foreign  Bodies  in  Surgical  Prac- 
tice. By  Alfred  Poulet,  M.  D.  Vols.  I  and  II.  3.  Venereal  Diseases. 
By  E.  L.  Keyes,  M.  D.  There  will  be  twelve  large  volumes,  one  to  be 
issued  each  month.    Price  $15.00. 


€H%m'^  ^Mt. 


Mr.  William  Thaw,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  has  offered  to  give  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  toward  building  a  homoepathic  hospital  in  that  city. 

A  SAD  calamity  attended  the  recent  fair  of  the  Hahnemann  Hospital 
[N.  Y.]  The  building,  crowded  with  people,  fell,  killing  several  and  in- 
juring many.  A  lady  and  a  gentleman  each  gave  five  thousand  dollars  to 
the  Hospital,  in  view  of  the  loss  it  sustained. 

Eighteen  graduates  of  the  Hahnemann  College  settled  in  Philadelphia. 
Cincinnati  would  welcome  a  few  good  men. 

The  American  Homoeopathic  Ophthalmological  and  Otological  Society 
will  hold  its  fourth  annual  meeting  in  the  parlors  of  the  Newhall  House, 
Milwaykee,  beginning  June  15th.  Papers  are  promised  from  leading 
8i)eciali8ts  throughout  the  country.  H.  C.  Houghton,  President ;  F.  Park 
Lewis,  Secretary. 

Members  of  the  Ohio  State  Medical  Society  who  have  not  received  the 
proceedings  i..  pamphlet,  aie  requested  to  address  Dr.  J.  P.  Geppert,  Cin- 
cinnati, O.,  for  the  same. 

Dr.  S.  R.  Beckwith  is  convalescing  from  his  late  severe  and  dangerous 
illness. 

The  year  1880  shows  an  increase  over  other  years  in  the  number  of 
homoeopathic  graduates.  Pulte  Medical  College  had  twenty-three  ;  New 
York,  thirty-one ;  Philadelphia  Hahnemann,  seventy-five ;  Chicago  Hah- 
nemann, eighty-seven  ;  Jowa  University,  eight;  St.  Louis,  twenty^five  ; 
Boston  University,  thirty -five;  Chicago  Homoeopathic,  twenty.  Showing 
over  three  hundred,  with  several  colleges  not  yet  reported. 

The  Annual  Hq^noeopathic  Gazeteer  has  been  placed  before  us.  This 
publication  is  issued  by  Dr.  E.  A.  Guilbert,  St.  Louis,  and  gives  the  cor- 
rect address  of  nearly  one  thousand  physicians  in  the  Mississippi  valley. 
Suclj  publications  should  receive  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  profes- 
sion, as  it  gives  definite  data  for  many  purposes.  We  should  be  pleased 
to  see  Pettet's  U.  S.  Directory  revised,  and  brought  up  to  date. 

Dr.  C.  S.  Verdi's  "Progressive  Medicine,"  comprising  the  latest  discov- 
eries and  n6w  remedies  in  thfe  science  of  medicine,  is  nearly  ready  to  issue 
from  the  Bond  Hrcet  press  of  The  Author's  Pitb.  Co. 

Dr.  a.  C.  Jones  has  located  in  his  old  field  again,  Connersville,  Ind. 
Dr.  I.  H.  Dix  has  moved  to  Inman,  Kan. 
Dr.  a.  a.  Whipple  is  now  .it  Quincy,  III. 

Hannibal.  Mo.,  May  3,  1880. — The  time  of  meeting  of  the  Missouri 
Institute  has  been  changed  to  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  June  2d  and  3d. 
The  annual  address  will  be  delivered  by  Prof.  Pliilo.  G.  Valentine,  A.  M., 
M.  D.,of  St.  Louis,  in  the  Congregational  Church,  on  Wednesday  evening 
at  eight  o'ch^ck.  Subject:  "Popular  Errors  touching  Homoeopathy." — 
Wm.  D.  Foster,  Secretary. 

Scholarships  in  medical  colleges  for  sale.  Address  Scholarship,  care 
Medical  Advance.